"Spectacles of Doom" (an ongoing multi-part sci-fi adventure comic).

[Low_Roads]

Wow! What an accessment! Thank you, HDS! I wasn't familiar with the ThunderCats information (I always find your encyclopedic knowledge and ability to make cross-cultural leaps rather humbling) and was compelled to read up a bit (once again, Wikipedia to the rescue... a gratifyingly detailed examination!) I'm most relieved that the Gorgonhelm's ability to see into structures came across clearly; I feared that this aspect of the weapon might prove vague, and such undertanding is necessary to explain how Jones can "select" vicitms as opposed to indescriminately blasting everything within his field of view. Such clarity will become increasingly important as the siege of the X-Minus-Zero approaches.

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 14, scene 4, pages 1-5:

 

[Janus4385]

To err is human... and it's even more human to blame someone else!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done Tyler! LOL

 

[Low_Roads]

Yeah, Tyler's a piece of work! 😀 He's based on a couple of different guys I'd dealt with in my younger days. One of the neat things about concocting stories is that you can put folks you've known (and hated) in them and give 'em a comeupance!

... or be victimized by 'em all over again! Embarrassed to say it... but of the two, I far resemble Karkin more!

 

[Janus4385]

Yeah well, there's a little Karkin in all of us... 😛 LOL

 

[Low_Roads]

The littler, the better! :laughing:

 

[His Divine Shadow]

Naughty little Earthers. HDS just finished reading Dante's Inferno, and it amuses him to see where those two might be placed. 😛

Officer Xeon looks like a mighty fearsome one. As to be expected from one assigned to a penal world. Bears a resemblence to our friend Uultarre from episodes past, methinks.

 

[Low_Roads]

Oh yes, Tyler and Karkin are in for lots more rough handling, and not just from space station personel! Not to give too much away, but the X-Minus-Zero is headed for some Dante-style vengeance, with these two knuckleheads (and countless others) dangling directly over the pit! Abandon hope, all ye who fly within!

You're exactly right about the reason Xeon looks so imposing (a prison guard better be bigger and fiercer than those in his charge!) The likeness to Uultarre is accounted for by the pyramidal shape of the head, I think (I really should have been varying the species more, but I can only draw so many geomentric shapes! :laughing🙂 The overall Xeon design (the hooded cloak, the keys) came from the first Commander Duck super-8 movie... gods, these endless permutations! GM decided on the look (he was the director); I played the part. I'm a big, hulking guy, so casting was a natural. Though I did wear a mask... we didn't want to frighten the kids too much! :laughing:

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 14, scene 5, pages 1-4:

 

[His Divine Shadow]

HDS finds himself more and more fond of Taloshi as the story unfolds. Perhaps it lies in his habit of doing as this one does and speaking in third person. 😛

 

[Low_Roads]

Ah! The similarity hadn't occured to me before! And it should have done, as often as you've supplied commentary (the fact that I'm not writing this fresh, but converting it from an older source, is doubtless responsible)! I like the sound of third-person dialogue... it lends a certain austerity, and it's a distinctive trait that's easy to maintain (as opposed to Malachite dialgoue, say, with its fractured sentense structure).

Talioshi was a fun character to write... predictably, as he had to undergo a major attitude shift. He'll have a few more scenes (little more to say, alas) and a crisis of conscience to endure before the end. Will his conversion survive contact with his former freebooter shipmates?... temptation is on its way!

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 15, scene 1, pages 1-3:

 

[His Divine Shadow]

If "Reign of Terror" isn't ominous enough, I don't know what is. Jones' vessel has, and I just noticed this, a look slightly reminiscent of the older Romular warbirds.

 

[Low_Roads]

Jones' vessel has, and I just noticed this, a look slightly reminiscent of the older Romular warbirds.

Sharp! 😉 A lot of Commander Duck evidences Star Trek influence (the use of the title "Federation"; the star-position designation for planets; the hierachical military structure, etc.). GM crafted the program in 1978 as a response to Star Wars (as originally conceived, our show was meant to be set onboard a submarine; hence the strong reliance on nautical themes), but both of us were heavily inculcated into the '50s-'60s "Space Cadet" mindset so prevelant during our youth. Too, Star Trek model kits were easy and cheap to obtain at the time. The "Warbird" layout is clean and well balanced, more so than the ungainly (and more recognizable) Federation and Klingon warships... I occasionaly employed one when the script called for an alien vessel to put in an appearance.

The "wing-tip tank" look of the Shrike was primarily inspired by the same '50s jet fighter configuration that also most likely led to the Warbird design (see example below). My childhood home was located very close to Travis Airforce Base... these planes flew constant training missions over our ranch when I was a kid. It's what I came to recognize as a fighter plane and what I tended to draw when I wanted to represent one.

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 15, scene 2, pages 1-3:

 

[Janus4385]

The people on the X-MINUS-ZERO should try to enjoy their last moments.. I don't think they have enough women on board though... LOL

Here's to the soon-to-be-crystal-statues crew of the X-MINUS-ZERO:
CHEERS!!!!!!!!

 

[Low_Roads]

I don't think they have enough women on board though... LOL

You're so right! And not just aboard the space station! What have we seen, like two females in the whole of the civilized Commander Duck universe so far? 😀 Well, that reflected the dynamic on the show, which was a "boys' club" of sorts (with Felciity as an everybody's-girl and den mother)... very shy of feminine participation. Which is still no excuse for the graphic story to be so under-populated girl-wise. Many of Spectacles' characters were made entirely from whole cloth... it comes off as decidedly phobic that distaff representation is so slim.

My sole excuse is that I was unpracticed and rather uncomforable drawing the female form at this time. It's a deficit I hope I've corrected to some degree in my later series. Low Roads has a gentler, less active tone and a heavy feminine presence... as it's a fetish story, and I have no special interest in tickling guys, such a ratio might well be expected. So I'm not sure that things have changed to any great degree on the misogyny front (if, in fact, misogyny is a valid charge).

As to the loads of crystal soon to decorate the halls of the X-Minus-Zero, indeed, I'll hoist a flaggon! Any excuse for a party! XD

 

[Janus4385]

Yep, 2 is about right... And if we judge by observation, we might end up with statistics like this

Out of two females in the Commander Duck universe, one has been tickle tortured for information, therefore:

-In the Commander Duck universe 50% of all females have been tickle tortured for information at least once in their life

Tune in next week for more "Fun Facts With Janus"

 

[Low_Roads]

Your numbers are irrefutable! A mathematical perspective worthy of Nobel consideration! What a pity it is that I couldn't have provided Lithia equal pleasure... 100% tickle saturation ought always to be our goal!

By the way, Felicity's big scene will be coming in context very soon (perhaps as soon as next week, if I'm able to get the necessary preparatory work done). Expect a few differences from the previous presentation... I'm slanting the whole thing slightly, with more emphasis on the fetish aspect of the scene. As this is a fetish site (and my "cat" is already out of its bag), why not!

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 15, scene 3, pages 1-5:

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 15, scene 3, pages 6-10:

 

[Low_Roads]

Episode 15, scene 3, pages 11-13:

 

[His Divine Shadow]

Ach, surrender? But alas, what choice otherwise did the X-Minus-Zero have. Fitting, at least, that those noisy prisoners were first to crystallize.

And hark, is that Cthulhu I spy next to Felicity on page 4?

 

[Low_Roads]

Yeah, the X-Minus-Zero fell without much of a fight; certainly not the interstellar slug-out we witnessed between Jones and the Vicelords. I'll make up for that later... the real battle for the space station has yet to be fought.

Fosko does evidence a bit of Cthulhu blood (he's sort of Cthulhu Junior!) I'm a Lovecraft enthusiast (http://www.tickletheater.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45663)... he's my favorite ghoulish author after Poe, so such Miskatonic influence was natural (however watered down).

In a broader sense, Fosko represents a problem common to popular SF generally and Commander Duck specifically. All too often, alien creatures are simply hominids with modifications... single eyes, extra limbs, animal characteristics, etc. Fosko is basically a humanized squid, as Felicity is a humanized cat. This reflected the tone of the show... due to tight schedules and budget considerations, we had little choice but to stick a mask on a cast member to make an extraterrestrial life form. I had more latitude in this graphic novel, though, and the story might have benefitted from more variety. I'd planned to improve this dynamic in Day of the Devastator... one of the new characters was to have been an oil-based creature deft at switching from fixed to fluid form (below). If only I'd kept the series going... the things that might have been...

 

[Janus4385]

You see! You see! That's what happens when you hessitate to desintegrate your enemies when you have your chance!!! *sigh* A mistake made far to often by villains in movies is now repeated by the good guys from this fine story... Perhaps the soon to be scene of Felicity's misfortune shall teach her the famous "Less talking! More action!!!"

So now the commander is up against the gorgonhelm AND the X-MINUS-ZERO... interesting.. wouldn't want to be him right now 😀