Silent But Deadly

Currently working on a villain for the Mazer series. The character I had in mind needed to be a poisonous gas villain, so I’ve been doing research into various types of gas to make the story effective and realistic. I really hope this hasn’t triggered any Homeland Security flags. I’m just writing a story, guys. 😶

I’m thinking of calling him Cyanogen, with his symbol changing depending on his choice of gas for a specifically dastardly deed. But I’m also partial to just a more comic book-y name like Gas Master or something equally stupid.

I’m A Doctor, I’m Here to Help

I’ve mentioned Covoner City quite a few times in my posts, and occasionally a comic ambiguously titled “Mazer”. I was burying the lead.

Mazer is an idea I got from a tv show I was watching a few years ago called “Royal Pains“. The basic premise of the show was about an ER doctor pushed out of his job because during a situation where he had to choose giving full attention to one of two patients in immediate distress, he chose the patient with the most likelihood of surviving: a young black child involved in a gang shooting, over an elderly man who turned out to be a hospital trustee.

He ends up becoming a concierge doctor to the rich in the Hamptons, while providing funding for the local free clinic. But what was great about the show is he was basically a Medical MacGyver in the way he handled treating people on the fly. This concept kinda fascinated me and I got to thinking about how characters like the MCU’s adaptation of Night Nurse have to do that too, but in extraordinary ways. Something I always wanted to see more of. So…I decided to try it myself.

Dr. Luc Mazer

Introducing Luc Mazer, an ER doctor who will also find himself jobless after providing medical care to a local vigilante, even though the hospital board finds treatment of superpowered individuals dangerous. But Luc’s insistence that everyone is entitled to proper medical care will put him in a position no doctor has yet found himself in. Luc will find himself becoming a kind of concierge doctor to superheroes.

How this unfolds and how he can find the resources to even attempt such an endeavor are what the first Mazer story will explain. Suffice it to say, this has been one of the toughest stories to work on because of the research needed to understand medicine well enough to make the stories feel grounded and credible. And not make any medical professionals cringe (too much).

Basic ideas I want to explore are how do the superpowers of a person change the way medical care can be administered. What if a “Giant Man” went into anaphylactic shock? What if someone with skin like diamond needed an emergency tracheotomy? How would a concussion on someone made of sand, or water, or light even work? These are the challenges both Luc and I will explore in the pages of Mazer.

Of course, this opens up a lot more storytelling fodder than just medical oddities. A entire dynamic will shift in the city. Ethical considerations will arise. Personalities will conflict. And pressure from both good and evil will become a real problem. But that’s why you tune into stories in the first place, now isn’t it? 🙂

Perfect Harmony

When I first sat down to write a full fledged script for a story, I started with SURGE. I will not lie to you, I had no idea what I was doing. (There’s a good chance, I still don’t.) But I knew, even with the ridiculous script I ended up settling on, that at this point in the writing process, there was something stale about the story. Something was missing. It lacked the proper ingredients.

One day I happened to glance at a comic book cover for Iron Man, and saw this great drawing of Tony and Rhodey hovering in place together. The inspiration for a female version of the interracial duo immediately hit me and I started drawing the duo who would become Ebony & Ivory.

While trying to think what they’re purpose should be, I realized they didn’t have to be typical heroes. That they could have a more questionable goal. And it occurred to me they were the ingredient SURGE was missing. They were the consequence of Jonn’Qarra living on this world for all those centuries. Consequence that would complicate the matter and enrich the story I was trying to tell.

Ultimately, I ended up rewriting the first SURGE storyline three times, with the current outline my fourth attempt at it. And, that’s really a good thing, because younger me didn’t really understand story structure yet, and it showed. Ebony & Ivory ended up becoming a fundamental piece of the story’s soul. While I full well understand that entertainment is subjective and not everyone will vibe with what I wrote, no one will ever be able to credibly accuse me of failing to think it through.

These two ended up with much more lore than could fit into the main SURGE storyline, so expect more from them in their own series sometimes down the road. You may find that Ebony & Ivory are far more than simply Jonn’Qarra Hunters.

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Website Updating…

If you’re visiting at the time of this post, I’m in the middle of doing an overhaul of the entire site. I should be done in a few days.

You can see a small mockup image here where I used some classic comic covers as placeholders. Overall this will make the site more manageable and easier to navigate. A mistake I’d made in the past was to try and style this site with no clear idea of how I wanted it to look. That’s been corrected.

In the future you should be able find sections for the future comics series, news updates and extra features such as character bios, downloads, a shop, etc. with relative clarity.

And I haven’t forgotten the most important part, writing the story. The first story is in the outline stage and getting ready to go to scripting. Last year was a difficult year for me physically and emotionally, so any work on the comic got completely sidelined. Now that I’m mostly over those hurdles (though still dealing with the fallout of that year and probably some undiagnosed neurodivergence) you’ll see the comic move forward with some actual regularity. So, as we used to say, stay tuned. Don’t touch that dial. Set your station and rip off the knob. God, I’m old.

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The Jonn’Qarra Awaken

S.U.R.G.E. - Eon Press Presents

Thousands of years ago, powerful beings came to our world in search of a new home. For a time, they lived in relative harmony with humanity. But as time dragged on, the power disparity between the two species became more and more problematic, with humans turning into subjugated worshippers and suffering at the hands of dispassionate gods. A small group of these powerful beings saw the injustice and decided to do something about it, trapping their own kind in a parallel universe for millenia. Slumbering, in a sense, for generations, SURGE reawakens to find that the exiled have returned. More powerful than ever. And beyond pissed. With seemingly nothing standing between their angry kinfolk and the resubjugation of earth, SURGE must find a way to protect mankind from an enemy more powerful than even they can possibly imagine. And come to terms with the idea that maybe, they just made everything far, far worse.

Covenor City

A recurring location in my comic will be the fictional locale of Covoner City. A theme I’ve always wanted to follow was the idea that superheroes were not actually a thing in this universe. They certainly exist in fiction, but like our world, have no credible real world counterparts. At least, we didn’t think so.

So the first story released by EPP will be a catalyst for the reveal of extraordinary beings having existed for a long time in the world, just the general public had no idea. A near disaster of apocalyptic proportions will out them to the world, resulting in an explosion in their visible population. Covoner will be the featured location in a number of titles which will introduce a range of these powerful and unique individuals.

Some of them will seem very familiar. Some will be like nothing you’ve quite seen before. All of them will interact in this city for the better or for the worse of their everyday citizens.

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Divided We Stand

FUSION is the first team concept I ever worked on. I had spent a lot of time reading X-Men and WildC.A.T.s at the time, and a lot of early Image Comics shaped my idea of what a team book could be.

As always, I wanted something familiar but with a twist and pretty fluidly came up with the concept of FUSION. A team of heroes with undeniable strength, versatility and diversity, if only they could work together.

The team consists of an alien team leader and founder of the group only known as Ryder. The team has taken to calling him Matthew. He was formerly the renowned protector of his homeworld Tamara until tragedy struck. Trauma that dramatically altered him mentally and physically.

Second in command is Corazon, a Puerto Rican woman who was found abandoned as a child. Somehow, Corazon has maintained empathy in a world that was never especially fair to her. She has a secret even she’s unaware of. But all her life she’s sensed she’s more than she appears.

Sweet Thang is the team’s technical and operations expert. Born in a small town in North Carolina, she keeps the team grounded, if not a little annoyed with her unwavering humor. Perhaps even making jokes when it’s inappropriate. However, she will not be swayed from keep her spirits up. And will let you know when you’re being a jerk.

2Hype (not currently pictured) is an African tribesman moved to American sometime after coming across an artifact in his homeland. Unlikely to be of human origin, the artifact bonded with him giving him incredible telekinetic abilities. Immigrating to the US in search of answers about the powers he acquired, 2Hype provides much needed stability to a team who still hasn’t learned the power of a community.

Candela has led a complicated life, from a fatal cancer diagnosis, to aliens curing her, to aliens turning her into a weapon, to working special forces for even different aliens, her life has been one chaotic life changing tragedy after another. It’s no wonder she carries a chip on her shoulder. Back on earth she’s finding it difficult to deal with her own kind again, and even harder to find her place in the world. For once, she’s made a decision of her own to join this team, rather than the life that’s happened to her for so long.

Sir Kilowatt remains the biggest mystery of the team despite not being able to shut up. It’s likely how he keeps questions about his life at bay. The most we know is he’s an Indian immigrant to the UK, but with no specifics. We know he likes to make jokes about electricity, despite them not being very good jokes. We know weird noises come from his quarters at night that no one wants to ask questions about.

Ultimately, these questions won’t matter much if they team can’t figure out how to function as a unit. Threats are on the horizon in Covener City. Threats that only a cohesive team could stop…or survive.

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Soon the World Will Know Her Name

Every universe has it’s most powerful hero. Mine was designed many years ago at the start of taking this comic book thing seriously. I originally imagined her as a Naomi Campbell-inspired statuesque black woman with Asian phenotypes, mainly just to do that pseudo-alien thing we often do with non-humans that we actually want to look human. I quickly just stuck with the stricter Naomi Campbell look, tall and regal, with her initial costume design basically remaining unchanged.

The braids were always a big part of her character with the ability to use them defensively in a very Doc Ock kind of way. Her energy discharges were always imagined to emit a crystalline sound like glass chimes. She was a sparkly hero before those were even a thing mainstream.

But character-wise I always imagined her as serious, intelligent when it comes to battle strategy and perceptive when it comes to relationships. But somewhat naïve in the sense that this universe isn’t hers, she doesn’t remember what hers is exactly like, and so there is a sense of wonder in experiencing a world she has no subconscious context for.

I originally wanted to call this book Crystal/Crystella, highlighting a distinction between her secret identity and her superhero life. But as I developed the actual story, I found a secret identity wasn’t as relative to her core character as I had initially imagined.

And if you’re wondering if she’s overpowered…100%. And those kinds of characters can be magnificent if you know what you’re doing with them.

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Insert Superhero Name Here

I chose Hero X because I didn’t really know what to call her. Originally I had intended her character to be male, but changed that very early on. And I kept thinking about how to make this character unique without falling into too many tropes about heroes who can fight well.

Now that I’m about a year into her development, I still don’t know what to call her. But I am starting to become fond of the classic comic book surname of “Unbeatable” and will probably keep that for the foreseeable future. It’s become a core component of her character.

Leslie has never lost a fight. Not one. Not ever. Masters who have trained for decades fall to her superior knowledge of what appears to be every martial art. Which…shouldn’t be possible. When someone is in trouble, she swoops in, saves the day, then disappears. With no one even getting a chance to ask her name. And with no apparent superpowers to speak of. What is Leslie’s secret? Is it clairvoyance? Telepathy? Magic? Or just unparalleled skill? And in a world with an ever increasing number of beings with extraordinary superpowers, can she continue to be The Unbeatable Hero X?

Here to Play The Immortal Duel

L'ysette & Friends

A few years ago I entered a competition to create a lore for an original Trading Card Game. That project didn’t ever come to fruition, but the original submission notes and art I created for the project stuck with me, and I integrated the story into my existing comic, at least superficially.

The story will be set in a galaxy far, far away, if you will. So there will be very little crossover between this galaxy and L’Ysette’s. But I do have…some notes…

For the trillions of life forms in the Mendreb System, THE GAME is the thing. It’s the only thing. THE GAME is Life. THE GAME is Death.

A Player in THE GAME is connected empathically through technological means to his Avatars. The Avatars are creatures or constructs that the Player has trained or programmed to operate as a combatant representing the strategic skill of the Player.

The Players battle in various structured formats with various rules and regulations depending on the chosen venue. But one constant remains. Gaining points adds actual days to your life. Losing points removes them. Winning is literal life or death. A literal Immortal Duel.

For L’ysette, THE GAME is more than life or death. THE GAME is meaning. Purpose. Existence. For her entire life, THE GAME was everything she had lost in childhood. It was friend, enemy, family and rival. THE GAME was her culture more then even the blue-skinned species she had descended from. It meant more to her, than it did to even the energy-based life forms, the Adumendreb, who had created it centuries ago.

It’s too bad she’s going to have to burn it all to the ground.

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