So this is part 1 of what was supposed to be the big revealing origin of Ted Parrish and how he got where he was. I’d hoped it would be clear enough on its own but it wasn’t (so if I ever rerelease it I’d add in some captions).
Here though is the artistic intent:
Ted had an older sister (name not given which is kind of horrible on my part – and the fact that people thought she was his mother). His sister got routinely catcalled and Ted being a tough little kid tried to stand up for her and got beaten. Ted’s father, a pastor (Pastor Parrish haha) didn’t like his son getting into fights and scolded him. Ted’s sister liked that he was trying to help her (here is another issue, beyond catcalls we never get the sense of any impropriety, there is no need for Ted to fight), so she ends covering up the bruises. Time goes by and it still happens so Ted keeps fighting but he’s learned to cover up the bruises with makeup by himself. It is this feminine/masculine irony where the boxer is so afraid of his father that he uses makeup to hide his bruises. End Part 1.
I still like the idea, it was just unclear. Was he an orphan, was that his mom? So on and so forth.
Still, better to try and fail than…never succeed.
And as always, here is the page in black and white.