Transyltown

Model:

When I asked myself what other kind of monster should I introduce along side the vampire/slayer combo of Timmy and Alicia; naturally the answer was a werewolf.Friendship is a very major theme in Transyltown, and I wanted to explore the bond between a child and their pet. So early concepts of Luna were of a dog that simply got bigger under the moon full moon light.

However that full moon thing werewolves have got for them is a bit pesky. This may be a minor inconvenience to some, but the full moon to me that would mean that either adventure would be roughly 30 days apart or canonically I’d have some stories where what became Luna would not be able to transform. So the idea that she could change at any time came into mind. Inspired by the lycanthropes of the Underworld series.

Sorry Alfa, but werewolves are kind of lame for on going adventure tales, so have fun being a recurring character!

Then I gave her the loving but kind of annoying personality that I associate with dogs, and added in a bit of an admiring neighborhood kid or sibling.

Design:

Unlike Timmy and Alicia I didn’t reference other characters to nail down a certain feel for Luna’s design. I had decided, “she’s gonna wear a fur hoodie, and her dog form will be a giant golden retriever puppy!” Then I looked at a ton of pictures of 5-8 year old kids until I found a hair style I thought made a good silhouette, and wasn’t just pigtails or ponytails. From there I referenced golden retriever puppies, simplified to features to look cartoony, and applied some of the look to her human form.

I can talk about some of the indirect influences that may have resulted in her design. After I realized that her lack of black tones made her look unbalanced in panels I added the black bar at the top and bottom of her hoodie, that I think feels rather Naruto-like, and Naruto’s Kiba may have inspired the fur hoodie motif.

When I think yellow, cute, mascot character … yeah… Pikachu certainly had an influence on Luna’s design. I haven’t watched or read much of Gintama, but when I see Sadaharu I feel that was probably the biggest influence on Luna’s dog form. Also Sadaharu is just about the cutest thing in the world!

Trivia:

-The featured image of Luna sports a collar. I drew in between episodes 2 and 3 of Transyltown before I decided that Luna wouldn’t like collars, and therefore doesn’t wear one.

-I picked the name Luna for its moon meaning when she as still meant to be a werewolf.

-In colored art her fur hood is the same color as her pants, but black in black and white art to help balance her in panels that mostly feature her upper half.