Starbolts #216: Coming Attractions

Well, you didn't honestly expect to keep the Mosqukatara gone forever did you? Some back story is probably needed. Back in the early issues of this comic, the Starbolts and everyone else took on an insectoid race that had once enslaved the peaceful planet of Aquarius. They were defeated once and returned some years later to try again. This time, they tried to conquer Earth and Leonid IV while they attempted to reclaim Aquarius.

The plan failed and the new Alliance of planets went straight into the heart of Mosqukatara space and took out the bug homeworld, killing a lot of insects. Some survived and wandered the galaxy as nothing more than scavengers without a true Queen to direct them and guide them to victory. They decided enough was enough and proceeded to attack the world of the neutral aliens.

And the rest as they say is history. I was planning to bring the bugs back one day. But, I wanted to give them a new form. And trust me, they will get a new form. Who knows what new form a Mosqukatara/Neutralon hybrid will take. Let's just say the Alliance (Humans, Aquans, Leonids, Dovianni and Setleth) are going to have their hands full soon.

Next week, you can expect another trailer-like comic for another storyline I am working on. =) This is gonna be a rough year for everyone! See you next time!

Starbolts #215: Home for the Holidays

 Happy holidays! This holiday comic wraps up the loose end of "Whatever happened to Tanis?" from back in issue 200. I didn't want to leave his fate up in the air TOO long because he'll be needed. Oh, trust me. He. Will. Be. Needed. A question of course remains. Has the experienced changed him? We'll see soon enough. Probably next week. =)

Anyway, I like what I did with the ghost effect. Originally, I was going to have them be black and white. But, eh, no. It's better this way. They're more ghostly and such. In fact, I'm probably going to use this for Crystal soon.

I also wanted to make the holiday comic a bit like a Charles Dickens tale. Jack was visited by four ghosts and told to basically embrace the here and now and let go of the past. Remember it, sure. But, don't forget to keep yourself in the present and be with your friends today. An important lesson. Even for one who was displaced in time.

Also, we learn the truth about Cobra. He's neither living nor dead. What is he, then? He was brought to life by Demonstorm, remember. So...what is he? That answer will be revealed another time.

See you all next time for the last Starbolts comic of 2013! Happy holidays!

Starbolts #214: The First Rule of Robotics

Hail!

The adventure in the United Kingdom has come to a close with Norad taking down Syntax. Now...will he return? Will Donna fit in with the Starbolts? Will Jack Lantern, Valentine and Punchline return? We shall see sooner or later, true believers. It was fun doing this quick storyline as a send-up of a Doctor Who adventure. The Syntax drones marching on London were like the Cybermen marching on London for example. That and Donna Tate's name comes from Doctor Who companion Donna Noble and of course the actress who plays her, Catherine Tate.

In other news, this is the first new comic I put on Deviantart. Imageshack keeps breaking my older comics. So, I will be working to get all the older ones up to fill in the gap as it were from 99 to 214. It can be done since Deviantart has changed their upload system to something that is workable.

Today I will talk briefly about the X-Men as it's their 50th anniversary as well as the Avengers. I read the X-Men before the Avengers and they always had a soft spot in my heart. They were a fantastic group of the strangest heroes of all. What I liked most about them is the fun and downtime they had in a few issues. And unity. Both are sorely missed in today's X-Men comics.

So, happy anniversary to Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the Strangest heroes of all! You both have great members in your ranks from Captain America to Firestar to Nightcrawler and Iceman. Here's to another fifty!

Next week's comic will be the annual Christmas comic...featuring a return of an old friend! Stay tuned for Starbolts #215: Home for the Holidays!

Starbolts #213: Love and Robots

Bad guys joining superhero teams is nothing new. The Avengers have had members turning over a new leaf for about as long as their fifty year history. And to celebrate their fiftieth year, I have two baddies who MAY become good guys later. I don't know. If I ever decide to make two baddies become good guys, it might be Valentine and Punchline. Only because...let's face it....their hearts just aren't into the whole super-villain thing. They haven't held any countries for ransom or killed anyone. Plus, I think you'd decide on a new career path if your teammate was using your duplicates to create a robot army. Plus, I think Valentine's more suited to being a femme fatale to be honest.

Back to the Avengers since I promised a post talking about them. I love the Avengers. They're one of my favorite teams in the Marvel Universe. Not THE favorite. But, they are still good nonetheless. The Avengers have reached their 50th year and we've seen legends, Gods, heroes and villains join their ranks. They're Marvel's answer to the Justice League and have continued to fight the foes no single hero can withstand.

Next time, I'll talk briefly about Marvel's mighty mutants the X-Men! Who...also turn 50 this year. Heh. What a year for 50s, right? See ya next time!

Starbolts #212: Trouble Underground

Hail!

Heh. What can I say about the last few panels? Hmmm....How about:

"Look out! It's Noradimus Prime!"
"This is no time for daytime soap material!"
"Can I get one of those for Christmas?"

I could do this all day. I'm not entirely sure how Noradimus...er..Nor-Mad changes from that vehicle mode to robot, yet. I'll probably draw the transformation sequence this weekend. If I have time. I am going to be putting the Superman #1 review up on Youtube soon. So, that's going to take a bit. But, holy crap. Nor-Mad got a much needed fresh coat of paint. I wasn't a fan of the old style. It didn't really fit with the rest of Norad's forms.

And trust me, there are quite a few of them. Norad doesn't just come in red and green flavors. (Foreshadowing!)

In other news, this year marks the 50th anniversary of two of my favorite teams from Marvel history. Expect a blog or two about the Avengers and the X-Men in the future. Of course, next Saturday is the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and I will be watching that. Everything I've seen so far on that program has gotten me kind of hyped. Okay. That's a lie. I am VERY hyped.

It's a great time to be a fan of many things. I only hope they keep the momentum going! Until next time, everyone!

Starbolts #211: RULE, BRITANNIA!

Rule, Britannia indeed. For those not in the know, that's a patriotic song from the United Kingdom. I have to admit, saying that would be a lot cooler than saying "God save the Queen!" or something. Anyway, Britannia is pretty feisty isn't she? She's around Marcus's age so this would make her the oldest of the upcoming New Starbolts, which include a new Centurion and the daughter of Garazo. One wonders who else will be on this team. Well, I do. But, that's beside the point.

As far as Valentine goes? Wow. She's in a dilly of a pickle. I figure she went to compose herself a bit. I mean...when you deal with duplicates, how do you know who the original is? There's gotta be a way to know for sure. I remember a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode where Marge was with a clone of Homer that had no belly button. Curious. Perhaps the same is true about the duplicates. Perhaps the original was already made a drone. Perhaps...I say "Perhaps" too much? Perhaps. =)

It has been an interesting week. Video uploads are going slowly as I am putting them up one ep a week. I should be done by March barring any complications. You can find the videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/cferra1227 

The first three Comic Showcases are up. I'll be uploading the fourth this weekend. It's the one about The Flash if memory serves and that was the one where I stopped using a program to pan across images and learned how to keyframe. Thank goodness, too. Those files were clogging up my old computer. Anyway, look forward to that and a new intro starting with that video. I'm not fond of that one. So, I am going to put the one Laura made to new music and use that.

Until next time!
 

Starbolts #210: I, Syntax

Hail!

Okay. Show of hands. Who here would actually TRUST Valentine? No, seriously. She's got these metahuman pheromones that would drive guys crazy. I did these panels to add a bit of depth to her because, well, she needed depth. You can't write someone like that and not have her have an ulterior motive for doing the things she does. It just doesn't work. Characters like her are like onions. There are more layers. The question is, everyone, is would you trust her even if she gives you a sob story like in panel 25? My beta-reader, Laura is a bit sketchy about her. And she should be. Speaking of her....

Last night, Laura and her long time boyfriend and friend of mine, Rich aka Daffy finally got engaged! From what Rich told me, he proposed in the most dorky, nerdy way possible. Which is fine. Mainly because nerd and dork culture is chic right now thanks to things like Doctor Who and the Marvel cinematic universe.

I've known both of them going on five years now. I've met them through tgwtg and talked with them a lot over the years. Hell, they even got me a personalized message from Stan Lee! How cool is that? The two are probably my closest friends on the site and the ones I have known the longest. To them, I wish the best of luck! You both deserve it and every ounce of happiness. Take care, guys and may you both continue to love each other for years to come! You're an inspiration to couples everywhere!

And that's all I've got to say about that! Until next time!

Starbolts #209: Syntax Error

Hail!

I admit it. When I was doing the panels with Norad appearing, the Transformers theme popped in my head. There'll be another reference to them, soon. I also remember a friend of mine once telling me Norad was a badass without realizing he's a badass. Can androids be badasses? That's a question for another time, I guess. Either way, Norad's in London and is about to kick some robot positron relays. Good thing he has an em pulse cannon or two, huh? Rockets would have made things too messy. So many robot parts to clean up. Plus, we don't know for sure if they are true robots. I know how Syntax is using the duplicates and trust me...it's kinda gross. It should explain why Punchline freaked out.

In other news, I am going to put my second ep of Comic Showcase on Youtube soon. It's the Darkhawk one and it's one I really liked. Sure, I was coming off of a cold while filming. But, that's okay. Gonna be a while before we get to the newer ones.

At least I have the comics. Those aren't going anywhere. Oh and it looks like the Avengers and X-Men's 50th anniversaries are coming up. I may make a special article about those. We shall see.

Until next time!

Starbolts #208: There's No Place Like London

Hail!

Ladies, I'd gladly allow any one of you to smack Valentine silly just on principle. I'll sell tickets. Yeah, she's a bit of a umm...what's the word? Whore? Yeah, that sounds about right. She's pretty much the Legion's bicycle. Everyone's had a ride. I don't condone what she and the others are doing to Simon. Hehe. Simon. I picked that name because, well, think of the ultimate Simon Says game he'd be playing with his duplicates.

Now those duplicates have turned into robots and this last couple panels is a homage to the Cybermen invasion scene from the serial "The Invasion". I think Marcus and Britannia are going to be in for a LOT of trouble. Here's hoping they can handle it!

In other news, I am going to work on getting another vid on Youtube soon. Just need to figure some things out.

I also watched a documentary on PBS called ” Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle” where the history of the Superhero genre was discussed. Every single one of the greats were involved from Stan Lee to Alan Moore. I’m not going to lie. I knew most of the facts and figures. I knew the history. There was just something about it that really captivated me. It made me feel like a kid again.

It also made me feel like writing and examine how I craft my own tales of daring-do. Do I take the Marvel approach and write heroes with heart? Or do I create iconic characters? The simple answer, for me, is to do both. Creating superheroes is what I love to do and I think this program reaffirmed my passion for the art form.

Every once in a while, something comes along and reignites the passion we have for whatever you like be it comics, movies, music, wrestling. You name it. For me, it’s always been the pages of a comic book. I’ve been an avid reader since the early ’90s. I’ve grown attached to characters and I decided to write my own things. I dunno why it was reaffirmed. I just know that I really love what I do.

This show was good in that it brought to light why I love comics and why I love to write. I don’t mean to turn this into a review. I just think that every once in a while, we need something that reaffirms a passion for anything we do in this life.

And as far as superheroes go, Todd McFarlane and others in that documentary put it best. Supers aren’t going away any time soon. They’re here to inspire and to aspire to be like. They’re here to show us how to deal with crises. How to have extraordinary powers and yet be human at the same time. They are our modern mythology.

Everyone who loves comics should check out the documentary. It’s a great watch. As for me,.I’m going to keep doing what I do. I’m going to enjoy the mythology for what it is because every now and then we need heroes in our lives. ‘Nuff said.

Starbolts #207: Across the Pond

 Hail!

I've got some news. By now, you have probably heard that I had been cut from blip. That's fine, to be honest.  I like doing the comics and telling stories. For the foreseeable future, that will be going on as planned. Right now, I am attempting to put some of my animations on my Youtube channel. When they are ready, I'll link them via Twitter and such. Comic Showcase itself may or may not go up. It depends on a few things. If I do get them up, they will probably go up one a week. I may need to change a few things. That's about all I can say on that front. I'm not really upset over Blip. It's fine. Others have unfortunately been cut, too. So, a lot of people are in the same boat.

I'm not going to say it's the end of Comic Showcase. I will review things. They just may just be text-based reviews. We'll see. I do like doing videos. I just need to figure out what I can do to appease the Youtube bots. *Looks up at the comic* Hmm...The possibilities are endless.

Right now, I am going to focus on fixing Starbolts #100. That's the main priority.

In comic news, well...We've got Jack Lantern back in time for Halloween. It's fitting that he'll be the big bad Marcus'll be facing for the next couple weeks. I mean, he's got a pumpkin head. It's October. This is PERFECT! Also, I loved putting in a few references to stuff this week. Namely Doctor Who. Expect another one when I reveal the identity of Britannia.

Also, it looks like the Agents museum has a few new artifacts. There's a ton of goodies in there from the 'Bolts adventures and other heroes' mementos. I grayed out the first Lady Liberty as she passed away and showed her as a ghost. She wasn't killed in action or anything. She died of old age.and lived long enough to see Andrea become the second Lady Liberty. She never met Jenna, though.

Well, that's it from me. Expect more on Britannia and the Legion soon. Take care!

Starbolts #206: The Setleth's Guide to the Galaxy

A little humor this week is in order. I thought I'd break "Downtime" to see what Crimson Justice is up to and he's making a documentary for all the Setleths everywhere. Don't worry. He'll sell it at a very affordable price. Heh heh. I'm thinking 39.95 credits. Why not, right? Initially, I had a different approach to this week's comic. Just having CJ showing up wasn't enough. I needed more. So, I thought I'd make him a bit of a nuisance. I also had another plan in mind. I wanted to showcase some of the other races a bit. There's going to be a story involving them soon. Not gonna say when. But, soon. Possibly after #210.

In other news, I posted a vid up earlier this week. I'm sorry it was delayed. What happened was that I got a new computer and the editing software I got was not working with it at all. So, my brother and I downgraded to Sony Vegas 10 when I had been using 12. I had been using Vegas 10 with the vids before. I thought I'd give Vegas 12 a try. Sadly, it didn't work. I still got the vid up.

I really liked working on The New Warriors project. It was fun rereading old comics and just having a great time with it. I did read about Firestar joining the X-Men. I'll probably give that a look. I'm also working on seeing if I can find a scary comic for later this year. Something for Halloween perhaps? We shall see.

In the mean time, I'll be back here next week with another comic! Stay tuned!

Comic Showcase #21: New Warriors: Where are they now?

Starbolts #205: Brothers and Sisters

 Hail!

As you can see, Jaime has been redeemed a bit. He isn't THAT big of a jerk. He understood what he was doing was wrong. Off panel, he had a discussion with Aquita. That would have been boring to read. So, I decided to focus on Richie's fight with Backdraft. I liked making the reference to Nova and Green Lantern at the end. I'm a big fan of Nova and to be honest the Centurion Corps are more like the Nova Corps than the GLs in the DC Universe. They don't have  power rings. Just flight and the ability to control gravity. However, Richie hasn't mastered gravametric pulses yet. He will. Just not right now.

 I also took the opportunity to introduce the parents of the Arlandero kids. Their names are Gregorio and Maria and they too were involved with the other Agents of S.T.A.R. back in the day. I was trying to think up possible roles they could've had. I'm thinking that Greg was the heavy arms kind of guy and Maria was special ops. I may delve more into the other parents at some point. You may be surprised at Bluestreak's dad. I have some ideas about how he'd act.

September is nearing its end so next week marks a new video from me. Keep an eye out as I talk about where the New Warriors are now. I may take a different approach as I have a couple ideas on how I want to go about it. Should be fun! We'll also be back here the week after with another comic as usual.  I have a couple more possible new Starbolts to introduce. Sufficed to say, Ricardo and Carra won't be alone. The new kids are coming to town and I'm pretty sure Backdraft will want his revenge on one of them.

See ya next time!

Starbolts #204: The Next Centurion

Go on. Say it. Jaime "Jim" Arlandero is a bit of a jerk. I know he is and I will probably do something about that in the very near future. He's about due for an attitude adjustment. When it comes to Richie, this guy needs work. Then again, he was like that to Mateo and Angela. Let's hope they can find him before Backdraft strikes. Or...will the kid handle Backdraft all by himself? We'll find out next time! I'm pretty sure Avian'll give him a stern talking to once she finally arrives in Santa Fe. She wants to open up a school for young heroes, remember? And so does he...But, he doesn't want Richie to be a super. Yeah, that makes sense. He's the oldest, by the way. Mateo and Angela are just a bit younger than him.

I hope everyone is liking this character developing arc before the next major one. It's been a lot of fun. Wait until you see what's next! =)

In other news, my good friend, Rabbi has restarted his Haunted Drive-In blog. Rabbi used to be a blogger and now he has time to work on a site devoted to horror and all things creepy and weird. It's good fun and I invite you all to check it out. Especially since Halloween is coming!:  http://thehaunteddrive-in.blogspot.com/

See ya next time and we'll see if Jaime does change his attitude! 

Starbolts #203: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

 

This comic ironically comes hot off the heels of DC Comics's latest mistake. For details, see here: http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/09/05/batwoman-jh-williams/ and of course DC also made a competition to draw Harley Quinn attempting suicide. Both incidents disgusted me and several of my friends in the comic reading world. I'm calling it ironic because, well, DC seems to be against character development and change when the comic above illustrates a change and character development. It was quick. Painless. And most importantly, it was true to the characters. So, why does DC continue to deride their characters so much? It just doesn't make sense to me. Characters should grow. Brian Heinz, the Last Angry Geek put it best. If you can't work with a non super supporting cast that's married to a superhero, then maybe you should relearn how to write the character.

This week's comic shows Crystal, a character who used to be VERY promiscious confront her past. Specifically, the guy known as Henry. Here she has grown from Southern temptress to an adult who now accepts the consquences of her actions. At the end, she goes to her friend, Jenna for support and she helps her out. The character has thus grown and changed for the better. This is how you develop a character. Set things up, have a conflict and finally a resolution.

Perhaps the comic industry would do well to understand that shock and other such things do not always work. I'm not just speaking of DC here. Marvel is guilty of it, too of late. It's a good thing there's a pool of talented people out there who write their own stuff and draw it when the companies they've looked up to in the past are shadows of their former selves.

That's it from me, true believers. See you next time!

Comic Showcase #20: New Warriors Stories Part 2

Starbolts #202: A New Day Is Dawning

Things are starting to cook aren't they? However, this isn't the start of the new storyline. This is but a prelude of things to come. We're still in "Starbolts Down time", technically and will be for a bit longer. This comic shows Jaime, Mateo and Angela's little brother, Ricardo just being a teenager when the people who gave Centurion her powers appear. He's upset that his siblings and parents are supers and he...well...hasn't blossomed, yet. I'm sure he knows that there are heroes who don't have powers. But, when your siblings all have powers it kind of gets to you.

Before that, we had a bit with Ariel and Jack. Those two go way back and I wanted to show just how connected they are. Even when Soldier Six was running around, Ariel, Jaime and Norad (As Pegasus) were still his friends. Not as close as Soldier Six though. It's like having high school friends who were a year or two below you or something.

I also wanted to mention something I posted on my tumblr a while back. Allow me to copy/paste the link as I feel people really need to read this: http://starboltproductions.tumblr.com/post/58517567058/big-public-statement 

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

Starbolts #201: The Daughter of Garazo

Oh, Dennis. He's ever the southern gentleman isn't he? Even when faced with a giant cat-lady he manages to be polite. Of course, this could be his greatest downfall. See, I write Dennis as kind of quiet. He's a strong and silent type. He's one to be taken aback by any kind of advance like Carra's doing.

Anyway, this comic and the next few comics are going to be part of what I like to call "Starbolts Down Time". I just want to show the 'Bolts doing whatever for a bit since the last story took up over fifty comics. Time for a break, don't you think? However, I will be planting the seeds for another future story. What will it entail? Well, Carra, daughter of Garazo figures big into my plan.

Actually, I have a funny story. I talked to Mark, my creative consultant about what to do for #201. He thought we made a story about a female Leonid hitting on Dennis. I said "Nope." and decided to do the comic. I had intended to make a girl's night out comic. But, we'll see. Aquita's gone on vacation. So, the ladies on the team would be short one member.

Though, I could still do it with Crystal, Angela and Jenna. Hmm. The possibilities are endless! I wonder...will Carra join the team? Who can say? Well, *I* can. But, that'd be spoiling things.

Take care and see you next time!

Starbolts #200: Through the Looking Glass

Back in 2008, I started work on a comic based on stories I wrote over at SPP and in stories I wrote for myself when I was a kid. Over time, the story evolved and became a sprite based webcomic because unfortunately I cannot draw very well. So, here we are at my 200th official comic and I look back the progress I made and say to myself I did pretty good despite having to work with sprites of my own design and such.

That isn't to say I didn't have help. FAR from it. I've had a LOT of help over the years. Namely from people like JewWario who gave me a sprite template to use, Spike's Girl and Mark who listen to my story ideas and edit if needed and most importantly, I thank the fans who have supported me through this crazy journey.

I like writing about superheroes and anyone who knows me knows that it is a passion of mine. It is. I've always liked writing and showing it visually like this, I think, better allows me to show what's happening. Prose is good. I love books. Some of my good friends are writers. But, there's just something about sequential art that has always appealed to me.

It's fun to write and work on this stuff. It takes a lot of work to make a comic. Not just this 60 panel comic you just read. There's planning, plotting, drawing and figuring out just what you want to do. It's hard work and yeah, you could say it's a labor of love.

So, here we are at Starbolts #200. A lot of stuff happened and I guarantee you that the next 200 will be just as exciting and fun. They are fun to make and I hope I've made them exciting and fun for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks again, readers of the Starbolts and of course thanks go out to everyone who has helped. From tgwtg who has hosted the comic in their blogs since 2008 to you for reading this.

Take care, everyone and I'll be back with a new adventure on the horizon.

See ya in the funny papers!

Comic Showcase #19: New Warriors Stories Part 1

Starbolts #199: Out of the Darkness

Hail!

The first thing I want to do this week is give a major shout out to ShadowWing Tronix because it's his birthday and he's a great friend of mine and a fan of the stuff I do on the Internet. He, like me, is a fellow comic fan and deserves a ton of respect. Even if he's a fan of the Go-Bots. Which...I didn't like growing up. At all. I digress. Check out his stuff here if you want to read good articles by him:

http://bwmedia.wordpress.com

One of the articles he did came in the wake of my Amazing Spider-Man #700 review. He countered my argument that Doc Ock shouldn't have been the one to replace Spider-Man. He made some decent points and I agreed. It still doesn't change the fact that I'm not a fan of that story. I think we both agreed on that one. So, yeah, check out Tronix's stuff. Make the old guy happy. Maybe even give him a mint condition Leader-1 or something. Cheers, Tronix!

With that out of the way, we're just one comic away from Starbolts #200. What will happen? Well, the comic is going to be a special, double sized event. A lot is going to happen, so I am going to need a LOT more panels as everyone faces the forces of Demonstorm and his Legion.

You might be wondering why Robkas didn't detect Aquita's telepathy. Well, do you honestly think she'd allow HIM into his brain? I don't think you can wiretap into telepathic conversations. Well, you could. But, Robkas's brain is on a do not call list. =)

Also, I love writing Garazo. He just doesn't have to say much to be badass. Tanis is now the black sheep of Earth's mightiest heroes. He's going to have to do something incredibly awesome to get back in everyone's good graces. Well, he has one comic to do it!

In video news, I have my collection of New Warriors comics down and will be working on a vid. I may have to do two videos on the storylines of Each of the main characters. Should be fun. Should also be a LITTLE bit CW. You'll...see what I mean. See you next time!

Starbolts #198: The Last Starbolt

Hail!

Wow! What can I say about today's comic as we're two weeks away from Starbolts #200 and the finale of this really, really long story arc. Believe it or not, this arc started way back around #150. So, this has been a very long storyline. It looks like Tanis is back to his normal self. Even if he looks like a human bug right here. The question of the hour is. Are the Starbolts really dead? Well, you don't see bodies on the ruined bridge. That could mean anything! They could have been disintegrated or in another part of the ship, dead.  The bridge is only a small part of the ship!

Speaking of the ship, I made the crash site a little like the Enterprise-D crash in Star Trek Generations. I always thought that was neat for a crash scene. Sucks about the ship, of course. She was a fine ship.

Anyway, it looks like Tanis is back to normal and the Legion wants another round. Starbolts #200 is coming fast! Are you ready for the final showdown?

Comic Showcase #18: New Warriors #1

Starbolts #197: The Fall of the Heroes

Talk about your "big baddabooms" this comic, right? Wow. Well, it was bound to happen. I was never going to keep the alternate Aquito around. As for whether or not the heroes made it out, well...that remains to be seen. Did they make it? Did they survive? There are so many questions. But, the schedule for next week says I am going to be doing a video. So...you'll have to wait until  July 6th to see if the 'Bolts got out okay. =)

The next vid is going to be a review of New Warriors #1. Should be a fun read and a fun video to do as I begin kicking off my look at the series. In the mean time, enjoy this week's comic. How will Manta respond? Will he face Dragonfly? Time will tell, true believers!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #196: The Superior Dragonfly

When your own beta reader wishes death on a character, you know you did something right. Laura, my beta reader wants to rip Tanis's wings out because of his actions here. I can't say I'm surprised. The guy has been poisoned by the dark side. Or has he? Can he be turned? Is this comic totally mocking "The Superior Spider-Man" and Superboy Prime? Yes to those two questions. As for him being turned back to being a good guy? Hmm...I'll get back to you on that. In the mean time, please enjoy this week's comic. =)

 When I redesigned Tanis, I was going for something like the dragonfly Pokemon, Yanma. It's a dragonfly pokemon known for its speed and I tried to capture it here. Tanis can now adjust his speed, pass through solid objects, vibrate his way through doors and fly almost as fast as Bluestreak. Almost. But, not quite.

I also made his wings a bit better and more insect-like than before. You could call it a reboot. I just call it a redesign. =) Enjoy!

Starbolts #195: Bluestreak's Play-by-Play

What can I say about this week's comic? Well, I revealed what happened to Tanis. He is now the Superior Dragonfly and yes, that is a knock on the Superior Spider-Man that's running around Marvel. I still say it's just Doctor Octopus in a Peter Parker costume. Not really a fan. Anyway, Tanis is going to fight Marcus next week. But, his he the heart Demonstorm spoke of? We shall see. Though, rest assured, many jokes will be had at Tanis's expense. Jeez, he looks ridiculous. I think I was going for a Spider-Man meets Archangel thing with this guy.

 As for the Setleths, well, they're Setleths. 'Nuff Said, there!

Cya next time!

Starbolts #194: Hell Hath No Fury

 Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially if said woman is an expert in a form of Aquan martial arts, military/medical training and has a sonic scream. Robkas, you're done, dude. Of course, this isn't the end of it. It wouldn't be Robkas if he wasn't continually infatuated with the Princess. If I ever did a movie, I think I'd have Owen Wilson voice him. Only because he can play the obsessed douche well. Hmm. Then again, that MAY be typecasting and we can't have that now can we?

I made a new background for the comic. Sickbay. I may change it in the future. We'll see. In the mean time, our heroes are still fighting the tournament., But, wait! What about Tanis? Well, we'll see soon enough, true believers.

P.S. I may have had too much fun writing the technobabble at the start of the comic. Perhaps I needed to modify the phase variance or reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.

Starbolts #193: Love and War

This week's comic has two dynamics running through it. Braun saying love is an illusion that makes one weak. Then near the end we have Aquita fighting for her love. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who had "The Power of Love" in his head as he wrong the script for this week's comic?  I also wanted to mix up Mateo's fighting a bit. It'd be too tired a method to have him fight Robkas again. So, I decided to have him fight the War version of Robkas. That's a hard fight because War is powered by the Aquan God of War.

However, Aquita is powered by the god of War's direct counterpart. I think I'm going to have the good Aquan avatars vs the bad Aquan avatars fight. They'll be fighting the direct opposites to the Gods and Goddesses they represent. Though, that should mean Aquita should be fighting Death. Perhaps that will happen. We shall see.

As for Mateo, he'll be back sooner or later. You can't keep a good winged guy down!

See you next time!

Comic Showcase #17: New Warriors FAQ

Starbolts #192: Super Starbolts Brawl!!

Oh, Bluestreak. Never change as long as I'm writing you. The tournament begins with Bluestreak being the first victor. You might think the fighting went too quickly. But, you have to remember: Bluestreak is the fastest man alive. He will win quite decisively if he puts his mind to it. He may act the joker, but, he's brilliant when he wants to be. As for Dreadwing, he's on his way home. Reality will be restored around him if/when it gets fixed. I won't spoil the ending. =) As for Tanis? Well...plans are in the works for him!

Story-wise things are going good. Soon, I'll be working on the next video. I may take a play from Linkara's Titans retrospective and create an intro video. Only because I'll be focusing on volume 1 of the New Warriors and there's a LOT to cover. We need to know who is who before we can go forward. It'll be fun. Trust me! =)

See you next time!

Starbolts #191: The Reality Show

 Hail!

Early comic this week because tomorrow I'll be seeing Iron Man 3 with friends. That and there's also Free Comic Book Day. What that is is basically comic shops give out free comics from publishers who want to show off their work. Sometimes there's good stuff. Sometimes there isn't. It's a mixed bag. But, what do you want for free comics, right? It's still good and fun.

Ahh. This week's comic was fun to write. We have Garazo at the bar and all those empty mugs. He's happy. We also have a Fifth Doctor reference with "Brave heart, Jenna". And we closed the thread on Dark Mateo. I won't be covering what unspeakable horrors Dark Aquita did to him. Let's just leave it to your imaginations shall we? Hmm?

I decided to end this storyline as a tournament. We shall see what happens. It would be like Mortal Kombat or anything. Nah. I'm thinking more like Super Smash Bros. We shall see who will emerge triumphant won't we?

Yes, I think we will! See you next time!

Comic Showcase #16: Superior Spider-Man #1

Starbolts #190: Preparations for War

Everyone who has ever hated the Starbolts is here and I mean EVERYONE! See that bug lady? That's a Mosqukatara unlike the ones we've seen in the comic before. I'll explain why she's like that later. We also have the Setleth crazy, Halconis, the Legion and the dark Aquan avatars! Sufficed to say, the coming comics are going to be action packed. However, the battle won't be a battle in the conventional sense. No, No. Demonstorm has something else in mind for Earth's mightiest heroes!  Heh. Take note at Valentine holding court. Those three guys are under her complete control. I'd have had ALL the men over there. But, someone has to watch the fight between War and Granite.

Some of the baddies got updated sprites like Cobra and Granite, by the way. They look a LOT better.  I've also changed how Demonsk looks on the outside. Red skies are cool. =) Anyway, the scene is set for an intense confrontation. A confrontation that will have to wait until after next week for I will be reviewing Superior Spider-Man #1. Oh, what fun that'll be!

See you next time!

Starbolts #189: Darkened Mirror

 Hail!

Today's comic was a long time coming. Mainly because I wanted to have M'anta meet his alternate self. Now that M'anta is enhanced by the Gods, it remains to be seen what else he can do. Frankly, I feel bad for Demonstorm in the upcoming battle. He's going to be in for a WORLD of hurt. =) The question remains is where will alternate M'anta go? He has all of time and space to go to. He may even show up somewhere down the road. We shall see!

In other news, I'll be working on my Superior Spider-Man review soon and another project like the Marvel history one. I believe I've already said I'll be working on a New Warriors retrospective. It should be fun as they were my favorite team growing up. I just need to dig out the box the comics are in! I have a feeling it'll be like an archaeology expedition to my attic. It should be fun, like I said. It's all a matter of getting up there and finding the stuff I need. We shall see how that goes, true believers!

See you next time!

Starbolts #188: A Disturbing Universe

The plot continues to thicken as Jenna and M'anta have finally arrived on the others' ship. It also seems that while they were traveling around time and space, Jack and the crew had to deal with Tayalla. Well, the alternate Tayalla anyway. Things are also heating up as Demonstorm has collected the avatars of death, the underworld and war. We're getting close to the final battle in the storyline and trust me, it's going to be awesome!

In other news, I've starting thinking about another project I am going to work on after I cover Superior Spider-Man #1 this month. It should be an interesting ride as it's going to focus on a team I've liked since I started reading comics. I was a bit inspired by Linkara's look at the Teen Titans in March to cover my favorite team, the New Warriors. There's a few similarities. But, I promise to make my retrospective a bit different from my friend's epic month long look at his favorite group.

The reason why it inspired me to create a look at my favorite team is because they deserve a lot of credit in that they're more than just a group of teenage heroes who started the Civil War. There are great stories here and I will definitely be covering them. It should be a fun ride!

Just something to look forward to after I deal with Superior Spider-Man. Sigh.

Until next time! 

Starbolts #187: Adventures in Time and Space

Hail!

This week's comic. Hahaha! I had entirely too much fun writing it. I was having lunch with my creative consultant and over the course of the meal, we discussed Doctor Who. With us being Whovians, we developed a continuation of last week's comic by showing a Doctor Who parody this week. And MAN did we get some crazy tropes from the classic and new series in here.

Obviously, the Professor looks like the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker. BUT! His mannerisms is like a combination of the 9th and 10th Doctors. Mark, my creative consultant is to thank for the staircase gag. Classic era Daleks couldn't go up stairs and kids in England back in the day hid behind couches whenever the daleks appeared on screen. SO! We needed to do two jokes in one. It works really well.

The only problem I seemed to have was trying to create a "TARDIS" parody. So, I picked a phone booth from around the same time as the police box the Doctor's TARDIS looks like. I also freely admit to humming the theme song while putting the sprites in the panels.

Speaking of Doctor Who, today (March 30th, 2013) is the premiere of the second half of series 7. Will be watching that! I do wonder if I am going to keep this  Professor guy around. We'll see. He may have one more use. See ya next time! Allons-y!

Comic Showcase #15: Amazing Spider-Man #700

Starbolts #186: Death's Cold Embrace

Before I get into this week's comic, let's discuss the last two panels as there's a bit of a story behind it. I had this conversation with Mark, who some of you may know is my creative consultant and person who I bounce ideas off of.

Here's the convo:

Me: Do you think it might be too early to save Jenna?
Mark: Nah. Though, this may be a good opportunity for something interesting.
Me: What?
Mark: Well, Manta's traveling from reality to reality, right? What do you say we create a parody of the Doctor?
Me: The Doctor? Dude, there's been 11.
Mark: I say base the appearance on whatever Doctor you'd like. I have a preference for the Fourth Doctor.
Me: Okay. But, he won't be a time lord. He'll be a member of that race we introduced last week.
Mark: No problem. He'll be a running gag anyway. After this bit, I don't see us using him much.
Me: Okay. One scarf wearing interdimensional entity coming right up. 


And thus an idea was born. There's your sneak peek at the creative process.  Though, in hindsight, I could have made the scarf a BIT longer. Hm. Nah. Instead I just gave him a monster fro. Look at that mess. Wow.

As for Death? She is relentless! She'll be seen again. It was nice to write her and such. However, in the end, Manta chose to embrace life. I could have put that in the last panel, but, it'd ruin the mood.

See ya next time!

Starbolts #185: A Hero's Journey

Hail!

First and foremost, thanks go out to Linkara for allowing me to use Lightbringer once again in the comic. I know it is a brief four panel cameo. But, I'd like to think of it as a send-off since I don't think I'll be able to use him again once Lewis finds a new writer. I've enjoyed the Lightbringer comic as it brought a fresh take on the superhero genre. It's a great story and while the art changes every now and then from Lewis's style, to CR's and finally to Sergio's, it's important to note that the hero of the story is very memorable. I wish whoever takes over the reins good luck!

As for this week's comic, I had to make subtle jabs to DC and Marvel. Come on. This was an opportunity that was too good to miss. DC changes reality and shakes up the universe more times than I or anyone who reads comics can care to count. Marvel? Well, Marvel Comics is Marvel. There's not much you can say about that.

The holes in reality are here, it seems. How much ya wanna bet one of those invading starships will  want to explore that anomaly? And how much ya wanna bet that ship will be destroyed once it gets near it? We'll find out soon enough!

Right now, Manta has to deal with the Aquan personification of Death. This is gonna be a fight!

Starbolts #184: Driving Forces

Sometimes I think I torture my characters too much like I did here. Here was Jenna and then at the last possible second Demonstorm swipes her away. Is it being a jerk? OR is it adding drama? It's probably a little of both. Still, the team figured out how to unify the artifacts and is now on his way to find Jenna and fix reality. Will he keep his new look? It's hard to say. There's a lot of yellow in that armor. Sufficed to say, M'anta is now Supermanta!

The story is progressing and will more than likely reach its finale in Starbolts #200. So, keep an eye out for that. It should be fun, exciting and chocked full of action. In other news, I've completely revamped Super Norad's sprites. If you saw the end of the Avengers vid I did, you'll see the new model. I'm working on Nor-Mad as well. I found a template I can use for humanoid robots and it's been working rather well. =)

Enjoy this week's comic and remember, waking Garazo up may be the last thing you ever do! 

Comic Showcase #14: Avengers #1

Starbolts #183: Demonstorm Rising

So many things to say about this week's comic. Let's begin shall we?

1. Jenna is a taker of no crap. There's a reason why old man Whitefox made her a leader and here she shows why she is fit to lead the team.

2. Cobra is acting like Starscream from Transformers isn't he? I really want to have him say "My time will come, Megatron! *I* am the rightful leader of the Decepticons!"

3. Tanis's face turn is about to begin. But, will he be a true hero or an anti hero? That remains to be seen. Either way, look forward to a confrontation between Manta and Tanis.

4. If I haven't proven it already, Demonstorm is teh evil. EEEEEVIL!

5. You'd ship Cobra and Princess. Admit it, people of the Internet. =) One small problem. Cobra is kinda undead at the moment.

With that out of the way, I wish to wish my good friend Justin "JewWario" Carmical good luck on his journey. He recently left tgwtg to pursue his own dreams and trust me when I say that man has some great plans for the future! Famikamen Rider will go on as planned and his reviews as well will be viewable in other places such as his website.

In a time like this, there's no need to be sad. Things evolve over time. Justin helped me with the comic very early on and I thank him for it immensely. Without him, the sprites I've been making wouldn't have evolved to this point. So, I have to thank him for that. I'll still go to his streams, watch his vids and support him because he's a friend.

He inspired me to not be an angry reviewer in my videos and gave me some good tips on vid making when I started. He said that you have to have passion for what you are doing and Jdub has a lot of that. To that, I say: Good luck, Jdub!  I can't wait to see what you do next!

Starbolts #182: The Siege

I've been debating about the sound effect I'm using for the transporter sound. I'm not really into it. I want it to sound somewhat like the transporter sound in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in later series. Alas, I don't know how to spell that sound effect. I've made many attempts and all it looked like was a serious mashing of letters. I then went with what I could.

Anyway, the story is progressing as the 'Bolts have access to the starship. All the Aquans and Setleth on board are now under lock and key. Now, the question remains. Where are they going to go from here? Also, what is Tanis up to? We'll find out soon enough, friends!

 Oh! And I revamped the outros for Marcus and Kevin. You'll be seeing those in vids soon enough. Next two Starbolts that need outros are Jenna and Jack. We'll see how will those go. Take care!

Starbolts #181: Beauties vs. The Beasts

Know how there's a tumblr that says "DC women kick ass"? Well, here Starboltsverse women kick ass! Jenna has full knowledge of how Aquan ships operate and that's how she managed to pretty much cripple the command ship of the Aquan fleet. The teleporter takes a bit more time to figure out. Still, this was one fun comic to write. As I said before, I don't do damsels in distress. I know some people have a hard time writing women in comics. I don't know why it tends to be that way. What I do is try to combine their instincts with the dialog. They can be caring and still tough. See Jadzia Dax, Kira Nerys and other female Star Trek characters to see how it can be accomplished.

Those are good models for writing female characters, I think. Hell, even Sarah Jane Smith from Doctor Who fame is a good choice. As well as other characters. Literature is full of strong women and while it has been overshadowed in recent years, they are out there. Here, I show just how cunning Jenna is when dealing with Dark Manta. Same with Angela. It's all about execution and how to best handle a lady writing wise.

In comics, we've had several ladies in Marvel that have also kicked ass. Invisible Woman, Storm and Shadowcat to name a few. In the hands of a good writer, women can be written very well. It's up to the reader and viewer of a television show to pick out the best ones.

Anyway, I have a bit of news. If you head over to  http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2013/01/state-of-wall-1-27-12.html You will see that Linkara has decided to pass the writing torch of Lightbringer to another person. What does that have to do with me? Well, Lightbringer did cameo a couple times in comics over the years. Just minor appearances here and there since I didn't want to overdo it and bug Lewis for a cameo/crossover every single day. I have more sense than that. I know Lewis worked very hard on the character and I hope whoever takes over the reins does a fantastic job with the character.

I'd do it myself, but, to be honest it wouldn't be fair to Lewis. I focus my time on the Starbolts and I have a TON of characters to work with. I'm afraid that Lightbringer would get lost in the shuffle and I don't want that to happen. He's a good character and I'm not even sure he'd fit in the Starbolts universe very well. Supers have been around for a long time and Lightbringer is his world's first hero.

His artist is also a good guy to work with. His work and his comics are good. Serge works really hard on his stuff and whoever gets a chance to work with him will have a very talented artist. I hope whoever takes over Lightbringer keeps that in mind. Despite the harsh criticisms the comic gets from people, the comic IS a good read. The character is unique. The universe is as well. Not many people start over from scratch in universe building.

Whereas my story has always been about a continuing legacy of heroics, Lightbringer has always been about how the world sees heroes for the first time in the modern age. It's rare to see that in this day and age and it'd be tough to see that light fade. (Pardon the pun).

Here's to you, Lightbringer. The Starbolts will be waiting to see who takes charge of their white spandex wearing friend and good luck to whoever takes the reins!

Comic Showcase #13: Ultimate Spider-Man #1

Starbolts #180: Starbolts History X

Hail!

This week, I thought I'd make a good jumping on point for new readers of the comic AND tie it into the current storyline. All the basics of what you need to know about the Starbolts are here. As a bonus, I tossed in some of Jenna's back story. Note: I hate writing creeps like Rick Baxter. I really, really do. Someone once told me that it's okay to hate writing a character. Me? I was GLAD when I finally killed him off. For those who don't know....let's just say he got the POINT! Justice was served that day. Hahaha.

Now Jenna is out of the cell. What is she going to do? Well, you saw what happened to the hallway, right? Hmm. It won't be THAT big as she has control now. See, I told you I hated damsels in distress. So, that's why I had Jenna escape by herself. She knows her way around Aquan tech. It didn't change when reality went loopy.

As for Angela? Well, you'll have to wait until Starbolts #181: Beauties VS the Beasts to see what happens. The comic won't be out next week as I am going to continue my look at Marvel's history. Got the early aught's to cover and oh man do I have something good. Well, "Good" is a relative term isn't it? How does everyone feel about Ultimate Spider-Man #1?

Starbolts #179: RAMPAGE!!!

 If it's one thing I hate, it's damsels in distress. Don't worry. Angela and Jenna will get out of this the only way they can: By kicking all kinds of butt all over the place. At least now we know where Angela has been hiding in the alternate reality. Robkas let her go accidentally. Oh, well. He's having a delusional episode and is very dangerous. You could say he made an...impact on the base? Hahaha. Oh, that was bad.

Next week,  we're finally going to have Dark Manta talk to Jenna. Sufficed to say, our Jenna is less than impressed by Dark Manta's title. What will she say to her husband's doppelganger? We shall see, true believers!

I am also planning the next few reviews after I finish up my history of Marvel. I've decided to take a look at both Amazing Spider-Man #700 and Superior Spider-Man #1 back to back. This could be my first two parter episode. So, it should be fun to write. Will probably work on those scripts soon.

In the mean time, it looks like Jenna and Angela both have their hands full with deranged Aquans. Here's hoping they get out of this mess and since both are smart ladies, they will.

On a side note, I wasn't overly crazy with how Angela's cell came out. Then I realized that it's a cell. It's supposed to be spartan and devoid of character. The pod, though, was neat to do.

See you next time!

Starbolts #178: Our Blue Overlords

Hail!

Here's the first comic of 2013 and it was a great one to write. Let me tell ya. I had a little too much fun writing the last few panels. I wasn't going to go for them being in bed. I thought it'd be funnier to have them actually have a bottle of wine. It seems that even in this reality, something will set off Robkas. He's a jealous type and won't listed to reason. How will this affect Jenna's plan? Hmm...not going to tell JUST yet.

Why? Well, next week, I think he's going to go on a rampage the likes of which the Hulk has never seen! Or something like that.

As for me, I'll be writing. I may put up a vid schedule. Not sure yet. I've been working on sprites of War's buddies and so far so good. The question is...who will become War in the regular reality? Time will tell friends. Let's just move along with this story. =)

See ya next time! Also, I for one will welcome our blue, aquatic overlords.

Comic Picks: Top 5Best of Marvel Comics 2012

Hail!

With the new year here, I thought I would start a new section here on this site. Every once in a while, I'll post my thoughts on various comics I've read. The series'll be called Comic Picks and with the introduction out of the way, let's get started!

This year, we've seen Marvel produce some ill advised crossover events. One that I may make a video out of in the future. I am of course referring to Avengers vs. X-Men. Or as I'd like to call it: The deconstruction of several superheroes you may have liked at one point! Rest assured, there have been some good comics out there to combat the lameness that was A v X.

5. Spider-Men

This limited series saw Ultimate Spider-Man (Miles Morales) team up with Spidey in a crossover that spanned both the core Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Universe. We saw Pete react to seeing a teenage Gwen Stacy and a world in which another version of him had died. There were many great character moments and the interplay between two Spideys have been great!

4. Avengers: End Times

I know the title sounds very foreboding and grim,. But, the Avengers storyline DID have something happen in it that proved to be something the fans of Avengers have wanted since Secret Invasion. This was the return of the Wasp. The storyline had the Wasp return in a logical way. It wasn't phoned in. It wasn't tacked on, either. I won't spoil how it happened. But, after she "died" there had been subtle hints to her return. A hint in Avengers Academy here. A line there. And boom. Wasp returns to the fold! Great storyline with everything building up to that!

3. All-New X-Men

Out of all of the Marvel Now books, I'm enjoying this one the most. Why? Well, like I said before, Scott Summers aka Cyclops has been vilified thanks to events leading up to Avengers vs X-Men. In case you haven't heard, the All New X-Men has the original five X-Men go to the future to stop Cyclops from his rampage. They see what the world has become and they are rightfully angry. It'll be interesting to see where this book goes from here. It's fun and it actually may be a good jumping on point if one wants to read the X-Men.

2.  Captain America

This year saw the end of Brubaker's run on the award winning Captain America series. It was action packed and had a lot of moments that explored Steve's psyche as Cap dealt with more than one ghost from his past. The run ended with Cap coming face to face with someone who was the Captain America of the '50s. The battle was great and Cap struggled to find out just who he was. Was he just a symbol or was he a man? Or both?

1 Avengers Academy

Even though the series ended last year, this comic was a wild ride from start to finish. Marvel took several kids who were tainted by Norman Osborn and trained them to be Avengers in order to prevent them from becoming baddies. It was an original concept and the series this year closed many plotlines and resolved many things that lingered from when the series started. All in all it was a good series!


There have been other comics that deserve the nod for "best comic of the year" However, this is my opinion. My thoughts and I would have added more from Marvel to the list if it weren't for these stories actually making me say "Wow. These were pretty good." I have my thoughts on other comics and especially Amazing Spider-Man #700. I think that last one may be better suited for a video. I've yet to see the other Marvel Now books to see what's in store and how good they will be.

I'm still reading several comics from Marvel and they all just started the Marvel Now. I will say this as a quick note: Avengers Arena? Not my style right now. Even if it does have one of my favorite characters in it.

Well, that's about does it for now. See ya next time!