HOW TO READ THIS COMIC: This site hosts, technically, two comics. The navigation was custom built to accommodate this and is a little different from what you may be used to, but still pretty easy to understand. The simplest way to navigate is to just click on the strip itself. That will take you immediately [...]
Archive for ‘Chapter 01 – Insane Romance From Hell’
This is one of those that’s a favorite of a lot of people (or so I’m told) but that I’ve never really liked much. Bathroom humor always feels cheap and forced to me. On these early strips I was drawing at a smaller size and using paper and pens that were quite a bit different [...]
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Jul 23, 12 | 429 – Shenanigans |
Oct 20, 20 | 848 – Organic Deodorant |
Apr 17, 13 | 498 – Zurida’s Conditions |
Sep 10, 18 | Pg. 15 “Something Missing” |
Jul 1, 11 | Pg. 12 “Comic Book Clothing Physics” |
After I did the first 10 SuperFogeys strips on my blog at MySpace, I decided to try to find a place to get the strip hosted and see if I could produce something like it on a regular basis. When the SuperFogeys did find a host site (pre-Th3rd World) I decided to start the strip [...]
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Sep 23, 16 | Guest Strip by Alethea Lim (Alecat)! |
Apr 2, 07 | 132 – Shake! Shake! Shake! |
Nov 9, 11 | 361 – The Whole Place is Coming Down |
This is the first strip where I’m really demonstrating the perverseness of Dr. Rocket, an aspect of his personality that would come to define him later. It’s hard writing a perverse character in what is essentially an all-ages strip, but I think this strip is a good example of how it can be done. It’s [...]
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Sep 12, 11 | 350 – Great Things Ahead |
Apr 16, 09 | 204 – Florida Beckons |
Nov 26, 12 | 461 – He Escaped |
Dec 30, 08 | Guest Strip by Chris Blanchard of “Renaissance Guy!” |
Dec 14, 11 | 371 – Leaving Las Vegas |
I knew I wanted Dr. Rocket’s monologue to be about how he got Spy Gal unconscious, but I wanted his means of accomplishing that to be something humorous, brief and unique. I thought he might drug her, but just any ol’ drug wouldn’t do. It had to be something exotic. Boom: Space Pig Urine. It [...]
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May 15, 08 | SF Collection #2 Cover |
Sep 23, 16 | Guest Strip by Alethea Lim (Alecat)! |
May 5, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 12 “Date or Fight?” |
Dec 5, 11 | 368 – Darn That Dr. Klein |
Nov 14, 12 | 458 – Quite An Entrance |
There are essentially two ways to do a comic strip (as I see it): with or without a continuing story. The intro of Spy Gal is when I realized that I just wasn’t capable of doing one-off jokes. I ALWAYS have a story to tell. Spy Gal was originally supposed to be a character named [...]
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Mar 10, 07 | 109 – WHO THREW THIS!? |
Mar 24, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 6 “Beaten to the Punch” |
May 30, 12 | 416 – Alcohol is His Kryptonite |
Mar 28, 07 | 127 – Entralean Slime Pellet |
Jan 6, 09 | Guest Strip by T.L. Collins of “Bullfinch!” |
For Spy Gal’s intro, I wanted to push the boundaries of good taste a little. Is it right to make light of the dementia that all-too-often takes over the minds of older people? …Depends on how you do it. Turns out Spy Gal was faking, but it’s a theme I plan on revisting. Why Turnip? [...]
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Jun 22, 11 | 327 – The Buddy System |
Apr 20, 12 | Pg. 9 “The Unicef Upstarts” |
Aug 5, 10 | 268 – Sick and Unflattering |
Jul 19, 22 | 907 – Where is Sam? |
Jan 28, 21 | 869 – A Wonderful Side Effect |
It still pains me to look at the art in a lot of these early strips. Where the crud are the frickin’ wheelchairs? The only answer I have is that I was lazy and was trying to draw as little as possible. I really saw the strips as more of an exercise in pacing and [...]
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Jun 24, 11 | Pg. 11 “Partners Again” |
Jan 10, 18 | 753 – What She’d Like to Know |
Jan 8, 09 | 191 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 8 “The Process Explained” |
Apr 4, 12 | The SuperFogeys 2012 Teaser |
Sep 30, 13 | 539 – Spy Gal Beats Up Somebody |
his is the second of the additions I made to the original 10 black and white strips I did to kick off the SuperFogeys. Originally, episode 8 went into what is now episode 10 without this minor stopover to make explicit what was once subtle. She’s Spy Gal. Spy Gal is a spy. Duh. It [...]
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Sep 25, 13 | 538 – The Amazing Zurida |
Jul 22, 15 | 659 – Wasting Time |
Dec 16, 11 | Pg. 5 “Full Power, Harvey!” |
Sep 7, 16 | 697 – No Fun Being Ignored |
Sep 12, 12 | 444 – A New Mission |
This is one of my favorites. I think it really brings home the idea that these guys are old. We don’t know how Mr. Crook died, but he was in a nursing home and that’s what people tend to do there so we don’t even wonder what the cause was. Maybe that’s a story I’ll [...]
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Oct 22, 20 | 849 – Break a Hip |
Apr 14, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 9 “Press Conference” |
Oct 24, 12 | 452 – Book of Mormon Story |
Oct 30, 19 | 808 – 2.5 Seconds Later |
Feb 22, 12 | 389 – The Invisible Pain |
I had written myself into a bit of a corner. I had Spy Gal come to Valhalla, but she didn’t really need to be there. Somehow, I had to make her stay. Enter the Orderly (later named Gene) and the Power Dampener. Visually, Spy Gal would never be the same after this strip and I [...]
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Apr 1, 13 | 493 – Dr. Rocket’s Game |
Sep 10, 18 | Pg. 15 “Something Missing” |
Aug 6, 14 | 616 – One of Zurida’s |
Feb 13, 12 | 386 – The Papanazi Report: Vegas |
This is one of my absolute favorites. I think it’s one of the funniest last panels I’ve ever come up with. So, of course, only about half the people who read it actually get it. This one gets knocked down by a lot of people for not standing too well on its own. I suppose [...]
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Jan 17, 07 | 72 – Dictator Tot’s Marching Orders |
May 21, 12 | 413 – The Sunway |
Mar 2, 07 | 105 – Dr. Klein is Leaving? |
Jan 25, 11 | SF Origins: The Thrice Evil, Pg. 9 “We Can Work With That” |
Mar 9, 21 | 880 – Boy, You Sure Got Old! |
Time between the creation of SuperFogeys 12 and 13: 2 months. This is the first strip that really sets the tone for what the SuperFogeys would be. The art is finally coming into its own, resulting in a strip that I’m really proud of. I love the subtle pacing of the camera zoom. It’s a [...]
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Jul 13, 11 | 333 – A Word with Her Fiancee |
Apr 7, 14 | 586 – The New Percy |
Mar 19, 12 | 396 – Give Tom a Chance |
Mar 15, 07 | 114 – Enter: Star Maiden |
Jan 2, 17 | 722 – Help or Mourn? |
First of all: yes, they’re watching Jeopardy. The real point of this strip was to show Jerry’s concern for Spy Gal and Captain Spectacular’s utter lack of it. I wrapped that point in a Jeopardy joke recycled from Groundhog Day because I figured I’d better do this joke now and early in order to get [...]
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Aug 22, 11 | 344 – Now |
Jan 25, 17 | 729 – After the Battle |
Jan 14, 10 | 239 – How Captain Spectacular Knows The Third Man |
Jun 10, 13 | 511 – Zurida’s Plan |
Jun 23, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 19 “Did You Save Him?” |
What’s sadder than a guy who can run really fast that’s stuck behind a walker? The answer is nothing, my friends, nothing. That’s what makes Swifty so much fun–we all know exactly why he’s so bitter and grumpy and you just can’t blame the guy. For Swifty’s design, I couldn’t make him look too much [...]
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Jun 4, 18 | Pg. 1 “My Name is Gordon Jones” |
Jul 10, 15 | 654 – An Honest Conversation |
Mar 31, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 7 “Good Looks Good on You” |
Nov 11, 10 | 284 – Pairing Off |
Sep 18, 18 | Cover |
This is one of those strips I really, really struggled with. I knew the last thing I wanted was for Dr. Rocket to successfully take advantage of Spy Gal. I mean, this just isn’t that kind of strip. The simplest solution would have been to have Jerry or Captain Spectacular bust through the wall and [...]
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Jan 29, 14 | 567 – The Day Spa |
Jan 21, 10 | 240 – ZAP! |
Dec 28, 09 | Guest Strip by Don Oskowski of “Conduit Flux!” |
Sep 5, 14 | Pg. 9 – Like Other Men |
Dec 8, 20 | 860 – Idiot Martha |
This one is just ugly. None of the characters look right, though I do love how the idea of Spy Gal kissing Dr. Rocket just rolls off Captain Spectacular. The man just does not care. Plus: sexy shoulder blades.
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Aug 14, 19 | 791 – The Secret Origin of The Atomic Fly! |
Sep 2, 15 | 677 – His Greatest Creation |
May 19, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 14 “Save Him, Dirtlicker” |
Sep 7, 16 | 697 – No Fun Being Ignored |
Feb 3, 20 | 829 – Too. Far. |
Although I didn’t realize it at the time, this was a step in the right artistic direction for the SuperFogeys. The changing camera views were necesitated by the storyline and made for a much stronger reading experience. There’s a little easter egg in this one with the picture of the girl on the wall in [...]
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Sep 18, 13 | 536 – Zurida and Her Subjects |
Sep 18, 15 | 684 – Better Than Dyin’ |
Oct 20, 06 | 26 – How Jerry Met Spy Gal |
Oct 23, 08 | 174 – Big Mistake |
I love this strip. I think this is the one where you get the best sense of the relationship between Captain Spectacular and Jerry. The first panel alone–I think if the entire strip were just that panel, I’d be happy. I don’t think anyone else laughs at that first panel (That’s not where the joke [...]
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Dec 7, 16 | 717 – The Fury of Soviet Sam |
Jun 29, 10 | SF Origins: The Life and Times of Soviet Sam, Pg. 6 “Being Friendly” |
Feb 3, 07 | 94 – Everything Changed |
Nov 11, 06 | 39 – Jerry Arrives Late |
Jul 29, 10 | 267 – Without Pants, Nothing is Possible |
Me: Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Me: What’s that? Me: You know how we could get a lot of strips done quickly? Me: How? Me: We could just cut/paste all the best bits from previous strips and add only minor alterations! Me: Genius. Future Me: I beg to differ.
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Aug 14, 20 | 845 – Better and Better |
Aug 31, 10 | SF Origins: Spy Gal, Pg. 1 “Bored” |
Jan 29, 18 | 758 – No One Else He Can Think Of |
Sep 29, 11 | Chapter 6, “Funeral for a Frenemy” Recap by Crystal Murphy |
Apr 13, 11 | 307 – T-Magus |
My lazy self strikes again. As for the story here, this strip was important to me because I had a very real fear at the time that it was going to be perceived that I had a hatred towards women. Dumb, right? I mean, Dr. Rocket is a character, he doesn’t speak for me, but [...]
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Oct 12, 10 | SF Origins: Spy Gal, Pg.7 “BOOM” |
Dec 23, 11 | Pg. 6 “Battle in the Skies” |
Mar 18, 21 | 883 – Through the Mall! |
Aug 17, 12 | Pg. 2 “Youthfulenergysupersurplus!” |
Mar 18, 13 | 489 – Change in Plan |
This is the strip that finally broke me. I enjoy the dialogue here a lot, but the art is the (seemingly) umpteenth strip made out of spare parts. This is when I realized things had to change.
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Jan 14, 10 | 239 – How Captain Spectacular Knows The Third Man |
Apr 7, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 8 “Ticking Bomb” |
Dec 2, 11 | Pg. 3 “Enter The Space Pig” |
Apr 25, 18 | 781 – Everyone in the War Room! |
I do believe this strip marks the first close-up I’d ever done in the Superfogeys. I began looking for ways to change the camera around and push the framing into the storytelling more. It was just one panel, but it was a start.
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Aug 28, 15 | 675 – Crossing Worlds |
Dec 11, 08 | 187 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 4 “New Clothes” |
Jul 1, 08 | 143 – Ogle |
Sep 15, 14 | The Principle of Order |
I love this little experiment. It’s two jokes, one the main plot and one a jokey subplot, that don’t work so well on their own but that compliment each other, I think, pretty well. Jerry’s frustration here is my own. Sleep, it seems, will always be denied me. I had no idea the Space Pig [...]
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Sep 7, 11 | 349 – Avalanche of Wins |
Aug 27, 14 | 621 – Jerry’s Powers |
Sep 18, 18 | Cover |
Sep 4, 19 | 797 – Squishiness in the War Room |
Aug 3, 15 | 664 – Too Old to Drive |
Double-sized strips are always fun, but I’m not sure this is the best use of it. The flashback certainly was fun to do. The idea here should be clear: Jerry is Captain Spectacular’s sidekick. This is all set-up and revelation. You should be getting the idea by now that Chapter 1 is really Jerry’s story.
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Feb 13, 13 | 480 – A Bevy of Buxom Beach Beauties |
Feb 14, 18 | 763 – Serious Issues |
Jun 30, 22 | 902 – Devastation |
Dec 2, 06 | 52 – What Captain Spectacular Wants |
Nov 11, 06 | 39 – Jerry Arrives Late |
This is the episode that almost never was. My original plan was to go from strip 26 to the last strip of Chapter 1–what is now strip 28. However, I realized fairly late in the game that I hadn’t really done anything to set up WHY CS and Spy Gal would get back together. I [...]
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Feb 1, 12 | 383 – Jackpot. |
Sep 5, 14 | Pg. 9 – Like Other Men |
Feb 17, 14 | 572 – The New War Room |
Oct 22, 20 | 849 – Break a Hip |
Mar 19, 09 | 200 – Where is He!? |
The last strip of Chapter One is one that I had planned for a long, long time. Once I decided to do the SuperFogeys for real, I quickly came up with a grand plan. This plan extends far, far beyond this chapter, though this ending is the first touchstone in that plan. If you ever [...]