The Jernegan Solution: Buildings and Things

 

title logo 4 color  B  w shadow jpgMy current comic, “The Jernegan Solution” is a true historical story set in 1898 in Lubec, Maine, the eastern-most town in the United States. I’ve only been able to visit Lubec once, so I have otherwise worked from historical photos for location reference, as well as for period props. Some examples are below. The comic will be ready for MECAF in Portland, on May 17th.

WATER STREET, LUBEC

The main commercial street of the town:

Water Street 1911
My sketch of it, and some architectural details:

water street 10-12-14
architecture sketches 10-12

 

THE STAPLES BUILDING

Staples Building 1895

A new office building at the time, home of the Lubec Herald newspaper office, where my journalist character works. It was located on Water Street.

The first “adjustment” I made from the photo was to have painted “Lubec Herald” letters on the window, instead of the sign leaning against the baseboard.  I assume that sign was later put over the door, anyway :

Staples building 1
staples 2

Here’s how it looks in the final inks. I also added in another, more “picturesque” building to the right, based on one of the buildings in the other Water Street pictures (I think that the Staples Building was at the end of Water Street, not in the middle of the commercial district).

Jernegan p4 v2 jpg

 

THE COMSTOCK MILL/”THE KLONDIKE PLANT”
KLONDIKE PLANT
An old grist mill, which was purchased and transformed into… well, you’ll have to read the comic to find out!
Klondike Plant final 3

 

 

SCHOLES AND GLIDDEN TYPEWRITER

A key prop (journalist character).  This machine was available at the time.  Would a small-town newspaperman have been likely to have used one?  I don’t know for sure. But I couldn’t resist using this beautiful typewriter, with the amazing painted decoration.  I wish my PC looked like this.
sholes and glidden
old typewriters

In the end, though, I felt I had to simplify the decorations somewhat, to be readable at the size of the image:

typewriter 2

 

The Jernegan Solution: Character Development, part 2

fisher_charles
This is the only photo I could find of Charles Fisher, another principle character in the story. I liked the vain, dandy-ish look of it, which subtly fits with the character’s role in the story. Like his partne, Prescott Jernegan, he remains pretty mysterious in the historical record, and in the comic as well: he doesn’t actually say a word in the story, though he plays an important part. Here are some sketches I did. Some are stand-alone character doodles, others are taken from the rough versions of the pages, in which I was also developing the look of the characters.  In both this case and that of Jernegan, while I start from the photograph, I know that my visual development of the character is going through the prism of his role in the story, so that representing that personality in the drawing takes precedence over capturing a likeness — especially with such limited reference material.  In my drawings of Fisher, I went for a sort of “hooded” quality to the eyes, and a funny thing in the mouth — some combination of self-satisfaction and petulance that might be mistaken for humility.  I think this depiction combines what I think I see in the photo, with a pure imagining of the character based on what we know of his actions.

Fisher head - early one fisher sketch
jernegan and fisher fisher heads corrected R
 fisher in chair

Some images of Fisher from the finished inks:

fisher p 1 fisher p2

The third major character in the story is almost entirely fictionalized, the journalist Rob Getchell. The Lubec Herald in 1897-1898, from which we have most of what we know of the Jernegan story, was owned by “R. G. & F. L. Getchell Editors and Propietors.” I decided to combine them into one, and call him Rob.  I know absolutely nothing about the real Getchells, beyond what can be gleaned from the tone of the writing in the old papers; from this I imagine a young, enthusiastic reporter, full of optimism about the modern era and its potentialities.

getchell sketches 1

Getchell is the “stand-in” for the reader, the point-of-view character.  As such, I pushed the character in a simpler, more cartoony direction:

getchellsgetchell sketch

Then pulled back on the goofiness a bit:getchell typing

At one point, since this story is low on female characters, I considered changing Getchell’s gender. There were female reporters in those days, though it was rare.
female Getchells
I decided not to in the end; the character turns out to be sort of a dupe, and it didn’t feel right to create a “glass-ceiling” shattering character then make a fool of her.
Here are some panels of Getchell from the final inks.

Getchell from p5

In terms of costume, since Getchell is a young man of the coming generation (in 1898), I thought the Panama Hat, a relatively new fashion, and round, tortoise shell glasses would be a good fit.

Here are some more character studies/sketches, developing some of the supporting characters:

ryan sketches
Arthur Ryan, a jeweler from Middletwon, CT., one of the first investors in the Jernegan scheme, and an officer in the company. No photo reference, so I just imagined…

 

pierson sketches
Pierson, the other early investor in Jernegan’s company; a florist from Middletown. no photos that I could find, but he’s described as a likeable, sociable and energetic fellow; and a “big swede.”
Mary, an old woman who sits on the porch of the newspaper office, handing out gossip and wise advice.  Totally made-up character.
Mary, an old woman who sits on the porch of the newspaper office, handing out gossip and wise advice. Totally made-up character.

“The Jernegan Solution”: Character development

My principle characters in this comic are based on real historical figures. As far as I know there are only two photographs of my lead personage, Reverend Prescott Jernegan.  Starting from the photos, this is the look of the character evolved:

Photograph of Prescott Jernegan
Photograph of Prescott Jernegan

Photograph of Prescott Jernegan
Photograph of Prescott Jernegan

I especially like the one on the left, capturing the visionary quality I wanted for the character.  Some early sketches:

early jernergans

early jernegan 2 early jernegan

Gradually I moved toward a more stylized version of the character, and I wanted to give him a mysterious, impenetrable quality, and make his body angular and elongated:

jernegan rough

A sketch of Jernegan in the throes of ecstatic vision.
A sketch of Jernegan in the throes of ecstatic vision.

Here are some panels featuring the character from the final inked version of the comic:

Jernegan from page 11 Jernegan from p3 FLAT
jernegan 22 Jernegan from p12

Coming Attractions: “The Jernegan Solution”

My new comic, “The Jernegan Solution” will make its debut at MECAF, the Maine Comic Arts Fest, in Portland, on May 17. Based on an historical incident that took place in Maine in the late 1890s, it will be 24 pages, black-and-white, and printed at about 8.5 x 11.  I originally began the project back in 2012, intending it for the Greatest of All Time Comics Anthology, but other work interfered, and I returned to work on it late last year.  Here’s the title/logo I’m working on:

title logo 4 color  B  w shadow jpg

More sneak peeks to come!