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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Mar 13, 07 | 112 – Budapest ’68 All Over Again |
Aug 9, 10 | 269 – Sparing Her |
Apr 25, 12 | 406 – Spy Gal’s Wall of Evidence |
Dec 29, 10 | Guest Strip by Javier Del Villar (Extra) |
Aug 19, 08 | 155 – Bait and Switch |
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 11, 07 | 110 – Spanking |
Aug 20, 14 | 619 – The Repentant |
Apr 3, 07 | 133 – Beginning the Tale of How Captain Spectacular Met Dr. Klein |
Nov 25, 08 | 182 – Someone Steps Forward (Bubbles of Light 3) |
Jun 3, 09 | The SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page! |
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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Mar 2, 07 | 105 – Dr. Klein is Leaving? |
May 16, 11 | 316 – Dr. Rocket’s Space Journey, Pt. 5: The Last Place Anyone Would Think to Look |
Aug 5, 10 | 268 – Sick and Unflattering |
Mar 11, 07 | 110 – Spanking |
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 16, 07 | 115 – Star Maiden Flattens Dr. Rocket |
Sep 22, 09 | SF Origins: Herman’s Story, Pg. 4 “I Am Dr. Rocket” |
Dec 2, 11 | Pg. 3 “Enter The Space Pig” |
Mar 26, 09 | 201 – The Orphan BBQ Will Have to Wait |
Oct 7, 11 | Chapter 12, “Jackpot!” Recap by Steve VanDyken |
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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Jan 14, 10 | 239 – How Captain Spectacular Knows The Third Man |
Jan 16, 07 | 71 – Is Gene Crying? |
Mar 3, 07 | 106 – What’s in the Box? |
Apr 9, 09 | 203 – Shame, Shame |
Sep 29, 11 | Chapter 6, “Funeral for a Frenemy” Recap by Crystal Murphy |
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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Jul 20, 10 | SF Origins: Spy Gal’s Secret Mission, Pg. 1 “Entry” |
Feb 9, 10 | SF Origins: The Six Wives of Captain Spectacular, Pg. 5 “Michelle Masters” |
Jan 21, 07 | 81 – Jerry Denied! |
Apr 22, 13 | 499 – Statuesque |
Apr 7, 14 | 586 – The New Percy |
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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May 14, 08 | SF Collection #1 Cover |
Oct 12, 06 | 19 – Back From the Colonoscopy |
Aug 7, 08 | 152 – Best Man |
Mar 15, 07 | 114 – Enter: Star Maiden |
Jun 24, 11 | Pg. 11 “Partners Again” |
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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Jun 27, 11 | 328 – Pairing Off |
Dec 2, 08 | 184 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 1 “Laban and Amram” |
May 9, 18 | 785 – What Spy Gal Wants |
Sep 27, 11 | Chapter 4, “Dictator Tot’s Revenge” Recap by Jeremy Bentley |
Nov 20, 08 | 181 – The Thrice Evil |
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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Nov 11, 10 | 284 – Pairing Off |
Oct 21, 11 | Pg. 4 “Zombie Madness” |
Mar 20, 13 | 490 – Two Thirds of a Secret Revealed |
Oct 8, 12 | 447 – Enemy Target Identified |
Apr 2, 07 | 132 – Shake! Shake! Shake! |
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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Oct 2, 06 | 10 – Why Spy Gal Came to Valhalla |
Nov 25, 08 | 182 – Someone Steps Forward (Bubbles of Light 3) |
Jun 14, 22 | 897 – Streaking Past |
Mar 13, 11 | 299 – Why The Hospital |
Dec 25, 13 | How Dr. Rocket Stole Christmas |
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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Jul 13, 10 | SF Origins: The Life and Times of Soviet Sam, Pg. 8 “Sweet Dreams” |
Mar 3, 07 | 106 – What’s in the Box? |
Nov 16, 10 | SF Origins: The Death of Mr. Crook, Pg. 1 “Lights On, Lights Off” |
Jul 4, 11 | 330 – Swim City |
Sep 15, 14 | The Principle of Order |
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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Sep 1, 14 | 622 – Portalmaker |
Nov 17, 14 | 637 – Dimension-Crossed Haters |
Oct 17, 16 | 705 – Saber |
Jun 11, 12 | 419 – Adrenalin |
Jan 21, 07 | 81 – Jerry Denied! |
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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Apr 20, 11 | 309 – Time Travelin’ Scamps |
Jun 25, 12 | 423 – Family Resemblance (or Lack Thereof) |
Jun 27, 11 | 328 – Pairing Off |
Jul 7, 22 | 904 – Moment for a Fallen Hero |
Sep 26, 12 | GUEST STRIP by Crystal Murphy, Summer Fun Pt. 2! |
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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Jan 21, 13 | 473 – Monkey Rain |
Jan 13, 12 | Pg. 1 “Listen Now Children…” |
Sep 16, 19 | 800 – Earth-Avenge |
Jun 22, 11 | 327 – The Buddy System |
May 2, 12 | 408 – Remember Your Mission |
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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Nov 18, 06 | 46 – The Winner of Bingo Night…? |
Nov 27, 08 | 183 – Eloquence |
Aug 12, 10 | 270 – Freakin’ Huge |
May 7, 09 | 207 – Not My Story to Tell |
Jul 1, 15 | 650 – GAH! Feelings! |
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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Jul 1, 08 | 143 – Ogle |
Jun 20, 11 | 326 – Air Valhalla |
Mar 6, 07 | 108 – Spy Gal Will Protect Jerry |
Oct 28, 10 | 282 – Mucking with Space and Time |
May 17, 22 | 889 – So Much Love to Share |
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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Feb 2, 07 | 93 – Beginning the Tale of How Captain Spectacular Met and Married Star Maiden |
Nov 23, 06 | 50 – And the Actual Winner of Bingo Night is… |
Jul 9, 18 | Pg. 6 “Date or Fight?” |
Dec 14, 11 | 371 – Leaving Las Vegas |
Dec 29, 10 | Guest Strip by Javier Del Villar (Extra) |
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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Jan 10, 07 | 66 – Captain Spectacular’s Fear of Modern Technology |
Feb 17, 14 | 572 – The New War Room |
Feb 18, 13 | 481 – Awfully Suspicious |
Dec 5, 06 | 54 – Gene Gets What’s Coming to Him |
Jan 28, 07 | 88 – Who Smells Like Fish? |
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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Jul 23, 18 | Pg. 8 “Better When She Was a Villain” |
Nov 9, 11 | 361 – The Whole Place is Coming Down |
Sep 7, 12 | Pg. 5 “Who Squished?” |
Sep 4, 19 | 797 – Squishiness in the War Room |
Feb 12, 14 | 571 – ZBC Nightly News with Richelieu Madden and Gwen Dreck |
Just keeping the Third Man alive here. Also, it was important to me that Dictator Tot get her animal crackers.
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Mar 2, 07 | 105 – Dr. Klein is Leaving? |
Apr 30, 14 | 591 – About That Thing… That One Time |
Nov 4, 06 | 32 – Bingo Night Begins |
Feb 17, 12 | Pg. 2, “Devil Horned Goodbye” |
Sep 30, 10 | 278 – The Others |
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Oct 22, 20 | 849 – Break a Hip |
Oct 22, 09 | 230 – Cleaning Out Her Ears |
Nov 4, 06 | 32 – Bingo Night Begins |
Sep 9, 19 | 798 – A Dark Past, A Questionable Present |
Jul 7, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 21 “Sayonara, Sucker!” |
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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Sep 23, 06 | 2 – Introducing Jerry! |
Jan 15, 09 | 192 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 9 “Supposed to Be Me” |
Jul 11, 11 | 332 – Captain Spectacular’s Buds |
Feb 28, 18 | 767 – Done Pretending |
Sep 8, 22 | 922 – The New Normal |
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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Jan 4, 17 | 723 – Ascendant |
Sep 25, 06 | 4 – Who is Coming to Valhalla? |
Sep 14, 12 | Pg. 6 “Who Could Have Done This?” |
Oct 23, 17 | 740 – Boop |
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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Sep 30, 11 | Chapter 7, “Visiting Day” Recap by Rossana Bugini |
Mar 16, 07 | 115 – Star Maiden Flattens Dr. Rocket |
Apr 11, 12 | 402 – Lost Signal |
Sep 4, 08 | 160 – Best Friends Forever? |
Apr 13, 10 | SF Origins: Star Maiden, Pg. 1 “Troubled Birth” |
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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Oct 7, 13 | 541 – Husband |
Nov 28, 16 | 714 – Pathetic Counterpart |
Jan 29, 09 | 193 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 10 “Escape” |
Oct 30, 13 | 544 – Whose Mess Is It, Anyway? |
Nov 30, 11 | 367 – The Division Sword |
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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Sep 27, 06 | 6 – Introducing Spy Gal! |
Sep 20, 16 | 10th Anniversary BONUS STRIP 1! |
Apr 9, 07 | 138 – Good News and Bad News |
Mar 18, 20 | 840 – Twice the Thrice |
Jan 2, 13 | Guest Strip by Brock Heasley (???) |
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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Aug 8, 16 | 688 – Zurida, The Peacemaker |
Jan 1, 10 | Guest Strip by Chris Watkins of “Odori Park!” |
Oct 18, 06 | 25 – Pee On Swifty |
Nov 19, 12 | 459 – A Family Thing |
May 9, 12 | 410 – Attack of the Space Monkeys |
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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Sep 10, 18 | Pg. 15 “Something Missing” |
Jan 9, 12 | 376 – Beaten But Not Broken |
Nov 23, 06 | 50 – And the Actual Winner of Bingo Night is… |
Sep 8, 22 | 922 – The New Normal |
Nov 2, 11 | The 2nd SuperFogeys Free Comic Book Day Page |
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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Sep 28, 11 | Chapter 5, “The Redemption of Dr. Rocket” Recap by Geoff Munn |
Apr 11, 12 | 402 – Lost Signal |
Nov 4, 06 | 32 – Bingo Night Begins |
Jan 4, 12 | 375 – In The Zone |
Apr 8, 11 | Cover |
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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Mar 31, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 7 “Good Looks Good on You” |
May 15, 13 | 504 – A Striking Mustache |
May 7, 09 | 207 – Not My Story to Tell |
Dec 3, 12 | 463 – May Percy Have a Pet? |
Dec 16, 19 | 819 – Time for a Refill? |
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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Apr 9, 09 | 203 – Shame, Shame |
Aug 6, 14 | 616 – One of Zurida’s |
Jan 4, 17 | 723 – Ascendant |
Dec 21, 12 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Aug 30, 22 | 919 – The More Things Change… |
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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Jun 26, 08 | 142 – Back in Hel |
Aug 27, 12 | 439 – So IMPOLITE! |
Jul 29, 15 | 662 – Lazy Villainy |
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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Aug 19, 10 | 273 – All Is Revealed |
May 14, 08 | SF Collection #1 Cover |
Jan 6, 11 | Guest Strip by Marjorie Rishel |
Jun 22, 11 | 327 – The Buddy System |
Apr 15, 10 | 252 – Like A Son |