Another Year Over...

As the calendar changes I guess it’s time to take the obligatory look back at 2012 while I greatly anticipate the coming 2013, which I think will be a wonderful year!

I’d like to start by discussing this blog, since that’s the current topic in my mind.  I’ve really enjoyed writing my blog and keeping myself to an at-least-weekly schedule has been helpful in making sure I keep my brain working, as I am always anticipating what will be the next week’s topic.  Granted, I cheat a bit by posting almost-entirely artwork posts at times, but I did start this thing as a place to show my work to the general public, and it seems like people are looking at my stuff according to the blog stats.

Speaking of the blog stats, I am nearing 11,200 views as I type this, my 82^nd blog post.  My most viewed post is my review of the Avenger Movie (and comic), which I figure is due to the huge success of the movie.  My next most viewed posts are my review of “Out With PFLAG” and my comments on the Out With Dad character Vanessa.  Then we come to my post of my Avengers statues.  The stats also track search keywords which people use to find my site.  The three most used search keywords all involve the Avengers.  The fourth is “Lindsey Middleton”.  Lindsey is, in case you haven’t read all my posts, the actor who plays Vanessa on Out With Dad.

And that leads in to my quick pop culture review of 2012.  My favorite:

Movie: The Avengers.  They could have done a poor job and made millions on this film.  Instead they produced a great show!  I’m really looking forward to the sequel, including all the crossover movies to come!

Book: The Hunger Games trilogy.  When something is very popular, I’m a bit skeptical if I’ll like it as much as others, but this series blew me away!  The movie isn’t bad, but I recommend everyone read the books!

Television: Psych is the only TV drama series I am currently following regularly.  Excellent writing and acting!  All television should be this good.

Comic: Resident Alien from Dark Horse Comics, which just started a second storyline in the pages of dark Horse Presents.  Resident Alien is interesting and exciting plus it has the best writer/artist team I’ve seen in quite a while.  The words and pictures blend perfectly!

Webseries: Out With Dad, of course!  Which is totally, totally different in tone and content from any of the above.  Which shows you just how well it is done!  It makes me think, and it inspires me creatively.

Well, that does it for this year!  How about I sign off with some pics of sketches I’ve done recently. See you in about a week!

 

 

Comic Strip: Out With Dad II

This is the 2^nd of my 142 part Out With Dad comic series.  More importantly, I finally overcame my fear of drawing people kissing.  Anyway, I thought this would be nice to post for the Holidays.

On a related note, the Out With Dad creative team recently asked viewers to answer the question: Why is Out With Dad Important to you?  I thought I’d try to answer.  I feel a little strange about answering this question because I know there are many people with much more personal and powerful reasons that Out With Dad is important to them.  I don’t have that type of connection to the show.  I’m not homosexual nor am I a parent of a gay teen.  I just love the show.  I think it’s superbly written and crafted and it makes me think about things, such as society and how we treat people who are homosexual.

I think a tale like Rose’s is important because it helps those of us who haven’t struggled with her problems understand a bit of what it is like to be in her situation.  I would hope that it would encourage us to help others who are not “like us”, because deep down inside we are all the same.  We may think of ourselves as belonging to different subgroups of humanity, but deep down we all have the same dreams and deserve the same treatment.

I think Out With Dad is important because we, humanity, need to change.  The country of Canada is far nicer to homosexuals than most of the world.  Even where I live, which is just across the Lake from Canada, same-sex marriage is banned by our State Constitution.  In other countries, being gay can get you killed.  I think things are changing in a positive direction, but I also don’t think we’re going to see meaningful change if the only people in the “gay pride” parade are gay.  It takes understanding and action from all of us.

I guess that’s the best way I can explain why Out With Dad is important to me.

Songwriting

I’ve never really figured out how to write songs.  Of course, I must now elaborate a little.  My musical skills are rudimentary.  I was in Jr. High band and I play a little guitar.  (No, I don’t mean a ukulele.)  I know what do-re-mi and an octave is, though I don’t understand why music has an octave.  Why not a septave?  A decatave? I can read music somewhat; mostly I read cheat-sheet lyrics & chords so I can play oldies on my guitar.

Anyway, I don’t understand writing songs.  I can play chords and I can write words, but I don’t get how they fit together.  In fact, I tried my part at being a lyricist back in college when I wrote the lyrics to several songs hoping musically talented friends of mine could add the music. I’m not sure why that didn’t turn out. I mean, who wouldn’t want to finish a song called “The Attack of the Killer Sporks”?  Hey!  It’s hard to come up with something to write about!  I tried silly love songs (“I’ve Got Better Things To Do”), introspection disguised as humor (“Happy Stop Signs”), psychedelic rock (“Psychedelic Elevator”), humor disguised as introspection (“Happy Stop Signs”), and I even began an epic composition called “Acetylsalicylic Nightmare”.  But nothing was really good, no matter what topic I picked.  I always wanted to write something cool about things I love like sports or gaming.  But everything I thought of sounded dorky.  Well…I’m sure everything I managed to write was pretty dorky, too.  (And don’t ask for the lyrics to the songs above, I lost them long ago and remember them not.)

So, what I’m getting to with all the above rambling is how totally impressed I am with the Pretty in Geek theme song “Roll the Dice”.  “Roll the Dice” is an excellent little song about gaming that is cool and not the least bit dorky.  This is just totally amazing to me because I would never be able to write a song about such a topic, even though I love gaming.  I wouldn't know where to start!  And "Roll the Dice" is just an excellent hook! It’s sung by a Toronto group called Nerd with Guitars and….it’s been nominated for an award!  Well, technically the opening sequence of Pretty in Geek got nominated, but the song really carries the sequence.  At least I think so!  So give it a look and listen and be sure to check out the series here.  You can also buy the song from amazon. The award nomination mentioned above is from the folks at the Indie Soap Awards.  And by the way, Out With Dad (which I may have mentioned here a time or two) got a bunch of nominations too!

And Huzzah!!  to Nerds with Guitars!

Review- Superman: The Animated Series

I recently watched the first season of Superman- The Animated Series on DVD.  This series started in 1996 and ran until 200. I have recently stated that I often find the character of Superman too difficult to relate to.  However, I think in this case the character is handled very well.  Allow me to extrapolate.

In the Superman animated series they do a good job establishing Krypton and its importance to Superman, both in his origin and in his adopted parents explaining to Clark why he’s different than his peers.  This creates a little bit of angst for Clark as he’s portrayed as a person torn between his love for his adopted world and his desire to discover more about his birthplace.  In the half-hour cartoon format, there doesn’t need to be more angst than this.  Most of the fun is in watching Superman use his neat powers to solve problems.  The supporting cast is good but a little underused.  Lois is presented as a rival of Clarks in their chosen profession, and the romance angle is downplayed about as much as it should be for a cartoon.  Jimmy and Perry don’t do too much in season one beyond filling their usual roles.  Professor Hamilton does a good job informing both Superman and the viewer of the science fiction elements.  I particularly like Dan Turpin, drawn as an animated Jack Kirby!  It’s a great tribute to the King!

Of the villains, we have the crooked businessman version of Lex Luthor, who controls everything in Metropolis except Superman, and says he built the city.  It looks like he did, since the city looks like it has technology a year or two ahead of our time!  The others I particularly like are the Parasite and Brainiac.

I’d rate the show a “B” overall, which means it is worth getting if it’s not too expensive.  It’s not too amazing but it is a lot of fun!

Seasonal statues (and other stuff)

Today I’ll chat here about of few things at seeming random.  First, I thought I’d post some pictures of some statues I did recently because I’m doing a local holiday-themed show this week.  I guess it also proves I can do “mundane” as well as “geeky” statuary.   By the show, the show is Thursday Dec. 6^th at the Sandusky State Theater from 5-8:30, and admission cost is two cans of donated food.  I’m looking forward to it!

Speaking of shows, I thought I’d say a little about the best way to know where and when I’ll be in the future.  I tend to say something about my shows here on this site, so it’s a good idea to check back here regularly for such info as well as my thoughts about comics and pop culture.  In fact, you can “follow” this blog if you have an appropriate account.  I have a couple followers now (Thanks guys!) and certainly don’t mind more.  For even more up-to-date information on when I’m posting and what I’m doing you can friend me on my Facebook page. (There a link on this page.)  My Facebook feed or timeline or whatever they’re calling it now is 90% my art-related stuff, so I’m more than willing to friend anyone who’s interested.  Also, Facebook is a good way to comment and have conversations with me and other geeky types.  And don’t afraid to comment on my blog posts, either, I appreciate every comment I get!

Finally, thanks to everyone for reading and looking at my stuff here!  I’m closing in on 11,000 views total, from people all over the world, and that’s just shows how amazing our modern world is with all this technology that allows us to touch each other in some way all over this globe of ours!  Thanks to those who share my blog with others and especially thanks for reading my stuff* and to those who have purchased my work!!  As an artist, I am thrilled anytime I find someone who wants to own something I’ve created!

*Such as my Mutant Elf webcomic, still going strong every week!  Click here for the latest!!

Comic Strip: Out With Dad

Today’s cartoon is an idea I’ve had on my head for a while.  It is, in a way, my review of the first episode of the webseries Out With Dad.  This is to say it reflects my interpretation of the events therein. You might not understand the cartoon if you haven’t seen the episode in question, so you should go here and watch it.  It isn’t very long.  I’ve thought of writing reviews to all the episodes from season one, but I figure I’ll never get to it, and it is usually easier for me to draw something than figure out what to write. So here it is:

As a disclaimer, I want to mention that this work is totally fan art and I am in no way attempting to steal the work of Jason Leaver, whom I give total credit to for his creation which inspired the above.  All rights and whatnot belong to him and I’m not trying to make money off of his creations or anything like that.  I would like to suggest that visitors here donate some money to the production of Out With Dad, since the show relies on donations to cover the costs of production.

I’m glad I finally got around to drawing this strip and getting it out of my system.  I needed to do this one before I could draw the next one…

Food: Donuts

Both the looming Thanksgiving holiday and the recent (and I think temporary) demise of Hostess have me thinking about food lately.  Therefore, I now present my first blog entry about food. Specifically, I shall now discuss donuts!  (Some of you may think that they should be called doughnuts.  However, we Americans try to eliminate every letter we possibly can.  I see stuff written by people in England and Canada that includes all kinds of extra “u”s.  We don’t use extra “u”s here!  In fact, we wold eliminate all such letters if we cold I’m sre. )

Donuts are one of the most wonderful culinary creations in the universe.  Part of this is the sheer variety available.  If you can’t find at least one type of donut you absolutely love, you just aren’t trying very hard!  In fact, there are so many types of donuts that I don’t even have a favorite donut.  There are a few I’m not too fond of, like crullers and anything with chocolate frosting (but not chocolate cake covered with glaze…I like those!) , but I don’t have one that is the absolute best to my mind.  I can, however, name my favorite donuts within certain donut types.

Let’s take the fancy donuts first, for example.  These would be the crème filled, jelly filled, and cake (blueberry is especially a favorite of mine) donuts.  I don’t think anyone makes these types of donuts better than Dunkin Donuts.  The Dunkin Donuts chain has a large variety of such donuts.  They tend to be more expensive than most places, but they are very tasty. These are also very loaded with good stuff that fills you up fast, so I think you get your money’s worth.

Glazed donuts are a different matter, however.  Glazed donuts are best when they are light, fluffy, and warm.  Therefore, I have to give the win in this category to Krispy Kreme.  Krispy Kremes are probably the only donuts that I like better plain than filled.  They are very sweet since they are absolutely drenched in sugar, but it just enhances the flavor!  But be warned: The boxed Krispy Kremes aren’t nearly as good as the fresh version.

Powdered donuts are completely different than the above types.  The strange thing about these donuts is that they are best when they are not fresh from the bakery.  My favorite powdered donuts are the little mini powdered donuts that come in bags, including those by Hostess.  These things are just so sweet and tasty, and being bite sized they are easy to eat despite being rather messy.  In fact, it can be rather hard to stop eating them!  It always seems like just one more wouldn’t hurt…and then one more after that…

Well, that’s a good beginning to a discussion about donuts.  Someday I’ll write a longer and more serious essay.  It’s just too important a topic to go without some serious study!  I wish everyone some good eating tomorrow!  I suggest having a donut or two. I’ll close with this word of advice:  Donuts—they aren’t just for breakfast anymore!!

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran’s Day, and I’ve decided to make the holiday the subject of my blog this evening.  I suppose there are a lot of people saying a lot of things about the purpose of the holiday, and I’m not trying to outdo anyone.  I’m just going to relate my experience.

I joined the United States Navy out of High School and spent two years on active duty, mostly onboard the USS Mobile.  Today my thoughts have been dwelling on the people I served with.  I served in the Navy with a very diverse group of guys.  The military takes people from all over the USA and beyond and puts them together into rather effective groups.  That’s pretty amazing, I think.  We didn’t all look alike or have the same philosophies or interests.  Yet we managed to do a pretty good job at our job!  There were guys who were born outside the US and had come to make our country their own.  There was even a friend of mine who became a US citizen while he was serving in the Navy.  I think that’s rather cool.

USS Mobile LKA 115

I’ve discovered that as a veteran I have the ability to talk to any other veteran I’ve met about our service. There is some special kind of bond.  Whatever branch and whatever time frame we served, there always seems to be something linking us.

I benefited a lot from my service.  It was a positive experience that got me the money I needed for college, and I recommend young people consider military service for all the benefits it can bring

However, there are a lot of vets who bear some horrible scars left by their service.  These vets weren’t as lucky as me to serve in peaceful times.  These vets deserve our unyielding support.  And, especially our thanks.

So thank a veteran.  Not just today, but every day!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Art: Invaders and Legion

Here are some sketches I did last week. My love for the Legion of Super-Heroes is well documented in previous entries of this blog.  The Invaders is one of Roy Thomas’ greatest series!!  Done with markers.

 

 

Post Detroit Fanfare

The Detroit Fanfare convention last weekend was a wonderful experience!  There was a great crowd in both volume and exuberance!  I had some great conversations, especially with fellow Legion of Super-Heroes fans, and enjoyed the heck out of interacting with everyone that I came into contact with.  I especially enjoyed the Kid’s Day on Sunday and the trick-or-treating around the convention floor.  Excellent idea!  Kudos to the people running the show.  It was well planed out and the space was used very well. I even got a chance to grab some comics on my list. I’m already looking forward to next year.

Excelsior!

 

Here’s my pictures of the event.

My table:

 

The really awesome lego display:

A happy customer:

October Statues

Here are some statues that I’ve been working on for the Detroit Fanfare convention this weekend!


Who do you recognize?

 

Captain America, Thanos, Havok



Warrior, Dungeon Master, Death, Dragon eating Fighter

 

Cthulhu, Sonic. Mario, Finn

Close-up of dragon to show size and detail

 

I have more that I haven't quite finished yet!  Stay tuned!!

Likenesses and Zombies, part II

I have this little mission to teach people to draw Out With Dad fan art, and this is my first idea to reach that goal.  Well..it’s my only idea, really.  I thought to this because when I first started doodling Out With Dad characters I realized that Will Conlon (Nathan aka Dad) was very easy to draw because anything with a beard looks like him.  Or at least I think so (see pic of him below).  I’d love to see some other fans give it a shot!

 

 

And of course, zombies.  It’s almost Halloween, so there must be zombies!! Everyone loves zombies!  And everyone loves bacon!  Therefore.... 

 

Some notes:  I did these two drawings with no intent of posting them here together.  I was thinking about which to post here first.  Then I remembered this post from last year, and I realized I had inadvertently created the sequel!!  Therefore the above title.

 

Braaaaiinnns!!!!  Oiiiiiinnnkk!!!

Ogre & Stacey in ink

This week I wanted to show a drawing as it progressed from pencil work to finished ink.  Perhaps I’ll color it at a later time.  This Ogre is an idea for a character for the third Mutant Elf storyline, which should start sometime next year!

 

Speaking of inking, I worked some ink into the Pretty in Geek sketch of Stacey I posted last week. I like the ink separating Stacey’s “real self” from her “imagined self”. I also was thinking that, given Stacey’s limited cranial capacity, this sketch might be better said to reflect how the other players see her than how she sees herself.  Things are probably much more cartoony in Stacey’s mind…hmmm…perhaps there’s another idea for a drawing…

Role-Playing: Pretty in Geek

Today’s drawing is a sketch I did based on the webseries Pretty in Geek.  I was thinking about role-playing games and how the player takes the role of a character.  This led my thoughts to the characters on Pretty in Geek and how they might see themselves in their in-game personas.  The image that stuck out to me the most was of Stacey singing as her Bard, and how she might picture her character doing so.  Technically, I don’t think the image scanned very well, and I’m thinking of doing ink and/or color to further separate the two characters from each other.

 Since I’m on the topic of role-playing I think I’ll add some comments about why the genre appeals to me so much even after all these years.  Role-playing games allow a player to experience a story as a participant.  It’s akin to reading a great novel or watching a great movie, but you are part of the action, making the decisions of your protagonist.  And you don’t have to play a character that anything like you are in real life.  After all, I’ve never been a Half-Elf, much less a Druid, and I had a blast playing as one.  Finally, being the game referee is as much fun as playing.  The players are playing within your story, and you are playing the roles of everyone who appears other than the characters.  Role-playing games are the more sophisticated continuation of the adventures children act out together as soon as they are able to communicate.  What could be more fun?  I role-play online now, so if you’re interested in a game, contact me and maybe we can get something going!

My Mutant Elf webcomic is very inspired by the gaming I’ve done in my life.  I’d appreciate it of you’d check it out, and share it with your friends.

Review: Wollybear Festival 2012

I’ve been working on some comic and sculpture projects over the last week, but I haven’t gotten anything finished enough to talk about here.  I even took a day off away from the drawing board today.  I went to the 40^th annual Wollybear Festival in Vermillion, Ohio today.  The Wollybear Festival is held every fall, sponsored by Fox 8 Cleveland and hosted by meteorologist and animal lover extraordinaire Dick Goddard, a local legend.  It is Ohio’s biggest one-day festival.  I don’t know the exact numbers, of course, but I’d estimate about 8 million or so people were in the small town of Vermillion today.

Dick Goddard onstage at the Wollybear Festival

If you didn’t know, a wollybear is a brown and orange caterpillar.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wollybear when I wasn’t at the festival, but I’ve learned a few things from hearing about them at the festival and on Fox 8 News over the years.  For example, there is a legend that the width of the wollybear’s stripes predicts how severe the winter will be.  I don’t remember exactly the details, but I figure it doesn’t matter.  Winter is always severe around here.  (Except last year, of course.)  I also think the wollybear caterpillar eventually turns into a wollybear cocoon and then a wollybear butterfly.  But the butterfly waits to come out after Ohio’s harsh winter, of course.  The festival features a wollybear race, so they must be fast I’d guess.  There’s also a costume contest where people and animals try to look like wollybears.

Like all festivals, there are crafts and live entertainment at wollybear.  The highlight for me, though, is the food.  You know, that great fried-everything fair food?  Yeah!  Great stuff!!  Though I didn’t have the fried stuff this year, but rather some spicy grilled chicken with rice and beans.  Excellent!!  I had an apple dumpling with ice cream for dessert.  Also excellent!!  I also bought some T-shirts and donated some money to animal causes.  To get a little serious here, the festival does a wonderful job promoting pro-animal causes and I encourage everyone to donate something at the festival or to a local cause.  There’s no reason for people to treat animals inhumanely.

Now I’m back to the drawing board.  Maybe I’ll sketch a wollybear

Phantom Girl and Mutant Elf

I’ve just had the Legion of Super-Heroes on my mind almost constantly since my LOSH post a couple weeks ago, so I had to do some sketching to ease my mind a bit.  Phantom Girl is my current favorite Legion member, so I drew her.  You may be remembering my mention of Wildfire being my favorite Legionnaire, but he’s not currently with the team.  (He’s appearing in the Legion Lost series monthly, however!  Great book!)  Tinya Wazzo is from a world in another dimension and she has a rather scientific mind and a bubbly personality.  Her super power is the ability to turn herself intangible, so matter passes through her body.  It’s not a great offensive power, but it does make her tough to defeat.  Tinya does have a romantic relationship with the incredibly powerful Ultra Boy, so she usually has great offensive force nearby!

While I’m typing, I wanted to take this opportunity to announce the Mutant Elf comic. Not the webcomic (found here), but a print copy of the first webcomic storyline.  I am putting it together to premiere at Detroit Fanfare next month.  It will be a mini-comic printed in color containing 8 story pages and other art.  Copies I don’t sell at the convention will be available for mail order.  I think it’s a nice way to own a little Mutant Elf!

Pre-Detroit Fanfare

I will have a table at the Detroit Fanfare comic convention next month.  The show dates are October 26, 27, and 28 and you can find out more information here.  I am posting this message because often at shows people ask me about having certain statues, and I will be making some statues specifically for the Fanfare show in the next week.  Therefore, if you are going to attend and you are interested in a particular design, please tell me now and I can have it ready for you at the show! 

You can e-mail me (Fedscomic@yahoo.com), contact me on Facebook, or leave a message on this post if you wish.  Ask me for what you want and I’ll be sure to reply to you!  The small statues depicted on this post are $5 each at the show and I can do larger pieces upon request.

I also draw original sketches in color or black and white, and I take requests for these, too.  Cost depends on the complexity.

I’m really looking forward to the show and hope some people stop by and mention reading this blog when they do!!  Hope to see you there!

The Legion of Super-Heroes

When I really got into reading comic books, I was a Marvel Comics fan first and foremost.  The adventures of the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and Spider-Man were so amazing and, to my mind, more sophisticated than the Superman and Batman comics and cartoons I’d read and seen as a small child.  It took me a while to try and read some DC Comics after I had been exposed to Marvel goodness, and I still find the Marvel characters more compelling.  But there is one group that has become my favorite organization in super-hero fiction, and that group comes from DC!  The group of which I speak is the Legion of Super-Heroes!


The Legion of Super-Heroes vs the Legion of Super-Villains!  By Levitz and Giffen!

The Legion of Super-Heroes (LoSH) is a group of young (originally teen) heroes in the far future of the DC universe.  I think one of the things about the Legion that appeals to me is that they are mostly separate from the rest of the DC comics.  This means they aren’t burdened with keeping up with current situations in other comics.  Plus, they “get away” with things other heroes don’t.  For example, in the Legion death is a possibility, and character have grown up enough to marry and have children.  Another appealing aspect of the Legion is their large roster.  The Legion usually maintains an active roster between 20 and 30 members, and there are many supporting characters that appear regularly.

The Legion is an interesting mix of heroes.  They vary in planet of birth and physical makeup for instance.  Though most of the team is humanoid, and the Legion headquarters is on Earth, there are some very colorful members and some very non-human members.

Another interesting aspect of the team is the great variety powers within the group.  Some characters, such as Mon-El, Element Lad, and sometimes-members Superboy and Supergirl, are extremely powerful.  Some, such as Timber Wolf, Saturn Girl, and Star Boy, are of average power.  Still other characters, such as Phantom Girl, Dream Girl, or the Invisible Kid, have rather weak, or very specific powers.  Despite these extreme differences in power, the team works great together.  In fact, strength in diversity is certainly one of the Legion’s themes.

 

 

The greatest thing about the Legion, though, is how they interact.  It’s the interpersonal relationships of the characters that mostly carry the plots.  The romances, the break-ups, the feuds, the friendships, and how, in the end, they are all heroes.  This is what keeps me coming back to the future every month to see what will happen next.

Of all the Legionnaires, and I like all of them, my favorite character is Wildfire.  Wildfire, real name Drake Burroughs, is incredibly powerful, with the ability to project intense energy bursts.  Plus, because Wildfire’s body is composed of pure energy, he’s virtually invincible. However, all his power comes at a steep cost.  Drake doesn’t have a physical body, which keeps him from doing many normal, human things, such as having a physical relationship with the love of his life, Dawnstar.  Wildfire is also the emotional hothead of the group.  He doesn’t pretend to be happy about his predicament, and he’s not afraid to express his feelings about anything!

I started reading the Legion when they were being chronicled by the team of Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen.  Many, including me, would consider this team the best writer/artist duo the Legion ever had.  Paul, in particular, by far writes the best Legion adventures, and has done so with many great artists over the years.  My second favorite Legion artist is Steve Lightle, who had a long run as artist in the 1980s.  There have been a few reboots of the Legion over the years, but none seemed like the “real” Legion to me, and I’m glad that Paul has returned to begin a new era of Legion greatness!

Long live the Legion!!

Connections

I recently finished my part in a crossover between one of my characters and another creator’s character (I’m keeping the details secret for now.) and it got me thinking about how the stories I’ve done in the past connect, or sometimes don’t.  For example, if you’ve read any of my strips in OH, Comics or the SPACE anthology, you might wonder if they connect at all to the F.E.D.s.  So here’s the deal!

I’m currently working on issue 17 of the F.E.D.s mini-comic.  Some of the characters in the F.E.D.s have appeared in other comics that I’ve done for publishing in other formats.

My webcomic, Mutant Elf, stands totally on its own.  This is the first comic project I’ve done, other than some short joke strips, that does not connect in any way to the F.E.D.s and my other super-powered-people comics.

My 2012 SPACE anthology strip was the Mutant Elf introduction.  In the previous two volumes, I did a story of the group the “Fearless Force” and a story of the hero the “First Lady”.  These stories are firmly set in the F.E.D.s universe, however, they have no specific time frame in comparison to the events in the F.E.D.s. Though there is one pretty big crossover character between the Fearless Force and the F.E.D.s, but it’s a secret I haven’t revealed and I don’t think there’s any obvious hints as to who it is.

I started contributing to OH, Comics with issue 10, the “Luck” issue.  The story in that issue (written by my brother), about a lucky fan at the World Series, does not connect to the F.E.D.s.  Issue #11 is the Science Fiction issue.  My brother wrote a plot about sentient rocks, and I finished it with scripting and art.  This does not connect to the F.E.D.s.  It does, however, mention a story called “Trip into Space” which is a Sci-Fi series my brother and I thought about doing at the time.  And it’s an idea I revisit mentally from time to time, also.

Issue #12 of OH, Comics includes the tale of Lizard Man’s origin, with an appearance by Arcurius.  This is in-continuity with the F.E.D.s.  It also includes a demon that is also found in Lizard Man Special #1, a mini-comic I put together.  Allow me to digress at this time.  “Lizard Man vs the Car Salesman” was a story my brother wrote and I drew for an anthology title called “Lyceum”.  It was to have appeared in the 3^rd issue of Lyceum, but that issues never materialized.  Therefore, the story (which is too long to run in OH, Comics) is only available directly through me.

OH, Comics #13, 14 , and 15 all include super-hero tales of Lizard Man and Arcurius, and include such F.E.D.s characters as Oceanus and the first appearances of Bloodbeast, Shockhard, and Force of Mind!

I then wrote and drew a story of a group called the “Next Wing” for OH, Comics #16, but the issue was delayed a few years, so I published it as a mini comic.  Next Wing #1 is only available from me, and does not include any F.E.D.s characters although it does sit in the same world.

When OH, Comics #16 finally was published I did a new story, this time about the Fearless Force.  As I said above, they definitely exists with the F.E.D.s.

OH, Comics 17 and 18 are special cases.  They are comics about F.E.D.s characters done in a “younger readers” style.  They are the types of comics you would find if you were in the world of the F.E.D.s.  They include some jokes and references you should only get if you read some of the F.E.D.s stuff, also.

OH, Comics 19, with Oceanus and Furie, and 20, with the First Lady and She-Eagle, connect to the F.E.D.s.

Hope that all makes sense, if you are interested.  If you’ve never read any of the above, I recommend my newer stuff.  But then again, most people like to read the F.E.D.s starting at issue #1.

The F.E.D.s, Lizard Man Special, and Next Wing are available by e-mailing me fedscomic@yahoo.com

OH, Comics is available through me or through Bob Corby at http://backporchcomics.com/back_porch_comics.htm

The SPACE anthology is available as a download at Bob’s site above. The 2012 SPACE Anthology is also available in softcover from me or Bob.

Mutant Elf is, of course, free on the web: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/fedscomic/melf/series.php