~Strangely,
Mannix started out as a space-filler in an early poster I drew of all of my
characters. There was a sizeable blank spot in one of the corners…and I
realized after drawing the whole thing out that there didn't seem to be a villain
of any sort. He now shoulders a good deal of the story's drive, tipping the
scales to his liking wherever the chance arises. I chose a ram for his previous
character design mostly because the ram is a traditional symbol of evil…particularly
in Christianity (even though religion plays no part in the story). The ram is
also representative of Aries, a war god, which added to the relevance of using
that symbolism. After putting a good deal of work into his character, Mannix
became a little too complicated to be a simple villain in black and white terms.
He only plays dirty because everyone else does. Having at least started out
with a set of honorable values, he's not quite as villainous as many of the
other characters…but, as a result of his talents, he's more effective,
and that makes him a greater antagonist.
The name Mannix is Irish in origin and means 'monk'…which really isn't
of any importance. I did like the sound of the name, however. It seemed somehow
foreboding, perhaps because it sounds like the word 'manic.' Imagine my horror
upon finding out that there were reruns of an old detective TV series on Nick-at-Nite
by the same name. Hehe…I choose to disregard, though.
I think his current design has something to do with my mental association between
rams and Greek mythology, thereby arriving at what I consider a Greek look--black,
curly hair, tall and slender with a Roman nose. Then again, maybe it was the
old Cat Stevens look that had something to do with it.
