Starbolts #736: Patriot Games

 Hail!

    Wow! It looks like we're heading toward a confrontation of epic proportions! Roger Stevens has essentially challenged Jack Whitefox for the right to the mantle of Iron Eagle. Who'll win? The battle may very well decide the fate of America as Stevens is still running for office. This is all to be determined. And now that he dragged two void witches into the fray you can bet Crystal and Carter will have some strong words for the former Iron Eagle. I have a feeling Crystal would use some very strong words. The woman has a pottymouth! And we love her for it.

    I think Anya gave Jack the push he needs to finally end the threat of Stevens. Framing him for murder isn't going to go well. At least Jack has an alibi. He was with M'anta the whole time they were at Cyclone. So, the question is where did this footage come from. Is it a hologram? Is it more androids? Or is it magic? Let's not forget that Lancer is a wizard. That'll be revealed next week as Jack assembles his siblings for a battle that could decide the fate of a nation.

    If Stevens loses, Lancer could see himself in a lot of trouble since he won't have anyone to protect him. Lancer might be a little overconfident and chances are HE is the one who is unhinged around here. This could lead to his downfall. Stay tuned!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #735: Taking Care of Business

 Hail!

    We've got a little bit of drama this week as we wrap up the action at the former headquarters of Cyclone Consulting. Now all the Starbolts have to do is track down Lancer and Roger. It may prove to be a difficult task as one guy is still knocked out and the other is Gladstone. Does anyone really think Gladstone will talk? Hmm. Probably not. However, since he lost the headquarters he might feel like he has nothing left to lose. The androids in the building were disabled, sure. Then again there may be more of them out there. This story isn't over quite yet!

    The Starbolts still have to find the main leaders of Cyclone like I said. I might not delve too much into the conversation the Monroes are going to have. But, it's good to know that Marcus and co are at least trying to help Tanis. 

    I really like how the bit with Dendra came out. Yeah. You shouldn't try to cozy up to a baby if they don't know you. And if it's a shapeshifting baby? Probably not a good idea. The look was inspired by Marvel's Venom. Just a quick change of eye shape, fangs and of course green drool. I think that'd be enough to give anyone a fright. I also bet that deep down Carter is proud of her daughter. I'm not sure if she was speaking Inobe or baby talk, either.  It's a secret known only to Carter, Firaxil and Dendra!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #734: Hostile Takeover

 Hail!

    Wow. This was certainly one way to get the building back from Cyclone Consulting! It seems that investors on the board sold the building illegally and Jenna just had to buy it back. Whether or not Cyclone Consulting will comply is a different story. Gladstone is likely going to go with them. I don't think he has much of a choice. Josh is already sitting in a holding cell at Agents Academy so I don't think he'll be much of a problem for now.

    Speaking of Josh, he's really been going off the deep end hasn't he? Like I said before. Jealousy can do strange things to people and make them act out of character. Right now he can't see straight and is taking his frustrations out on a guy with superrpowers. Not a very smart thing to do and I doubt hurting him will make Heidi fall back in love with him. 

    This week we also meet Heidi's lover from her college days. Lucy and Heidi met during college and were roommates. They experimented a lot and became a couple a while after their first kiss during a New Year's Eve party. I would imagine Heidi's parents would flip a table after learning about all of this. They had no idea their daughter did any of this stuff. I don't think they're going to take it very well.

    This is by no means the end of the story. We've still got to find and capture Lancer before he does whatever he's going to do next. That man is just as unpredictable as Josh. Maybe even more. He'll have to be dealt with swiftly. 

    It was a cool idea to give Jenna a shining moment like this as I haven't used her much in the comic. It's nice to see her shine here.

    Now that one of the heads of Cyclone has been captured, it's time to shift this story into high gear. 

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #733: Speeding Love

 Hail!

    There's an unwritten rule in most MMORPGs that says that when you start a raid in a dungeon, you do NOT fly off without a plan. You do not run into a room full of baddies and expect to handle it by yourself because nine times out of ten you're gonna die or at least give your healer a headache trying to keep you alive. I suppose Tanis flying off was inevitable. He tends to go off half-cocked most of the time. That guy's on a mission and that mission is to find his lovely lady friend.

    At least Marcus and Tanis buried the hatchet before they left. Marcus told him what he went through with Tanis's father and what it took to heal him. It wasn't so much true love as it was a desire to be with the ones he loved. And that included Crystal. She wanted to do whatever it took to make him better and that ultimately led to the two bonding on a mystical level.

    You have to admit Aquita had a point when it comes to Marcus and Crystal. She knows the two of them very well and knows he'd do anything for her. There are so many comics to list but I think longtime readers know when he's gone above and beyond for Crystal.  At least they are in a good place now. I mean they're going to be married. Look for that wedding comic to be coming soon!

    Now we come to Heidi. Heidi's caught between a rock in a hard place. One ex wants to sleep with her and another one just reappeared out of the woodwork. I'm not sure what Lucy's plan is. But, I would hope that she'd be a lot nicer than Josh. Josh seems to be suddenly thinking with other parts of his body.  Let's just hope Lucy has a more leveled head. There may come a time in the next few comics where she'll have to choose between Tanis, Josh and Lucy. Perhaps I should get them on one of those old dating game tv shows.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #732: Ex Troubles

 Hail!

    Wow! There is a lot to unpack this week, huh? While the Starbolts work on a plan to finally take the fight to Cyclone Consulting, Tanis and Heidi were having a pretty good morning until it was interrupted by Mr. Joshua Peterson. Josh was already a pretty jealous ex-boyfriend and now that he's got a Manhunter armor, he's a lot more dangerous than he was before. Jealousy and a supersuit are not a good a combination. He is not in his right mind right now.

    In fact, I would hazard a guess and say that he probably misinterpreted Heidi's prior relationship with Lucy a wee bit. If you recall, Lucy's name was part of her password at Cyclone Consulting. That could mean anything. Still, I think Tanis and Heidi are gonna have a long talk about this and other lovers she might have had if their relationship is going to continue.

    They also professed their love for each other this week. Whether it's true love and not lust is up for debate. Their relationship is still in the very early stages. They may need to slow things down. It's clear that neither of them are willing to listen. Heidi might be caught up in the euphoria of being saved and Tanis is still going his own things. It remains to be seen if those feelings are real. 

    It was still a good idea for Crystal to invite Heidi to breakfast. If only she and Marcus arrived a little later. They might have been able to save Heidi from Josh and Tanis might not need medical attention. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess. At least Crystal admits that the two have a lot in common. I bet they'd have a lot to talk about what just happened....and past lovers.

    Next week we're going to take the action to Cyclone Consulting and save Heidi from her ex. Now that a Starbolt has been injured by Cyclone you can bet our heroes won't take this laying down. Tanis may be a screw-up sometimes but he's still one of their own and the Starbolts take care of their own. There's gonna be hell to pay next week.

Stay tuned!

Starbolts #731: Night Terrors

 Hail! 

    We knew this was going to happen. Just as one problem gets solved, another one starts. More on Josh in a second. Let's talk about how the void witches saved the wizard school. I think the primal mages will be thinking twice about their distrust of void witches after two of them saved the castle from a horde of rampaging androids. There will be some consequences for sure. Good ones, mind you! I have a feeling Medea may stick around in order to make sure things stay on the up and up. Plus it couldn't hurt to have a void witch rep or two hanging around. Cece is nice and everything. But, one more void witch couldn't hurt.

    It seems that Cyclone doesn't take their employees leaving the organization very well. I imagine they'd send in an army of drones to investigate why someone gave them their two weeks' notice. Some people just can't take the hint. I wonder how they'd feel if they knew Terra Nova had better dental than they did. Ah well. 

    It shouldn't surprise anyone that Gladstone was able to find Josh. After all, he went to a bar to drown his sorrows after witnessing Tanis and Heidi being intimate. Those images are still burnt into his brain and now he wants revenge on Tanis for "stealing his girl". Yeah. That's gonna go over real well with Heidi isn't it? 

    Josh was able to leave the campus because he wasn't a prisoner.Still, he managed to sneak out while the others were hearing reports about what happened at the Korun Accademy. He unknowingly used that as a distraction. I'm sure there'll be repercussions from that.  They can't watch everyone all the time and as far as everyone knew he was still asleep.

     Whatever Cyclone plans to do with their new employee, you can bet Tanis and Heidi will have to deal with it.  Look for some more drama coming soon. And just what did Gladstone mean by "He knows her past"? Hmmm.....

See ya next time!

Starbolts #730: Storming the Castle

 

 

Hail!

    It took a while but Tanis finally did it! Tanis has proven he is just as much a hero as Marcus or any of the other Starbolts. The bad news is I don't think Carter was watching when this epic rescue was done. She'll have to take his and Heidi's word for it. Or maybe she can review the footage from their uniforms. Either way this week's comic was Tanis's big hero moment. He's gonna be on cloud nine for quite a while after this adventure. Not only did he get the girl. He saved her.

    Unfortunately, Cyclone now knows that she betrayed them and that's not going to sit well with her former employers. They're likely going to try and find her family and make an example out of them. The problem is that they're already safe and sound at Agents Academy and while they are there they are protected. For now at least. Let's hope that protection holds.

     This week also saw Medea finally meeting Adelphus Longwood. I think they hit it off. Though, I think Longwood might be taken aback by Medea being so umm...forward. Poor old guy doesn't know what hit him. At least Crystal is there to be a chaperone. Next week Medea will set her plan to save the castle into action. I think after this battle our heroes will take the fight to Cyclone and put them out of business. They can't keep doing this every few comics. Something's gotta give and our heroes can't take much more of this cat and mouse routine.

   See ya next time! It's a good thing Tanis proved himself. I think Tanis and Heidi's relationship has been cemented for the time being.

Starbolts #729: Back to School

 

 Hail!

    This week we learn more about Jared Lancer, the man who eventually became the Director of Cyclone Consulting. From the looks of things, it looks like he took a page out of X-Men villain Magneto's playbook. The only difference is that Magneto eventually mellowed out and his rage against humanity subsided considerably since he was introduced back in 1963. Jared Lancer doesn't seem like the type who'd see the light and become a mentor to a group of new wizards. He's the type of guy who'd burn it all to the ground and he's got the money to do it!

   There is a puzzle here. Sometime between his rebellious teenage years and  today he started thinking about making a perfect world. We saw an inkling of that idea in his confrontation with Adelphus Longwood. It's up to the reader to decide who is right here. Longwood or Lancer. I think I'd prefer Lancer's approach since Longwood isn't the one launching androids at people he doesn't like. 

    Next week's comic is going to have a pretty epic battle at the castle. I'm sure Marcus and Crystal will lend a hand, of course. I just wonder how long they can hold out before help arrives. Here's hoping they can help save the day. It'd be very unfortunate if something bad happened to that nice castle Longwood is so fond of. Very unfortunate, indeed. 

    It is a shame Lancer turned out this way. But, you can't make everyone a hero or have everyone see your point of view. That's his loss and now there's a conflict between him and the Starbolts. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on our heroes.

 See ya next time! 

Starbolts #728: The Wizard of the Moon

 

Hail! 

    Oh, man. What a way to lose your lunch. I hope the burger and fries weren't too expensive. Then again maybe that guard will start eating healthy. Getting the coke out of the carpet is going to be a huge pain in the butt for sure. Well, this wouldn't have happened if our friend had been more forthcoming. Crystal had a job to do and the guard wasn't being very helpful. Next week he will probably sing a different tune.

    Before that epic moment we had a bit of a history lesson about what the Setleth have been up to since the liberation of their world way back in Starbolts #90. Just after their liberation from the Mosqukatara enslavement, they were leery about inventing things. Inventing is their bread and butter. So, they unfortunately made some mistakes upon their liberation. They eventually came to their senses and started to innovate like they've never done before. And that's how we got these Starbolts related androids.

    Poor Dono had to oversee the construction and it seems that Jared from Cyclone consulting got everyone sick. He also must have done something to the android recall system. It's a shame because all the Setleth wanted to do was to give Earth's heroes a huge "thank you" for liberating their world. In retrospect, the Dovianni sent over their finest art and mystical artifacts. I guess the Setleth wanted to go big. Maybe they should have stuck with a new car.

    In any case, next week we'll be going to the Order's academy where we'll check out Jared's story there. It should be a good one. Stay tuned!

See ya next time!

 

Starbolts #727: A Surprising Turn

 Hail!

    Well, now. The tides have certainly turned in the Starbolts conflict with Cyclone Consulting, huh? Who knew that their leader Jared was a wizard. I'll be sure to reveal more about him soon. Just know that he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. He flunked out of the Order of Korun's magic school and as a result he's magic user without any restraint, training or anything. This makes him very dangerous in Medea's eyes. I think the Starbolts will heed her warning. I also think this will be more than enough incentive for Medea to stick around. The man doesn't know what he's doing with his magical powers and that makes him a very dangerous man.

    As for the rest of the comic, we're going to take a look inside the Setleth factory next week. As you might imagine there's going to be quite a few shenanigans. That and warning signs. Lots of warning signs. You can never have enough warning signs! I think in a Setleth factory even the warning signs have warning signs. The factory is also located on the dark side of the Moon. How long has it been there? Well, it probably wasn't there long considering first contact with the Setleth was only a few years ago. They just landed a factory on the Moon's surface and went from there. More on that next week. We'll be seeing the wonderful workers who've been working in the place, too!

    Tanis and Heidi's mission is complete for now. It may be time for Heidi to hand in her two week's notice at this point. I mean her boss is an unstable wizard. I don't think anyone should work in that kind of environment.  Well, Jared's secret is out and we'll be learning more about him eventually. I think it was only fair that Roger asked Natalia if she was a witch. I mean he doesn't really know much about the company he's a part of now. This could lead to his catastrophic downfall. Time will tell.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #726: To the Lost City

 Hail! 

    You know it's amazing who you'll run into in abandoned cities that are overgrown with vegetation and wildlife. Though, I have to admit the temple was well kept. Well, think of it this way. When Medea and co arrived, she did some housecleaning. After all she was going to have guests in her most sacred place. As you can see, the members of the team meeting Roger are comprised of the fastest Starbolts and Crystal. Crystal most likely did teleportation jumps to get from point A to point B. Angela, M'anta, Firaxil and Marcus likely used their own power to get where they needed to go.

    Speaking of needing to go somewhere, it looks like Crystal's android friend needs Carter and TK's help to get to the factory. That would solve some problems. Once the factory is out of business, there shouldn't be any more androids running around. Theoretically that is. Who knows how many more are left on the planet. 

    It also seems like Heidi had a special friend. We'll be hearing more about her in the coming comics. I did reveal that she experimented a lot with her sexuality in college. I don't think her conservative parents would be too thrilled. I mean they weren't happy with the idea of their daughter dating an alien. I don't think they'd be happy with the news that their daughter did stuff in college they would definitely not approve of!

     Anyway, our heroes have arrived at Hy'ala and now have to deal with the mysterious Director and his friend Roger. Will this be the end for Cyclone? Time will tell!

See ya next time!

Starbols #725: Back to the Grind

 

 Hail! 

    Wow! The first day back at work and Heidi finds that all hell is about to break loose. I bet she didn't expect Cyclone to find the lost city of the Faeori. She and Tanis are going to have to play it cool next comic or else their cover would be blown.  There's no way they could have ever predicted this turn of events! At least this ties in nicely with Medea's arrival and the story she told everyone about her people. Now the time has come for the team to confront them in South America! The question is will they find the portal to Demonsk, too? That remains to be seen!

    It looks like there's no love lost between Heidi and her parents these days. They keep repeating the same thing over and over again. "Please end this nonsense". I don't think they understand the scope of the changes in Heidi's life now. There's probably little going back to the life she led before she became a telepath. She went through a lot of changes since they last saw her. Heidi isn't the same woman they raised. Things have changed and hopefully they'll go with the flow.

    At least Crystal and Heidi seem to have made amends this week. The ladies have a lot in common and I liken Heidi to be sort of a twisted mirror of Crystal. She's more experienced and more willing to take what she wants than Crystal is. She could learn a lot from her new friend. Perhaps Heidi saying "Women like us need to stick together" will be incentive for Crystal to finally write that book. You never know.

    Then there's Medea. I just wanted to wrap up some loose ends there because there are still some unanswered questions. She still attacked the Starbolts on a few occasions and went along with Demonstorm's plans. Perhaps it was just an act and if she acted out she'd have been punished. Now that Demonstorm is gone, the truth can come out and I'm sure it's a big relief for Medea. 

    Still, we've got that hidden city to worry about. There's going to be a lot going on there in the jungle. So, stay tuned!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #724: The Hidden Race

 

 Hail! 

    It took a while. But, now we finally have the origin of Medea's people. They're called the Faeori and are responsible for all the myths about fairies, imps and all sorts of creatures. I guess that means Tanis isn't really an insectoid after all. I think that made Heidi really happy to hear that. Tanis is probably relieved that he's from Earth as well.

    Sadly, it looks like the Faeori are trapped somewhere for the time being. They may be stuck in another dimension. They may even be in a facility Braun put them in. You never know. Needless to say Medea has been spending every waking moment since her liberation from Demonstorm trying to find them. Will she? Or will she enlist the aid of the Starbolts?

    At least now they know the truth. Just know that Medea was secretly always rooting for our heroes whenever Demonstorm invaded Earth. She did a good job trying to keep him away from her home for so long. But, he grew tired of her and pushed forward anyway. Now, you might be wondering why he attacked the Faeori to begin with. It's really quite simple. He did it because he could. He's that evil.

    Now, it looks like Cyclone has found the ancient Faeori city. Will they be going to Demonsk? I don't know about that. However, I think Heidi better check in with her boss now that they're worried about her not checking in. It seems someone forgot to give them her two week's notice. Whoops.

More on that and other assorted drama next week!

See ya then!

Starbolts #723: Program Error

 

 

Hail!

    This week's comic answers a very old question some people might have had about Tanis, Medea and others and why they look like baseline humans even though they came from another dimension. Medea revealed that their people came from Earth. I'll go into more detail next week.  We just need to let the dust settle a bit here. The people have a long history with Earth and I'd like to give it its proper focus. I guess the dinosaur people weren't the only secret race on Earth. Many more developed and many more are probably still out there. It's a big world.

    Now we know why Tanis was able to break Demonstorm's hold on him way back in Starbolts #16.  Medea changed her son's genetic code so that he'd be more like her people and less evil like his father. Kind of sneaky of her to do this under his nose. Not to mention dangerous. Tanis's heroism comes from his mother and her people. It was the ultimate revenge on a cruel tyrant. Can't say he didn't have it coming.

    As for Heidi? Wow. Medea sure can call it like she sees it. She is not one to shy away from the obvious, is she? Her parents were blissfully ignorant of their daughter's past. I won't go into details. But, she's had more than just Josh as a lover as we've alluded to before. I don't think her parents would've approved of half of them to be honest. "Alien" or not. And now we know Tanis isn't really an alien.

     Oh and speaking of Josh you might be wondering how he was able to see Tanis and Heidi having sex. Well, Tanis's apartment is on the ground floor like I said.  He simply went to his place looking for a fight and saw everything through the bedroom window. Heidi wasn't able to sense Josh as she was focused on Tanis at the time. Josh didn't stick around long and went to the nearest bar to wash away his sorrows.  I didn't show that in the previous comic as that probably would have been not safe for work. At least now he's sleeping it off. We'll see how he feels once he's sober.

    Anyway, the next comic we'll see the origin of Medea's people and how they fit into the whole Demonstorm mess. There may be more going on here than meets the eye. So, do stay tuned!

See ya next time!

Starbolts #722: Calling in the Big M

 

 Hail!

    Wow! It's all over when your mother gets involved in your love life. But, will things be as bad as we think when Medea finally meets the woman who has stolen Tanis's heart? Good question. The bigger question is how will her parents react. That's going to be a bit interesting to say the least. At least Medea wants to help her son out because once again Demonstorm's programming has royally messed up her son. She has to clean up the mess he made. 

    There's a perfectly good reason for why Tanis has been so flighty and why he's been trying to attach himself to various women. First it was Shenra and now it's Heidi. Something is going on with the bug and next week we'll figure out what's been bothering our friend. The poor guy's a victim of mad science and you might even say he had it worse than Crystal and Carter. 

    Meanwhile, I think someone should talk to Junior about hitting on married women and engaged women. Junior is a teenager so I think he'll learn quickly. We might see him again. Poor kid didn't know what he was getting into trying to hit on two ladies who are quite happy with their relationships. Though, I imagine the sight of Firaxil was enough to splash cold water on his fantasies. He's a kid. He'll learn.

    For now we have Tanis to deal with. Heidi admits that she's probably falling for him, too. Is it too soon? You make the call. I think she feels a connection because her exes haven't all been that great. Tanis is the only one who listens and she was able to figure out that he genuinely cares about her.  More on that soon. Right now Mommy Dearest is about to make a house call.

See ya next time!

 

Starbolts #721: Caught in the Act

 Hail!

    Oh, there's a lot to cover this week. Tanis's libido seems to be in overdrive and he doesn't realize it. You might sake he takes after his mother Medea in that regard. Tanis needs to slow down and it seems Heidi wants to go full throttle with their relationship. I think I can see why. 

    Heidi has had a lot of boyfriends as I illustrated during the argument her parents had. She wants someone like Tanis who'd give her stability and she won't take no for an answer. When Crystal told her to slow down, she spoke from experience. The thing is Heidi is actually more experienced than Crystal and told her off. 

    As I've said before, Crystal has only ever been with two men and one of them was a complete and utter scumbag. As a result, she played it safe on the romance front. However, Heidi doesn't know Crystal's full background. I bet once she finds out WHY she has taken things slow she'll be changing her tune. That remains to be seen. Here's hoping the two will eventually become friends. 

    For now it looks like Heidi has her heart set on Tanis and he's more than happy to reciprocate. I think next week we'll explore how the ex and her brother are reacting to their new surroundings. We'll see what the next comic brings. We may even see how her parents react to their daughter being more than just a "sliugger". Yeah, they just got another wake up call about their daughter.  Twice in one day. How are they going to handle it.

   Meanwhile, I think Crystal's faith in Tanis has been shattered. She is a big believer in second chances. So, she may have some trust issues with her friend now. That's gonna take time to heal. After all he and Heidi did have sex in the ship that brought Firaxil and his parents to Earth. That didn't go over well with Carter as we saw this week. It's definitely not going to go over well with Crystal. That's the main thing they're mad about. It's not so much the tryst. But, the place they did it could stand some scrutiny and raise a few eyebrows.

    Talk about a soap opera! More on this next time!

See ya then! 

Starbolts #720: The Case of the Ex

 Hail!

    Yikes! Tanis is going to be in DEEP trouble next week. Now was probably not a good time or place to have a romantic interlude. Think about it. Not only are the Starbolts on a mission to save some civilians from Cyclone. The shuttle that Carter is driving once brought Firaxil and his parents to Earth. Before it was recovered by our heroes, it was in a cave in Kentucky collecting dust while her husband was abused by the Arronfelds. The Starbolts now use it as a means to transport groups of people on the ground at high speeds since it can never fly again. It can still hover, though! 

    The only saving grace here is there Josh will likely stay out of their way. Or will he? I don't know. I was initially going to write him as a nice guy. I think we've had way too many jerk exes in the comic and so I thought Josh being nice would be a great change of pace. Well,. we'll see how that goes.

    Then we come to Heidi's brother Alex. Alex is a kid. I would say he's about fifteen or sixteen. He's got some growing up to do. We'll be seeing how he interacts with Ellie and the other kids around his age at the Academy. Since he doesn't have powers (that we know of) we can safely say he might bite off more than he can chew. 

    There's not much I can say about Heidi and Alex's parents at the moment. They seem okay. I mean they were shocked to find that their daughter is a metahuman. But, I'm sure once they talk to the Whitefoxes they'll get over it. Time will tell. For now, though? I wouldn't want to be Tanis when he gets caught by Carter....and you know he will! Remember, this is the second time he had a tryst on a mission. This is also his second chance. Yeah....Things aren't looking good for Dragonfly.

See you next time! 

Starbolts #719: The Road of Life

 Hail! 

    Oh, Poor Tanis. His day started so well, didn't it? Let's recap shall we? He rejoined the Starbolts in the hopes of clearing his reputation and found that a woman named Heidi really liked him. They had intimate relations and it turned out Heidi was really working for Cyclone Consulting, a organization that's been a recent thorn in the Starbolts' side. Heidi was hired by Cyclone to seduce a Starbolt and to get information on aliens from them. 

    Heidi had second thoughts about her mission and came clean to the Starbolts. She urged them to help save her family in case Cyclone decided to act on Heidi's betrayal. So, Tanis and Carter decided to take the ship that brought Firaxil to Earth and save her family. When they get to Omaha they come face to face with not only her parents but a guy named Josh. 

    Josh is the captain of the football team and Heidi's former boyfriend. The awkward levels have now gone through the roof. How is Tanis going to compete with Mister Football here? Well, he may not have anything to worry about since Heidi said she had her fill of jocks a long time ago. We'll see how things go! Tanis's journey has just begun. Will Josh be competition or will he not stand in the way? Time will tell.

    All I know is that he'd better heed Carter's warning and not blow it with her.

    Special thanks go out to my friend and fellow Wikitreer Wendy Callahan! This week she and I discussed where in Omaha the Monroes lived. I thought about having them live in Carter Lake since well...Carter's name is also Carter. She said that wasn't a good idea. So, I had to choose between Aksarben and Elkhorn. Elkhorn, as it turns out, is a ritzy neighborhood in Omaha. So, I decided to go with that one because of Mr. Monroe's job. 

    I appreciate a lot of help on geography when I know little about the area. We'll see how the Starbolts handle their trip to Nebraska next week.

See ya next time!

Starbolts #718: Romancing the Dragonfly

Hail!

    Now that the truth about what Heidi was doing with Tanis is out in the open, you have to wonder if he has what it takes to step up to the plate and save her family. She seems genuinely apologetic for what she did. Let's face it. Seducing someone to get information is not a good look. Heidi knew it was wrong and was forced to do what she did in order  to save her family. The saving grace here is that things didn't go very far and the Starbolts should be thankful that Heidi has a conscience. Things could have been way worse. She could have used her powers to alter his mind and take all the information he had. 

    As you might have guessed Tanis is on a bit of a redemption arc. He's on the road to becoming the hero he wants to be and right now a damsel in distress needs him. Though, he has to get his mind right before committing to anything romantic, I think. For starters, he has to stop comparing himself to others. 

    Crystal has only ever been with two men in her life. Heidi has a lot more experience because her powers recently activated and she's probably in her twenties. Crystal joined the Starbolts as a teenager and her life before that was not exactly normal and neither is her life these days now that I think about it. None of the Starbolts save for a few ever had a "normal" life. So, it's going to be interesting to see where this goes from here.

    Next week we'll be on the road to meet Heidi's family. I'm sure they'll be normal people working average jobs in Omaha or something. Nothing crazy like being on a fake farm or something. Still, they are in real danger and Tanis here has to step up to the plate if he wants to be the hero he wants to be. 

    The first thing he has to do is stop putting his foot in his mouth and think before he speaks. Crystal is probably rightfully annoyed with him at the moment because of those comments.  Tanis has to figure out his own feelings and hers before even thinking about being in love with someone he met a week ago. These things take time and Tanis has a lot to figure out.

   Will they be a couple? I don't know. We shall see. For now we've got a road trip to Omaha to go on. This is gonna be interesting. No powers. Just Carter, Tanis and Heidi in a van. This should be an interesting trip indeed.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #717: The Mind's Eye

 Hail!

    This week we get a little insight into the background of one of the academy's newest students! Her name is Heidi Monroe and it looks like she has quite a bit of baggage. What comic character doesn't have baggage at this point? At least we've learned quite a bit about Heidi's past. She was a supermodel on the fast track to being a household name like Anya Petrov. Anya, if you recall, is also a Starbolt and is Jack's girlfriend. I would say it's a small world. But, it's really just a small superhero community. The general public is unaware that Anya is also a superspy.

   Heidi's telepathic abilities manifested themselves at the worst possible moment. A photographer was ogling her and she had to get out of there fast. Though, she ran right into trouble when she arrived at Agents Academy, didn't she? Yeah. It turns out that Cyclone wanted her to gain information on the alien races the Starbolts encountered and to seduce one of them in order to get a Starbolt on their side.

    The plan might have worked if Heidi's heart wasn't into it. She didn't count on getting feelings for the Mosqukatara who turned out to be Tanis. Man, was she relieved when she found out the bug was really Tanis. Terrans wisely do not trust the bugs and for good reason. Their reputation as brutal conquerors precedes them. I mean they are basically Nazis in space. Sure Tanis is the son of a brutal dictator himself but he definitely doesn't take after his father!

    Now that Cyclone's plan has been revealed, what is Heidi going to do? Well, Cyclone doesn't know that their plan failed. So, I think our heroes are going to have to get her family to safety before something bad happens to them. We'll be meeting them fairly soon. Though, I think that trip is going to need a babysitter for her and Tanis as you know he'd want to tag along! I wonder who I can get for that job! We shall see!

 See ya next time!

Starbolts #716: Beauty and the Bug

 Hail!

    Well, it looks like Tanis and Heidi are just "really good friends", huh? Yeah, no. That's likely not the case. I don't know if there's love there yet. But, it seems Heidi might not be able to complete the mission Cyclone sent her on. Cyclone likely never counted on one of their operatives falling for their target even if he is an alien from another dimension.

    We should probably talk about that for a second. I'll delve into it a bit more next week. Tanis's people is apparently biologically compatible with Terrans. There's a mystery about why that is. I mean both species are humanoid and we've seen Tanis's mother Medea get romantically interested in people in the Starbolts' dimension. She did hit on Garazo. Whether or not that was successful or not is up for debate. Either way, they were able to become paramours. Is it love or lust? I don't know. She was thinking of the mission and now can't finish it.

    In the next comic we'll be looking at her origin. Some details of her life mirrors Crystal's. I think she's gonna need to talk to her as well. I think before that we'll likely see the talk Marcus is gonna have with Tanis and that guy is gonna get an earful.

    We learned this week that Aquans have the technology to detect pregnancy shortly after sexy times. That shouldn't be a surprise. They're an advanced race who, as Aquita said, mastered interstellar flight when it was just the 1500s on our world. Sadly, the conflict with the Mosqukatra destroyed most of their fleet. But, great strides have been made to regain what had been lost. Aquans also have really, really good birth control methods. Both men and women take them. I don't think the FDA has approved it for general consumption, yet. Aquans willingly share their technology. However, some things might be a little too complex for Terrans at the moment. Thankfully, they are willing to share and aren't jerks about it. They just know that some humans aren't to be trusted with various aspects of their technology.

    Anyway, we're going to get a look at Heidi's backstory next week and learn a bit about Tanis as well. He was grown in a lab. I can only imagine how Medea will feel about her son dating a Terran. Who am I kidding? She'd be thrilled! It's Demonstorm who'd be less than thrilled. If he ever escapes that prison I put him in.

See ya next time!

Starbolts #715: The First Day on the Job

 

 Hail!

    Oh, Tanis. You sure can pick 'em can't you? The first lady he was with turned out to be a resistance fighter who was tricked into serving Terra Nova thanks to some mind control. She ended up resenting him and now avoids him at all costs. You can't really blame Shenra for that. She was never going to be Tanis's special someone. They had intimate relations under false pretenses and well it wouldn't be a good look if they were together.

    Now? Now he's with a lady who was sent by Gladstone to spy on the Starbolts. I think our heroes will figure out that her "rescue" went a little too smoothly. The question is....What does this say about the others in the group? Are they just as bad? Probably not. They may all want to legitimately be part of the Starbolts. For all we know Heidi might also want to be a Starbolt. We don't really know her. She could be working for Cyclone. You never know.  She might actually really like Tanis as alluded to in the last panel of this week's comic.

    At least now we know the reason why he was sneaking around campus after hours. He was trying to get a report from Heidi regarding her mission. She wasn't answering his calls and he had to take matters into his own hands. What exactly IS her mission, though? Well, it's clear she was supposed to seduce a member of the Starbolts and get information from them. She could have picked anyone and went with Tanis because she actually has a crush on him. Will Tanis reveal state secrets to Heidi? Will Heidi have a change of heart? Is there more to the story? Probably. 

    For now we can be sort of happy Tanis found someone who may actually like him. The only problem is that she was not medically cleared to have intimate relations with an alien and neither was he. Oh, boy. They are gonna get a lecture from Aquita. In fact, I would think that's where Carter went to after the two "lovebirds" left the track. They can expect a visit from the local doctor very soon.

     Tanis may well be on the road to redemption but it's off to a rocky start. More on this next week. Shaking my head. Poor guy. I torture him so much. I hope things work out for him.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #714: Under Her Spell

 

 Hail! 

    This week the engagement party ends on a very high note for our heroes and now that I think about it I think both Marcus and Crystal would be under each other's spell. No magic is involved. But, there is that mutual attraction they have for each other. Thankfully, it goes beyond a physical attraction.  I've said it many times before. Those two basically complete each other. He makes her feel safe and loved and makes her laugh. That's a big deal considering her history. She makes him feel accepted. That's why they love each other so much.

    I did have a fun time trying to figure out the disastrous side effect of a "love potion" in this universe. I wanted to make something gross and befitting for someone who dared to try and use such a thing. Turning green with envy and getting covered in warts seemed like the best way to go. Of course that ultimately ends in the person dying. So there's that.

    It's good to note that the bonding ritual isn't a love spell either. It's just something that heightens a bond that's already there. Does it improve things? Probably. Ever since Crystal and Marcus achieved their bond (After several tries) she has been a lot more confident in her love for Marcus as evidenced by the kiss on the dance floor and her actions later in the comic. I don't think I need to explain any more about those two. The comic kinda speaks for itself at this point.

    Other than Crystal and Marcus learning about love spells,we've got Tanis officially returning to the ranks of the Starbolts. In the original draft of this week's comic, I had the conversation between Shrall, M'anta and Tanis and it basically had him say to Shrall that he wanted to leave Xemplara and rejoin the Starbolts. Shrall was very eager to let him go since things with Shenra haven't been too cozy. Plus he had that unfortunate incident in Cyclone Consulting where he dressed up as a Mosqukatara. Not a great look dressing up like a space Nazi.

    I don't think Xemplara was too sad to see him go. At least now he's back where he belongs and Carter will be watching him like a hawk. You might recall how those two didn't always get along. Crystal believes in second chances because she and her sister are living proof of how second chances work. He better not fail Crystal. If he thinks Carter would get mad just imagine how mad she'd get. Crystal is a passionate person. She loves hard and if you cross her, she will strike hard.

   Next time we'll see what else Cyclone is gonna throw at our heroes. What did that VP nominee want? We'll see him again next week!

See ya then! 

Starbolts #713: A New Dragonfly

 Hail!

    Leave it to Medea to go above and beyond to ensure her son's future. Now, the question is did she sleep with Garazo or not? I don't know about that. I think it's best to let that be a mystery. If anything, I'm sure they just discussed Tanis in a less crowded setting. Could they have done it? It's possible. But, I think I'll leave that for readers to decide. Some things are best left ambiguous.  

    In any event, Tanis has a desire to leave Xemplara and return to the Starbolts. He originally left the team after falling out with them over his tryst with Shenra back in Starbolts #437. Shenra will be happy he's leaving Xemplara. I doubt they've remained on friendly terms once her mind was in the right place. She'd be throwing a party once Shrall tells her the news.

    I wonder if the Starbolts will welcome Tanis back with open arms. That remains to be seen. For now this is basically the start of Tanis's redemption tour. I'm getting tired of making him the punching bag. So, look to see some development on this front.

    We still will have to deal with the guy who's been poking around the academy. He was caught hanging around the science building and already changed his story. What exactly is that man up to? 

Stay tuned!

Starbolts #712: One Quiet Night

 Hail! 

    The first comic of 2025 and already things are off to an interesting start. Garazo gave some great tips to Marcus and we gained some insight into the world where our cat-like friend came from. His people are polyamorous and have many significant others at the same time. As a result, he has many children including the Starbolt Carra. 

    I wonder if we'll ever see any of his three wives and the rest of their children. We might someday. For now it looks like Medea has her heart set on becoming wife number four. Will it happen? Who knows. Right now it looks like our heroes might have another problem.

    It turns out that the  guy introduced last week was not only a Vice Presidential hopeful but a Gladstone as well. If you recall, a man named H.P. Gladstone made life a living hell for our heroes several times. He's currently residing in a maximum security prison for his role in the resurgence of the terrorist organization Terra Nova and even old crimes including the kidnapping of Crystal and Carter when they were just embryos. Sufficed it to say, H.P. was not a nice man.

    So, how is Harold related to him? Well, they are both gingers. That's all I can spoil right now. There is a connection there. I was tempted to make a few other people a V.P. candidate. But, we may see them again as members of the cabinet or something. That's just assuming Roger wins the election. He and Gladstone do seem confident don't they? It'd be a real shame if something were to happen to them. Real shame indeed.

See ya next time!