Grizzly & The Bear Patrol 13

I was up REALLY late last night getting this issue finished. Once I got into the groove of working on it, I just couldn't stop, and before I knew it, it was 4:30 AM. By nature, I'm a night owl, so my creative forces seem to peak after the sun goes down.

There are issue notes under the spoiler cut at the bottom of this entry. I invite all comments and criticisms. Enjoy :)

• This is pretty much a solo issue on Echo. After the three-issue arc I finished, I really wanted to do something easier to juggle story-wise. The idea of it came to me while watching the standard "Babysitter and the killer" horror movie. Such movies usually don't involve a guy being the babysitter. I wondered what would happen if the killer showed up and the babysitter had not. This is my take on it. Echo was the character to use, because with no other super-powered guys to copy powers from, he would be left to his own skills to handle the intruder. And it wouldn't be easy.



• I used this issue to expand on Echo's origin. I did a bit of research what people in Portugal wore back in the late 1700's and early 1800's for the story, not that it made big differences since they are in sepia tones.



• Miguel's niece and nephew are Joana and Hugo. I took Joana's name from a beautiful young lady I worked with during a work trip to Portugal in 2009. I chose "Hugo" because, according to an online survey I found, it's a popular boy's name in Portugal these days.



• Bambi is the stereotypical blonde airhead type. Her "BRAINS" tee-shirt is from the joke I've seen where a guy comments on a girl his buddy is dating. She's blonde and built and his friend says "she's very intelligent..." while make a motion that she's very busty.



• I introduced a police officer named Shawn who will be Echo's boyfriend. This is for guinnesscub, who is the real world Miguel who Echo is based on. Miguel and his hubby Shawn (who isn't a cop in real life) recently got married (CONGRATS!).



• According to my plotting journal, I started working on this issue on September 29, the day I actually posted the prior issue. Finishing it early this morning means I cranked this out in two months, probably one of my fastest turn-arounds. This issue really came easy to me -- the writing, the penciling, etc. I wish I could have posted it for Halloween, but I'm no where near that fast. This is my fourth issue this calendar year. That's a lot.



• I already have an idea for issue 14, but I'm going to set it aside until after Christmas.