Saturday, August 27, 2022

Starbolts #596: The Ship of Theseus

 

 

Hail!

    For this week's comic, I decided to focus on the Agents for a change since we don't really see them that often. Usually they're in the mentor/parent roles for the Starbolts. It's good to see them his be the original generation of Earth's mightiest heroes as well. However, this week I wanted to show them reacting to all the recent goings on with the Starbolts AND give them one final victory over Terra Nova. That being the return of Pegasus.

    I originally titled the comic "A Small Victory". It seemed nice and everything. But, the more I thought about it, I was thinking Pegasus's return was like the ship of Theseus. Is a backup of Pegasus still Pegasus? That's an interesting question. The "Ship of Theseus" question was brought up in the last episode of "Wandavision". If you'd like to see that clip, check it out. Or watch the show on Disney+ That reminds me. She-Hulk has been awesome so far! So, is Pegasus really Pegasus? Yes, he is. He'll be getting a new body sooner or later. We seem to be making a lot of android bodies around here, huh?

    Before that scene in the armory, we had Andrea and Elaine talking about everything. Poor Andrea has been through a lot now that two daughters have been revealed to her. Everything worked out for sure. But, it still is a lot to take in. She will adapt to it all in time. Speaking of Crystal and Sara, I think they are definitely going to call Elaine the "cool aunt" and they will definitely want to see the new and improved Pegasus. You can't keep a good android down can you? Richard wanted to save him and well now he's back! What happens next is going to be pretty exciting as we march on toward Starbolts #600!

 Starbolts #541 and Starbolts #542 were referenced this week. Check 'em out!

See ya next time!

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Starbolts #595: Angela's Big Move

 

 

Hail! 

    Well, this week's comic got "muy caliente" near the end didn't it? Surprise! There's a pretty good reason for why that happened. Angela wanted to test her confidence out on Kevin since Crystal is very confident with Marcus. You can definitely see that in previous comics and in Starbolts #436 when she asked him to move in with her. Now she's attempting to get back to where she was with Marcus before he had Demonstorm in his head. He's had a lot of therapy. I'll be sure to reference it later! Angela basically wants to experience love and impulse the way her friend does. It seemed like a good idea.

    Right now let's turn our attention to Angela. She's not one to usually be so confident as Crystal. But, she's trying. Some advice from her brother, Mateo, certainly helped. I do like how the conversation came out because I missed having those two have some screen time. Angela is well on her way to taking a cue from her friends. Embrace being with your significant other and take charge when the moment seemed right.

    I do like her advice for Crystal, though. Taking Marcus out on a date with no powers of any kind sounds like a fantastic idea and it's bound to work in her favor. 

    As far as Richie goes, the poor kid was a pair of arms this week. I'll have to make it up to him somehow. At least the Centurion Force gave him a moderate amount of superstrength. Because of that, he's pretty good with the heavy lifting.

     If you'd like, here's the translation for the Spanish bits.

Angela: I will like living here with you.

Kevin: Yes. Me, too.

I think those two are gonna be okay as roommates! 

See ya next time!

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Starbolts #594: Spacecops

 

 

Hail!

    This week's comic is dedicated to a family friend who passed away a few days ago. Her name was Marina and she was a friend of the family for many years. When I started working on this story in the mid 1990s, she provided much needed tips and advice for characters I was working on. For example, she thought it was clever that I was thinking of making insect-like aliens called the Mosqukatara and basing them off of mosquitoes that were basically eating us alive at the marina where we talked. She had a boat close to ours and I would visit every time I was down. Marina was a fan of comics, too, and we'd talk comics and movies when they were released.

    When I started turning my story into a webcomic in 2008, she thought that was pretty cool. I showed her the first comic and she was entertained. Over time I showed her more and more comics and she appreciated how the stories evolved over time and how the characters seemed more "human" with each passing strip. She always liked the Stan Lee approach to character and world-building. This meant that there would be a human aspect to the character regardless if they were a human who could shoot fire from her hands or if he was a blue-skinned alien from an aquatic planet. 

    I last sent her a comic over the fourth of July weekend. It was this one, Starbolts #588. I don't know if she ever got the chance to read the strip. But, I like to think that she did. She was always one to offer advice or tips like I said. She never had a harsh word to say about the comic or story. She encouraged me in all the ways that matters and helped me fine tune the story into what we have today. I'd like to think that she would be glad I'm still going strong since I'm almost at my 600th comic. 

    She had some great thoughts on the comic and I really wish I could share some of my recent ideas with her. But, it is what it is. The only thing I can do now is continue and what what I've always done. Produce the comic and hopefully she's up there watching me. It's all I can hope for. Rest in peace, my friend. I'll miss you!

    As far as this week's comic goes, I think Sara just single-handedly altered police procedures for an entire planet. Her parents would be so pleased. Not to mention the Alliance. They probably take a dim view on torture and would be pleased that the practice of torturing prisoners will be abolished in the very near future. Sabina is a hard sell. So, it's definitely going to take some time. Alliance worlds were probably urging them to change their policies and so having Sara act as an ambassador here kind of made their case. Even while pregnant and on another planet, she's still a Starbolt.

    I do appreciate how we have Firaxil watching Sara and his mother Dendra cook dinner. If you think about it, it's an amazing sight to see because two years ago he thought BOTH women were dead. Now here they are alive and well and making.....I honestly have no idea what that is. It looks like lasagna crossed between some kind of pie. I'm not sure where my brain was when I decided to make that panel. I'm just going with it. At least it's edible and enjoyable? Then again Sabina called it adequate....

    It's hard to believe Starbolts #600 is six comics away at this point. Time flies when you're having fun! Tune in next week as we continue down that road! It's sure to be a fun comic! Trust me! But, first we have a few more character driven comics to churn out. Do stay tuned!

See ya next time! 

RIP Marina.

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Starbolts #593: Heart of Hearts

 

 

Hail!

    This week's comic has a couple things going on. First up is Angela and her conversation with the Centurion Force. At the end of her talk, she was enveloped in a white light. This means that she once again has superpowers aside from her empathic abilities. Angela is no longer overpowered, though. Instead of forcing the truth out of people and turning into a being of light, she now has the abilities that come from being a regular Centurion. This means that she can:

* Fly

* Shoot energy blasts

* Open a stargate

* Has a moderate degree of superhuman strength

    I think that's more than enough for our angel! She may have been a tad overpowered and this was a good way to scale her powers back some. But, that's not all! She is now an avatar of the Centurion force and is a Centurion who isn't attached to any world. This means that she doesn't need to have the red and blue armor with the bucket. She'll have an uniform of her choosing. I'll have to decide what it looks like and I have some ideas running through my head.

See Starbolts #515 for the promise she made to the heart of Illibrata. You might notice a change in the cave in that comic and in this week's. Well, that's because when the heart was mended and sent to the nanobots, the area in the cave healed and as a result got much brighter than before.

    Next we see how our fastest man alive, Marcus is doing. He's doing pretty well all things considered. Don't get me wrong. There were probably nights where he was very restless. Thankfully, Crystal is on hand to help her boyfriend in any way. She's with him through thick and thin.

    Still, I wonder how Marcus fighting Codystorm managed to get rid of Crystal's many nightmares. Was it a coincidence? It's hard to say. Maybe it's a bit of both. If you remember during the fight in Starbolts #582, he was fighting Crystal's fear of Cody and not so much Cody himself. He did something and he wasn't sure what it was. At least it turned out for the best. She no longer has any hangups and that's a good thing. 

    As far as Crystal goes, here we see her being more confident than she's ever been. She's modeling in a transparent blue gown Yeena gave her. She has found modeling helps her confidence. She needs the confidence if she's to explore her feelings. Don't forget. The spells she used to have kind of blocked some of those feelings.

    I guess in a way the two Starbolts are in the same boat. Both need to relearn a few things. Thankfully, they have each other. That's all anyone can really ask for!

    Man, Danar is gonna flip if he sees those pictures....

See ya next time!