War on Anti-Terror: The MQHQ Springs Into Action!

Megaton Man and the Reconstituted Quartet check out the new security measures in the MQ HQ (Megatropolis Quartet Headquarters) in my Post 9/11 storyline I've been working on for what seems like forever. This scene, newly colored in Summer 2015, is from the second of three complete issues I have in the can. Read previous posts on this blog about the new storyline (print publishing plans TBD).

Kozmik Kat, Megaton Mouse, Time Turntable: Alliterations Abound in All-New Megaton Man #2!

Department of a Zillion Loose Ends: I have recently completed the story, art, and lettering for what I'm calling the All-New Megaton Man #1-3 (some 96 pages of all-new material), in which the core cast returns to Megatropolis following a devastating terrorist attack that leaves Our Fair City depleted of Megaheroes (the Man of Molecules has more or less been in self-imposed exile in the Midwest for, oh, the last three decades!). This scene is from the second issue, as the cast becomes reacquainted with the old headquarters of the long-disbanded Megatropolis Quartet (the MQ HQ, for short).

Kozmik Kat is the longtime foil of Yarn Man, but beyond his snagging claws, I've never had an awful lot for this sidekick of a sidekick to do. As I explore the Megaton Man narrative anew, I'm finding all sorts of loose plot threads and undeveloped ideas I want to explore. In this, KK switches on my all-purpose plot device, the Time Turntable, bringing back another loose thread I left dangling around Megaton Man #2 (February 1984). The Sole Surviving Megaton Mouse will be further developed in future issues I already have scripted (and there are already clues and previews in previous blog posts, and on the Ms. Megaton Man blog as well)! Stay tuned for more previews as I develop this material, and as plans for print TBD in 2016-2017 come into focus!

Flashback: The origin of Kozmik Kat and the Megaton Mice in Megaton Man #2 (Kitchen Sink Press, February 1985):

Sneak Peak: More Kozmik Kat and Megaton Mice antics previews!

The Dirt on Slum Clearance: Trent Gets the Scoop!

Trent Phloog revisits his old stomping grounds, the newspaper offices of The Manhattan Project, to find old flame Pamela Jointly at the editing helm, and his tenuous background as an investigative reporter put to the test. At issue is a redevelopment plan for Ground Zero that will transform Megatropolis into an unlivable city, something Connie Carlyle, entering the narrative here for the first time, protests! Panels from my work in progress (for more previews, see previous postings on this blog!).

Pammy orders Trent to the front lines of urban warfare.

(Little does Megaton Man realize that the protester is subletting his bachelor pad!)

For more on public planner Edie Heidelberg (who also makes her debut above), click here.

The Clarissa Project: The Secret Development of Ms. Megaton Man!

Starting out as Stella's Ann Arbor roommate sidekick in Megaton Man #4 (June 1985), Clarissa James has evolved into one of the most prominent characters in the Megaton Man narrative.
A sophomore infatuated with Yarn Man in Return of Megaton Man #1 (July 1988) and subsequently present at the birth of Megaton Man and Stella's son Simon in Return of Megaton Man #3 (September 1988), Clarissa realizes she has Megapowers and dons the primary-colored costume to become Ms. Megaton Man in Megaton Man Meets the Uncategorizable X+Thems #1 (April 1989). Initially attributed to a sexually-transmitted Megavirus, Clarissa learns that the true reason for her Megapowers derives from the fact that she is the "love-child" of Silver-Age Megaton Man Clyde Phloog and an African-American hippie mother in Bizarre Heroes #13 (September 1995), making her the second cousin once removed (or something) of Trent Phloog, the Baxter-Age Megaton Man. In the current work in progress (release date TBD), we will see Clarissa emerge as one of the most powerful Doom Defiers, the Megatropolis team that emerges after terrorist attacks deplete the city's Megahero population.

Clarissa James in her very first appearance, registering for her sophomore year in Ann Arbor with Stella Starlight (Megaton Man #2, Kitchen Sink Press, February 1985). Original coloring by Ray Fehrenbach.

Originally, Clarissa was just a sidekick whose sole purpose was to show former See-Thru Girl Stella the ropes on campus as she adjust to post-Megahero life (from MM #2; recolored in 2015).

Clarissa was also a highly studious student and something of a Megahero skeptic, or at least someone who thought of Megaheroics as a distant distraction. In any event, the notion of giving her Megapowers was the furthest thing from my mind, and in fact, she doesn't appear again in the first ten issues of Megaton Man. Nonetheless, the collegiate iconography of Ann Arbor already seems to subconsciously foreshadow her Megaheroic future (from MM #2).

Once Clarissa realizes who Stella is, she is somewhat starstruck by her celebrity status (from MM #2).

With Trent Phloog, as a de-Megapowered Megaton Man, Clarissa has joined the communal Ann Arbor household by the time of Return of Megaton Man #1 (Kitchen Sink Press, July 1988).

By this time, Clarissa has become the roommate of Megatropolis exiles Stella (now far along with her pregnancy) and Pamela Jointly, as Trent struggles with his returning Megapowers (from Return #1).

Infatuated with Yarn Man, Clarissa cannot restrain herself when Megaton Man's pal appears at the doorstep (Return #1).

Protecting civilian Trent from a toppling stack of firewood, Clarissa strikes a Jack Kirby "Big Barda" pose, and realizes that she now, somehow, possesses Megapowers. Subsequently, Stella sews her a primary-colored costume patterned after Megaton Man's.  From Megaton Man Meets the Uncategorizable X+Thems #1 (Kitchen Sink Press, April 1989), originally in black and white, colorized in 2015.

Clarissa assumed that her Megapowers were somehow sexually transmitted from Yarn Man, but learns from her African-America mom that she is in fact the "love child" of Clyde Phloog, the Silver Age Megaton Man. From Bizarre Heroes #13 (Fiasco Comics Inc., September 1995), originally black and white, colorized in 2015.

Clarissa in Megatropolis Central Park with Megaton Man, Rubber Brother, Phantom Jungle Girl, and Yarn Man, as a bronze monument of the allegorical figure Columbia, a pre-Liberty national symbol for America from the 19th century, comes to life. From "Megaton Man and the Liberty Alliance: Columbia Rising," in Liberty Annual 2010 (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund/Image Comics, October 2010). Coloring by Paul and Mary Fricke.

Clarissa gets tested by Preston Percy, Yarn Man, and Rex Rigid in the headquarters of the Megatropolis Quartet (unpublished).

What I like about drawing Clarissa is that she is a much more dramatic superhero character, and a nice foil to the irreducibly comedic Megaton Man! -- Don Simpson.


More about Clarissa James!

All coloring by Don Simpson except where noted.

X-Ray Boy's Defunct Debut: The Demise of the Devengers!

X-Ray Boy has sealed the fate of the Dissolute Devengers in these tiers from The All-New Megaton Man #3 (a work in progress). See earlier posts for rough pencils and more previews from this forthcoming graphic novel project!

Devengers to Doom Defiers: Inking X-Ray Boy and Stella Android

Inking the remaining eight pages of The All-New Megaton Man #3. No release date yet, but stay tuned. (See previous posts on this blog for pencils and previews of art from issues #1-3.)

Dusk for The Devengers but Dawn for the Doom Defiers: X-Ray Boy and Angela fret over how Colonel Turtle is taking the demise of the New Jersey Megahero team.

The Devengers signage comes down as The Doom Defiers sign goes up; Megaton Man is not welcome on either iteration of the team, and repairs to his abode with the dormant See-Thru Girl Android!

The original pencil roughs, below.

Clarissa's Animated Cape: Sketches of Ms. Megaton Man

Here are some poses of Ms. Megaton Man, developed from a sketchbook sheet from 2014. In the new Megaton Man material I am working on, Clarissa sheds her cape to play beach volleyball, and it takes on a life of its own! I have no idea what the cube is for (I draw variously-shaped boxes in 3-point perspective as a warm up exercise, as it helps me to visualize imaginary figures in space).

Here is the original sketchbook sheet from 2014, in blue and graphite pencil, partially tightened up with a fine line pen.

See more dynamic drawings of Clarissa on the Ms. Megaton Man Blog!