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 14, 07 | 69 – Swifty’s Computer Problems |
Aug 21, 08 | 156 – An Utter Lack of Decorum |
Nov 4, 06 | 32 – Bingo Night Begins |
Jan 17, 07 | 72 – Dictator Tot’s Marching Orders |
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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Aug 21, 08 | 156 – An Utter Lack of Decorum |
May 17, 08 | SF Collection #3 Cover |
Nov 9, 06 | 37 – Is Dr. Klein a Sexy Beast? |
Oct 3, 16 | 703 – Like a Television During a Calliou Marathon |
Jun 24, 08 | 141 – Why, Little D? |
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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May 23, 12 | 414 – Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe |
Mar 16, 07 | 115 – Star Maiden Flattens Dr. Rocket |
Oct 17, 16 | 705 – Saber |
Apr 29, 10 | 254 – Why Kill An Innocent? |
Nov 4, 06 | 32 – Bingo Night Begins |
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 29, 10 | Guest Strip by Javier Del Villar (Extra) |
Dec 6, 06 | 55 – A Mysterious Figure in the Wings |
Mar 27, 07 | 126 – Who the @#$% is the Third Man? |
Jan 4, 10 | Guest Strip by Marc Lapierre of “Spooky Doofus!” |
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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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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Sep 24, 12 | GUEST STRIP by Gwen Patton! |
Jul 15, 08 | 145 – Wrinkly Butt |
Mar 15, 07 | 114 – Enter: Star Maiden |
Apr 18, 11 | 308 – Time Displaced/Erased/No Taste |
Sep 8, 09 | SF Origins: Herman’s Story, Pg. 2 “The Happiest Year” |
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 17, 20 | 856 – Grab That Rabbit! |
May 21, 09 | 209 – Coming to Jesus |
Feb 11, 13 | 479 – Rescued By Fidel Castro |
Aug 26, 19 | 794 – 3,000 Miles Away |
Apr 3, 13 | 494 – Hugging in the Throne Room |
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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Feb 4, 21 | 871 – To Save a Dark World |
Apr 2, 14 | 585 – Atomic Fly’s Special Delivery |
Nov 18, 06 | 46 – The Winner of Bingo Night…? |
Mar 25, 07 | 124 – Shooting |
May 26, 22 | 892 – Ejection |
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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Feb 11, 21 | 873 – Against the Wall |
Jan 7, 10 | Guest Strip by Will Boyer of “The Misadventures of Super Milo!” |
Mar 30, 07 | 129 – Captain Spectacular’s Plea |
Jun 23, 14 | 603 – General Will and the Society of Heroes |
Feb 29, 12 | 391 – Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun… |
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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Nov 18, 13 | 549 – Zurida’s Visitors |
Feb 1, 17 | 731 – Mr. Brightside |
Aug 11, 09 | SF Origins: Tangerine, Pg. 3 “New Parts” |
May 5, 14 | 592 – Bubbles of Light 9 |
Aug 8, 14 | Pg. 6 “Back From the Dead” |
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 1, 09 | Guest Strip by Mark R. Engel of “Prematurely Disappointed!” |
Jan 8, 07 | 64 – Introducing Dictator Tot! |
Aug 20, 14 | 619 – The Repentant |
Jan 6, 11 | Guest Strip by Marjorie Rishel |
Mar 3, 07 | 106 – What’s in the Box? |
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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Apr 18, 12 | 404 – President Superknocker |
Sep 29, 11 | Chapter 6, “Funeral for a Frenemy” Recap by Crystal Murphy |
Apr 25, 18 | 781 – Everyone in the War Room! |
Sep 30, 13 | 539 – Spy Gal Beats Up Somebody |
Feb 27, 12 | 390 – Bubbles of Light 7 |
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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Sep 12, 12 | 444 – A New Mission |
Mar 9, 10 | SF Origins: Swifty and the Prophecy, Pg. 1 “Nice Moves” |
Apr 9, 07 | 138 – Good News and Bad News |
Mar 13, 07 | 112 – Budapest ’68 All Over Again |
Oct 30, 13 | 544 – Whose Mess Is It, Anyway? |
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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Jun 3, 09 | The SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page! |
Oct 17, 18 | HUGE NEWS! SuperFogeys Volume One—Inaction Heroes now on Kickstarter! |
May 27, 13 | 507 – Telling Off Skunk Head |
Jan 18, 07 | 73 – It’s FUN to Share |
Jan 16, 12 | 378 – Things Fall Apart |
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 11, 12 | 428 – You Know Who You Sound Like? |
Dec 23, 08 | 190 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 7 “Test Subjects” |
Dec 21, 11 | 373 – SWAT! |
Jul 13, 11 | 333 – A Word with Her Fiancee |
Mar 4, 07 | 107 – Bubbles of Light 1 |
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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Aug 14, 20 | 845 – Better and Better |
Jan 25, 07 | 83 – The Seduction of Dr. Klein |
Aug 23, 10 | SF Origins: Baby Swifty’s First Words, Pg. 2 “Preposterous” |
Apr 15, 10 | 252 – Like A Son |
Mar 18, 10 | 248 – The Difference Between Justice and Revenge |
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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Oct 31, 11 | 359 – Warmed Up |
Oct 10, 11 | 353 – SHWABOOM!! |
Mar 31, 12 | Pg. 6 “Find the Sharp Metal Instrument” |
Jan 6, 11 | Guest Strip by Marjorie Rishel |
Mar 12, 18 | 770 – Bumps in the Road |
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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Feb 10, 07 | 100 – The Third Man Revealed |
Jan 4, 07 | 63 – The Food is Plastic! |
Aug 3, 10 | SF Origins: Spy Gal’s Secret Mission, Pg. 3 “Hitting Bottom” |
Apr 29, 10 | 254 – Why Kill An Innocent? |
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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Jun 28, 22 | 901 – Vanished |
May 28, 14 | 599 – Bubbles of Light Sideways |
Dec 28, 11 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Sep 29, 09 | SF Origins: Herman’s Story, Pg. 5 “Time to Move On” |
Sep 27, 06 | 6 – Introducing Spy Gal! |
Just keeping the Third Man alive here. Also, it was important to me that Dictator Tot get her animal crackers.
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Nov 23, 10 | SF Origins: The Death of Mr. Crook, Pg. 2 “Just Like Everybody Else” |
Mar 21, 07 | 120 – Swifty’s Losing? |
Nov 12, 09 | 233 – She Was Undercover |
Jan 12, 07 | 67 – Dr. Rocket Draws a Webcomic? |
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Mar 13, 07 | 112 – Budapest ’68 All Over Again |
Jun 17, 11 | Pg. 10 “Lost Faith” |
Mar 6, 07 | 108 – Spy Gal Will Protect Jerry |
Aug 4, 22 | 912 – Jerry Speaks |
Oct 3, 06 | 11 – The Power Dampener |
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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Jan 16, 12 | 378 – Things Fall Apart |
Feb 28, 18 | 767 – Done Pretending |
May 21, 12 | 413 – The Sunway |
Mar 7, 18 | 769 – Weeping Wandering Fat Children |
Mar 16, 07 | 115 – Star Maiden Flattens Dr. Rocket |
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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Feb 3, 14 | 568 – Old Biddy |
Nov 30, 16 | 715 – Master and Student |
Apr 13, 12 | Pg. 8 “Enter: The Thrice Evil” |
Jul 29, 13 | 521 – Spy Gal Awakened |
Aug 5, 13 | 523 – The Big Slam |
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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Feb 22, 11 | Pg. 4 “Ruined Her Show” |
Mar 22, 07 | 121 – Swifty Gets Slapped |
Jan 2, 14 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy, 5 |
Jun 22, 12 | Pg. 2 “Doppelgangers” |
Sep 7, 12 | Pg. 5 “Who Squished?” |
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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Feb 11, 10 | 243 – A Deal is a Deal |
Feb 25, 10 | 245 – One Week Later |
Jan 6, 20 | 821 – Frightening Frogs |
Jun 16, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 18 “KAPOW!” |
Sep 28, 11 | Chapter 5, “The Redemption of Dr. Rocket” Recap by Geoff Munn |
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 16, 09 | 204 – Florida Beckons |
Aug 10, 20 | 843 – What About the Crawfish? |
Dec 10, 20 | 861 – tink tink tink |
Oct 21, 19 | 805 – Across the Mountaintop |
Aug 15, 11 | 342 – The Wrong Man |
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 15, 09 | 192 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 9 “Supposed to Be Me” |
Aug 3, 12 | Pg. 6 “Inevitably Betrayed” |
Dec 7, 11 | 369 – Donut Power |
Dec 28, 11 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Jul 1, 11 | Pg. 12 “Comic Book Clothing Physics” |
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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Dec 16, 08 | 188 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 5 “In The Dark” |
Dec 21, 11 | 373 – SWAT! |
Mar 23, 21 | 884 – No Good at This |
Jul 31, 08 | 150 – Star Maiden and Clovis the Bear |
Sep 25, 08 | 166 – Beer Don’t Judge |
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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May 13, 13 | 503 – Money Man vs. Zurida |
Jan 23, 13 | 474 – Overwhelmed |
Jul 1, 08 | 143 – Ogle |
Mar 2, 10 | SF Origins: The Six Wives of Captain Spectacular, Pg. 9 “Mature Love” |
Oct 31, 16 | 709 – Gina Galloway to the Rescue |
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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Aug 3, 12 | Pg. 6 “Inevitably Betrayed” |
Oct 5, 11 | Chapter 10, “Bubbles of Light” Recap by Danny Burleson |
Mar 31, 12 | Pg. 6 “Find the Sharp Metal Instrument” |
May 3, 08 | 86 – WebSpace Page: Jerry |
Mar 21, 11 | The SuperFogeys 2011 Teaser |
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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Dec 28, 09 | Guest Strip by Don Oskowski of “Conduit Flux!” |
Dec 23, 10 | 290 – Too Much Sun |
Sep 16, 10 | 276 – “Sweetie” |
Jul 28, 22 | 910 – The Hero the World Needs |
Jul 1, 11 | Pg. 12 “Comic Book Clothing Physics” |
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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Apr 3, 07 | 133 – Beginning the Tale of How Captain Spectacular Met Dr. Klein |
Oct 15, 20 | 847 – Macho Verve and Vigor |
Mar 20, 07 | 119 – #@$% Heroic |
Oct 31, 11 | 359 – Warmed Up |
Apr 2, 12 | 400 – Dark Maiden |
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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Jul 9, 08 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” |
Nov 6, 06 | 34 – Introducing the Healer! |
Jul 4, 11 | 330 – Swim City |
Jan 26, 07 | 84 – You Don’t Mess with Dr. Klein |
Jun 22, 11 | 327 – The Buddy System |