Starbolts #793: The Great Reconnection

 Hail!

    I wonder if I should have put a warning at the top of this week's comic. A fourth of it has some nudity. Eh, it's okay. There's some strategically placed word balloons and blurs covering up Crystal's umm...large tracts of land. I always try to be mindful with the nudity in the comic. And in this case we knew it was coming. Marcus and Crystal had to bond again after losing their connection in Starbolts #789. Now they're back and maybe a little stronger than ever. I don't think those two will be deliberately trying to disconnect only to reconnect again any time soon. It should be noted that they don't have to bond through sex. It can be a catalyst.

    Picking Marcus over Tanis for the bedside conversation was easy. Marcus went through a tough time in the Cave of Sorrows and so it made sense for him to open up to Crystal here. We didn't see what Heidi went through and to be honest it may not have been as brutal as Marcus's struggle. I mean sure Heidi is bisexual and there's a number of topics I could have had her deal with. But we know Marcus and I wanted bring up something that was on my mind for a while.

    Marcus isn't like most Black people. He was born in an infirmary to two top tier superheroes. He was raised to be part of the next generation of Earth's heroes. He met and fell in love with a survivor of abuse and as luck would have it her parents turned out to be Stan and Andrea Whitefox who are friends with Marcus's parents. Speedy's had it all.  But it remains to be seen how he deals with everything when the Starbolts return to Earth. The next storyline is going to involve Crystal's book. It should be a good one!

    Meanwhile, the Faeori have a choice. They can either stay in the Delta Quadrant or return to Earth with Medea and Tanis. The choice is theirs to make now that Xarius is on the other side of the quadrant. I think Xarius may turn up again. You never know. We might even see her true "dragon" form some day. I'll definitely bring her back at some point. A dragon like her can hold a grudge for sure. She was draining the Faeori and now they're free. Where they go from here is anyone's guess. At least the day is saved thanks to the Starbolts.  We still have got a ways to go before Starbolts #800. Upward and onward!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #792: Face the Dragon

 Hail!

    I love having Jack and Carter team up. I should do it more often. They definitely have a good cop/bad cop dynamic. Though, based on some of Jack's actions he could be a "bad cop" sometimes. Still, they got the job done. Crystal and the others will have their magic back and all will be right with the world. That just leaves one small problem. What do we do with Xarius? Well, she could stand trial for her various crimes or they'll do something else to her entirely. I'd hate to waste a great villain. We'll see her and her son again some day. You never know. They COULD follow our heroes back to the Alpha quadrant.

    At least the magic has now been restored and we'll see the impact of Xarius "losing her lunch" next week. Marcus and Heidi will no doubt be happy that their respective partners are better again. Whether or not the bond is still there is to be determined. I think now they all know that they have to maintain the bond for a little while in order for it to stick.

    That just leaves the Faeori. There's quite a few of them on board the Aquito and poor Firaxil is trying to corral the lot of them. The question is do our heroes leave them on the moon or do they take them back to Earth. The possibilities are endless. Shenra is still going to stay with them no matter what. It's just a matter of WHERE they will all stay. I may show her next week. For now it seems the"dragon" has been stopped and we can continue our march to \Starbolts #800.

See you next time! 

Starbolts #791: The Magic Eating Dragon

 Hail!

 Wow. That is some mean magic eating dragon! I know she has angel wings but not all dragons need to have reptile-like wings. This story also takes place in the Delta Quadrant where the laws of nature as we know them do not apply. If that's a "dragon" then Toejani is a marsupial. Actually, for all we know Toejani's species could be like marsupials. You never know. Maybe the universal translator glitched and something was lost in translation? Who knows?

    At least the machine was destroyed and Medea, Crystal and Tanis will be on the mend. But now we have a mad dragon to contend with and since our heroes beamed up the Faeori for their safety you can bet that she will not be happy about this situation and be right on their tail! That dragon is not gonna be happy and we haven't seen the last of her. Stay tuned for dragon hijinks next time!

See ya then! 

Starbolts #790: The Cave of Sorrows

 Hail!

    This week's comic had to go through a bit of a slight edit as I was unsure of how to work the angle with Marcus meeting that apparition. Initially, I wanted Marcus to meet a version of him that was exposed to the Black experience. But I wasn't sure how to go about it. I think I got the point across. Marcus was born to two superheroes and one of them was from Kenya. The other one was a military guy and as a result Marcus never had a "normal" childhood. His best friend growing up was a guy with wings growing out of his back! He never had a "normal" childhood experience. So, he lived his life the way he wanted. Sure he did stuff for his fellow African Americans but he fears that there would be scorn and ridicule along the way.

    Once Marcus delivers that spell safely to Crystal, they're probably gonna have a long talk about what the apparition told him. I tried to give Crystal's spell some of Crystal's own personality and I think it works here. Of course she says things our Crystal probably wouldn't. But at least the intent is there. I think the two of them will be in for an interesting bonding session once the magic returns to our redheaded heroine. 

      Now, we come to the dragon. I was never going to make him that big, really. Huge dragons are kinda a cliche. Looks like he was a wee bit obsessed with television. We'll see how this plays out now that his viewing mirror is gone. Will he help our heroes restore their friends' magic? We shall see.

    As for what Jack saw? I have a few ideas. Most of them involve Soldier Six and the fact that he never learned magic. I'm not sure what Heidi saw. Maybe she saw something related to Lucy. It's hard to say. 

 I'm not sure if I'll play up on Marcus's reaction to the vision at some point. He'll talk about it with Crystal, sure. But there's little else he can do at this point. I do think the edit is a lot better than what I had before. Nothing like a good old fashioned polishing to get things right!

 See ya next time as we march on to Starbolts #800! 

Starbolts #789: Escape from Crazytown

 Hail

    Well, this adventure with the Faeori has definitely took an interesting turn. It seems that their magic can undo any mystical bond between couples. Oh, dear. If Marcus, Crystal, Tanis and Heidi get out of this mess they're going to be spending the trip home reconnecting. It shouldn't be a problem. I hope. The bond was tenuous at best because Crystal and Tanis are magic users and their bondmates aren't. It takes time, effort and a lot of maintenance in order for the bonds to stick permanently. Since they're young, our heroes were exceptionally influenced by the spell our cult leader friend cast on them. 

    There just has to be a way for our heroes to get the magic back and they will succeed once Jack and his team face the dragon. One problem. Marcus and Heidi are obviously affected. Let's hope they can hold it together and save Medea and the others before it's too late. I don't think Medea and co like what that guy is selling. 

    It was a bit of poor planning to have a bunch of magic users on the ship for this adventure. But it is what it is. Though, I am pretty sure Firaxil can take out the cult of no personality without his Centurion powers. There just isn't enough time to get everyone there and back. Here's hoping Jack can save the day yet again. I just don't think a dance-off is going to work this time.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #788: The Cult of Personality

 Hail!

    Wow. The only thing more dangerous than a cult is a cult on drugs. Looks like our heroes are really in a pickle. The sooner they deal with that dragon the better. That beast has definitely sucked the brains out of the Faeori along with their magic. Once "Kolor" has been dealt with they should return to normal. Well, aside from all the withdrawal symptoms and everything. That's going to be a huge pain for the village. Good thing Shenra has elected to stay once this mission is over or else they'd have no idea how hard the recovery will be.

    In other news, we have learned that Crystal is planning on writing a book about her life. I can't say this is a surprise because it's something I've discussed with Sam and my other consultants about from time to time. For those who don't know Crystal is a survivor of abuse and her book could help millions who have been in her shoes. It's always been a plan of mine to have the Whitefox sisters outshine those who harmed them. Carter is on a fast track to winning a Nobel. Crystal is for sure going to win awards for her story. We'll see snippets of it and who knows it may even be a good jumping on point for new readers. I haven't done one in a long time and I should probably get around to making one as we head to Starbolts #800.

    Before we get that far we're going to have to fight a fearsome drug dragon. It was definitely not cool of the cult to cast illusions of Medea's dead parents. If she could be tricked by an illusion, it means that the dragon is far more powerful than they think. Then again the beastie did hide a solar system and cause a technological blackout. I'm going to have to try something really unique for this magic eating dragon. I don't think it'll look like eastern or western dragons in Earth legend. But I promise it will be epic!

It probably won't be another space turtle. Stay tuned!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #787: Independence Day Aquarius

 Hail!

     There's nothing like starting a Independence Day celebration with the execution of a giant orange space cockroach! In this week's comic, we return to the Alpha Quadrant to see what the rest of the Starbolts are up to. Jenna and Mateo are on Aquarius with Stan and Andrea Whitefox celebrating their independence from the Mosqukatara Empire. Of course things don't always go as planned and so Shrall and Mateo had to go hunt down the guy who vandalized the palace's reflecting pool. Good thing our heroes were on hand to stop him. 

    I liked teaming Shrall and Mateo up. For some reason the comic reads like a buddy cop movie. I do feel sad that Jenna was sidelined. It can't be helped. She is VERY pregnant and the baby will be coming soon. Very soon. How soon, you ask? How does Starbolts #800 sound? Sounds like a plan to me! Mateo should team up with his brother-in-law more often, I think. Shrall used to partner up with Marcus a lot of the time in the prose stories I used to write. Not so much now because he's got Firaxil to be his straight man. And besides if two wisecracking heroes team up not much will get done.

    Anyway, today is also America's 250th and I do hope all the Americans out there had a great one. I wasn't sure what else to write this week so I thought I'd go to the Alpha Quadrant. Next week we'll be going back to the Delta Quadrant to see what's been happening on the other side of the galaxy. We need to find the Faeori and get back to the Alpha Quadrant before issue #800. Jenna's baby is counting on M'anta and his team. Let's hope they get home safely!

See ya next time!