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Yaoi Art: “Tough” Character Designs

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So, Winona and I are hard at work finishing up our 90-page yaoi sci-fi comic, “Artifice” . We’re about halfway through all the inks and things are going great.

But the problem with a 90-page comic — particularly when you’re perfectionists like Winona and I are — is that it takes a good long while to finish and have something to show. I just know you’re going to love it when we’re done — it’s got the sweet, it’s got the sexy, it’s got the smart — but for the moment, you kinda got to take my word for it. And it’s driving me a bit batty that for the time being, I can only show you previews — previews without any of my brilliant dialogue, mind you! Oh, the humanity!

So, in the meantime, while we’re finishing “Artifice” and the 70-page full-color yaoi comic “Quest”, I’ve decided to work on another book written with smaller, individual chapters so I can share finished work with you on a more regular schedule. That book is called Tough — it consists of seven chapters over two volumes — and I’ll be giving out the first volume for free to the subscribers of our Yaoi 911™ News and Downloads list.

The first chapter of the yaoi series Tough, shockingly called “Tough”, is about some bad boys, some bad choices and the impact that one out-of-control night has on the lives of everyone involved. It introduces our characters — both the heroes and the villains — and sets the stage for our action-romance. And to start giving you an idea what it’s about, I’m going to share with you some of the character designs our skilled penciler Vitto has come up with. (At this point, we’re almost complete with the Thumbnail Stage of this first chapter — once we have some Finished Pencils to show, I’ll post some of them up here as well…)

Mike

Our story starts with 15-year-old Filipino-American Mike Castro being dragged along by his friend, Larry, on a trash-can kicking spree with some older, wilder boys from their school.

He knows these older boys are looking for trouble, but his loyalty to his friend encourages him to play along. It’s only after they take him and Larry around the corner from a Gay Youth Group Center and hand each of them a baseball bat that he realizes exactly how much trouble he’s gotten himself into.

Kevin

Kevin is the darkly brilliant leader of the wild boys — and the mastermind behind their planned attack of a gay kid. Rich, handsome and so very bored, he can manipulate anyone into doing anything — and nothing would give him greater pleasure than to get a good boy like Mike Castro to do a very bad thing.

And doesn’t he just look like a yaoi villain?

Bruce

Bruce is Kevin’s second-in-command, best friend and partner-in-crime. Out of all the boys, he has the greatest hate for homosexuals — and the greatest desire to take their little game to the most deadly extreme.

Strong, angry and brutal, he values loyalty over everything else. If Kevin gives an order, he expects you to follow it, no matter what.

Chuck

Chuck is the most friendly and jocular of the wild boys and the one most willing to cut Mike some slack. He assures Mike that what they’re planning on doing to this gay kid is “just a laugh”, implying that no one is really going to get hurt.

But if everything is just a laugh to Chuck, how much is he really going to care if things get out of hand?

Larry

Larry is Mike’s best friend and the only other boy he really knows in this gang. Larry has always dreamed of being able to run with a cooler, older crowd and, by being invited along on this night’s adventure, those dreams are finally coming true.

Mike knows how important it is to Larry to be able to impress these older boys, but when Larry is handed a bat and smiles, Mike is forced to decide exactly how far he is willing to go to support his best friend in his pursuit of being cool — and consider what will happen to both of them if he doesn’t.

Rob

Rob is the target of Kevin’s plan — the fag he wants to bash. Kevin doesn’t know him — Rob’s just a member of the town’s Gay Youth Group who decided to take a short-cut home. Happy to have had a great night with his friends, Rob rounds a corner of the street with a smile on his face and finds his life changed forever.

Smart, funny, stylish and cool under pressure, Rob has always been able to handle whatever life has thrown at him. But now he faces five sneering teenagers with bats. There is no way he is going to talk his way out of this kind of trouble — and if he tries to fight all of them, he’ll surely be killed. Sometimes life just sucks that way.

“Chapter 1: Tough” Coming Soon

Will Kevin and his crew follow through on their plans to beat up a fag? Is what they’re doing “just a laugh” or something much more dangerous? Will Mike be forced to join in on this fag bashing? And if he does, it’ll be five guys with baseball bats against one unarmed dude — what are the chances that Rob will even survive? And how can this possibly be the start of a romance?

The first chapters of this series will be available free to Yaoi 911™ News and Downloads subscribers. Look for the first chapter of Tough to be ready for download in the first quarter of 2009.

Want to make sure you get the free download links to this comic when it’s ready? Well, it’s easy! Just fill out the form on the Free Comic page and the links will be sent right to you!

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Learn More!

• Curious about the first comic we finished (and that we’re giving away for free)? Then read all about our boys and sorcery story, “A Shot in the Dark”!
• Wondering why the heck I’m making a yaoi book? Check out Why This Gay Man Is Creating Yaoi!
• Want to read about other creators’ yaoi? Take a look at our in-depth Yaoi Reviews!
• Interested in creating your own manga? Start with How to Write a Full Comic Book Script and How to Find the Perfect Yaoi Artist for your Graphic Novel!

Filed Under: "Tough" • Art • Yaoi 911