End of The Tunnel
The final version of my senior Illustration thesis, complete after nearly two years of work. Consists of concept art and character designs for a narrative I would eventually like to adapt into either a short animated series, comic, or game.
End of The Tunnel is a short story that follows a grief-stricken man on his journey through the darkest parts of the earth and his mind.
Set 30 years after the collapse of his hometown’s old coal mine, Tom sets out to find the bodies of his old coworkers; either to recover them, or to join them. His only companion in the dark is a small and injured Canary who attempts to guide him towards an escape. But the caves are labyrinthian and filled with monsters and places that represent the deepest parts of Tom’s mind. Forced to confront his dark thoughts and past, will his decision to join his old friends still be the same once he reaches the bottom of the mines?
The Cast
The main protagonist of End of The Tunnel. An unkempt ex-miner, wracked with severe survivor's guilt, who is contemplating the worth of his life. After his impromptu equipment breaks, he embarks on a journey through the old, collapsed Coal Mines, concussed from the fall. With his mental health on the fritz, Tom's only goal is to find the bodies of the men left behind in the tunnels below, but his reasoning for doing so is more self-destructive than he lets on.
TOM
A woman whose worries over her own self-worth have led her to alcoholism. Her husband's self-destructive behavior has caused her to view their marriage and herself as a burden. While she worries for Tom, she resents the lack of communication between them. His stoicism scares her into thinking she is the fault between them. Despite her love for him, Venus considers divorce, knowing she can’t be the rock for someone who won’t lean on her.
VENUS
A bright and vivid canary who has somehow survived in the dark for years. Injured after her initial run-in with Tom, she teams up with him in an attempt to escape the dark, only to find his goal is to reach the bottom of the caves instead. Her attempts to convince Tom of his worth fall on deaf ears, but she persists nonetheless. She is determined to get through to him.
EMBER
A parasitic, Human-faced centipede that is often found clinging to the headless corpses of Tom's old coworkers. Starved for contact after years of nothingness, its only companion is the body it inhabits. The corpse's central nervous system is replaced by Vermin's jelly-like underbelly. Despite the lack of a head, the body is still alive. However, their codependency puts strain on both of them, causing the two to butt heads often.
VERMIN
A young man residing in a city buried deep beneath the surface, suave and charming, yet utterly chaotic. With a demeanor similar to Tom's when he was younger, Davy Carbide is a whirlwind, enamoured with parties and booze. His determination to mask and bury his negative emotions extends to Tom, and he lures his older counterpart into the land of escapism and glamour, away from Ember’s guidance.
CARBIDE
The bitter and resentful side of Venus that Tom misremembers from their arguments. Disguised as Venus from a distance, her face peels back into petals of tendon and muscle, revealing a pale skull and sharp teeth. Her pursuit is relentless, and her attempts to sink her fangs into Tom are never-ending.
FLYTRAP
A metaphorical part of Tom that was left behind on the day of the Coal Mine's initial collapse. Trapped in the dark for the last 30 years, Black Lung has eagerly awaited the day Tom would succumb to his self-destructive urges and join his old coworkers. Imprisoning Ember in his ribcage, this shadow of Tom's past urges him to give in to the grief and depression, but underestimates the change one little bird might have had on Tom's mindset.
BLACK LUNG
Concept Art
The first meeting of with Ember. Tom, recently concussed, hallucinates and perceives her as a fiery phoenix darting through the caverns.
Tom and Ember encounter Vermin, establishing the centipede as a threat as it hunts for them both.
Tom’s chance run-in with Flytrap in the underground city of Lamplighters. The monster’s true form is only visible in the reflection of nearby store windows as she passes by, imitating Venus.
Tom and Ember, at the end of the story, had escaped from the darkness of the caves. Ember has healed, and Tom is on his way to mental recovery.
Tom and Ember’s first moments in the City of Lamplighters, surrounded by it’s unnatural denizens and blazing light.
A theatrical establishment of Black Lung as a threat, shadowing over Tom and Ember in the darkest parts of the tunnels.
Closing Thoughts
End of the Tunnel is an incredibly important story to me, and has been for seven years. The idea is one that I keep coming back to, the idea that someone so hurt and upset with themself and the world can still make a comeback. The moral, and the idea of some sort of good that a person deserves, has genuinely gotten me out of some dark places mentally.
College was hell on earth, but also amazing. My friends were spontaneously perfect and supportive, and my professors were the most inspirational people. I have never felt more motivated to work on a project before.
I mean when I say that I want to pursue End of The Tunnel as something bigger than it is now. I want this to be some more easily consumable media. If I have to spend years working on a comic for it by myself, then so be it. I genuinely want nothing more than to tell people this story.
Trust me, I want to do this. I’m going to. I will.