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 8, 07 | 64 – Introducing Dictator Tot! |
Nov 1, 06 | 29 – Introducing Dr. Klein! |
Aug 21, 08 | 156 – An Utter Lack of Decorum |
Sep 15, 14 | The Principle of Order |
May 28, 09 | 210 – What Happens Next |
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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Oct 3, 16 | 703 – Like a Television During a Calliou Marathon |
Nov 4, 06 | 32 – Bingo Night Begins |
Jan 6, 11 | Guest Strip by Marjorie Rishel |
Apr 8, 10 | 251 – One-On-One |
May 27, 10 | 258 – The Skirt Goes in the Wrong Direction |
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 13, 10 | 256 – A Misnomerstanding |
Aug 20, 14 | 619 – The Repentant |
Dec 10, 06 | 59 – Will Captain Spectacular Stay or Will He Go? |
Apr 27, 11 | 311 – The Glow of the Screen Shines Brightly |
Dec 29, 10 | Guest Strip by Javier Del Villar (Extra) |
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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Sep 28, 11 | Chapter 5, “The Redemption of Dr. Rocket” Recap by Geoff Munn |
Mar 20, 07 | 119 – #@$% Heroic |
Aug 21, 08 | 156 – An Utter Lack of Decorum |
May 23, 11 | 318 – The Plans of Dr. Klein, Pt. 1 “Getting Rid of Captain Spectacular” |
Apr 25, 18 | 781 – Everyone in the War Room! |
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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Jun 3, 13 | 509 – Villain to Villain |
Jun 12, 13 | 512 – The Worst Thing That’s Ever Happened to Swifty |
Jan 5, 10 | Guest Strip by Joe Cook of “Shattered Myth!” |
Dec 17, 09 | 238 – Hello Everyone |
Aug 25, 10 | SF Origins: Operation: Valhalla, No. 2 “Interrupting Tea Time” |
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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Jan 2, 17 | 722 – Help or Mourn? |
Dec 21, 12 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Dec 30, 08 | Guest Strip by Chris Blanchard of “Renaissance Guy!” |
Feb 17, 14 | 572 – The New War Room |
Apr 11, 11 | 306 – He Looks Like He’s Dying |
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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Sep 26, 06 | 5 – The Urine of What!? |
Feb 19, 18 | 764 – Meanwhile, Inside Dr. Rocket’s Bedchamber |
Dec 25, 13 | How Dr. Rocket Stole Christmas |
Sep 24, 09 | 226 – The Deal is Off |
Mar 31, 07 | 130 – When Pigs Fly |
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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Jan 28, 07 | 88 – Who Smells Like Fish? |
Feb 6, 12 | 384 – Taking It Well |
Sep 15, 14 | The Principle of Order |
Mar 23, 07 | 122 – Who Will Jerry Fight? |
Feb 14, 18 | 763 – Serious Issues |
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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Aug 18, 10 | 272 – GET OUT! |
Apr 28, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 11 “Huzzah!” |
Sep 8, 22 | 922 – The New Normal |
Jun 11, 09 | 211 – Shrinking Your Carbon Footprint |
Aug 26, 11 | Pg. 6 “The Missing Spark” |
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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Aug 26, 19 | 794 – 3,000 Miles Away |
May 17, 22 | 889 – So Much Love to Share |
Jul 29, 08 | 149 – Santa Rocket |
Sep 25, 12 | GUEST STRIP by Crystal Murphy, Summer Fun Pt. 1! |
Jul 5, 22 | 903 – Big Dumb Floating Ape |
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 4, 10 | Guest Strip by Marc Lapierre of “Spooky Doofus!” |
Dec 5, 06 | 54 – Gene Gets What’s Coming to Him |
Feb 10, 07 | 100 – The Third Man Revealed |
Jan 26, 21 | 868 – The Blame Game |
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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Feb 5, 20 | 830 – Literary Twist |
Jan 9, 12 | 376 – Beaten But Not Broken |
Mar 1, 11 | Pg. 5 “Couture Fashion” |
Sep 24, 06 | 3 – Escape From the Carpathian Bug People |
Jan 26, 21 | 868 – The Blame Game |
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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Aug 16, 22 | 915 – Return to Valhalla |
Sep 16, 19 | 800 – Earth-Avenge |
Oct 8, 12 | 447 – Enemy Target Identified |
Mar 26, 12 | 398 – Rookie Hero Move |
Oct 12, 12 | Pg. 8 “Gross Fetuses” |
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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Aug 27, 18 | Swifty Origin, Pg. 13 “Doom” |
Jul 17, 08 | 146 – Cad and a Layabout |
Aug 23, 10 | SF Origins: Baby Swifty’s First Words, Pg. 2 “Preposterous” |
Feb 26, 14 | 575 – Undermined |
Nov 17, 06 | 45 – The Tale of How Captain Spectacular was Paralyzed, Conclusion |
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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Sep 6, 22 | 921 – Obedience is Key |
Oct 14, 06 | 21 – You Must Respect Women, Dr. Rocket! |
Aug 6, 09 | 219 – Bubbles of Light 5 |
Nov 20, 17 | 748 – Good Enough |
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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Jun 27, 11 | 328 – Pairing Off |
Mar 16, 12 | Pg. 4 “An Unexpected Cellmate” |
Apr 18, 12 | 404 – President Superknocker |
Nov 22, 17 | 749 – Caught in the Act |
Jul 13, 11 | 333 – A Word with Her Fiancee |
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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Jun 3, 11 | Pg. 8 “Future Imperfect” |
Nov 25, 08 | 182 – Someone Steps Forward (Bubbles of Light 3) |
Dec 5, 06 | 54 – Gene Gets What’s Coming to Him |
Oct 28, 08 | 175 – My Pleasure |
Dec 29, 08 | Guest Strip by Scott Gallatin of “Madscott!” |
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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Oct 21, 06 | 27 – Spy Gal’s Explanation |
Mar 1, 07 | 104 – Is Spy Gal Paranoid? |
Aug 3, 15 | 664 – Too Old to Drive |
Jul 31, 15 | 663 – Pandora’s Box |
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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Dec 16, 19 | 819 – Time for a Refill? |
Dec 9, 10 | 288 – Fill Me In |
Oct 16, 06 | 23 – The Incontinent Duo |
Nov 2, 11 | The 2nd SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page |
Jun 11, 18 | Pg. 2 “62nd Generation Mercurius” |
Just keeping the Third Man alive here. Also, it was important to me that Dictator Tot get her animal crackers.
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Apr 16, 09 | 204 – Florida Beckons |
Jan 29, 20 | 828 – Sorry About the Torture |
Aug 1, 16 | 686 – Captain Spectacular’s Mighty Punch |
Aug 12, 19 | 790 – Hey-O! |
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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Oct 5, 12 | Pg. 7 “The Babymaker” |
Feb 9, 21 | 872 – Zurida Down |
Mar 24, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 6 “Beaten to the Punch” |
Mar 26, 09 | 201 – The Orphan BBQ Will Have to Wait |
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 15, 09 | 229 – Father and Tom |
Dec 23, 11 | Pg. 6 “Battle in the Skies” |
Jan 19, 21 | 866 – Who Wants to Be Safe? |
Nov 9, 10 | SF Origins: Spy Gal, Pg. 11 “One Life Ends…” |
Apr 20, 12 | Pg. 9 “The Unicef Upstarts” |
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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Jun 3, 09 | The SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page! |
Aug 3, 12 | Pg. 6 “Inevitably Betrayed” |
Mar 17, 07 | 116 – Still Hot |
Apr 27, 10 | SF Origins: Star Maiden, Pg. 3 “The Mirror Weeps” |
Aug 24, 12 | Pg. 3 “Crybabies” |
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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Mar 11, 07 | 110 – Spanking |
Jun 22, 11 | 327 – The Buddy System |
Oct 14, 08 | 171 – Hello, Karma |
Dec 4, 13 | 554 – Not In a Way That Matters |
Dec 31, 08 | Guest Strip by Edward Krebes of “Hobo and Bowser!” |
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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Jun 22, 12 | Pg. 2 “Doppelgangers” |
Jan 2, 17 | 722 – Help or Mourn? |
Sep 29, 06 | 7 – Turnip Turnip |
Jan 10, 18 | 753 – What She’d Like to Know |
Oct 21, 10 | 281 – Expected |
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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Nov 28, 16 | 714 – Pathetic Counterpart |
Jan 10, 07 | 66 – Captain Spectacular’s Fear of Modern Technology |
Feb 29, 12 | 391 – Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun… |
Nov 23, 06 | 50 – And the Actual Winner of Bingo Night is… |
Feb 4, 21 | 871 – To Save a Dark World |
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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Oct 8, 09 | 228 – The Star Maiden Strip Show |
Jan 30, 07 | 90 – Introducing Star Maiden! |
Mar 11, 10 | 247 – Not a Busload of Strangers |
Nov 26, 12 | 461 – He Escaped |
Oct 3, 12 | 446 – General Spy Gal |
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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Jan 15, 07 | 70 – Gene and Dictator Tot Reunite |
Aug 10, 20 | 843 – What About the Crawfish? |
Oct 1, 09 | 227 – Star Maiden’s Fan Club |
Mar 23, 07 | 122 – Who Will Jerry Fight? |
Nov 13, 08 | 179 – Reverend Space Pig |
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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Jan 23, 13 | 474 – Overwhelmed |
Oct 9, 08 | 170 – There Will Be Blood |
Oct 19, 12 | Pg. 9 “Let’s Go!” |
Aug 19, 19 | 792 – Dashing, Like Hyphens |
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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Jan 2, 14 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy, 5 |
May 21, 12 | 413 – The Sunway |
Sep 30, 06 | 8 – Hands Off Spy Gal! |
Nov 4, 11 | Pg. 6 “A Zombie Rabbit” |
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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Jan 28, 10 | 241 – He’s Gone |
Jul 8, 15 | 653 – When a Shirtless Captain Spectacular Shows Up |
Mar 9, 12 | Pg. 3 “His Old Flame” |
Sep 10, 12 | 443 – “Open to Ideas” |
Dec 9, 11 | Pg. 4 “Party Crasher” |
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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Jan 16, 07 | 71 – Is Gene Crying? |
Sep 29, 11 | Chapter 6, “Funeral for a Frenemy” Recap by Crystal Murphy |
Apr 29, 10 | 254 – Why Kill An Innocent? |
May 13, 10 | 256 – A Misnomerstanding |
Jan 3, 11 | Guest Strip by Javier Del Villar, Part One |