Third Floor Triple

Thought Process :

I decided to focus my project on the social issue of racism. As a black person, I obviously love talking about race (i should not generalize. i simply like talking about race), and so, I decided to focus on racial issues at a university. Although racism at Duke is not as blatant as it is in the story I tell, it exists. I just wanted to start the dialogue.

I decided to make the black people the majority in this situation instead of white people, because it just didn't seem right to make a story in which I pit the antagonists as white racists. I thought that'd be bad. So, I decided to reverse the situation.

Story Line:
The story is about three roommates living in a triple. The main character is the black boy without the afro. The main character has already met one of his roommates who is the other black kid with the afro. They are busy setting up their room when their third roommate comes in. He's white. At first they are stunned. I tried to show this with their shocked/"are you serious" expressions. The next panel shows their fake smiles. They are nervous about the whole situation, but they still want to try to be friendly.

The next two panels show that the chemistry between the white kid and the black roommates is somewhat lacking. However, there is hope. The second panel on page 2 shows this, as the main character breaks the 4th wall and smiles at the reader.

The next page deals with the boys discussing the white roommate. The boy with the afro asks his roommate what he thinks about the white kid. He's not yet sold on him. However, the main character says he doesn't seem like a bad guy. They walk discussing the roommate, race, and how they should behave toward the new roommate.

The next page is a whole different day. I tried to illustrate this with the change of clothing. The main character just finished talking to a pretty girl, and a couple of black frat brothers see this. They think if they add him to their frat they will be able to hang out with a whole bunch of pretty girls. I tried to illustrate that with the last panel where the black frat brother strokes his chin as he thinks about an equation in his head.

The frat brother invites him to his frat's party. The backgrounds for that whole scene was a pain to draw since I hate backgrounds for the most part. I tried to make the first setting on that day based on Bryan Center Walkway. The second for that day was based on the Main Quad.

Nevertheless, the main character has been invited to a party. I tried to show a white hand looking at the flier as a form of foreshadowing. I illustrated that the two black boys were getting ready for the party as the kid with the afro helped the main character pick out a good shirt. Suddenly, their preoccupation with themselves is broken as their white roommate asks if he can come to the party also. I tried to make it evident that he is pointing at himself in reference to the party.

The kid with the afro is not sure what to say. I feel his expression shows this. However, the main character, set on bringing everyone together, waves that he should come along.

I set the next scene by showing the picture of the frat house. The boys walk up to it and see a frat brother looking at them strangely. I then tried to show with the hands that the frat brother points to the two black boys, says they can come in, but tells the white boy to stop. He is not allowed in. The main character, who first got the invite, speaks to the frat brother and says he can't do this. The other two roommate are outraged, and I think their expressions show that.

I showed the frat brother's resolve to not let them in by drawing him with folded arms. He boys turn around and begin to leave when they run into the girl the main character previously talked to. She is with a friend, and they were heading to the frat house. She points to the house and asks them why they aren't heading toward it like she and her friend are.

The main character says it's because they won't let white people in. I think I conveyed that with the talking bubble and the faces. The girl's expression changes to anger because of what she has heard. She and her friend get out their cell phones, and the next panel shows that she calls her friend at the party.

The last page shows how the party room in the frat house suddenly becomes empty. I especially like the expression on the frat brothers' faces. The one looking at his watch is my favorite. Nevertheless, the last frame shows how the main character and his friends are now hanging out with a lot of the people from the party.

The main character, his roommate with the afro, and the other black people around won't tolerate racism. They don't mind that the kid is white. Rather, they enjoy his company, and they are all having a good time hanging out.

Programs:
I made the comic with Adobe Flash. I used to program to draw, layer, and add color to everything. I then exported the images from Flash and placed them in Adobe InDesign in order to lay them out properly.

Style:
My style is very simple. I try to avoid black lines wherever possible and simple use color to differentiate things from one another. I feel my style is reminiscent of Invader Zim. I use the same eye shape. My drawings also reminded a fellow classmate of mine, Emmy, of Foxtrot, which is my favorite comic.
I put a lot of effort into character design, because that is my favorite part of drawing. I especially tried to dress the characters well.