Melody and Macabre

Author notes

ReaperWatch, Page 1

Xiam

on May 11, 2008

This chapter will be rather minimalist and low-tech, despite the fact that it has largely to do with computers and the internet.

At any rate… we now see a new character, Simon.

Simon is, as you will soon learn, a complete geek. Particularly for mythology, and especially for the Grim Reaper. His one true hope is to prove that it is real, and so he developed a website - ReaperWatch - to serve as a depository for all knowledge on it. Aside from the forum, there is also a ReaperChat, as well as a map where you can view all the sightings from around the world.

To be honest, I'd lost my character sketches of Simon (though each one had him wearing glasses, which makes him look an awful lot like the individual from the last chapter, Samael). My eventual decision was to make him basically a blonde version of me with glasses.

So hey, if any fans want to figure out what I look like, imagine Simon there with no glasses and dark hair. I totally need a haircut, haha.

Sadly, he is a lot like me. I am having to ensure that this fellow is not a Mary Sue, probably by making him an almost perfect photocopy of me. He's a complete loser, lives with his mom, and doesn't really get that his interests are seen as weird by normal people. He probably doesn't even get that the mail you see in Panel 3, which he did, in fact, post on the main page, is actually a joke at his expense. The full name was Nick Lucifer (Old Nick).

There is actually a Hell in Michigan. I was going to do a "Hell, Arkansas," but I decided… why not go with an actual Hell?

BTW: The forum conversation is a near-accurate portrayal of almost every individual ever found in forums where you are allowed an opinion on a subject. In this case, the conversation is, "Is the Grim Reaper beneath his robes?" - which is more or less a joke on my own comic's portrayal, as we can't actually SEE his face, and his hands look almost bony, but not quite.