"Stella's Story": The First-Person Narrator in Megaton Man #5

It had completely slipped my mind until now, but I realize I did an unusual thing for the fifth issue of Megaton Man (Kitchen Sink Press, August 1985): I told the story entirely from Stella Starlight's point of view. Throughout the issue (except for "George Has a Gun," a "back-up feature that features Stella but takes a more objective view of her and her affair with Martian Anton Drek - yes, you read that right), we see events, including flashbacks, from her perspective.

Megs Takes a Swipe at the Culture Wars!

Proving once again I utterly lack the subtle touch for editorial cartooning of my social betters (although the threshold has been lowered in recently decades), I offer my half-baked commentary on a current controversy in comics. Namely, should we kick the crap out of bigots, or ask for their autographs at cons?

Megaton My Day: Some Fall Break 2018 Sketches!

I'm busy grading papers, but I took some time out to let off some steam with these sketches - mostly to remind my new, improved left-brained self that I can still draw! Sketches are in light blue Col-Erase and graphite pencil with Sharpie liner pen colored in Photoshop.

Hembeck's Man of Molecules and the Boys of 'Summer'!

Fred G. Hembeck has been a presence in the comic book industry since the 1970s, when his distinctive interpretations of every single character ever created began appearing in fan publications and trade journals like the Comics Buyer's Guide and Amazing Heroes - he also destroyed the Marvel Universe, as I recall!

Dont' Snitch: Megs Swallows the Cosmic Cue-Ball!

As I've discussed elsewhere, I've had to suffer for years the charge that I "ripped off the Tick" (even though Megaton Man predates Ben Edlund's character by two or three years). As I work up more Megaton Man material (which, yes, has taken forever!), I fear I'll be accused of one or two other non-existent rip-offs. Among them is the "Time Turntable" from Megaton Man #1 (Kitchen Sink Press, December 1984), which bears a startling textual similarity to J.K. Rowling's "Time Turner" device (from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 1999, and more recently, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, 2016) -- I've discussed the Tick and Turner here.

Another Harry Potter retroactive similarity that is sure to come up (since I reference the event in some of the new stories I am plotting) is the moment when Megaton Man swallows the Cosmic Cue-Ball in Megaton Man #9 (Kitchen Sink Press, April 1986). This is a crucial moment, since it ultimately results in Megaton Man losing his powers and becoming an ordinary Civilian (see Return of Megaton Man #1-3). I explore this complication further in some of the new material I'm writing, but that's all I'll say for now.

Megaton Man swallows the Cosmic Cue-Ball, Billiard of Great Power, in Megaton Man #9 (1986). Characters and concepts are ™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

So, just for the record, let me recall that sphere swallowing scene from 1986, of which no doubt future fans will accuse me of mimicking the moment when Harry Potter swallows the Golden Snitch in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's [Philosopher's] Stone, 1997. Okay, I confess!

Many have perished in pursuit of the Orb of Omnipotence, including Dr. Braindead (from Megaton Man #9, 1986). Characters and concepts are ™ and © Don Simpson 2018, all rights reserved.

I've written elsewhere about having come to and read Harry Potter only belatedly, although I've yet to adequately confess how much I love those books (and films and world), and how much I've learned from them from other writers in the burgeoning "YA" genre (whether it's a genre, movement, or just a marketing label that's overused).

So let me just stipulate now, for the record, I used the Time Turntable/Turner to jump ahead to the future and rip off all my ideas from Ms. Jo Rowling! -- Don Simpson, 2018.

Megaton Man #1000: The Grand Extravaganza that Never Happened!

Megaton Man #1 (Kitchen Sink Press, December 1984) begins with the Megatropolis Quartet trying to climb into the cover of Megaton Man #999, a completely fictitious issue from another dimension. The rough draft below imagines the following issue, Megaton Man #1000, featuring the long-awaited wedding of Megaton Man and Pamela Jointly.

Rough fine-liner pen over blown-up print out of the original pencil sketch, 11" x 17".

In the scene, Simon Phloog, son of Megaton Man and the See-Thru Girl, and Simon's neighborhood friend Deirdre crash the wedding, courtesy of a trip on the Time Turntable! With Preston Percy, Stella Starlight, Yarn Man, and the Human Meltdown, with city editor Rudy Mayo presiding.

Original sketchbook rough, blue and graphite pencil, 6" x 9".

Megaton Man #999, from the opening splash page of Megaton Man #1 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1984).

Bonus: See the Time Turntable in Megaton Man #1!