I need some Graphic Design

Think 1980's cartoons meets superhero comic books. We have a children's picture book series coming out called "Charlie & The WiggleButts" It is for kids around 2nd grade and tells the tale of three misfit dogs who turn into superhero dogs when their family is away...or so they think. Watch the 120 pound yellow lab named Duke turn into The Duke-a-Saur, the scaredy pants medium sized shepard mix named Hope transforms into Hope-Tron, and the tiny little black cutesy dog named Charlie is the brains of the operation and he becomes Kung Fu Charlie. When their family leaves for the day and they're about to fight crime, they turn into their superdog alter egos. This story is very silly and told like a mix between Garfield and a comic book. The dogs think they become superheros but they're actually just a giant fat yellow lab, a scared scrawny shepherd mix, and a tiny black jack russel schnauzer. Anyway, they take on silly villains like the Mad Mailman, The Army of Squirrels, and The Conniving Cat! Hope, the medium sized, brown shepherd mix, gets a bionic eye that is strapped around her head like an eyepatch and most likely shoots lasers. She is also wearing a cape. Duke, the super fat yellow lab mix is soft and cuddly and everyone's friend, but when he is Duke-a-Saur, he becomes big and buff and has metal chest plates or shoulder plates. He just becomes the most stereotypical superhero large buff dude but in dog form. Charlie is the tiny black dog that is very cute but as a superdog, Charlie becomes kung fu Charlie and he is dressed in his stereotypical karate outfit with a yellow belt or any color belt really. He does a lot of karate chopping. I would prefer to have the design in illustrator when finished. Hope is medium sized, brown with some black in her and has really large ears and is very skinny. We have published a series of children's books on a different subject (see here at: [login to view URL]) and are starting a new series that we're trying to find an illustrator for. We're looking for someone who can deliver vector graphics preferably in AI. This job is for the first book, but three have already been written so it could be a long term gig. Our previous illustrator was paid $1,500 after the first book and then receives 10% of all profits forever on all the stories including the first one. She did three books. We would like a similar arrangement with the new illustrator but are open to negotiation. Essentially, we want someone to do it because they're into the story and idea because we would like to make this a series and want someone who is on board from the beginning. Because of this, we're hoping that the illustrator will accept less on the front end for more on the back end.