SYNOPSIS
Saving an unfinished painting from the garbage pile was going to be the highlight of Shawn's late night at work - until the sky flashed and a bewildered young lady appeared out of nowhwere on the steps of the art museum. Emma, who moments before was in the year 1910, now must rely on Shawn's kindness to not only help her get home, but to guide her in this strange, modern world.
CHARACTERS
Always ready with a smile or a word of encouragement, one would think that Shawn Truid would have dozens of friends. Yet he lives a fairly isolated life, working at night and then going home to his empty apartment. His optimism and warmth makes him easy to trust, and even easier to depend on. Loves: being useful, video games, comics, his motorcycle. Hates: uncertainty, dwelling on stressful thoughts, computers, and chick flicks.
In 1910, Emma Luthain lived a quiet, predictible life and never dreamed of wanting more. A comibination of shyness and lack of confidence made Emma despair getting involved in the lives of others. With Shawn's help, Emma begins to learn to look past her uncertainty and reach out to those around her. Loves: peace and quiet, reading, painting. Hates: being watched while painting, chaos, not having a plan.
One never has to wonder what Shawn's younger sister, Jen Truid,is thinking or feeling. Bursting at the seams with life, Jen lives for fun. Because she and Shawn lost their parents when they were still teengers, Shawn was Jen's guardian growing up and she still views him as a parental figure. Loves: geekery, strange clothes and hair colors, socializing. Hates: being alone, being serious, being bored.
Although Shawn raised Jen through her teen years, he couldn't have done it without the help of Sherri. She has always been a friend of the Truid family and remains a steady rock that they can turn to no matter how old they get. Loves: being a doctor, cooking, singing in her church choir. Hates: patients not following instructions, rainy afternoons, insensitive people.
COMIC HISTORY
Way, way back in 2005 I released the first few pages of Skipping Tomorrows. I wanted so bad to tell a simple little love story that happened around something unusual but focused on the little things. I had grand delusions of being one of those epic webcomic artists that updates a full-color page 3 times a week, produces digital paintings on weekends that make the front page of deviant art, and pepper my blog with geekish writings that would spark dozens of comments. Well, none of that happened. I had never attempted anything in comic form before, I only had access to photoshop at work, and I grossly underestimated how much time and effort it took to make a sucessful webcomic. Updates were sporadic, my art style and abilities went through growing pains and changes, and every week I wanted to start from scratch. Months would go by with nary an update. Computers crashed, backups were lost, hosting companies stole money and moved to deep Mexico (true story), and my life went on. Jobs changed, siblings married, and multiple moves happened. I just couldn't shake Shawn and Emma, though. If you've followed this story from the beginning, you're incredible. If you're finding this comic for the first time, I hope that you look past the drastic art evolution and the dated manga/anime/game references. It's been a long labor of love, and if you get even a little bit of entertainment from Skipping Tomorrows, then my time, efforts, and even my embarassment of having my old art on display to the whole internet has been worth it. Thanks for reading.
- Ami, Jan 2012