Titling a chapter is a source of great stress for me. I’m not very good at it and I put it off until I absolutely have to come up with something. That said, “The Techno Shuffle” very much fits what this chapter is going to be all about. Originally, this chapter opened on two characters [...]
Archive for ‘Chapter 03 – The Techno Shuffle’
The super-prison in the first panel is loosely based on the design of the Hall of Justice from the old Superfriends cartoon show. I don’t have a good reason for this other than it’s a design that always stuck with me and seemed strong enough to house all the wonderful bad guys that must be [...]
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Jan 23, 07 | 82 – Refuge in Dr. Klein’s Office |
Jan 18, 17 | 727 – Parlor Tricks |
Aug 16, 10 | 271 – Is Spy Gal Not a Good Woman? |
May 20, 10 | 257 – Blood on the Carpet |
Jul 9, 08 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” |
How is it than in one strip I have both my worst and one of my best drawings of Dictator Tot? I like the idea of what I was going for in the first panel, but I don’t think I pulled it off very well. Love the drawing of her in the last panel, though [...]
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Mar 25, 07 | 124 – Shooting |
Jan 16, 07 | 71 – Is Gene Crying? |
Oct 11, 17 | 737 – Dastard Number Two |
Jun 3, 09 | The SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page! |
May 27, 13 | 507 – Telling Off Skunk Head |
My wife loves, loves, loves Dictator Tot in the first panel. I don’t usually do a lot of shading in SF, but that first panel screamed for a different lighting scheme. I don’t know that you’d be able to tell what’s going on without it. Second panel could have been better. A more arresting visual [...]
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Jul 11, 12 | 428 – You Know Who You Sound Like? |
Jul 29, 10 | 267 – Without Pants, Nothing is Possible |
Feb 9, 07 | 99 – The Tale of How Captain Spectacular and Star Maiden Met and Married, Conclusion |
Jun 10, 11 | Pg. 9 “College Years” |
May 16, 12 | 412 – Calling Valhalla |
The Third Man is a character that first appears in the backup story in the First SuperFogeys Collection. I have big plans for him. His look is directly inspired by the film “The Third Man,” and Orson Welles’ character in particular. I think it’s fair to say I took a bit of inspiration from one [...]
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Mar 26, 07 | 125 – Jerry’s Down |
Dec 2, 09 | The SuperFogeys 2010 Teaser |
Oct 17, 16 | 705 – Saber |
May 17, 08 | SF Collection #3 Cover |
Sep 24, 12 | GUEST STRIP by Gwen Patton! |
Visually, this strip is meant to be a direct reference to Episode 55. I’ll make it clear right here: Yes, The Third Man is the person the Healer was talking to. The Third Man’s connection to Gene was a surprise to me. I had planned for the Third Man to be involved with the shenanigans [...]
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May 21, 09 | 209 – Coming to Jesus |
Jul 9, 08 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” |
Jun 8, 10 | SF Origins: The Life and Times of Soviet Sam, Pg. 3 “Valhalla” |
Apr 2, 09 | 202 – He Started Stuttering |
Jan 16, 07 | 71 – Is Gene Crying? |
Finally we’re back to the Fogeys. It was a conscious decision on my part to not have the Fogeys enter the stage for so many strips—six, to be exact. I wanted to try something new. Re-energize myself. I found I really missed them and the strip seems to come alive when they’re “on screen.” I [...]
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Something I’m starting to return to that I haven’t really done since Chapter 1 is repeated panels, something I swore off of (for the most part) for Chapter 2. The difference now is that it’s not a crutch. I truly feel that this strip (and the next one, for that matter) was best served by [...]
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Nov 25, 10 | 286 – Duty and Retirement |
Oct 1, 06 | 9 – How to Turn Dr. Rocket On |
Dec 15, 09 | SF Origins: Harvey the Science Rabbit, Pt. 1, Pg. 2 “But You Will Be” |
Dec 23, 11 | Pg. 6 “Battle in the Skies” |
Aug 21, 15 | 672 – To The USZ! |
Visually, this is one of my absolute favorites. You can see I’m trying something new with the background. I first used the “faded background” technique in a guest strip I did for Wes Molebash’s strip “You’ll Have That” Once I did it there, I knew I needed to try it for SF. More copy/pasting [...]
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Sep 16, 19 | 800 – Earth-Avenge |
Jul 11, 08 | Guest Strip by Sean Conchieri of “Pixel!” |
Nov 13, 08 | 179 – Reverend Space Pig |
Nov 14, 11 | 362 – Robots Don’t Sleep |
Oct 3, 12 | 446 – General Spy Gal |
Whew. What a mother of a strip this was. For those of your keeping track at home, that’s 21 panels there. This marks Swifty’s return to the story after an absence of about 18 srips. I wanted it to be huge and Swifty playing frustrated is just fun. Originally, the last panel was silent—no joke. [...]
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Apr 13, 12 | Pg. 8 “Enter: The Thrice Evil” |
Jun 27, 12 | 424 – Somebody That He Used to Know |
Aug 17, 10 | SF Origins: Baby Swifty’s First Words, Pg. 1 “Back to Start” |
May 9, 11 | 314 – Dr. Rocket’s Space Journey, Pt. 3: The One He Truly Hunts |
Nov 18, 13 | 549 – Zurida’s Visitors |
The first panel shows a depth of field we haven’t really seen in SF thus far. My goal was to do a drawing that would also work well as a group shot and, possibly, a wallpaper. Plans are in the works for just such a thing. Obviously, this is a huge change of pace for [...]
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Jan 30, 07 | 90 – Introducing Star Maiden! |
Mar 24, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 6 “Beaten to the Punch” |
Dec 24, 09 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “Comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” No. 2! |
Aug 28, 08 | 158 – Bubbles of Light 2 |
Oct 20, 06 | 26 – How Jerry Met Spy Gal |
What a nightmare this strip was. Sometimes moving the plot along is a joy. Anytime I do it I already know what the point of the strip is, I just have to figure out what the joke is. Except…for this one…I had no joke. I had a set-up, but no payoff. Still, I started drawing, [...]
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Jan 20, 07 | 77 – Headed for a Time-Out |
Oct 11, 17 | 737 – Dastard Number Two |
Jan 18, 07 | 73 – It’s FUN to Share |
Nov 2, 06 | 30 – B-I-N-G-O |
Gene’s closing line in panel one was originally something like “Give her your utmost respect.” I quickly discovered at the lettering stage that I didn’t have enough room for that. Thank goodness. I love that he just shouts “Respect!” Kinda’ thing that makes me laugh. Spy Gal threatening violence on a little girl makes me [...]
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Jan 10, 18 | 753 – What She’d Like to Know |
Mar 10, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 4 “Arrival in New York” |
Feb 6, 13 | 478 – What If Money Man Had Lived? |
Oct 23, 13 | SuperFogeys Q and A: 4 of 4 |
The Swifty-Jerry dynamic is one of my favorites, and this is one of my favorite exchanges that I’ve had a chance to write. I love how Jerry just ignores Swifty. A fun strip that segued into one of the biggest mistakes I ever made with the SuperFogeys…
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Nov 26, 12 | 461 – He Escaped |
Sep 11, 15 | 681 – Man Child |
Dec 31, 13 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy, 3 |
Jul 26, 22 | 909 – Get Outta Town |
Could I just not be bothered to draw backgrounds this time? Looks like. Still, the colors are pretty, right? Right? I try to make the Space Pig be an animal of as few words as possible. You never quite know where he’s coming from, I think. He’s a popular character, so he must be [...]
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Mar 5, 12 | 392 – …Secrets, Secrets Hurt Someone |
Jul 9, 18 | Pg. 6 “Date or Fight?” |
Jan 20, 12 | Pg. 2 “Strange Visitor” |
Jun 25, 14 | 604 – Vs. |
Jan 27, 11 | 293 – Good Actor |
I don’t remember if this strip was done this way out of laziness or because I wanted to shake things up. Honestly, if I had to guess I’d say I was trying to shake things up. I think I was trying to create the feeling of overhearing the conversation before you really see who is [...]
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Jul 29, 10 | 267 – Without Pants, Nothing is Possible |
Jul 6, 12 | Pg. 4 “The Very, Very Long Battle” |
Apr 30, 12 | 407 – Spy Days Are Over |
Sep 16, 10 | 276 – “Sweetie” |
Aug 26, 13 | 529 – Why Did Jerry Do It? |
Another “colorful” strip. Seriously, this is just ugly. I never pull off the silhouetted figures thing as well as someone like Mike Witmer over at Pinkerton. I try but…no. Still, Jerry getting rejected by Spy Gal…that’s always gold as far as I’m concerned.
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Feb 26, 20 | 834 – Percy Makes a Choice |
Dec 10, 20 | 861 – tink tink tink |
Nov 30, 16 | 715 – Master and Student |
Dec 5, 16 | 716 – Boy Haircut |
Sep 30, 06 | 8 – Hands Off Spy Gal! |
I think my ink line is too thick in these middle Chapter 3 strips. Also, the camera is just a little too tight, a constant problem of mine overall. Knowing what I wanted to do with Dr. Klein by the end of this chapter, it was important to keep him present in the story. That’s [...]
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Jul 29, 15 | 662 – Lazy Villainy |
Jun 26, 13 | 516 – Time to Clean House |
Sep 5, 16 | 696 – Account Closed |
Dec 17, 12 | 467 – Spy Gal Kicks Butt |
Jul 9, 08 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” |
I love the panel with the close-up of the hands. From the drawing to the colors, it just works. Too bad the rest of the strip doesn’t. A lot readers asked me what those sparks near Spy Gal’s wrist were in the last panel. Then answer: My feeble attempt at visually depicting her arthritis. …I [...]
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Dec 12, 16 | 718 – What is Deserved |
Sep 11, 19 | 799 – Redemption is Possible |
Apr 18, 11 | 308 – Time Displaced/Erased/No Taste |
May 12, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 13 “What Are You Doing Here!?” |
Nov 28, 16 | 714 – Pathetic Counterpart |
Swifty coming in at the end was kind of cheap. I didn’t have a real gag for this one, and he usually does in a pinch. It was an important Dr. Klein moment though.
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Aug 19, 11 | Pg. 5 “Why She Left” |
Aug 31, 16 | 695 – The Mighty Money Man |
Jun 23, 22 | 900 – Protected |
May 14, 08 | SF Collection #1 Cover |
Mar 29, 07 | 128 – Only Two People in the World… |
Just keeping the Third Man alive here. Also, it was important to me that Dictator Tot get her animal crackers.
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Jan 30, 07 | 90 – Introducing Star Maiden! |
Mar 2, 07 | 105 – Dr. Klein is Leaving? |
Feb 10, 07 | 100 – The Third Man Revealed |
Nov 16, 10 | SF Origins: The Death of Mr. Crook, Pg. 1 “Lights On, Lights Off” |
Mar 23, 07 | 122 – Who Will Jerry Fight? |
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Aug 17, 11 | 343 – Speak No More of This |
Oct 7, 10 | 279 – Gina Galloway |
Dec 15, 20 | 862 – That’s It!? |
Dec 28, 11 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Nov 20, 06 | 48 – “Old Marm?” |
Dr. Rocket is always a lot of fun. Perversity is one of the worst evils, I think, because it reduces people to objects. That’s pretty dangerous thinking. Here, the good doctor is showing another side of his evil–the clumsy, bid-for-power type of evil. It’s not a very good plan for world domination, but in the [...]
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Mar 17, 07 | 116 – Still Hot |
Mar 17, 11 | 300 – Stage Four |
Nov 18, 13 | 549 – Zurida’s Visitors |
Jul 1, 11 | Pg. 12 “Comic Book Clothing Physics” |
Aug 5, 08 | 151 – Peanut Butter Cookies |
And now we see the real plan. Get the Captain on the computer to see his ex-wife. In the end, it’s kind of weak. There should have been something extra on the plan, or a bigger reaction from the Captain. It bears fruit, sure, but I think the Captain’s reaction could have been stronger and [...]
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Oct 12, 12 | Pg. 8 “Gross Fetuses” |
Oct 18, 06 | 25 – Pee On Swifty |
Jul 3, 13 | 518 – The Last Secret |
Sep 30, 06 | 8 – Hands Off Spy Gal! |
Jan 25, 07 | 83 – The Seduction of Dr. Klein |
A fun, fun page. Star Maiden is just a pure pleasure to right. Star Maiden started out as Star Woman. Eventually, that character turned into Spy Gal (as explained in the commentary for episode 6, I think). Still, the initial idea for Star Woman wouldn’t let go. I knew I wanted a Wonder Woman type. [...]
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Dec 21, 12 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Feb 9, 07 | 99 – The Tale of How Captain Spectacular and Star Maiden Met and Married, Conclusion |
Mar 23, 07 | 122 – Who Will Jerry Fight? |
Feb 16, 21 | 874 – The One True |
Mar 27, 07 | 126 – Who the @#$% is the Third Man? |
That last panel of Star Maiden is something I’m really pleased with. I wanted a really fluid figure and I often have a hard time drawing women. I surprised myself here. For some reason, readers really latched onto the phrase “Spill it, Gramps!” I have no idea why. I didn’t think it was particularly funny. [...]
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Sep 5, 16 | 696 – Account Closed |
Jan 27, 07 | 87 – The Third Man is Not Pleased |
Dec 4, 08 | 185 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 2 “Babylonian Invasion” |
Feb 16, 21 | 874 – The One True |
Mar 18, 20 | 840 – Twice the Thrice |
93 – Beginning the Tale of How Captain Spectacular Met and Married Star Maiden
by Brock Heasley on February 2nd, 2007The genesis for this flashback came from Daniel Woodhouse, artist on “Thog Infinitron” and sometime artist of “Beaver and Steve.” I asked Dan to do a short backup story for the second SuperFogeys book and asked him what he wanted to draw. He said “Captain Spectacular fighting in the skies above a city. Maybe a [...]
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Apr 6, 12 | Pg. 7 “Death or Peanut Butter Cookies?” |
Aug 28, 13 | 530 – Jerry’s Greatest Hits |
Feb 2, 10 | SF Origins: The Six Wives of Captain Spectacular, Pg. 4 “Zurida, Mistress of Worlds” |
Oct 18, 06 | 25 – Pee On Swifty |
Aug 30, 22 | 919 – The More Things Change… |
I don’t know why Mr. Crook is in there. It doesn’t really add anything to the story to have him there. Great Dr. Rocket moment though. I had a lot of fun drawing that tongue and making it as yucky as possible.
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Jan 29, 14 | 567 – The Day Spa |
Aug 17, 11 | 343 – Speak No More of This |
Aug 3, 12 | Pg. 6 “Inevitably Betrayed” |
Sep 27, 06 | 6 – Introducing Spy Gal! |
Jul 30, 09 | 218 – Good Friends |
The obvious signified of a flashback is to do the art in black and white. That gray shading I add in there is an effect I wish I had time to do on all the SuperFogeys strips. Plans are for that effect to be added to the strips for the trade collections. Once that happens, [...]
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Aug 13, 14 | 617 – 4 Seconds Earlier |
Nov 14, 16 | 713 – No More Killin’ |
May 17, 08 | SF Collection #3 Cover |
Aug 8, 14 | Pg. 6 “Back From the Dead” |
Oct 17, 18 | HUGE NEWS! SuperFogeys Volume One—Inaction Heroes now on Kickstarter! |
This strip is a favorite of mine. It’s some of my favorite dialog I’ve written and the sparse look really works for it. Portal could have been drawn better though.
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Oct 29, 12 | 453 – Buried Weapons |
Nov 5, 06 | 33 – Why Walk When You Can Fly? |
Apr 20, 10 | SF Origins: Star Maiden, Pg. 2 “Into The Night” |
Sep 30, 11 | Chapter 7, “Visiting Day” Recap by Rossana Bugini |
Feb 26, 09 | 197 – Requiem |
Obviously, something big went down in that other dimension. For the whole story, check out the backup tale “Captain Spectacular and Star Maiden in the Inevitable Dimension” in the second SuperFogeys book. It’s drawn by Julio Molina-Muscara, artist on “Omega Chase.” I wanted a “no bad guy” break-up here. I think you get where everyone [...]
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Jul 8, 08 | Guest Strip by Brian Anderson of “Dog Eat Doug!” |
Oct 17, 11 | 355 – Bubbles of Light 6 |
Dec 27, 10 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy, Part One (2010) |
Nov 22, 06 | 49 – The Pen is Shinier Than the Sword |
Mar 27, 07 | 126 – Who the @#$% is the Third Man? |
The Pig is the minister! That’s the payoff to the Space Pig’s WebSpace page. Don’t know how many people picked up on that. I had a lot of fun with this page. Designing the Ninja Bridesmaid was particularly fun.
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Mar 3, 11 | 298 – Vile Villainous Vole |
Oct 13, 14 | 628 – Earth-Abbadon |
Dec 16, 19 | 819 – Time for a Refill? |
Nov 7, 16 | 711- Fallen Son |
Apr 22, 11 | Pg. 2 “The Boy Who Lived” |
Some people objected to the Captain and Star Maiden getting a divorce over a stinky sock. Them I would say: it’s one panel. Obviously, there’s a much bigger story there. I had a lot of fun with the interplay between Dictator Tot and Captain Spectacular here. I need to get those two together again.
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Jul 25, 11 | 336 – Walking Diagonally |
Oct 27, 20 | 850 – Grand Entrance |
Oct 13, 09 | SF Origins: JA – Tom’s Story, Pg. 2 “Not About My Dad” |
Jul 4, 12 | 426 – Daddy’s Little Girl |
May 21, 09 | 209 – Coming to Jesus |
Remind me never to do a triple-sized again. In fact, this burned me out so much that not a single double or triple-sized strip appeared in all of Chapter 4. I had been waiting a long time to do this one. I knew from before the beginning of Chapter 2 that the Third Man and [...]
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Jun 3, 09 | The SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page! |
Jan 3, 07 | 62 – Conditions of Release |
Jan 5, 10 | Guest Strip by Joe Cook of “Shattered Myth!” |
Apr 25, 11 | 310 – Doctor. |
Jun 27, 11 | 328 – Pairing Off |