Down Stairs Apartment

A nice little city on Lake Michigan that seems to be constantly hunting for some sense of identity by comparing itself to other, larger cities, rather than just accepting itself for what it is. Home to one of the most expensive new stadiums for one of the worst baseball teams in the league. Honestly, our tax dollars could have been put to better use, like maybe buying a better team to put in the stadium. Also home to the largest group of fans of a football team that doesn't even play in Milwaukee. Hey, maybe they could use that new stadium... nah, that would make too much sense.

Milwaukee seems to have become a melting pot of everything that is mediocre. It's not first or foremost in anything, but it's not exactly the worst at anything, either. Well, we do have the largest summer music, food and beer festival in the country. Yes, you haven't lived until you've spent the day in the hot sun walking around on a mile of blacktop listening to cover bands, all while paying way too much for beer, only to have it spilled on you by an incoherent drunk. Did I mention there's beer?

Honestly though, we're not all about beer, cheese and sausage. There's other stuff, too. Umm... gimme a minute. Okay, did I say beer already?

Milwaukee's okay. I don't love it or hate it. I can think of worse places to live. Like North Korea. At the very least, Milwaukee is affordable. Hey, how's that for a new advertisement? "Milwaukee - at least it's affordable."

Anyway, Down Stairs Apartment is set in an alternate-reality Milwaukee. The city is no different, though, just the characters and the stuff they can get away with. I guess the moral is this: at the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you are, but who you're with.

Real Name: Peter Anderson
Age: 21
Job: Information Technology
School: Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)
Course of Study: Computer Information Systems
Car: 1999 Honda Civic 2-door
Born in Milwaukee

Hood is the voice of reason, most of the time. He's the responsible one; his name is on the lease and he's always trying to keep things in order. With the friends he has, though, that's nearly impossible.

Full Name: Kurt Munrow
Age: 22
Job: Coffee House
School: Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD)
Course of Study: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture
Car: Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS)
Born in Milwaukee

Kurt is more of a free spirit. He's studying art, his true passion. He's not quite the exact opposite of Hood, but he's more laid back and a bit loopy. He also aspires to become a martial arts master, but his practice sessions often backfire. Despite his diminished sense of responsibility and his occasionally bizzare behavior, he and Hood get along well, but he definitely fits in better with the others. He rents the apartment with Hood.

Real Name: Edward Louis Flanagan
Age: 21
Job: Industrial Painting/Powdercoating
School: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM)
Course of Study: Criminal Justice, Psychology
Car: 1997 BMW M3 (very tuned)
Born in Ireland

Elf is the first clue that the comic must take place in a parallel universe. I mean, he's an elf! He's pretty responsible like Hood, but he's downright cynical and a bit of an anarchist, so he gets in trouble once in a while. He enjoys autocrossing with his M3. He rents the apartment with Hood.

Full Name: Kathy Mueller
Age: 25
Job: Photography
School: Graduated from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD)
Course of Study: Photography
Car: 1995 Toyota Corolla
Born in Milwaukee

Kathy is the owner of the east side duplex that Hood and his friends rent. She's pretty responsible and is a certified hottie. She has to put up with a lot of crap from all of Hood's friends, but Hood does his best to smooth it over.

Real Name: Dennis Simpson Day
Age: 22
Job: Water Treatment Technician
School: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM)
Course of Study: Chemistry
Car: 2004 Mini Cooper S with top-mounted minigun
Born in Texas

D-Day is definitely off his bean. He's crazy, dangerous, accident-prone, and a loose cannon with a loose cannon. He's a military 'otaku' and an avid weapon collector. If something explodes, breaks, gets vaporized, fails or catches on fire, he's probably nearby. He's thought to be responsible for the cryptosporidium outbreak a few years ago, as well as the continuous sewage dumps into Lake Michigan, but no conclusive evidence was found. It should also be mentioned that the chemistry lab at UWM has been rebuilt several times for various undetermined reasons.

Real Name: Jim Starck
Age: 23
Job: Clerk at Atomic Records
School: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM)
Course of Study: Physics
Car: 1984 VW Rabbit
Born in Chicago

Site is the epitome of the disaffected college student. He's in school, but his parents are paying for it, so he doesn't really care. He works at the record store, but he'd much rather be working on his car. He does well enough to remain in school, but just barely. He's the party man, the player and the philosopher.

Full Name: Alison Lane
Age: 26
Job: Psychologist
School: Graduated from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM)
Course of Study: Psychology
Car: 2004 Lexus IS 300
Born in Korea

Alison is Kathy's best friend. It's very helpful that she's a psychologist, since nearly everyone else has a mild to severe case of insanity. Hopefully she can avoid going insane herself. She was adopted as a child by a family in Milwaukee, and has lived here ever since.

Full Name: Mike Fonseca
Age: 24
Job: Clerk at Atomic Records
School: Graduated from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM)
Course of Study: Music
Car: 1995 Ford Escort GT
Born in Milwaukee

Mike works with Site at the record store. He's really passionate about music and has high standards. He's kind of cynical and gets irritated at customers sometimes, but still tries to be responsible and friendly. He and Site get along well, probably because Mike thinks it's cool that Site is from Chicago.

Real Name: Unpronounceable in human speech
Age: 7
Job: Unemployed
School: None
Car: We think he's got a spacecraft stashed somewhere
Born God-Knows-Where

This guy is definitely not from this planet. He's pretty young, but his species is able to pass on memory genetically. This makes him very intelligent, but he's still very immature. He loves disco, since the last radio signals from Earth to reach his home planet had been broadcast during the 70's. He pops in once in a while and generally creates confusion and disarray.