Anatomy of a Hero

This is Author Willey, aka Hero.  Well, this is one of the very first incarnation of him at any rate.  Our Hero, in Our Town, has changed a lot since I first created him back in the nineties.  When I first designed him I was thinking about the Mighty Heroes.  Does anyone remember the Mighty Heroes?  It was a cartoon I use to look at growing up.  All of the Heroes were quirky and inept.  

Hero follows a long line of inept Super Heroes, except that this Hero is black.  I am a firm believer that kids that look like me need a hero that looks like them.  Just like little girls that look like me, need a princess that looks like them.  I hear that Disney is finally working on a cartoon with a black princess. and it's about damn time.  Disney has created a major, motion, animated cartoon, using every ethnic group but black folks.  What's up with that?  But I digress.  

This, as I stated before, is one of the first incarnations of Hero.  This was the image and costume that I thought was the very best thing going.  I also thought it would be a cute and creative idea to label every aspect of our hero and what makes him who he is.

I've since changed Our Hero, once again; making him taller and lankier.  The problem with the way I have drawn him is that his proportions are all off and it makes him hard a hell to draw.  I am constantly drawing him in an attempt to get to know his body and movements.  I realize that this is probably not unusual for cartoonist, but it sucks for me.  I'm what you would call a lazy artist.    

I originally created Hero to be used as the main character in a Panel Cartoon, but soon after I created him I came up with a somewhat comical verse to describe Hero.  Once I wrote this poem I thought it would be great if I turned that verse into a children's book.  So now I am currently attempting to turn this poem into illustrations that will translate into a children's book.  I gotta tell you that it ain't easy.  

However, I am dedicated to completing all of the illustrations for my book before the end of the year.  It is going to be hard, no doubt, but I will am going to try not to procrastinate in this endeavor to write, illustrate and publish my very first children's book.  I think it is going to be a hard journey, but worth it if I can make it happen.  I created this blog to document the progress.  I also bought this MacBook to aid me in my Journey.

E.W.Forge