Your cast
We pulled these characters out of your story. Approve the portraits or try another — we'll use the same face in every illustration. Add each person's birth year too, and we'll draw them at the right age on every page: little at the start of the journey, grown by the end.
Give each person a face. We drew a portrait for everyone in your story — we'll use the same face on every page. Approve the ones you like, or tap “Try another” for a different take, and add a birth year so we draw each person the right age. Nothing is painted yet and nothing is final — you can change any face later. When the cast looks right, continue to the scenes.
⚠ Some of your people may come out looking like twins
When two people are described almost the same, the pictures can't tell them apart. Give one of them something all their own — different hair, a different dress or shirt color, a keepsake they always carry — and we'll redraw their portrait.
- Marine 1 and Marine 2 look nearly the same.
Wayne Ray Wilberg
Anchor character — Marine corporal and truck driver
- Age
- early twenties, looks older than his years from hard work and wartime service, a settled calm in his posture
- Build
- broad-shouldered and sturdy, built for hauling heavy loads, medium height with thick forearms
- Skin
- tanned and weathered, ruddy across the cheekbones from outdoor work
- Hair
- dark brown · short regulation U.S. Marine Corps cut — clipped very short (high and tight) on the back and sides, short on top; a strict 1940s military cut, never a civilian side part or long, floppy styling
- Face
- square jaw, straight nose, pale gray-blue eyes with fine sun-squint lines at the corners, a small scar on his chin
- Wears
- U.S. Marine Corps utility uniform — sage-green herringbone twill jacket and trousers, with a single corporal's chevron on each sleeve, worn dog tags visible at the open collar, heavy lace-up boondocker boots dusty from the packed-dirt yard
- Details
- Period WWII USMC headgear ONLY — bareheaded, an M1 steel helmet, or the soft HBT utility cap with the stamped eagle-globe-anchor emblem; NEVER a modern knit beanie or watch cap. The left sleeve of his jacket carries a faded grease stain near the cuff from truck maintenance — his one consistent signature mark.
Appears on
pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12
· 7 of 12
The Japanese Boy
The found child — twelve years old, Japanese
- Age
- Looks closer to nine or ten despite being twelve — slight frame, large expressive eyes, and a round face that still carries childhood softness despite hardship
- Build
- Small and thin for twelve, with bony wrists and narrow shoulders — undersized from poor wartime nutrition, but quick and light on his feet
- Skin
- Warm golden-tan, weathered and lightly dusty from time spent outdoors and in hiding
- Hair
- Blue-black · Straight, cut bluntly just above the ears with short choppy bangs across the forehead — slightly uneven, as if trimmed with whatever was available
- Face
- Dark brown, wide-set eyes with a watchful, serious quality; a small flat nose; full lips often pressed together in quiet attention; ears that stick out slightly beneath his blunt-cut hair
- Wears
- Oversized faded grey Japanese school uniform jacket, several sizes too large so the sleeves hang past his wrists, worn over a plain white undershirt; loose dark navy trousers rolled up at the ankle; bare feet in thin rubber-soled sandals held on with a single fraying strap
- Details
- Clutches a half-eaten candy bar wrapper folded neatly in his jacket pocket — a keepsake from the Marines; when excited or alerting others, he is always shown mid-run, mouth open, arms pumping
Appears on
pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
· 12 of 12
Marine 1
soldier
- Age
- Late teens to very early twenties — a young face, still unlined, but with tired, watchful eyes that sit older than the jaw beneath them
- Build
- Lean and wiry, with ropy forearms and angular shoulders — not tall, but tightly coiled, the build of someone who has been moving fast and eating little for weeks
- Skin
- Deep warm tan — the kind earned across months of open-Pacific sun, with a slight weathered ruddiness at the cheeks and nose
- Hair
- Black, very dark, with a slight blue sheen under the night sky · Regulation high-and-tight: shaved close on the sides and back, a short flat brush of hair on top — no part, no comb-over
- Face
- Strong, clean-shaved jaw; straight nose; eyes slightly narrowed — scanning the dark bay below rather than resting; lips pressed together in a tense, quiet line
- Wears
- U.S. Marine Corps herringbone twill utility uniform — olive-drab jacket and trousers, darker with sweat at the collar and underarms; dog tags hang outside the open collar on a ball-chain; heavy lace-up boondocker boots coated in pale Okinawan grit; no helmet — a soft, dark watch cap pulled low over
- Details
- A fresh, shallow scrape along the back of his left hand — knuckles caught on gravel scrambling up the hillside — still bright pink against his tanned skin; this is his one consistent signature mark, distinct from Wayne's grease-stained sleeve
Appears on
pages 1, 9
· 2 of 12
Marine 2
soldier
- Age
- Late teens to very early twenties — a young face, still unlined, but with tired, watchful eyes that sit older than the jaw beneath them
- Build
- Lean and wiry, with ropy forearms and angular shoulders — not tall, but tightly coiled, the build of someone who has been moving fast and eating little for weeks
- Skin
- Deep warm tan — the kind earned across months of open-Pacific sun, with a slight weathered ruddiness at the cheeks and nose
- Hair
- Black, very dark, with a slight blue sheen under the night sky · Regulation high-and-tight: shaved close on the sides and back, a short flat brush of hair on top — no part, no comb-over
- Face
- Strong, clean-shaved jaw; straight nose; eyes slightly narrowed — scanning the dark bay below rather than resting; lips pressed together in a tense, quiet line
- Wears
- U.S. Marine Corps herringbone twill utility uniform — olive-drab jacket and trousers, darker with sweat at the collar and underarms; dog tags hang outside the open collar on a ball-chain; heavy lace-up boondocker boots coated in pale Okinawan grit; no helmet — a soft, dark watch cap pulled low over
- Details
- A fresh, shallow scrape along the back of his left hand — knuckles caught on gravel scrambling up the hillside — still bright pink against his tanned skin; this is his one consistent signature mark, distinct from Wayne's grease-stained sleeve
Appears on
pages 1, 9
· 2 of 12