#2 Dead Characters Get a Second Life: Introducing Velia!

An old piece of work gets revamped...

Velia is coming back.

Hello, everyone, a quick note before I jump in: I realize that many of you subscribed after my first newsletter was published last month and therefore have not received my very first post in your inbox. So if you missed it, here it is! If you’ve seen it, scroll down for this month’s…

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Introducing Velia. Who is She?

For the past couple of years I’ve been working on some stories. Do any of you remember “Velia, Dear,” a webcomic I ran more than a decade ago? Let me know in the comments if you recall it (all two of you)! In any case, the characters I’m introducing to you today were the stars of a comic I ran a long time ago on a notably different internet, when webcomics were fairly new (or at least new to an old fogy like me). Anyway, Velia and the rest of the cast of characters have been dead for more than a decade — and lately I’ve been pumping new life into their inky veins!

Velia: (pronounced “Veh-lee-ah”, or “Vel” for short.)

Sketch of Velia, pronounced “Veh-lee-ah”

Who is she?

Velia is an Italian-Canadian girl living in Toronto. She has an aging mother (Ma)  and a big, loud Italian family. Her boyfriend (Lou) is not Italian — a disappointment to Velia’s mother who wants a nice Calabrese boy for her daughter.

Between Lou, Ma, and some other members of the cast, Velia is perpetually torn in a spinning vortex of drama.

“Ma” (Mrs. Rossi)

Speaking of drama, what can I tell you about Ma? Put it this way: she’s Italian, and Italians invented opera. I think you get the picture?

Sketch of Ma, Velia’s mother. Don’t get on her bad side.

Lou. Who is this guy?

I hate stereotypes but sometimes people do in fact fit a stereotype. Lou’s the comic book collecting geek who took 12 weeks to drum up the courage to say Hi to Velia, and another 12 to ask her to lunch. (They ate at a vending machine— but it was one of the more luxurious ones that have kale chips and kombucha.) That first date was years ago. And now? Lucky for Velia, he never said goodbye. (Sometimes I think she doesn’t deserve him, despite the cheap kale chip date.)

Sketch of Lou. According to Velia he never grew up, but I think that’s what she loves about him.

In the webcomic I penned years ago, Velia had decided to move in with her aging mother. That was her life for a while. But now, in this brand new work, she’s up to all sorts of things.

Is Ma dead? NO! It’s important to note that old Italian women never die, they just get shorter. It’s some king of deal they’ve made with God.

The Stories…

Revolving around the lives of these folks, the Velia Comic Stories are about the absurdities of life, love, death, and robots. Yes, you read that right— robots! I wrote a story that takes place in the future. (It felt very strange aging my characters by 30+ years.) Here’s a pic of an older Velia, a still-kicking Ma (I explained how they never die), and a robot named Roberto.

My what a lovely robot. Velia bought him, Ma hates him, and there are surprises in store for everyone.

A panel from the robot story titled “Roberto” which takes place in the future. Velia’s packed on some pounds. Lou is still boyish, only with wrinkles. They still bicker the same ol’ way.

In another story,

the ghost of Velia’s dead uncle is homeless, and so Ma and Velia take him in. I know, a bit of an odd situation — just imagine how Ma and Velia feel about it.

Panel from the story titled “Up, Up, Up!” Poor Uncle Phil. In this scene he wants Velia to make him a sandwich.

In a story titled, “No Good Deed”,

Velia finds out the hard way how messy life can get when you care too much about what people think of you. This story is one that I wrote in a maddening rush of pure creative flow. I was having a blast, but then the story sat in my drawer for a year because I had deemed it “just not good enough”. When I took it out again after a whole lot of time had passed, I saw it with fresh eyes and knew that with some re-writing, and re-structuring, it could work. (This practice of “letting things sit in a drawer” works because it gives you, the creator, some distance from the piece. Given enough time, you are no longer “too close” to it, and therefore you can plainly see the story’s faults and/or merits from a stranger’s perspective. “Fresh eyes.”)

Velia and Lou in a typical exchange.

Right Now…

I’m working on the story “Holmeville”. In it, Velia and Lou get into some seriously strange encounters. The story is 30 pages long and I’ve just finished pencilling it, so it’s inking time! (Btw, the panel featured in my Welcome newsletter is from this same story.)

A roughly pencilled panel from “Holmeville.”

This Fall,

I’ll be pitching the “Velia Comics” collection to alternative comics publishers. It’s a challenging project. I’m both anxious and excited at the same time. As my cousin Domenic would say, “I’m anxieted!”

Of course, there is a good possibility the publishers all reject my proposal, in which case I will throw myself out the window. Just kidding! After decades in this wacky business, I’m no stranger to rejection. And yes, there is a plan B. More on that in an upcoming post.

That’s all for now, folks. Thank you so much for being here. I highly recommend you go and do something else now!