As an impressionable child that grew up on Mario Brothers, Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons I always imagined making my own characters in their own world.
I have been drawing since I was very young and continued to develop this into my teenage years messing around doing graffiti and evolved this into mural art.
My hyper active mind was always conjuring up far out scenarios so I could have a creative outlet. In the countless hours it has taken to develop, design and build JiuGo to have it in its current incarnation, I have been writing and designing the characters which make up the small industrial city that is home to the character JiuGo. This young, nerdy kid is always bullied, left out and ridiculed because he doesn’t fit in. This leads to a series of events that pushes JiuGo to learn Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and over come his fear and insecurities. There is many different stories and timelines that co-exist with that of the Protagonist and I will be releasing the first issue of the comic April 2020.
JiuGo develops a card game to help teach people Jiu-jitsu concepts. He plays the game with other fellow nerds who seek shelter from the bullies in the library and through the knowledge and principals they learn playing the game they are encouraged to learn the art and empower themselves.
In all truth Jiugo’s story is universal, the school yard can be brutal and often shapes the psyche of many people in negative ways. Not everyone is fortunate enough to find Martial arts or a pursuit that lifts them up and enables them to build self esteem. The world of a bullied kid is lonely and frightening and in times when you don’t have any good advice or tools to deal with tough situations we look to our heroes – Real or Fictional.
Unbeknownst to the people in his life JiuGo is a super learner- he never forgets anything he sees, reads or hears. This actually gets him into trouble at school as he never writes anything down because he doesn’t need to! Applying this epic capacity to learn to jiu-jitsu enables him rapidly progress in a few short months to a level it would take most 10 years. With this rapid uptake in knowledge he is able to take on the bully who has tormented him for years.
There are many other characters that are revealed over time that help JiuGo on his path to becoming the first ever Jiu-Jitsu super hero!! How does he become super? What are his powers? Does he have a side kick? Does he have a costume?
Stay tuned my friends all will be revealed. Over the coming months I will be releasing images and character development sketches in the lead up to the first issue release. As the world of JiuGo evolves over time much of each characters back story will be revealed to give a greater context to the depth of the relationships and interactions that lead to the creation of the game.
Full JiuGo character sketch coming next blog post, stay tuned my friends.
JT
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