My comic, Employees Only, lent over it’s style and humor to a commercial project that will hopefully help kids in school do better at test taking!

Although I can’t share the whole comic  because it is now part of a product that the company will be selling to schools, I can share a few details that didn’t make it into the comic which I thought might be interesting…sort of a director’s commentary.

The concept circles around a duck (which I’ve privately named Pearson) that helps three kids prepare to take tests. Oddly enough, a lot of kids don’t really know how to take tests in general, nor do they know the best ways to prepare and study for them. I went with a duck because I figured it was odd enough that most kids would at least give it a chance.  However, because I was under such a tight deadline, the story stuck very much to the point and there’s no back story (IE – there’s no reason why there’s a duck helping kids take tests).

To me this is secretly hilarious. I love nonsense stuff, and ducks are perfect non sequitur in my opinion.

The student characters are also a little too busy being helped with test preparation that they don’t even get introduced properly, but for any who may be curious they are named Neil, Kevin, and Felicia. Each had a personality and as the story developed I started to really sense their identity, even though there wasn’t much chance for it to show through. I did squeeze in a small amount of shtick between Pearson and Neil though that was a lot of fun for me to include into the story – I’m really hoping that students respond well to it.

Overall I’m thrilled and honored to have worked on this comic, and I’m hoping it’s the beginning to similar opportunities in the future! Special thanks to everyone at Pearson who made it possible!