Who is Jim?

(c) 2012 Evan Peter

So, right there for you...this is Jim.  He's one of our chief protagonists and probably one of the most mellow super powered characters ever committed to page.  Yes, I'm just staking that claim.  Reason being is that that's the theme for this blog:  I've spent a lot of time telling you guys what Evan and I are doing to make this comic as real as it can be, and very little time telling you the who's and what's of the comic itself.  I figured I'd leave that to the issues themselves, but it doesn't hurt to give you guys a little character history, especially if it'll make you want Issue #1 even more!  Let me tell you guys about Jim...

Jim is a junior at Aurora High School.  He's in NHS, as well as being a National Merit Scholar.  Smart guy, AP classes, the works.  He's one of those people you know could get into an Ivy League, but won't.  Not for lack of trying, but just he's "not from the right place."  He is an only child.

Jim's family moved to Aurora about 6 month before he was born.  He has grown up with everyone he goes to school with, and has always just been, "that smart guy with the glasses."  Jim is quite private.  He is actually a fantastic athlete, and played basketball when he was younger in the Park league.  However, Jim's disinterest in try-outs and the basic tenets of Middle School in general led him to opt out of playing any school-sponsored sports.  He still plays recreationally, on occasion though. 

Jim refocused on academics as his way "out".  He figured good grades, and academic-oriented extracurriculars would help him get into a good college, and secure a job he actually liked...when he was ready to think about what he wanted to do with his life.  Jim joined Model UN, which he found highly entertaining, mostly because it got him out of school on an excused absence and allowed him to focus on personal tasks.  Jim once quipped to a fellow delegate, "It's like a second spring break."  Jim is well known in the Model UN crowd for consistently putting forth resolutions to absolve the UN.  In the six years Jim has been a part of Model UN, he has put this resolution in eight times as the delegate from Denmark (his personal favorite place to "be from"), successfully absolving the UN, earning him the respect and laughter of his constituents, but the ire of the teachers organizing the event. Jim's penchant for academic mischief comes from his pragmatic approach to anything he encounters in life:  If it's worth doing, it's probably worth doing with a sense of humor.

Jim's spirited attitude toward his academics confounds his teachers and fellow students often.  For instance, Jim has never read an assigned required reading book, save for "The Plague" by Albert Camus and "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (both were instances where he felt he just wanted to read those books).  If Jim does read anything, he reads the synopsis and the first few pages, a few from the middle, and the ending.  Jim attributes his success in English classes to this process, as when he knows very little about the book, his thesis arguments typically can be supported by outlandishly pulled inferences and metaphors.  Jim truly excels at Math though, where as a junior, he is already taking AP Calculus.  Jim enjoys Mathematics, he finds it easy, and also with AP Calculus, a way to avoid a class his senior year of high school.  Jim has only been accused of cheating once by Molly Spooler, a fellow National Merit Award finalist.  He did not cheat and was exonerated based on no evidence to substantiate the claim, but since then, his presence in the NHS particularly, has been minimal.  Jim's experiences with Molly turned him off from a lot of NHS activities, and so he now does the bare minimum required to be in the club.  Jim is also on the tech crew for the school drama department, ascending as far as being the lighting director once for his school's version of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat."  Around the time of his issues with Molly and NHS, Jim became closer friends with Stacy.

Although Stacy and Jim had been friends before, they became very close after Jim's issues with NHS.  Stacy, also in the club, thought it was odd that few rallied around Jim.  He and Stacy, from then on, were very close.  Many thought they had started a romantic relationship, but nothing could be further from the truth.  While they had tried sometime in their freshman year to be a couple, they found it odd, and quickly broke up after a month, leaving a gap in their friendship, which lasted until Jim's issues with NHS.  Jim and Stacy were very close, and after the incident that led to them discovering one another had powers, they became inseparable.

Jim's romantic life is far less documented than anything else.  He dated a popular girl, Julie, for quite some time, then broke up for unknown reasons.  Jim in general, doesn't date.  He likes girls, wants girls...but it's just sort of an afterthought at this moment in his life.

Although seeming on the straight and narrow, highly motivated and practical, Jim is still a free spirit in terms of how he lives his life.  His long term goals, past going to college, are not really known to anyone but him, and even he finds them murky.  Jim likes to live in the moment as much as he can, like any high schooler.  He's as basic as they come.  The smart kid...who can fly.

That's a basic idea of where Jim's coming from.  Should be even more fun to see how you guys react!  Stacy and Louis' character histories will follow shortly.  Evan is right now, as we speak, inking page 6 of issue #1.  We'll be keeping you guys in the loop as far as that goes, however...the teaser issue will be coming at the end of the month!  I'll post it here and on our Facebook for you guys so you can check it out and get excited for Issue #1 in June.  Hopefully the teaser will tide you guys over!  Thanks again for sticking with us.  As always, if you have questions, comments, etc...Just ask!  We're an ever-opening book over here.  Until next time, friends...

-alex.