Starbolts #803: Zero to Hero

 Hail!

    No one ever said the road to redemption was easy and Robkas learned that lesson the hard way this week. I know we didn't see him tackle a horned god or anything but his ego was definitely bruised as well as his body. At least he got a chance to interact with Aquita and she is genuinely happy he is at least trying to make amends for his past misdeeds. We also have to remember that he's also a rich, aristocratic snob who is used to getting his own way. So, it shouldn't be any surprise that  he tried to get Holly to change the records. 

    And speaking of Holly, I thought it was nice to include some character development for her and Norad. The Starbolts' resident artificial intelligence pair are getting close. Will they change the nature of their relationship? That's to be determined. Both characters do work well together as they are both androids. We'll see how things go on that front.

    At least we know Robkas has a bit of respect for Crystal given all she went through. Then again, he did call her a few names this week. Robkas does respect women but he doesn't go out of his way to be uncouth like her ex Cody. It would be nice to have Robkas and Crystal compare notes. Maybe it would teach him how to be a better boyfriend for Kahlia should he ever get rid of that black aura.

    For now it seems he has a long road ahead of him. Next week will be the annual Halloween comic and I've got something special in mind for Robkas here. Stay tuned!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #802: The Road to Redemption

 Hail!

    Robkas's road to redemption has begun and it looks like the aristocratic Aquan may have a long road ahead of him. The Starbolts don't like him and for good reason. There are far too many comics where he was a thorn in their side. He faced justice on more than one occasion, sure. However, he always managed to weasel out of any real jail time because of his connections. Things have changed. His connections won't talk to him. He lost his Praetorian powers. He lost his girlfriend. He has a black aura around him that needs to be fixed. He's down on his luck and his only hope for salvation is Medea and her merry band of malcontent metahumans. Good luck to him is all I can say at this point.

    We can only hope that Robkas stays on the up and up. As I said last week, I wasn't sure what other Starbolts villain could be redeemed. He seemed like the most logical choice because he was never REALLY "take over the world" evil. He was always obsessed with Aquita and his crimes always surrounded her. Next week we can expect a conversation between the two. Mateo will likely be nearby keeping a close eye on him. It's not that he doesn't trust his wife. No. He just doesn't trust Robkas. None of the Starbolts do. Expect some reactions from our heroes as Robkas tries to learn what it takes to be a hero. Judging from Firaxil's response, it won't be good. I mean Firaxil didn't even take off his bucket. He was ready to drop Robkas off in the heart of a collapsing star.

The road to redemption is a bumpy one for that Aquan. Here's hoping he can survive the experience!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #801: The Next Generation

 Hail!

    First off, this week's comic is dedicated to a friend of mine who passed away a few months ago. She was an avid fan of the comic and often provided me tips and guidance on a few stories. Denise was a great friend and I'll miss her a lot. She really loved the comic. Especially, Medea. For some reason she could never get enough of the lady she called "The Big M". I only wish she was able to see the story where she finally found her people. I also wonder what she would think of this upcoming arc. More on that in a bit.

    Denise was also a Wikitreer and helped me more than a few genealogical puzzles here and there. I'm definitely going to miss her. Rest in peace, Denise!

   As far as this week's comic goes, it looks like Medea is forming a crew of former Starbolts villains. Why? What purpose will it serve? And is Robkas at the end really on the up and up? These are all very good questions and I'll be sure to answer them as I always do. Though, it seems like Robkas's reason for joining may not have to do with heroics as much as getting back together with his girlfriend Dahlia. And, yes. Medea would steal her from him. Of course she would. She's Medea. That woman has no "off" button.

    I wanted to do an arc where the former villains I've gathered at the academy do something other than just hang around and have the odd cameo here and there. There has to be a reason for their being there. I'm thinking of making this crew something like a "West Coast Avengers" team or even the "Thunderbolts".    There's a good chance they may be a combination of both teams. And chances are very good that they'll be running into our heroes.

    Speaking of our heroes, it looks like baby Rose is doing just fine with her family around her. I admit there was a curve ball here calling the comic "The Next Generation". It wasn't necessarily going to be about the kids! Nope. We have a new group of heroes waiting in the wings. Will they be as successful as the Starbolts? Time will tell. All I know is that I'm gonna have to make some new villains. Oh and I would have used the other former Terra Nova villains for this group but I think Medea knows they're a bit too young. So she decided to run with the former Legion members instead. Makes sense when you think about it!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #800: Rose

 Hail!

    And baby makes three! Welcome to the 800th edition of the Starbolts! This comic was a long time coming. Not only is this year the thirtieth anniversary of my story. It's also the beginning of a new chapter for M'anta and Jenna. They were dating when the comic began and were married fairly early on if I recall. Now, they have a baby! Eagle-eyed readers will recall that was the name I gave the baby is the same name I gave one of the time traveling teenagers from the future.  For more on that adventure, check out Starbolts #462-#493!

    It looks like things are more or less syncing up with the time period they came from minus a few other details. Now there are three children of the Starbolts running around the academy. Sirak, the son of Aquita and Mateo was the first followed by Firaxil and Carter's daughter Dendra. Will there be a fourth? Probably. But not for a while.  Let's let the ladies rest for a bit, huh? Who would be next? It's hard to say. I haven't really decided on anything. 

    I did enjoy working on a few scenes this week. That journalist scene was fun to do. Imagine a Ms. Manners type like her coming across Crystal fresh off of a workout. She was pretty much speechless. Then it turns out she used to write for a tabloid. Let's hope she stays on the straight and narrow. 

    I do enjoy how Medea is making herself helpful. She helped Richard Dastara create a way to talk to the Faeori colony in the Delta Quadrant. More on her later. She definitely wants to be in on the "Starbolts Parents Club" as she calls it. I think they'll let her in. I mean she did save several members of the team and made amends for her own transgressions. Why not? Dare I say, why not?

    I also hinted at Crystal's upcoming book. More on that in future comics. We shall see what the future holds for our heroes. Thanks for reading and being part of this adventure! Here's to many more issues of the comic!

See you next time! 

     

 

Starbolts #799: The Two Professors

 Hail!

   You know, I don't think the Doctor even had days like this. Oh, sure he came across other versions of himself/herself throughout time and space. However, this version of the Professor was hellbent on destroying two nearly identical realities together in order to somehow bring back a lost companion named Sarah Jane. The Doctor suffered losses of companions too. I think it might have been too much for the Professor to handle and that's why he wanted to merge realities together. Poor guy needs a few regenerations to think about what happened and what Sarah Jane would have wanted.

     Now that each M'anta is back in their proper realities, it's time to get the show on the road. Jenna's baby is due and will be making an appearance in next week's comic. Next week's comic won't just celebrate the 800th edition of the comic, my friends. We will be celebrating the story's thirtieth year that week with callbacks to past adventures and who knows....maybe there'll be a guest star or two! 

    I really liked how that asteroid came out. I found the sprite online (A free one) and decided to dazzle it up a bit. I do wonder if the Professor knows about the group of dinosaurs who escaped their fate and made their way to the center of the galaxy. I'm sure he knows. He probably didn't want to tell the M'anta from Earth-1996. Spoilers and all that.

    Anyway, we have our 800th comic coming in hot and it's sure to be a good one!

See ya next time!    

Starbolts #798: The Case of the Two Mantas

 Hail!

    It certainly looks like things have taken a interesting turn this week. The Professor, a baddie last seen in Starbolts #478, is behind this latest multiversal mashup.  This time we seem to be dealing with two iterations of the same character. The one who nabbed the Mantas is wearing a fetching bowtie and the Professor who wants to merge Earth--1996 and Earth-2008 into one reality treats our heroes like action figures. We'll be seeing him next week for sure as we march toward Starbolts #800.

    Now we know what's at stake. It seems that the Professor's 9th incarnation wants to merge both realities into one because they are so similar and if you look at the panels with the two Starbolts teams, you can see what I mean. There are a few uniform changes and everything but there are some differences. The Earth-2008 Starbolts team has Tanis and Heidi on there. Earth-1996 doesn't. Earth-1996 is technically the past of Earth-2008. They just haven't met Tanis and Heidi yet.  Other changes worth noting is how robotic Norad looks in Earth-1996. He doesn't have an android body yet. Kevin has different eyes as well.

    All it takes is a few subtle differences to make one reality different from another. There's nothing drastic like a zombie universe or anything and the 9th Professor wants to put both realities together because they are so similar. He figured that the teenage version of Manta would be enough to cause the inversion. Will he succeed? Time will tell. 

See ya next week! 

Starbolts #797: Into the Mantaverse

 Hail!

    Wow! While learning about the reality he landed in, the teenage version of M'anta has come face to face with his adult counterpart! I'm sure our M'anta and his young friend will have a lot to talk about next week about their current situation. The cause of all the problems in the last few comics are right here in this week's comic. If you guess it right, you'll get a cookie! =D I personally think it's obvious. Who else would be responsible for this mess? It's clearly H.P. Gladstone. Biggest file on record and a huge axe to grind. Yep. It's totally him. Or Robkas. ;)

    Nah. I won't reveal who it is here. That revelation will come next week. What I can reveal is that the comic's reality is Earth 2008. 2008 is the year the comic started. Earth 1996 is a reference to the year I started doing the prose comic. It makes sense since those are the years I started each story. 

    I do have to admit M'anta's reaction to our Crystal was a little funny because prose Crystal was a different character entirely. She wasn't a Whitefox. She had crystalline claws (Sound familiar?) , had a southern accent and her outfits were skimpier than even Emma Frost's X-Men costumes. She was pretty out there and when it came time to introduce her to the comic, I decided to tone her down, give her a better costume and even a better backstory. See what happens when you flesh out a character? It is kind of funny that Marcus wants to see the costume. He'd better be careful what he wishes for. Carter's reaction, of course, is priceless!

    Anyway, let's hope teen Manta gets along with his younger self from Earth 1996. I think they will. They have no reason to fight or anything. Let's just hope they can solve this problem. 

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #796: M'anta '96

 Hail!

    Well, it looks like M'anta here isn't just from an alternate reality. He's from the past as well. In his reality, his father's assassination hasn't occurred yet and won't happen for another few years. This is M'anta as he appeared in my very first story from way back in 1996. Granted, I did take a few liberties here and there. I'm allowed to do that, aren't I? Sure, I am!

    The only liberty I took was regarding Carter. Carter didn't come along in the prose version of the story until the early 2000s when I was writing the story with my friend, Sam. Carter was also called Sara Edwards back then and she had a British accent. She went through several retcons before becoming the lovable raven-haired witch we know today. If young M'anta thought the images he saw in Carter's head were shocking, just wait until he meets this universe's Crystal. Let's hope he doesn't fly off when he meets her.

    Anyway, we have some glimpses into what the reality M'anta came from is like. Aquarius became a desert thanks to the Mosqukatrara. The Agents took the J'arrstis in and made them superheroes. There's more, of course. But as you can see several things never made it into the comic. For starters, I rather like keeping Aquarius a blue, watery world. I think the Aquans would agree. It gets better. The Aquans refugees created a city in the Pacific Ocean once Sirak made his race known to the people of Earth. I forget if I ever restored that version of Aquarius. I might have.

    Sirak is eventually born to Mateo and Aquita in the other reality and Aquita's father did die by Terra Nova's hand in the prose story. Some things are just a constant in the multiverse. King Sirak is always assassinated in every reality. Look on the bright side. At least the couples always exist in every reality!  

    It was probably a smart move on the Starbolts part by having Aquita meet with a younger version of her brother. I can't imagine anyone else being on hand to help except maybe Shrall.

    Now we know where our M'anta is. Will he be meeting his alternate self? Possibly. I don't see why not. More fun times are sure to be had as we march toward Starbolts #800.  I have a feeling our young hero is going to get himself into some trouble before that comic. Stay tuned!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #795: Home Again

 Hail!

    Wow. I'll say this. There's never a dull moment for this crew. Just when they thought they could relax for a while another adventure begins! I think at this point the Starbolts just call it "Tuesday". At least an alternate version of Manta shouldn't be too much of a problem, right? Right? I mean he doesn't seem to have a goatee or anything. That's usually a bad sign when you're dealing with an alternate reality version of someone.

    This technically isn't the first time the Starbolts had to deal with an alternate reality. Back n Starbolts #167-200 the team had to survive a universe full of dark versions of themselves. The jury's still out on whether or not that was a proper alternate reality because it was created by Demonstorm. Demonstorm wanted to make a reality where he was the hero and the Starbolts were the villains.The villain is also a great magician so he could have easily cast an illusion and made it seem like everyone was in an alternate reality when they were really just on Demonsk.

    Here we have a proper alternate reality version of M'anta. Where does he come from? Well, I'll tell you. Not only is the Starbolts' landmark 800th comic coming soon. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Starbolts in general! I've been writing the series since 1996 and the story was in prose from until 2008 when I started the webcomic. M'anta here is from the prose version of my story as we'll see next comic. The prose version of the Starbolts is vastly different from the one in the comic today. Case in point. M'anta recognizes Carter but calls her "Sara" and wonders why her hair is black. There are small changes like that from the original story and bigger changes too.

    The Starbolts have been through a lot of changes in thirty years. I'll have to look at the old stories to see just how M'anta would react to all the changes I made since then and wow there are a lot. Let's hope he reacts to everything in a good way. But chances are he'd freak out a little. This version of M'anta is still a teenager. He might be taken aback by all the changes.

    Elsewhere in the comic we have an important daddy/daughter talk between Crystal and her father. Crystal is finally becoming the woman she was meant to be. I do hope she runs into alternate M'anta because prose Crystal was a completely different person. She never had any abuse and was not a Whitefox. She was also a bit umm....promiscuous.  When I introduced her into the comic, my friend and beta reader Mark wisely told me to tone down her promiscuous behavior. She was also an Arronfeld by blood, too. Comic Crystal, as you know, would not like that. There are other changes here and there that made things different from the comic and we'll be exploring them as the story celebrates its thirtieth year and as we march on toward Starbolts #800.

    As for Tanis and his girlfriends? I think that scene speaks for itself. Heidi reunited with Lucy and she told him about the bonding and now Lucy wants the same thing. Makes sense. She doesn't want to feel left out of the bonding. It should be noted, again, that you don't have to bond via sex as Whitefox explained in the comic this week. There are other ways to do it. Sex just hurries it along, I suppose. At least the three of them are happy! Will Tanis run into the alternate version of M'anta? Maybe. There was never a prose Tanis. So that would be an interesting encounter. Very interesting, indeed.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #794: Facing Reality

 Hail!

    Today, we bid farewell to Shenra. Shenra, for those who don't know, was introduced way back in Starbolts #437 when she was pitted against Tanis and forced to fight the Starbolts. Terra Nova had captured her and spent a few years brainwashing her into helping them with their fight against our heroes. She eventually broke free and joined King Shrall's superteam, Xemplara, for a while. Eventually, she joined up with our heroes when they went on their quest to find the Faeori. Now that she found them ,and fell in love with one of the locals,  she decided to stay with them while they rebuild their society after dealing with a magic-eating dragon for a few decades.

    This isn't goodbye. We'll be seeing her, Toejani and the rest of the inhabitants of the Delta Quadrant sooner or later. Space may be big but as long as Firaxil can make nifty stargates like that the distances will be a lot shorter. We'll be seeing our new friends again just like we'll be seeing our new enemies again. New characters don't just get pushed aside...unless they really need to meet a grisly fate. Remember that witch that fell down the well? I don't think we'll be hearing from her any time soon.

    This week's title naturally refers to the reality of Shenra's situation. Does she have second thoughts about leaving everyone behind in the Alpha Quadrant? Any regrets? She did have a dangling loose end with Tanis to take care of. At least that has been resolved. She clearly made up her mind and now she can focus her energy on Andora. All the Starbolts can do is wish her luck in the future.

    At least our heroes are in a good place as they return home. Starbolts #800 is just around the corner and now we can focus on a few other odds and ends. We may cover some plot threads in the mean time. Starbolts #800 will be a big one for sure. I won't give anything away in the mean time. I just hope you all enjoy the ride!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #792: Face the Dragon

 Hail!

    I love having Jack and Carter team up. I should do it more often. They definitely have a good cop/bad cop dynamic. Though, based on some of Jack's actions he could be a "bad cop" sometimes. Still, they got the job done. Crystal and the others will have their magic back and all will be right with the world. That just leaves one small problem. What do we do with Xarius? Well, she could stand trial for her various crimes or they'll do something else to her entirely. I'd hate to waste a great villain. We'll see her and her son again some day. You never know. They COULD follow our heroes back to the Alpha quadrant.

    At least the magic has now been restored and we'll see the impact of Xarius "losing her lunch" next week. Marcus and Heidi will no doubt be happy that their respective partners are better again. Whether or not the bond is still there is to be determined. I think now they all know that they have to maintain the bond for a little while in order for it to stick.

    That just leaves the Faeori. There's quite a few of them on board the Aquito and poor Firaxil is trying to corral the lot of them. The question is do our heroes leave them on the moon or do they take them back to Earth. The possibilities are endless. Shenra is still going to stay with them no matter what. It's just a matter of WHERE they will all stay. I may show her next week. For now it seems the"dragon" has been stopped and we can continue our march to \Starbolts #800.

See you next time! 

Starbolts #791: The Magic Eating Dragon

 Hail!

 Wow. That is some mean magic eating dragon! I know she has angel wings but not all dragons need to have reptile-like wings. This story also takes place in the Delta Quadrant where the laws of nature as we know them do not apply. If that's a "dragon" then Toejani is a marsupial. Actually, for all we know Toejani's species could be like marsupials. You never know. Maybe the universal translator glitched and something was lost in translation? Who knows?

    At least the machine was destroyed and Medea, Crystal and Tanis will be on the mend. But now we have a mad dragon to contend with and since our heroes beamed up the Faeori for their safety you can bet that she will not be happy about this situation and be right on their tail! That dragon is not gonna be happy and we haven't seen the last of her. Stay tuned for dragon hijinks next time!

See ya then! 

Starbolts #790: The Cave of Sorrows

 Hail!

    This week's comic had to go through a bit of a slight edit as I was unsure of how to work the angle with Marcus meeting that apparition. Initially, I wanted Marcus to meet a version of him that was exposed to the Black experience. But I wasn't sure how to go about it. I think I got the point across. Marcus was born to two superheroes and one of them was from Kenya. The other one was a military guy and as a result Marcus never had a "normal" childhood. His best friend growing up was a guy with wings growing out of his back! He never had a "normal" childhood experience. So, he lived his life the way he wanted. Sure he did stuff for his fellow African Americans but he fears that there would be scorn and ridicule along the way.

    Once Marcus delivers that spell safely to Crystal, they're probably gonna have a long talk about what the apparition told him. I tried to give Crystal's spell some of Crystal's own personality and I think it works here. Of course she says things our Crystal probably wouldn't. But at least the intent is there. I think the two of them will be in for an interesting bonding session once the magic returns to our redheaded heroine. 

      Now, we come to the dragon. I was never going to make him that big, really. Huge dragons are kinda a cliche. Looks like he was a wee bit obsessed with television. We'll see how this plays out now that his viewing mirror is gone. Will he help our heroes restore their friends' magic? We shall see.

    As for what Jack saw? I have a few ideas. Most of them involve Soldier Six and the fact that he never learned magic. I'm not sure what Heidi saw. Maybe she saw something related to Lucy. It's hard to say. 

 I'm not sure if I'll play up on Marcus's reaction to the vision at some point. He'll talk about it with Crystal, sure. But there's little else he can do at this point. I do think the edit is a lot better than what I had before. Nothing like a good old fashioned polishing to get things right!

 See ya next time as we march on to Starbolts #800! 

Starbolts #789: Escape from Crazytown

 Hail

    Well, this adventure with the Faeori has definitely took an interesting turn. It seems that their magic can undo any mystical bond between couples. Oh, dear. If Marcus, Crystal, Tanis and Heidi get out of this mess they're going to be spending the trip home reconnecting. It shouldn't be a problem. I hope. The bond was tenuous at best because Crystal and Tanis are magic users and their bondmates aren't. It takes time, effort and a lot of maintenance in order for the bonds to stick permanently. Since they're young, our heroes were exceptionally influenced by the spell our cult leader friend cast on them. 

    There just has to be a way for our heroes to get the magic back and they will succeed once Jack and his team face the dragon. One problem. Marcus and Heidi are obviously affected. Let's hope they can hold it together and save Medea and the others before it's too late. I don't think Medea and co like what that guy is selling. 

    It was a bit of poor planning to have a bunch of magic users on the ship for this adventure. But it is what it is. Though, I am pretty sure Firaxil can take out the cult of no personality without his Centurion powers. There just isn't enough time to get everyone there and back. Here's hoping Jack can save the day yet again. I just don't think a dance-off is going to work this time.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #788: The Cult of Personality

 Hail!

    Wow. The only thing more dangerous than a cult is a cult on drugs. Looks like our heroes are really in a pickle. The sooner they deal with that dragon the better. That beast has definitely sucked the brains out of the Faeori along with their magic. Once "Kolor" has been dealt with they should return to normal. Well, aside from all the withdrawal symptoms and everything. That's going to be a huge pain for the village. Good thing Shenra has elected to stay once this mission is over or else they'd have no idea how hard the recovery will be.

    In other news, we have learned that Crystal is planning on writing a book about her life. I can't say this is a surprise because it's something I've discussed with Sam and my other consultants about from time to time. For those who don't know Crystal is a survivor of abuse and her book could help millions who have been in her shoes. It's always been a plan of mine to have the Whitefox sisters outshine those who harmed them. Carter is on a fast track to winning a Nobel. Crystal is for sure going to win awards for her story. We'll see snippets of it and who knows it may even be a good jumping on point for new readers. I haven't done one in a long time and I should probably get around to making one as we head to Starbolts #800.

    Before we get that far we're going to have to fight a fearsome drug dragon. It was definitely not cool of the cult to cast illusions of Medea's dead parents. If she could be tricked by an illusion, it means that the dragon is far more powerful than they think. Then again the beastie did hide a solar system and cause a technological blackout. I'm going to have to try something really unique for this magic eating dragon. I don't think it'll look like eastern or western dragons in Earth legend. But I promise it will be epic!

It probably won't be another space turtle. Stay tuned!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #787: Independence Day Aquarius

 Hail!

     There's nothing like starting a Independence Day celebration with the execution of a giant orange space cockroach! In this week's comic, we return to the Alpha Quadrant to see what the rest of the Starbolts are up to. Jenna and Mateo are on Aquarius with Stan and Andrea Whitefox celebrating their independence from the Mosqukatara Empire. Of course things don't always go as planned and so Shrall and Mateo had to go hunt down the guy who vandalized the palace's reflecting pool. Good thing our heroes were on hand to stop him. 

    I liked teaming Shrall and Mateo up. For some reason the comic reads like a buddy cop movie. I do feel sad that Jenna was sidelined. It can't be helped. She is VERY pregnant and the baby will be coming soon. Very soon. How soon, you ask? How does Starbolts #800 sound? Sounds like a plan to me! Mateo should team up with his brother-in-law more often, I think. Shrall used to partner up with Marcus a lot of the time in the prose stories I used to write. Not so much now because he's got Firaxil to be his straight man. And besides if two wisecracking heroes team up not much will get done.

    Anyway, today is also America's 250th and I do hope all the Americans out there had a great one. I wasn't sure what else to write this week so I thought I'd go to the Alpha Quadrant. Next week we'll be going back to the Delta Quadrant to see what's been happening on the other side of the galaxy. We need to find the Faeori and get back to the Alpha Quadrant before issue #800. Jenna's baby is counting on M'anta and his team. Let's hope they get home safely!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #786: Shenra's Choice

 Hail!

    This week Shenra made a clear choice and that was to stay behind with Andora. I guess they hit it off. I don't know if I'd call it "love at first sight" but I think they just found a connection. And let's not forget that Andora seems to have a thing for Faeori. Andora clearly has a type. But who are we to judge. Though, we still don't know how copulation works with Andora's species. I know Tanis isn't even eager to find out. It's no one's business but theirs. So it's best to let those two be. Shenra may have found her "happily ever after" and I'm sure our heroes would be happy for her.

    So now the team that's going to the village will consist of Medea, Marcus, Crystal, Jack,Tanis and Heidi. Solid team right there. We've got a magic user, a tactician, a couple speedsters and a level 100 witch. I think they'll be just fine considering Carter has to tend to Firaxil. He's likely out of commission. 

    We also learned a little bit about Heidi's past. She clearly had a sexual relationship with Lucy. We know she isn't the first bisexual Starbolt. Carter is and Valentina is as well.  And she was caught by her father in the back of a pickup truck. Whoops. Well, it happens. I guess they weren't careful. Still, that didn't stop her from continuing her relationship. She's still with Lucy and joining them is Tanis. All we can say is "Good for them". More on Tanis and Lucy when they return to Earth.

    Our heroes will unfortunately have to face a magic eating dragon soon. That dragon is likely the reason why the entire solar system is seemingly invisible. I like to think that the King and M'anta discussed their options with Toejani. The magical cloak is likely a recent occurrence and I'm sure he and neighboring systems would be very happy to see it go away. The King made his decision in order to facilitate trade with nearby Funkeezi. That would benefit both worlds and so M'anta gave Medea and co the go-ahead to solve the cloak problem. 

    I think our heroes will have to be careful dealing with the beastie. You never know what to expect with these comics. And as for Medea asking Marcus and Crystal about their bonding rituals. She's Medea. She's always going to ask that question. It's what she does.

    Next week we'll finally be going to the village and we'll see what's been causing the problem! It'll also be the 4th of July. I'm sure I can make it all mesh together. I mean Jack and Crystal are already on the away team. It shouldn't be hard to do!

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #785: A Big Decision

 Hail!

    Well, this week's comic certainly took some interesting turns didn't it? Let's see if I can unpack all of this properly. Firaxil's bit seemingly ended relatively smoothly. He wasn't under the influence of magi juice that long and so snapping him out of it was relatively simple. He still needed to get checked out in Sickbay. Poor guy. Nara probably gave him all kinds of icky space sickness we humans don't need to know about.   Fortunately, Dr. Arlandero will be able to make him well again. 

    Now we come to the main event. Looks like Shenra made a very good first impression with Andora. They ended up kissing on the couch and well....what they did behind closed doors is no one else's business. But is all what it seems? We know next to nothing about Andora's species. What looks like a woman may actually be a male and vice versa. For all we know they could breed like sea horses. You never know. Firaxil once said that it was a big galaxy and not everyone reproduces the same way humans, Aquans, Inobe and other races do. We have no idea what the specifics are for Andora's species. I'm going to have to come up with a name for them. I can't keep calling them "Andora's species" or "Nara's species" since Nara was the first representative we met from that race.

    Either way, Shenra made a new friend and it looks like she'll be staying behind once our heroes do what they need to do at the village. We'll be getting there very soon. As you can imagine there may be some fallout from this little tryst. I imagine Tanis has a lot to say about the issue. People were hard on him for his activities during a missing. Will they feel the same way about Shenra? Probably not because she was never technically a Starbolt. She isn't bound by their rules. She was an agent of Xemplara, though. 

    We'll see how everyone reacts to her decision to stay with Andora. I have a feeling they'd be okay with it....especially Tanis. We'll see what happens.

See ya next time! 

Starbolts #784: The Flaw in the Plan

 

 Hail! 

    This week's comic started off with everyone planning to visit the Faeori and instead we got a final confrontation between Shenra and Nara. I think it's safe to say that when the two ladies met for the first time on Funkeezi that she took advantage of Shenra being an alien and a magic user. Now Nara will face justice in the hands of her people. One has to wonder how long of a rap sheet she has. It's probably a mile long at this point. The question is why didn't she use the magi juice on herself earlier when she fought Heidi. Perhaps there wasn't enough time for her to inject herself with the magi juice. She injected herself with it at the same time she injected Firaxil and now he has to deal with the effects. Bummer. That same injection temporarily gave her superpowers.

    Now, then. Will this be the last we see of Nara? Not sure. I do know that Shenra and Andora seem to be hitting it off. We'll see more of them for sure. We'll be getting to the Faeori village soon and I can't help but wonder about the fact that they trust Andora more than King Alric. Hmm. There may be more to the story here.  All I can say about that is....Stay tuned!

 See ya next time! 

Starbolts #783: To the Moon

 Hail!

   Our heroes have found the moon they were looking for and have made some new friends along the way. Looks like these people are the same race as Nara's. Interesting, isn't it? I'll go into detail about how Nara ended up on the Funkeezi planet. There's definitely a lot of things going on here and clearly one of the members of the royal family is attracted to Shenra. There's definitely a lot to unpack as we continue on this leg of the adventure.

    Don't worry. All will be revealed. This week's comic has clear references to the Masters of the Universe line of cartoons and toys. The soldiers look like "Man-at-Arms" and there's a reference to bee people. Those are of course the Andreenids. I don't know if we'll be seeing them during the course of the adventure. But I definitely know Andora is definitely eager to help our heroes find the Faeori. What fabulous secrets will be revealed next week? Stay tuned!

See ya next time!