Long John

Designing Hellrider John was a fun challenge. Ultimately, it came down to pulling back on including details that carried symbols and meaning tied to greater lore, instead keeping in mind the design philosophy of the Hellrider in the first place––every design choice is meant to point directly to the skull floating in a black void.

Sketches made while designing Hellrider John. Click for larger version.

With that in mind, it goes back to the heart of character design in comics and animation: having a discernible and distinct silhouette, one that was recognizable from Hellrider Jackie and one that made it clear it was a version of Long John. To that end, I did end up using a version of the design I made of Long John in his original clothes as the baseline for this design. So, technically, this is the only time we see him in a version of his original clothes that Juan John and Jonny Mono stole from him (though we see his clothes in other situations, as well), but most of it has been obscured.

Hellrider Jack. Pencil, 1998.

The funny thing is that this kind of takes the Hellrider character back to its origins from way back in high school, originally a cursed, vengeful knight that represented everything I thought was cool as a teenager. Honestly, I wasn’t thinking of that when I created this version of Hellrider John, but it’s full-circle moment that I’m even prouder of it as I realize that connection in real time. It’s a high five to my younger self across the span of thirty years.

The thumbnail drawing for this page. Click for larger version.