Timeless Beach Scenes: Ms. Megaton Man Flaunts It!

Back in the days when Amazing Heroes published an annual swimsuit issue, the cast of Megaton Man figured in two out of three of my contributions. In both of these, Clarissa James (Ms. Megaton Man) figured prominently.

Below is the first pin-up from 1989 in both rough (now in the collection of cartooning connoisseur Greg McKee) and final form. (Here is the second pin-up, from 1990. A third, featuring Jenny Woodlore from Border Worlds, didn't include a swimsuit at all).

Final version, as published. Bad Guy (in the triangle shorts) gets obscured for some reason, probably because I needed to shorten Clarissa.

Rough layout, marker on tissue (Bienfang Graphics paper, as I recall), now in the collection of Greg McKee.

Thirty years later, what is striking to me about this scene, although it's a fantasy that never takes place in any actual Megaton Man story (and aside from being one of the sexiest depictions of either Stella or Clarissa ever published), is how consistent my conception of these characters remains, to this day.

Pamela Jointly, hard-bitten, world-weary journalist and media savant, sits in the foreground, smoking a cigarette to remain skinny, completely self-absorbed (although on some level observing everything around her to put in her book). Stella, too, is blithely self-absorbed, but in a different way (she's almost bored with her own gorgeousness). Clarissa, among the women, is the only one who seems to be thrilled and totally enjoying herself in the moment.

It's also interesting that Clarissa is the only character I needed to correct in the rough (long legs just didn't suit her). Today, the only change I'd make would be to draw her breasts somewhat smaller. But her basic body type--the body types of all my characters--seems hardwired to their respective personalities. A Stella pose (or a Phantom Jungle Girl pose) wouldn't work with a Ms. Megaton Man costume. I flatter myself to think this is somewhat unusual for artists, most of whom have one ideal male and female figure, and simply change the hair color.

It was, perhaps, inevitable that, when I turned to writing the Megaton Man narrative in prose, that I would ultimately elect Clarissa to the become the first-person narrator. She offers the unique perspective of being in the middle of it and enjoying every minute--she starts out as a civilian and gains megapowers only later--while retaining an ironic distance from the events the other characters lack. None of the other characters could tell (or retell) the Megaton Man stories with the same combination of humor, perception, wonder, dismay, and critical snarkiness all at once.

(This piece is also interesting because I don't think I ever drew Kozmik Kat flying until much later.)
______
Read the Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series YA experiment - new prose chapter every Friday!