When we first started distributing the six-page samplers for HC back in january ’08, I was struck by the number of responses we got to the taser-totin’ horse character that was in there. He was from a particularly dynamically-illustrated sequence where a set of Caulfield’s thugs bust into Malloy’s apartment. Maybe it was the cool look (there’s something just so right about a leather-jacketed stud with his mane in a pony-tail) or the intensity of his posture, but a few people came away thinking he was a major player in the story.

The sequence was originally going to play out silent, with only a philosophical voice-over from Caulfield, but it was clear these little people deserved better. The horse got a name (Allard Bellamy) and the thugs each got enough lines to establish their personalities. Depending on the reader’s disposition, Allard’s either icy cool or a pretentious prick who deserved what he got — but even then, I made sure we got a glimpse of him later on, to see just how severely his uppance had come, and let the reader ponder whether Allard really did deserve the fate that was dealt him.

In Vahnfox’s story for HC2, “What It’s All About” this happened with even more intensity. Originally this was going to be a straight-up heist story whose value derived from the cleverness and excitement of a break-in, with Malloy joined by some old friends from his criminal social circles. Vahnfox and I get on like a house on fire (minus the screaming bystanders) and our conversations would never stay focused on the job at hand very long, so as he created character sketches, I began to notice parallels between the art he was producing and the experiences we shared as people.

Both of us are older brothers, both of us had strong female figures in our lives, both of us had the same experience of competing with our younger siblings until we moved out of the house, and then forged a very strong, loving relationship with the snot-nosed brats we’d previously derided.

It started to feel like these guys were family. That they were different species didn’t matter (in the Maranathaverse, anthropoid polyspecies’ bifurcated tetraploid genome and the agency of the servant molecule permit species templates to be inherited recessively and express many generations down the line), rather it only accentuated what family is: a churning contrast between unity and disparity.

It was a perfect fit for Malloy, too, who started out as an exaggerated, cookie-cutter archetype of the manic, cool, alternately ballsy and melancholy Byronic hero, but who harbored deep and secret self-loathing, denying himself his profound yearning for peace and family, whether by blood or otherwise.

And that brings us to HC3, doesn’t it?

In the third book, the story branches into dramatic new territory, both in terms of action and, for want of a better word, mindfuckery. As the stories developed it became clear that the book needed some anchor points, some means to ground the reader and remind them that, while the story often arches into the hyperreal, the principles of mortality, happiness and love all still apply, no matter how archetypal some of the characters may be. The book needed some regular people.

These guys only appear for a scant few pages, and we likely won’t ever see ‘em again, but it always amazes me how much creativity can come out of working with an artist. Check out the character designs attached, for Mark, Lucy and the Kids (they’re not Mark & Lucy’s kids!) and see how much they convey, even without words.

Mark and Lucy are married, but he’s a rolly-polly, nerdy raccoon while she’s a drop-dead-gorgeous, sophisticated woman. The simple fact of this dichotomy speaks volumes about their relationship, how there must be a regular sense of inadequacy on Mark’s part, the feeling that he doesn’t deserve her or that she can do so much better — and that she might. Perhaps, in her social circles, Lucy endures some barbed mockery of her husband, which she can never quite fully put out of her mind and which bothers her far more than she’ll admit even to her hubby.

But they’re together, and have been for a while, and in HC3 they’re just moving into a new house together. A nice one, a big one, and for a young couple like these two to move into a house like that implies, without it being mentioned in dialog even once, that they don’t plan for it to be just the two of them living in that house for very long.

The Kids are a bit of a different story. This Scoobie gang of high school teens is clearly very diverse, recalling the unity/disparity contrast of the Miles family, but with a different basis: like all teenagers they’re in the process of individuating themselves, apparently with few restraints. Tran, the short, stocky dalmatian has all the hallmarks of a goofy oaf, but in his chest beats the heart of a wolf. Fearless, confident and full of energy, he forms the heart of the group, among whom his attire, at least, paints him the most ‘regular’.

West had a lot of fun with the character designs, and it shows! Lulu, the mouse girl, became a loligoth (when West told me that I actually had to look up the word — way to make a guy feel old!) with layers upon layers of frilly clothing, and little plastic spiders dangling from her umbrella. She evokes a sense of directionless, timid yet passionate creativity; I imagine she’s secretly really into arts and crafts, ‘enhancing’ her wardrobe with her own modifications. Her diary must be a spectacular tome covered in decorative affectations and glitter.

Bea, being tall and lanky is a natural beauty with an airy, slightly out-of-sync disposition. Often she innocently trails the tail-end of a conversation, her mind prone to wandering, but she can be a lot sharper than the others might expect from her. From the mouths of babes!

Rory, the buck, is the odd man out in a group of odd dudes and dudettes. He’s handsome and cool and comes from money, so, really, Rory should be part of the school’s social elite, who spit upon the freaks he hangs out with. However, he’s intimidated by the expectations his peers and parents heap on him, and he’s man enough to know what he does and doesn’t like. In this group he’s accepted and appreciated for who he is, rather than what his last name is or how he looks, and he likes that Tran tends to take the lead and introduce adventure and ambition. He was designed as a young buck, lean and good-looking, and since he has developing nubs on his head rather than full antlers, this excellently illustrates the precarious divide between his masculine potential and his present immaturity.

I love the Kids, and I love Mark and Lucy, just as I loved the Mileses. It pains me to see them used only so briefly, so incidentally, because I’d be more than happy to write entire issues devoted only to their adventures… and if the readers agree, then I guess the artists and I have done a good job!

- Alex F. Vance

While collaborating with Fel on HC Vol. 3, expected to be complete in 2010, she drove the development of HC’s rather unusual artistic nomenclature. In dividing the duties and tasks involved in the coloring process on this particular piece, she made the following diagram:

Sparta is what turned Star Wars into the Special Edition. A second pair of eyes, a second set of artistic skills and predilections. The primary artist’s responsibility is to devise the composition, select the colors, feel out the weight of the image…

A talented mind like Charha, then, can find opportunities the primary artist might not have thought of. some light beams here to enhance the mood. A tighter rim light on a character to make her stand out better. A reflection on the ground to show it’s been raining.

While working on two stories for HC Vol. 2, namely “House Of The Rising” by Zooshwolf and “What It’s All About” by Vahnfox, the lexicon expanded further (most notably bleem, which is Vahnfox’s cute word for bloom).

Working on Zooshwolf’s story was a novel experience – he does everything in markers, making these strong, stark color regions that offered a surprising number of opportunities once I got them into Photoshop. Zooshwolf has such an eye for dramatic compositions, use of light and reflection, that I really got to turn my ‘Sparta’ up to ’300′.

While Vahnfox already colored in digital, it was the story and his character designs that really made his story interesting to me. Up here there are a lot of strong matriarchal characters in our literature, celebrated and feared in our national saga. These powerful women are traditionally very protective over their land and household. Sometimes they’re witches and such… most of the time, however, they’re mothers.

Even when I didn’t have the word balloons to get the story, the character of Julia Miles really spoke to me. She was clearly an independent adult woman whose femininity was neither downplayed, mocked or exaggerated. Anyone who’s seen a Finnish mother deal with someone who bullied her children will know what I mean!

Rigorously disciplined and highly methodical – two of the qualities that separate an artist from merely an illustrator – he worked long hours alongside Krahnos to help bring the city of Paris to life. Of course, you can’t put an artist like Fel to work without him taking on more than even he agreed to, and his contributions soon went far beyond simple coloring-by-numbers.

I’ve always been interested in collaborating with other artists on a project as ambitious as this. I’ve known Krahnos a long time and we already had quite a shorthand to begin with, but I really feel we were able to bring out the best in each other.

What I’ve seen from the other artists involved is nothing short of jaw-dropping, too! I can’t wait to see where this goes next!

• Visit Fel’s gallery: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fel