Starbolts #147: The Dead Shall Rise

Oh, man. what a comic this week? Don't worry! Next week I am going to show Soldier Six and the Starbolts fighting. I will take your bets right now. Who is going to win? What will be the outcome? YOU make the call! I also hint a bit at who the swirling tornado is. He has a history with one of the Starbolts on the mission. One of the female ones. So, it can only be Jenna, Angela and Aquita. Hmm...if it isn't obvious by this point, I don't know what to tell you. The hints are there. The question is...is the tornado all it seems to be? Stay tuned!

Speaking of big reveals, how about those skeletons of Soldier Six? Those took a while to make, actually. They were kind of fun to do. Sucks that Cobra is missing a head and Mask is missing...umm....his entire body? Anyway, stay tuned next week for when the 'Bolts are going to be fighting Soldier Six. What an epic confrontation. I'll need an awesome title for next week's comic. Hmmm....Decisions....

EXCELSIOR!

Hey all! This weekend, I got the surprise of a lifetime and I owe it all to my friends, Richard and Laura. They are admins over at the Channel Awesome wiki and they went to MegaCon in South Florida over the weekend. Beforehand, they had said to me that they'd try to get Stan Lee's autograph. I said "Cool." In the end, they couldn't. I was a little bummed, but, I understood. It was Stan Lee for God's sake! I was fine with it...until they did something incredibly awesome! They actually went up to Stan Lee and had him record a special message for me.

Here's what he said to me:

"Hey, Chris. This is Stan Lee and I gotta tell you...you have a gal here who really cares about you. Because she dared to come over while we were having dinner at the table and she said drop everything because you gotta talk to Chris. So, that's what I'm doing. You're a lucky guy, Chris and I hope you're doing well with whatever you're doing and now I am going to stop talking and go back with my friends. EXCELSIOR!"

A while after, they had called me and let me know about the message. To say that I was happy would be an understatement. Last night, I saw the message and I was VERY happy. You might be wondering why I was happy. Well, there's a story behind that.

Growing up, I never really idolized celebrities. Oh, sure, I'd love Hulk Hogan and Mr. T or someone. But, my real hero was Stan Lee. He co-created some of my favorite Marvel characters and has really inspired me to get into writing. In fact, some of the Starbolts are inspired by Stan Lee's writing philosophy. Heroes with heart. Heroes who could be just about anyone regardless of what kind of person they are.

Stan Lee is an inspiration and always will be because his characters ,like Spider-Man, always grew on me more than Superman or Batman. They took on a life of their own. That isn't to say Supes and Batman are not larger than life. They are. I just have a personal connection with some of Stan's creations.

His writing style influenced me and got me into writing in the first place. I'll even let you in on a secret. Stan Whitefox, the director of S.T.A.R. is actually named after Stan Lee. Corny? Yes. Awesome as hell? HELL YA! The man is an inspiration and has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Including myself.

Richard and Laura getting the clip means a lot to me because they know more than anyone that I love Stan Lee's work. He's a legend among comic fans and I really have to thank my friends for the clip. Thanks again, guys!

So, to that, I say, Face Front, true believers. A lot of awesome artistry is on the way. EXCELSIOR!

Starbolts #146: The Island of Horrors

For the record, I didn't recolor Scarlett like that because I forgot the pink fleshy tone. Something is happening to the clones. I won't say WHAT it is. It should become clear if anyone's read anything about clones and cellular degeneration. At least it isn't scurvy. Anyway, this comic took a while to make because I needed to figure out what exactly I wanted to make the landscape. I went for something like Desolace in World of Warcraft combined with what happened to Mount Saint Helens when it erupted. Sufficed to say, it's not that green.

It is recovering, though. Anyway, we're in for a big battle. Stay tuned. This is going to get dark and fast.

Heroes and Villains

Hello there!

Today, I spent a great deal of time updating the heroes and villains pages. They really needed some cleaning up. Please check them out when you can as I've added some information about what's been going on in the story as well as their backgrounds. The heroes page was the one that got the most updates. I just added minor stuff for them as they needed to be added. That and I put in pictures for the heroes.

I may add in more characters over time. For right now, I think the page looks good with its overhaul. I have to thank some people like Belle who helped me with the grammar for the page. Thanks a lot!

See you all Saturday with a new comic!

Comic Showcase #5: Superman #1

Starbolts #145: Steve, Agent of D.I.S.C.O.R.D.

And that is how you interrogate someone. Someone has to be the good cop and someone invariably has to be the bad cop. Why? Because that's how you make thugs talk. It's probably for the best that I didn't make it like the Dark Knight interrogation scene. Only because Steve here isn't like the Joker. Poor Steve. He's going to be going to jail and the last woman he saw is a Russian superspy who hit on him and then crashed all of his hopes and dreams in one full swoop. See, you CAN accomplish great things without superpowers. You just need years of government training. I've been debating making Anya a full time Starbolt. We shall see. Right now, she's like the Black Widow in early Avengers comics. She was their friend. But, didn't join the team until the '70s.

The references here were fun to do. I had to toss in a Leeroy Jenkins reference AND a Gizmoduck reference before I left Moneybagger's. It needed to be done. I look at that suit and I don't think I'll be making any more sprites for that. It's just too silly looking and ineffectual in combat. One flat tire and you're out.

It wasn't easy coming up with the decision to have D.I.S.C.O.R.D. be on the island that exploded. It makes sense that they'd be there. It was the site of their greatest defeat. It will be the site of their great rebirth. Hence the new name "Phoenix Island".

What we find there the next time is going to be gruesome. I'm warning you right now. Bones everywhere. Desolate landscape. Will Jack find the bodies of his friends? Now you can probably tell why there WAS no clone of Jack. It was because he was saved. So, yeah, this is going to be hard on Jack.

Before I go, I wanted to thank writerzblok for helping me out with some stuff. Thanks again! Man, the next comic isn't gonna be pretty.