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.

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.

Present at a Past Origin: The Golden Age Megaton and Rex Rigid!

This vintage sketch of the Golden Age Megaton Man and Rex Rigid corresponds to a scene from The Return of Megaton Man #3 (Kitchen Sink, 1987). It was created for Mark Martin, who still owns it, and was scanned and a jpeg forwarded to me by Mark's personal curator and sales agent, Michael Beaver just today (June 23, 2014). The miracle of digital technology! Of course, since it was a convention sketch that I drew and never saw again, and prior to the age of convenient digital photography to maintain any record of it, I have absolutely no memory of having drawn it! (Could it be a forgery by aliens? I wouldn't be surprised! Frankly, it looks too good to be mine!)

Collection of Mark Martin.

In the scene, Rex Rigid (Liquid Man) revs up a tired, over-the-hill Farley Phloog (Trent's uncle), restoring him to his formerly robust glory as the Golden Age Megaton Man, and full of vim and vigor.

Cover, showing the Golden Age Megaton Man has Golden Panties, a little fact that I forgot when I created the drawing for Mark.

It's a pretty sweet piece, if I do say so myself, and there is a long and embarrassing story connected to why I probably lavished such effort on a convention sketch for a fellow artist, but I will save that for another time, since neither Mark nor I apparently can recall the exact circumstances surrounding its creation. Suffice it to say that it is sable brush and India ink on Bristol, colored with Dr. Martin's dyes, and was probably drawn at a major convention such as Dallas, San Diego, or Chicago.

Many more examples of Don Simpson art, from both the twentieth and twenty first centuries, can be viewed in my galleries at Comics Art Fans!