Cliff (+ new characters)- Polaroid Pinups (Patreon)

Makes it a comic...oops

So Cliff has two consistent friends I've drawn in the comics so far, Delroy, who's always trying to stop Cliff from being stupid, and the long haired kid Jamie who's always cheering Cliff on. (He has more friends I just haven't drawn them)

Anyway I've been meaning to design Delroy bc there's a scene involving him properly later on, and I figured it would be cool to incorporate him earlier so it's not outta nowhere. I've had this pinup request for ages, and I was like...I wanna do cute outfits but cliff doesn't have the money. Luckily I've been reading Revolutionary Acts- Love and Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain by Jason Okundaye, bc a friend recced it to me, and this bit gave me the idea for this comic haha.

I dont want to research dump because truly it isn't relevant to the comic but it's been really exciting watching a couple of videos about black pirate radio and also reggae music at the time and seeing it line up with the books description of clubs and house parties and what kind of music was popular and acceptable then. I find it so...compelling when following kind of random threads they often overlap and expand on things. Which then leads to loads more possibilities for comic ideas...aa...

Going back to the huge wardrobe, this bit in City of Night by John Rechy was also in the back of my mind.

I think (!?) drag houses/families and proper balls were more a US thing, but we still had fathers and mothers, and Dolly would be a mother to a lot of boys who had nowhere else to go, including Delroy here and there. Mostly I think Delroy has it figured out now though, and lives with a partner or friends in a flat. (...tbc haha)

His family are also Christian but not Catholic, and he's not had...the nicest upbringing because of that. He's not on awful terms with his family but he knows he's better off not living at home.

ALSO I am blown away by the sheer volume of comments on the last comic, I'm very spoiled, thank you all! I haven't had time to reply yet but I'll try do so soon <3