The personality of each character does not reflect their real world inspiration but is in fact an inflation of typical college student personality traits. The stories and the characters themselves are not a basis for writing a biography, and have been exaggerated to move along character and plot development for the fictional world of LvldUp.
LvldUp follows the story of Marcus and his adventures through college. He is a sarcastic, light hearted, art school geek who has an unparalleled passion for video games, fantasy and swords. Though Marcus sometimes comes off as a half witted goofy gamer, he is actually extremely sharp and often times has a quicksilver tongue. He is also a bit of a romantic, believing he is involved in some type of neo-bohemian revolution.
David is Marcus' long time best friend and roommate. David and Marcus always dreamed of going to art school but David eventually drops out and becomes a psychology major because his passion lies in debating things like theology, politics, and religion. Together, Marcus and David are a force of sarcasm that shouldn't be reconed with.
Rachel transferred into Kendall during the first week of school and instantly Marcus found an interest in her. In Marcus' world, it's rare to find a girl who doesn't hate video games, but actually plays them. When together Rachel tends to balance Marcus out and at times, they are each other's voice of reason... as long as you don't make her mad.
Professor Greenstone is Marcus' very first college professor and the two never see eye to eye. In the past Professor Greenstone has had his share of video game, technology fanboys but Marcus proves to be the worst of them yet. Greenstone despised Marcus and just wants the school year to end so Marcus will be out of his hair. Marcus can't stand having to do functional art (no undo button to work with) so he never puts any real effort into Greenstone's class.
Dr. Bryan is the art history professor at Kendall. He is a very presumptuous, dry humored man who refuses to let students call him 'Professor Bryan' or 'Mr. Bryan', stating that he didn't go through years of schooling to not be called Doctor. Marcus learns early on Dr. Bryan's personality, and devises a plan to make him never call upon him for an answer in class.
Joe is Marcus' younger brother, who would be the class clown (had he made it to college). Instead, he spends his free time being a prankster, hanging out with the group in their free time, and enjoys a good video game competition between him and his friends. Joe has been known to drag Marcus and David into short escapades, which often lead to humorous scenarios.
BENCHMARKS AND INSPIRATION
MacHall.com
"Mac Hall follows the exploits of a group of college students who are typical slackers. The series primarily focused on the events that occurred between classes and after hours and only rarely references actual class work. The comic takes its name from MacDonald Hall, a dormitory at Bowling Green State University. Later in the series, the cast moves into a house, where they reside until graduation, and the comic's conclusion."
Applegeeks.com
"Applegeeks is largely based around the misadventures of "Hawk," a somewhat delusional college student with an unnatural fondness for Apple products; his aspiring writer friend, Jayce; and their friends and cohorts. The comic's format shifts between gag-a-day material to spurts of continuity, often dealing with material related to technological accomplishments (with unforeseen results), quasi-romantic unease, or situational comedic moments between the characters. It has currently shifted to a far darker tone with the beginning of the Exodus story arc."
The above authors have been two web comics that I have looked up to for the later part of a decade now. Both Ian and Mohammad have been mentors to me in my art process, and eventually their help got me into art school. I have always been a huge fan of them, and love seeing them do what they love. It's always been inspiring to me and to this day drives my desire to create web comics and the world of LvldUp.
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