A comic strip needs characters. With countless plot lines and doodles to fill up over possibly years of strips, this is the cornerstone of a  good strip. I started out with a few basics that seemed obvious once the main character of a 300 year old gargoyle was established. Here are the first group of people that will populate my comic as it begins. Enjoy.

Character Profiles

Name: Keegle
Age: 306
Place of Birth: Norfolk, England
Height: 4’3″
Weight: 164 lbs

Keegle is a 300 year old gargoyle. Originally sculpted on a parapet in Norfolk, England, Keegle eventually left for, as poets have written, fresher pastures. Keegle is more than a little guarded about his transformation into the corporeal world and, as far as is known, refuses to discuss it. After three centuries of excitement and globe trotting, Keegle has decided to settle down for a bit. He has found refuge in the small town of Hellgate where he has enrolled in their university’s English department and is considering a minor in drama. Without question, Keegle is the oldest living freshman in recent memory with only renowned graduate Abe Vigota as a possible exception. Keegle shares a loft with his newest friend Bernie, whose appetite and attention to grooming detail, admittedly fascinating, have given our gargoyle pause.

Name: Bernard Jones 
Age: 20
Place of Birth: Hellgate
Height: 6′
Weight: 180 lbs

Bernie is a freshman at Hellgate University in it’s marketing program. Any time spent with his parents is delicately split between financial assistance and guilt. They say that they are past the “grief” stage of their son’s career decision and are moving slowly towards “severe distaste.” Bernie’s free time is often in the presence of the opposite sex at Hooligan’s the local Hellgate watering hole for the campus youth. Other times it’s with a basketball. Neither is a story of total success nor failure. Bernie’s long-term goals are just that: long term. Beyond the number of digits in his forthcoming salary, the future is not considered a priority just yet.

Name: Fiona Lynch 
Age: 21
Place of Birth: Hellgate
Height: 5′ 5″
Weight: 115 lbs

Fiona is a sophomore at Hellgate and majors in botany. A lover of all things natural, Fiona lives a healthy life devoid of evils such as conservative politics, television and saturated fat. Socially indifferent, Fiona hasn’t much time for men particularly those without charm and intellect. She makes ends meet by waiting tables at Hooligan’s where intellect is in short order based solely on the patron’s seeming inability to tip and their indifference to the health risks of cheese fries. A very serious student, Fiona can often be found deep in the stacks at Hellgate University’s impressive library (whose superiority is due in large part from a generous contribution from famous alumni member Abe Vigota.)

Name: Professor Xavier Dunbar 
Age: 61
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 175 lbs

Professor Dunbar is a tenured lecturer in philosophy at Hellgate. A curmudgeonly gentleman with impenetrable manners, Prof. Dunbar is a fixture on campus. Known for his capacity for humiliating ignorance, the good professor is quietly fond of his station in life. Owning a duplex near the university, Prof. Dunbar’s most recent tenants are a marketing major and what appears to be a miniature dragon with impeccable references. Unbeknownst to his pupils and peers, Xavier Dunbar harbors a hidden love for the occult and is a devoted fan of the Tolkien. Apart from his own confusing theories of conspiracy, a rather awkward fondness for Elvish women is his greatest weakness.

Name: Wolfgang 
Age: 19
Place of Birth: Bells Beach, Australia
Height: 3′ 10″
Weight: 152 lbs

Wolfgang is a transfer student from Australia. He is a surfer by nature with a surprising capacity for computers and a notable zest for life. A world traveler of sorts, Wolfgang, while working on his masters degree in computer programming, earns his way on campus as a lab technician. Attending Hellgate and not a university in Hawaii or Chamonix is a fact not lost on our wave-riding Aussie. Supplementing his need for sports more extreme, Wolfgang routinely base-jumps off of anything Hellgate has of architectural or natural height. His fearlessness and cuddly appearance have made him a hit with Hellgate’s considerable female population. Though he talks of the next leg of his travels, Wolfgang’s presence has the faint whiff of permanence.

Name: Pikasso 
Age: 82
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Height: 2′ 9″
Weight: 200 lbs

The son of French peasant pigs, Pikasso was named after the famous artist. Alas, his parents, without any formal education, couldn’t spell and were little better with grammar “n’est pas?” At the tender age, literally, of 17, Pikasso joined the world of the undead when a drunken vampire by the name “Pierre” (loosely translated as “Peter the Vampire”) mistakenly bit him. Pikasso, for roughly the next 60 years, became a pig of quiet sophistication living off the unsuspecting swine of the French countryside. How he came to Hellgate is to this day a mystery. He is presently taking some night classes to help learn English as a second language.