Comic Maker, Illustrator, and Professional Cool Guy
Lots of Love: In the Ring!
Welcome! I am glad to have you here. This is the secret base of my SVA BFA Comics thesis project "Lots of Love: In the Ring!" Care to take a look around?
The Story
At its core, Lots of Love: In the Ring! is a story about a magical girl wrestler and the superfan in love with her.
The story is based on a comic I made years prior, Lots of Love, Your Biggest Fan (linked). That was the first comic I made from concept to completion at SVA. I liked the idea but was stumped. The concept of a "Magical Girl Wrestler" intrigued me, but at the time, I did not have the skill to execute a comic at the level I envisioned.
Taking the next couple of years, I refined my storytelling abilities, stocked my visual arsenal, and worked in many, many different genres to give myself the most comprehensive view of comics possible with my limited time at SVA. I found myself drawn in all different directions, dipping my toe in every pond, loving it all along the way.
Then... Senior thesis.
Presented with the concept of working on one year-long project to define my comic education, I hit a massive wall. Any story I thought up did not feel right. When I looked through piles of old sketchbooks, I found early development for Your Biggest Fan. It was almost as if a lightbulb had gone off. The concept still intrigued me, but I felt much more prepared to develop it properly.
From the bones of Lots of Love, Your Biggest Fan, Lots of Love: In the Ring! was born.
The following are select pages from the finished comic:
Characters
My cast of characters are based on professional MMA Fighters from both American and Japanese Wrestling. Each character pulls from one or more of these professionals to keep them grounded in reality, but accentuated with a magical girl’s flair. These characters can be split into three groups
Main Characters
The story's main characters are Paz Sterling and Abbey (Just Abbey). Or, at least, they are the closest stand-in for you, the reader.
This story is undoubtedly about Paz and her love for Ilaria Leonia (you'll meet her soon). Paz's passion is the driving force of this comic. Her excitable demeanor is infectious. It should be mentioned that her openly autistic expression and experience are entirely based on my own experiences as an autistic creative.
Abbey is Paz's college roommate. In the story, Abbey is the immovable object to Paz's unstoppable force, but even she can't keep her "Im-Too-Cool-For-This" posturing up for long. As much as she appears to be a hater, she deeply cares for Paz and respects her immensely. Though, you could never get her to admit it.
Cat Scratch
In the story, the wrestling match within this comic, Cat Scratch are the protagonists.
In the most basic wrestling setup, one of two roles is given to a character or group. The "Good guys" or "Heroes" are called Babyfaces, or just Faces. The "Bad Guys" or "Villains" are called Heels.
Cat Scratch is In the Ring!'s Babyface team. They are a relatively new group of girls with an impressive amount of gusto. Ilaria Leonia (far left) is the girl for whom Paz is over the moon. She has had a pretty lousy track record,
being in two different teams under her current management company, Pro Generation: Dream Wrestling. She has always been the least popular with fans on all her previous stables. Cat Scratch is her last chance to either pull her weight or get the boot from upper management.
Aside from Ilaria, the Cat Scratch member with the most importance is Arielle Felidae (Right of Ilaria), the team leader. If Paz is Ilaria's #1 fan, Arielle is her #2. She's known Ilaria from previous teams and is glad to be fighting with her again. She is one of the most popular Face characters in the company, so she has been keeping Ilaria safe from forced early retirement with her status. Her support from within can only do so much to stave the cruel hand of the "Magical Girl Wrestling" industry from cutting "dead weight," as we see play out in Lots of Love: In the Ring!
Fallen Angels
The Fallen Angels are In the Ring! 's Heels.
They are the most widely recognized group within the company. More often than not, this grants them favorable treatment in matches (read: the company makes sure they win 90% of the time)
They are fabulous Heels and know how to work a crowd but don't let their villain personas fool you. They can all be a little full of themselves sometimes, but they are understanding and kind performers. They are true professionals and the #1 team to beat.
Process
My creative process takes a similar shape throughout projects—a pervasive planning process followed by an explosive creative process. Pencils are drawn traditionally and edited digitally. Inks are traditionally done on 11x17 smooth bristol paper. The inks are scanned in and colored digitally on photoshop. Following this setup retains structure while I bounce from pencil to ink to color to maintain creative energy and avoid burnout.
Start to Finish
Outside Response
In an attempt to execute this comic to its greatest form, I have gotten as many eyes on it as possible. As a result, LOLITR has received some incredible feedback and help.
The SVA Alumni Society granted this project the Bob Guglielmo Award: A thesis-finishing grant given to those with outstanding work and potential. With this grant, I can produce the final book on a larger scale, printing a physical run of the comic to self-publish and distribute.
Also, LOLITR was selected for exhibition in the SVA Comics Illustration Thesis Gallery: A gallery exhibiting the best of the graduating 2023 class. It was also shown in a comics illustration pop-up exhibition at the SVA West Gallery through SVA at MoCCafest 2023.
Final Words
Overall, I am incredibly proud of the leaps and bounds my art has made through my time at SVA. Lots of Love, In the Ring! is proof of my improvement.
This was undoubtedly the most monstrous undertaking of my journey at SVA. The fact there is a product, in the end, is incredible. As stoked as I am to see it finished, I wanted to revel in the process for as long as possible. As my last project in the controlled SVA environment, I wanted to take advantage of every resource, talk to every professor, and collaborate with every peer. I have no doubt it has been my best project yet.