Starbolts #775: Breaking Funkeezi

 Hail!

    There's nothing quite like a trip into a city's seedy underbelly, huh? Looks like our heroes will be dealing with some nefarious types in this wretched hive of scum and villainy. Somehow I don't think there will be a cantina band playing as they entered. I did miss an opportunity to have the bouncer say "We don't serve their kind here!" Perhaps the bartender will say it instead next week. 

    It seems obvious that the Funkeezi in this part of the city don't like people with two legs. I guess they have a lot to learn. Then again they might have a good reason to not trust "bi-legs". After all they had to deal with the Valeen and everything. We'll just have to wait and see. 

    Poor Tanis may be in over his head but at least he'll have Jack watching over him and Jack has Crystal and Carter on standby in case things go south and they will. I don't think this place is going to be open much longer. But that's to be determined.

    Our heroes have been invited into the club and the manager knows one of them is a Faeori. This should get interesting very quickly. 

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #774: The Underfunk

 Hail!

    It's so tragic to see a hidden race fall on such hard times. The Faeori successfully escaped Demonstorm's clutches and somehow found themselves unable to perform the simplest magic trick. Along come the Valeen and suddenly they're addicted to magic. It's going to take a lot of work to get the Faeori clean. If our heroes can, of course. First thing's first. Our heroes will have to find them and that may be a little tricky given how secretive they are. However, if they root out the dealers, the dealers could lead them right to them. Here's hoping M'anta's plan works!

    Poor Shenra. She fell victim to the drug. With a little luck perhaps Aquita will devise an antidote. The problem is we need to figure out what prevented the Faeori from using magic in the first place. I have a few ideas in mind. We'll see how they play out in the next few comics.

    I do like how Medea was talking up the Starbolts. I mean they DID defeat her ex husband many times in the past. It's only fair that she'd brag about it. It looks like it worked and now the Starbolts are on their way to finding the Faeori!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #773: The Hyperfunk Zone

 Hail!

    The good news is that our heroes are closer to finding out more about the mysterious Faeori. The bad news is that they might be addicted to magic. How is that possible? Well, I'm sure Medea will be asking that question next week when Tanis takes Shenra to his mother. Oh, Shenra. I'm not sure how she got the "magi juice" and now she might be hooked on magic. It's sad to see. However, she was the one who wanted to go "explore the culture". Something tells me she found more than she bargained for. She may have needed a chaperone. Or at least stayed in the compound.

    I had trouble coming up with funky backgrounds this week and thankfully Google had some free images I could use. Many thanks go out to the people who originally made them. I'm not sure what I would have made. But, they wouldn't be as funky as these images. For some reason I'm picturing them all animated. It'd definitely be a trip.

    I had to rewrite a couple bits here and there regarding the magi juice. I originally had Derek offer Medea some. But that didn't fly well with me after a second and third reading. It's better to let him be a leader who warned Medea about the criminal element in his society. Too bad Shenra found out a little too late. More on her next week. Poor Shenra. She has no idea what she's in for.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #772: Bring on the Funk

 Hail!

    This week we're bringing on the funk while Marcus and Tanis have a long overdue talk about what it means to be tethered to the woman they love. Marcus did his best to explain the situation. It's like feeling love in a way that can't be expressed by mere words. Crystal is likely having the same conversation with Heidi while the guys are on their way to the transporter room. Those two will have a lot to learn in the coming comics about what it means to be bonded. It might actually end up helping Marcus and Crystal,too. You never know. They're still rather new to the whole thing. So, it could end up helping them out at the same time.

     I think Tanis and Marcus now have a lot more in common. Both were initially just speedsters and now they're both mystically bonded. The only difference is that Tanis is the magic user. He was the one who initiated it with Heidi. He isn't sure how it happened. I think he might be eager to learn! We'll see how things go.

    Next week we'll be beaming down to the Funkeezi homeworld. The place is sure to be a trip. I had to laugh when I came up with the name "Derek" for their leader. I couldn't come up with anything really alien enough this week. I guess it suits a planet like this. Though, I wonder if I should have called him "Kevin" in honor of Kevin Bacon. Eh, it's fine. Derek it is and we'll be meeting him next week along with more people on the funkiest planet in the universe.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #771: The Birds and the Dragonflies

 Hail!

    This week's comic has some much needed character development for Tanis and Heidi. I freely admit that I've used Tanis as a bit of a punching bag. My editors seem to agree that that's the case. I also once again had help from my friend Jenn. She helped me to iron out the details of Heidi's reaction to everything.

      Heidi has been taking things pretty well, hasn't she? Her boyfriend has a ton of magical potential and bonded with her on a magical level. She, along with Tanis, are learning what it means to be bonded in that way. I expect there'll be some scenes with Marcus and Crystal,  the other mystically bonded couple. Heidi being more experienced in this sort of thing will help Tanis out in the long run. Let's hope things work out for those two! And Lucy!

    At least there's been some long overdue development for Tanis here. I wanted to try and make him less flighty. I think he's on his way to become a little more confident. Let's not forget he's still technically the youngest Starbolt even though he looks a lot older than he really is. Tanis looks like an adult but he's actually about two. He's got a lot to learn and I think Heidi will be helpful in guiding him. He also has a lot to learn, too. Hopefully, he'll become a better person and a better Starbolt in the future. We can't have him running off whenever there's trouble can we?

    Next week, we're visiting Toejani's homeworld and we'll be there for a few comics. There's definitely going to be some hi-jinks there 

Stay tuned! 

Starbolts #770: Reaching an Impasse

 

Hail!

    It looks like the mission to rescue Tanis took an interesting turn. What could the Faeori have done to warrant such a response from the Garandanites? They travel around space in this gigantic sphere and this one race of magic users gives them pause. They didn't offer any explanation and just sent our heroes on their way. At least the Captain was open to talking once he was surrounded. Medea also helped a little bit by casting a protection spell around the chamber. He couldn't get help from his crew and the captain was cornered. You could say he was stalling for time. However, he had no idea Medea had cast her spell.

     Either way, our heroes are off on their next adventure. They have to deliver Toejani back to his people and finally get back on the road. The Faeori are out there. I don't know if Tanis, Medea and Shenra will like what they find. Speaking of Tanis. It looks like he and Heidi are going to have a lot to talk about next week. Tanis may want to wish he was back in the Garandanite dungeon after Heidi's through with him.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #769: Saving Himself

Hail!

     This week I wanted to show that Tanis was more than capable of freeing himself. After all he is a speedster. He isn't as fast as Marcus. However, he is pretty strong. That allowed him to break free of the aliens' cell. Luckily, they were all distracted by the battle or else he might not have gotten all the way to the computer room. The poor guys didn't know what hit him and now the Starbolts are here to pay the baddies a visit.

    We also learned what's under their helmets. It looks like a few of them are purple skinned aliens. I imagine there are different races present on that ship. More on that next week. Our heroes are going to force the Valeen to talk about things before Tanis can officially return to the Xazes.

    When that happens, you know Heidi and Tanis will have to talk about their bond. They'll be discussing how it happened and most importantly why he never felt anything afterward. There are so many questions running through Heidi's head. Let's hope Tanis can answer them. At the very least perhaps Medea can hold his hand as he tries to explain everything.  We shall see. Heidi definitely wants to talk about what happened and poor Tanis has no clue. That should make for a fun discussion.

    Before they can do that, our heroes will have to face the leader of these bounty hunters. Their shields are down and their ship is damaged. Maybe now they'll be more inclined to negotiate. Never underestimate a small vessel.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #768: Finding Love

 Hail!

    Happy Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day! It's very rare for me to actually have a comic out on Valentine's Day. Sure I've done several comics near the day and I have done quite a few romance comics. This week, I thought I would show how exactly Marcus and Crystal bonded back in Starbolts #593.  That was the first time they bonded and they bonded again much later. It took them quite a few tries to get it right.

    Tanis on the other hand seemingly bonded with Heidi right away. I don't know why that is right now. I suspect it might have something to do with Tanis's Faeori nature. The Faeori are more in tune with the mystical forces of the universe. Crystal is a void witch and she is half base-line human. Her father is Earth's sorcerer supreme and her mother is basically a really good athlete. Tanis may have less of his father in him than what was initially believed. 

   Frequent sex may have also played a role in Heidi and Tanis's bond. You never know. He definitely did it subconsciously. Knowing him he's going to freak out once Heidi tells him what he did next week.  Thankfully, he can't run away or anything.

     Either way, at least our heroes know where Tanis is. Once they save him, they can get back on the road to finding the Faoeri. Though, there may be more to these bounty hunters than meets the eye. 

 See ya next time!  

Starbolts #767: Finding the Dragonfly

 Hail!

    This week we learn a little more about Tanis's captors. It seems that they are working for a client who is interested in magic and magical people. Specifically, they are interested in Tanis and his mother. What could they possibly want with them? The mind boggles. Either way, it seems our hero isn't going to be leaving that ship any time soon. It seems that they've been tailing the Aquito ever since it left orbit of Demonsk.  

    Back on the Aquito we have Heidi dealing with Shenra. It's safe to say that the two of them won't be friends any time soon. She clearly doesn't like Tanis and Heidi does. Fortunately, Heidi visited Medea and the witch discovered something interesting about Heidi. 

    Medea is theorizing that Tanis somehow made a mystical bond between him and Heidi during sex. This might be how our heroes find Tanis. Remember, Crystal once went missing and Marcus was able to use their mystical bond to find her. Perhaps it will work again. We'll find out next time in our special Valentine's Day comic. We don't seem to have many of those. It's very rare, indeed!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #766: Slaves to Violence

 Hail!

    It's honestly amazing how a van full of escaped slaves went unnoticed by Demonstorm and his men. I suspect that was Medea's doing. She might have caused a distraction that allowed the slaves to run free. Or in this case take a van. I'm sure other slaves ran the same way.

    Now it seems that the Valeen bounty hunters were former slaves of Demonstorm and rather than enjoying their newfound freedom they decided to turn to bounty hunting in order to become slavers themselves. That's....ten shades of messed up right there. I mean you have a ton of people who were wrongfully subjugated and a few escapees want to become the masters. I suppose it could be argued that that's all they slaves know.

    I wonder if they knew Medea freed them. That seems extremely unlikely. Why else would they have captured Tanis? They knew he was the son of Demonstorm. I guess they thought he was just as dangerous as his father. That reminds me. Why didn't they take Medea? She was on the ship, right? Well, I think Medea being a very powerful void witch may have played a role in her protection. She was too powerful and so they took the next best thing.

    Meanwhile, we have Heidi and Crystal talking. Crystal has agreed to train Heidi how to fight. Heidi hates feeling defenseless and now she wants to learn from a woman who learned from the best heroes on Earth, the second Lady Liberty and others. With her beauty, a few martial arts degrees could make her one of the most deadliest assets the Starbolts have on their roster.  We may see her training soon. 

    In the meantime, it looks like Tanis is in some hot water. What do these bounty hunters want? Why are they like this? We'll see soon enough. Right now Tanis is in trouble and is in need of saving. Let's hope our heroes can find their lost friend. They never leave a man behind. Stay tuned for more!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #765: Chasing the Funk

 Hail!

    Even in the Delta Quadrant our heroes can't catch a break! It turns out that the ship that was following the Aquito was a Jaleen ship,. The Jaleen are a bunch of bounty hunters. I know I said I'd reveal them. However, I think it's best to keep their identities a secret for now. We may actually see them next week. I'm just building up the tension and trust me the payoff will be pretty sweet. All I can tell you is that for some reason they wanted to take Tanis and that magic allowed the kidnappers to penetrate the ship's shields and take our blue haired friend.

    The Jaleen seem to roam the quadrant in a sphere-shaped ship. Who knows where their allegiances lie. Someone clearly hates the Funkeezi and hired them to destroy anyone in their path. There are so many questions. Why were they so close to Demonsk? What is their deal? I'll explore their story in the comics to come. Right now I think Crystal is gonna have her hands full taking care of Heidi. 

    Here's hoping they find Tanis soon! It's probably a good thing she and Tanis weren't doing what everyone assumed they were doing. See Starbolts #716 for instance. Special thanks go out to my friend and fellow Wikitreer Jenn for Marcus's line. "Stop the ****ing!" We say that every time we encounter a family with a ton of kids. How many, you say? I think 15 to 16 qualifies.

See ya next time!  

Starbolts #764: The Stowaway

 Hail!

    This week, I'm introducing the first alien race our heroes have encountered in the Delta Quadrant! They are the Funkeezi and they are pretty much inspired by the classic Sega Genesis game "Toejam and Earl".  I played that game and its sequels a lot growing up and I figured now would be a great time to create a race similar to Toejam. There are some key differences, though. I don't think they'll be all about funk or anything. We'll learn more about them soon enough. I just thought it'd be a cool idea to create a three legged race. I will admit that creating Toejani's sprites was a little difficult. At least I got the basics down!

    It also looks like the strange ship that's been following our heroes is after Toejani. We'll see them next week. I haven't decided on a look for them. That's why it's "Audio only". I haven't really made up my mind for how I want the second Delta Quadrant race to look. Needless to say this area of space doesn't have as many generic humanoid shaped bodies as the Alpha Quadrant does. Creating a look for the new aliens is going to be a challenge. But, it'll be worth it.

    Now then. Is Toejani really a criminal? We shall see. We'll also see our new alien friends next week too. Medea also has Toejani's padd. Perhaps that'll hold the key to figuring out who or what Toejani really is!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #763: Minor Observations

 Hail!

    A lot of things are happening in this week's comic! First off we have someone or something aboard the ship. It remains to be seen if whoever this intruder is is friendly or not. Could it be a friend who will guide our heroes through the Delta Quadrant? Or is he a foe? I think if he was a foe he would have made his intentions known. It's clear that his race has some sort of cloaking device AND that they can mask themselves from telepaths. They seem to be the perfect spies. The question is...how did he get aboard the ship? Well, he could have gotten on board at the starport. That's the most likely option. He may have been hiding on that ship for a long time and watched as the Demonei made their repairs. His story will be revealed in the coming weeks.

     The next major thing to happen this week is the revelation that Tanis is finally over Shenra. It didn't take much. I think he got the hint a long time ago. Now he wants to move on with Heidi and Lucy. I just hope Shenra isn't too jealous. She might be. It remains to be seen. She likely isn't jealous and more just annoyed that Tanis isn't discreet. Here's hoping it's the latter! See ya next week as we find out more about our very curious alien friend.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #762: Into the Delta Quadrant

 Hail!

    And off they go on another adventure into space! I was originally going to have a small group on this expedition. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it made more sense to include all of the Starbolts. So, everyone is aboard the ship and not just the crew Tanis picked for this mission. This means that somewhere in a lab Carter is stewing about being put on this mission. If you recall, the two Starbolts do not get along very well. The teen Starbolts are home for this one at least. They'll be taking care of stuff on Earth while the dozen or so Starbolts and Medea are looking for the Faeori.

    Speaking of the Faeori, who knows what kind of state they'll be in once they find them. I'm sure everything will be just fine. However, there may be obstacles for our heroes along this journey. They may encounter many things out there in the Delta Quadrant. At least they aren't lost. They have the Centurion Corps as backup should the need arise. 

    I did want to include an interesting bit about first contact between the Aquans and the Leonids. Those cats are very particular like cats in the real world. It could have gone so wrong and at least it all worked out in the end. 

    It's a shame Heidi and Tanis's girlfriend Lucy isn't joining them. But, I suspect she has some training to do before she can join her friends on any space adventures.

    Here's to another year of Starbolts adventures! We'll see what 2026 will bring our heroes.

See ya next time!