12/10/2004
Retro-Style Hero
At last, something a bit more positive. Tomorrow will probably be a different matter, so let me do what I wanted to use this blog for in the first place:
A chance to glimpse inside a creative mind.
Some time last year, I got the notion in my head to create a very old character. What can I say; I like cartooning characters who are extremes visually. Probably why I like drawing aliens so much, and probably why I gravitated out of just super hero comics in the first place. Honestly, all those square jaws and chisled musculatures just got plain boring after a while.
I prefer my characters to be very old, very young, very fat, very thin, animal-like, demons, etc. That's the real joy of cartooning; once you learn the basics, you really have no limitations.
Now, since my main thrust is in the genre of science fiction, I wanted to create an outer-space retro-style hero somewhat along the lines of Buck Rogers, complete with cheesy dialogue and phony-looking weapons. Initially I had intended him to get caught in a time vortex, get thrust into our modern era with modern versions of his regular nemises. But that seemed more hoakey than even I could tolerate.
I nixed it right off the bat.
So, what to do instead?
Simple. I made him old. Old and retired. Somehow, that seemed to work. It'd be neat to see how a hero from the "simpler" mid 50s would cope with modern sensibilities and technological advances.
Then I took his concept one step further:
I retired all his adversaries, alien and human alike, and intend on forcing him to recruit them to defeat the younger and (obviously) evolved versions of those same alien races.
My next step was naming him. Once again the idea came during a chat with fellow creators, and someone bandied the moniker "Nosecone Johnson". I fell in love with it instantly. That had the exact feel I was looking for.
And so I present Nosecone Johnson, in all his penciled glory:
Nosecone Johnson's pencils
I'm writing his first installment this week-end, and should begin drawing within the week. He should see print early next year, and I'm hoping to finish his initial saga during the new year. Something to look forward to.
Next time I'll offer up my first colored version of this same picture, followed shortly thereafter with the latest version. Personally, I find the difference astonishing, but I don't want to influence your opinion. At least, not yet . . .
Doc "Space Age" Absurd
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