Northern Knights - Comic

Merritt Turetsky is a climate scientist at the University of Boulder Colorado. She approached me to create a comic book style story to educate people about the importance of the cryosphere (arctic ecology) and its importance in helping keep the Earth’s climate suitable for human life. I’ve teamed up with creative genius, Adam Machan, to create this story and art.

 
 
Black and white illustration of comic book character.

A first concept of the Permafrost character in her power suit.

Permafrost

Our main character’s super powers are related to the power that permafrost has on the land and environment. This super rough initial sketch represents chunks of ice visible in frozen earth. I need to tweak the character quite a bit but I really love the sketch and it helped create a jumping point to get towards a more accurate representation.

 
 
Black and white illustration of comic book character.

The Fire character in his power suit.

Fire

Another character from the first round of character designs. Fire is beneficial to the environment much of the time. It clears the land and opens pinecone seeds, allowing for new growth to come in on the forest floor. It also clears away tinder that could accumulate and become fuel for future superfires, which are so hot that they sterilize the land. Better to have light fires every now and then than big dangerous ones!

 
 
Black and white illustration of comic book character.

Here’s our Heavy. The boogeyman of the story.

PolLution

You just know there’s gonna be a boss fight with this character at some point! Here’s our main antagonist. You’ll see how this character manifests when you read the story!