All right, here's the first ever drawing I did of Heywood, when he was still intended primarily for use as a role playing character! Pretty awful huh? Perhaps even frightening! It goes without saying that the original design was modified heavily to make it suitable for use in the comic.
Although he first began as role playing avatar, Heywood's inclusion in the comic wasn't meant to be a way of putting myself in the strip or be any sort of wish fulfillment whatsoever. He most definitely is not a Mary-Sue, good Heavens no!!! However, once again, you usually end up writing what you know, and like Skippy, I found myself inadvertantly incorporating some of my own personality traits and mannerisms into the character. Oh, by all means, I'm nowhere near as crazy as he is, I have a much firmer grip on reality, not nearly as boorish, chauvinistic or socially inept. But I do share his colorful imagination, warped sense of humour, and occasional naughty mindedness.
If you take both Skippy and Heywood's personalities and somehow merged them, I think you get a pretty good parody of my own. Wildly exaggerated for comic effect to be sure, but the likeness is still very much noticeable. Skippy represents my more serious, logical, intellectual side; the nice guy who tries to behave responsibly and finds himself constantly at odds with the insanity around him. Heywood is my more impulsive, creative, imaginative half whose eccentric, non-conforming worldview occasionally draws conflict with those around him.
Again, none of this was a deliberate or intentional part of the process. It's just something that is inevitable when you draw on your own perceptions and experiences to build a creative work. Hopefully it's worked to help make the characters feel more genuine and real in the minds of the reader.
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