More Stunt Bug

A picture of our pal Stunt Bug just standing around, doing nothing in particular. Maybe he's waiting for a crime he can stop. Drawn in crayon, extra scribbles courtesy of my three-year-old son who was helping me.

Radioman #5

Radioman squares off against Gas Man in this exciting installment. Our hero demonstrates that he's more than the sum of his super powers, as he doesn't even use them to take out this villainous madman. No, Radioman simply uses his wits and mastery of fisticuffs this time!

Radioman #4

Here's Radioman #4, in which we demonstrate Radioman's ability to shrink via short waves, which he and Radioboy cleverly use to make a surprise attack on the infernal Thermo-Killer. Again, this is a one-page story inspired by those old Hostess ads that used to be in comic books back in the good old days. I keep thinking I should draw one as an actual ad, albeit for a nonexistent product. Come to think of it, Hostess snacks are nonexistent products now.

Super Hero Team-Ups and Super Teams

It seems inevitable that any comic book universe containing multiple super heroes would have them team up or form a super team like the Avengers. I haven't yet drawn any stories where, for instance, Radioman and Gummy Man team up, nor do I have any completed super team stories thus far. All I have is an aborted story about a super team called the Ultra League (for lack of a better name). The team comprised five or six super heroes struggling against giant robots controlled by an evil mastermind. I think it took place in a fictional version of Charlotte, North Carolina called Tarheel City. That was back when I was considering using a fictional setting in the mode of Gotham City or Metropolis. Nowadays I'm dead-set against fictional cities and prefer to use real locations for my stories.

The story was done in bits and pieces during hard-to-find free time. If I can locate the completed portion of the story I'll post it here.

Back to the topic of this posting: I prefer to keep super heroes in mostly separate worlds even if they operate in the same city. It makes it special when they occasionally meet and team up. I remember how exciting it was when, for instance, Spider-Man would turn up in the pages of Daredevil and they'd work together against the Owl or the Kingpin. It was an event!

Seems like modern comics have their heroes constantly tripping over each other or making reference to events in each other's comic book. But then again, I think there are far too many super heroes in the Marvel and D.C. universes. Back in 1964, Marvel had fewer than 20 super heroes operating in New York. I haven't read any of their comics in nearly 20 years, but even 20 years ago it seemed like there were hundreds of super heroes crowding Manhattan. It makes them seem ordinary and makes it that much harder to believe their adventures take place in a real world, particularly when so many of them use technology far beyond what currently exists or are from other planets and dimensions. The effect on the world's culture would be staggering if the general public were familiar with the mere fact that such things and persons were real. Back when Stan Lee was scripting these things, you'd have bystanders remark that they didn't believe Thor was for real, or they thought Spider-Man was a hoax by the Daily Bugle, and so on. Super heroes weren't commonplace.

And that's how I think it ought to be, so my super heroes will probably not be meeting one another very often, and if they form a super team it will likely be a "non-team" akin to the early Defenders: a loose confederation of allies with a common interest that brings them together for the duration, after which they go their separate ways until the next crisis rears its inevitable head.

Hand-Drawn Map of Balboa Park and the Evildoers Who Dared Disrupt the Peace Therein

Here's a hand-drawn map of Balboa Park (in San Diego) that we used for a session of TSR's Marvel Super Heroes roleplaying game. Some villains took advantage of distractions caused by a cultural event in the park and tried to steal antiquities from the Museum of Man. The map didn't get nearly the use I had hoped. I spent almost as much time making it as we did using it. Still, a fun time was had by all.

In case you were curious, the player characters Sonic Blaster, Dark Shield, and Swamp Master saved the day. I have no pictures of the heroes, but here's the assortment of villains they defeated.

There was a Southwestern theme to the bad guys.

The Jackalope

The Jackalope is another character I will not be using again. Not that I ever did much with him aside from draw him bounding towards you.

Here's his origin. The jackrabbit is obviously radioactive.

Turbo Racer #1

In his debut issue, Turbo Racer fights the deranged Krazy Klown and his gang. For some reason Krazy Klown's goons only tie Turbo Racer at the ankles after capturing him. I suppose that was to allow Turbo Racer to use a super-speed trick and defeat them. Villains seem to do a lot of that in every media.

Turbo Racer's costume has changed since this story was completed. He now looks more like this from the neck up.

In addition to having the speed of a dozen cheetahs, Turbo Racer possesses catlike senses and agility. His origin has something to do with his being a veterinarian and saving a wild cheetah. The details remain vague at this time.