The First Embrace, the Absolute Horror, and Titan Brawl

Last day of my Comix Work Week.  Not the last day of my Sawmill work week.  Sigh.

SDF:

SDF 10-16.

What I like about this page is that Jonar is so fascinated by his Magic Ring that he doesn't even notice Cheryl.  This is actually the very first time Jonar has ever used his Magic Ring.  He doesn't really know how to be a hero yet.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-16.

OH CRAP!  OH CRAP!  GIANT FETAL SCORPION DENDULL!!!!  I'M OUTA HERE!

...

...

...

Okay.  I'm back.  Is it gone yet?  Okay.  Moving on.

HFSAC.

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club 24-16.

How do you fight something that big?  Seriously, how do you fight something the size of a freakin' skyscraper?  How can our Hot Fudge Heroes possibly beat that thing?

Still, I'd rather fight a skyscraper that blasts green deathfire than tangle with Giant Baby Dr. Dendull.  Yeesh.

The Flashback, the Nightmare Intensifies, and Attack on Titan

Heh.  Maybe the title will get a few extra page views.  Ironically, I got tired of Attack on Titan after about a season.

Moving on.

SDF:

SDF 10-15.

This flashback sequence is written by me, since this has pretty much been the origin of Octopus Jones and Cheryl's first meeting from the moment I conceived of the characters.  I like drawing Octopus Jones fighting.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-15.

I like the whole flipping around while shooting bit in the top panel.  Kudos to Boolah on that one.  Also, that thing in the bottom panel is getting bigger, isn't it?  I'm getting creeped out here.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club 24-15.

The black and purple and gold guys are called Nullaphons.  We've seen them a few times before.  They're the Harbingers of the Armageddon Titans, so usually if there's a Titan around, these guys are close behind.  The guy in the Red Hood on the Floating Gold Throne is Null Vizor, who is the Prophet of the Armageddon Titans, and the Ultimate Nihilist (I spelled that right on the first try!  Woo!).  He popped up originally in "Truth or Consequences: Amigos" and was the secondary villain in HFSAC 20-22.  Other than that, the bottom panel is my Happy Panel.  That kinda Epic Scale stuff is the direction I want this comic to go. 

The Sadness Gets Worse, the Horror Gets Worse, and the Armageddon Titan

Twoday is Tuesday.  Oh, Mei, if you're reading this, skip today's Skull Mob.

SDF:

SDF 10-14.

One of the things about the way me and Boolah have been working on these books is that Boolah sends me a handful of pages at a time.  Occasionally, this backfires on us a little.  For example, at the beginning of the book, I drew an already dug grave for Cheryl.  Fast forward a few pages, and Doom Eagle has a line of dialogue where he talks about having a machine to dig a grave for Cheryl.  But I already dug a grave for Cheryl.  Crap.  So, I moved the dialogue around a little to fix things up a bit, and by fix things up I mean fix my stupidity.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-14.

Oh such Horrible Violence.  What the heck is happening in Panel 2?  Oh that can't be good...

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club 24-14.

First off, the Ruins of Impossitropolis.  Once again, as proof of how terrible I am as a writer, the first time I actually show Impossitropolis I've already wrecked it completely.  Shows how stupid I am.  Anyway, for some reason when I pictured the 8th Dimension in my Brain, I saw it as having a Gleaming Golden Metal Sun that Burns with Positive Life Energy.  Dunno why.  That tall thing is the Great Cosmic Wellspring which links the 8th Dimension to the 9th Dimension.  It's the only thing that's survived the Holocaust.  Speaking of Holocaust, that giant robot monster thing is an Armageddon Titan.  We saw one of those guys back in "Clown & Penguin" #1-2.  They're world killers, so they are bad frickin' news.  I actually drew him bigger than I meant to.  Which works out good.  That thing should be redonkulously big.

Ridonkulous?  Reedonkulus?  Redonk?

The Repeat, the Bleeding Vermin Angel, and the Moment of Sympathy

Here we go.

SDF:

SDF 10-13.

You might be getting a little sense of DeJaVu from this page.  Welp, that's because it's Page One of Skull Mob 6.  So there you go.  If you wanna get really turned around, you can now go reread Skull Mob 6 from the beginning because this is where that Issue starts.  Or something.

Speaking of Skull Mob 6:

Skull Mob 6-13.

It's funny.  On the page above, Peacock is alive.  On this page, Peacock is dead.  Weird.  Anyway, in Boolah's script he had Xipe Topec pulling the blades out of himself, but I thought that it would be more appropriate for Xipe all stabbed up and bleeding and whatnot.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club 24-13.

This page wasn't really planned.  I think my script note said something like, "Traveling".  So, this little moment between Jester Kidd and Electric Cherry just kind of happened without any real planning or anything.  Which is what I like about Comix in general, and 24 Hour Comix in Particular.  You never really know what's gonna happen.  Anyway, when I created Jester Kidd he was just supposed to be this angry, energy blasting blowhard without much personality.  But as I've been writing him, I've noticed that Jester Kid has quite a lot of heart beating under that angry exterior.  He really wants to do good and protect all the beings of Reality from the Forces of Evil.  So, it's cool that I'm starting to get a handle on him.  In the meantime, we're seeing a very angry, focused side of the usually laid back and friendly Electric Cherry (which is perfectly understandable given the situation.

So, uh, Plan of Attack

When I started this comic book thing, I just wanted to make comix.  Yeah, it would have been neat to make money and get famous and whatnot, but that was never the goal.  The goal was to make comix.  Eventually, I got out there, did Conventions, tried different stuff, and I made some scratch here and there, spent lots more scratch, and picked up a very small but incredibly loyal fan base (thanks guys!  You're the best!).  Time has passed and things have changed.  For the first time in my life I've got a for-realsies future and a fiancee (hey babe!) and all of that stuff.  I have to start making TORC Press work a little better.  I'm not talking about being all rich and famous, I know that nonsense ain't happening.  I just want TORC Press to break even or even make a leetle profit.  Try to expand the fan base, create revenue streams, that sorta nonsense.  Anyway, long story short, I'm gonna try new stuff for awhile.  Maybe some of it will work, maybe none of it.  Who knows?  If you're a long time TORC Press Reader, feel free to tag along, but don't feel obligated.  The goal isn't to fleece my existing Readers, but to try to attract new readers.  And fleece them.  Bwahahahaaha! 

Just kidding.

Anyway, in the Not A New Plan, but a New Thing Department, we've got a new comic in the TORC Press Online store at http://www.torcpress.com/store/.  It's Bad Rapture Omega, the final chapter of the Bad Rapture saga.  It's 24 Pages in Full Color, and features the Earth Shattering conclusion as Cactus Joe, Death Moth, and Octopus Jones are all that stands between the evil Vertionce and his goal of killing the Dawnchilde.  Here's the Cover:

It's $4.00 plus $1.50 S&H by the by.

Now, on to the New Things I'm Trying Department, I recently opened an Etsy store.  I'm gonna start selling Posters on that thing.  They're $10, which is a bit high for a Poster, so they also come with a copy of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Adventure Comix" to kind of soften the blow.  Anyway, here's the address:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/219764690/dinosaurs-and-tacos-poster?ref=shop_home_active_1

And Here's the Poster.  It's Ridiculous:

Heh.

Talking, the Stand Off, and Splash Pageyness

Ah, Thursday.  My week wraps up.  Whew.

SDF:

SDF 10-12.

I got nothin'.  What?  It's the end of the week, and we're killing ourselves at the Mill lately.  I can lame it up occasionally.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-12.

Whew.  That's a lot of Dendulls.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24-12.

Once again, when you are doing a 24 Hour Comic, Splash Pages are the Key to Victory.  Running behind on time?  Splash Page.

The Bounce Gate, the Execution, and the Burning Death of the Dragon

Wednesday.  Say wha?

SDF:

SDF 10-11.

Tea Cup's little line in the first panel of course refers to the first page of HFSAC 24.  If you'll recall, the Hip Bros, Eyemo, and Eyemii will/were reassigned to serve as the overseers for the Harbingers.  Anyway, this is the exit of HFSAC before they head off for...uh...HFSAC 24.  I know, I'm confused too.  Moving on.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-11.

Joseph:  So, uh, I got one little question about the Skull Mob script.  So... is Peacock, like, Dead--Dead?  Y'know for like for realsies?

Boolah:  Yeah, he's dead.  I figure it's the best way to end it, considering that Peacock has been a thorn in Death Moth's side for the whole series.

Joseph:  Okay, so he's totally dead, and this isn't like one of those annoying Marvel head fake things, right?

Boolah:  Yeah.  Dead-Dead.

Joseph:  Okay, cool.  It makes sense, considering all of the other members of the Skull Mob are dead.  Peacock should probably die once and for all.  Yeah.  (Begins mentally trying to figure out what it looks like when a dude gets shot in the back of the head with a Plasma Blaster...)

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24-11.

And so ends the Abyssal Dragon.  Two deaths on two different pages in two different comics.  Jeez, so much death in my comics lately.  Anyway, it's about time to rumble.  I like rumble time.

A Goodbye, An Injury to the Eyes, and a Shattered God

Hey Ho, Let's Go.

SDF:

SDF 10-10.

If you'll recall from Page One of HFSAC 24, the HFSAC Gang mentioned that PlatOmega had left the group to join the Waterbearers, so that's pretty much this page.  At the bottom of the page PlatOmega leaves through a Bounce Gate, which is the HFSAC Gangs' primary means of long distance travel.  You might have seen the Bounce Gate previously in... uh... HFSAC 20, maybe?  I feel like it was Issue 20.  Also, I love the Fist Bump.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-10.

Sigh.  I wish I had come up with this page.  This is a very classic Joseph Page.  But sadly this page is all Boolah.  I think the only thing I added was the Dendull growing out of Peacock's back.

Anyway, there's a reason they call this guy the Death Moth.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24-10.

The 9th Dimension is the Primoridal Cosmos, Home of Omnichronus, Judge of Worlds, who is the Patron UltraGod of the Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club.  9th Dimensional Energy seeps into all of the lower dimensions, moving all of the particles and the planets and the ideas and the emotions and everything really.  But only small portions of this potent energy bleed down into our lower dimensions.  The HFSAC Gang were forged in these energies as well.  Although HFSAC are connected to the 9th Dimension, they typically draw the energies that fuel their bodies from standard 3-Dimensional Ambient Cosmic Energy.  Despite this, a catastrophic failure in the 9th Dimension would not only cause Shockwaves that would reverberate throughout all of the lower dimensions, it would also severely compromise the physical integrity of our Hot Fudge Heroes.  So, the stakes are a bit high.

Oh, and I am completely aware of the Epic Level of Mumbo-Jumbo I just typed up there. 

Different Philosophies, Bloody Struggles, and the Death of the Space Gods

It's a new week, and I'm feeling a little less fried, so let's get rolling, shall we?

SDF:

SDF 10-9.

One of the things I've never understood about Superhero Comics (and let's face facts, cats n' kittens, I'm basically making Superhero Comix from a Cracked Mirror Dimension), is that there are really only a few differences in philosophy.  Typically that difference is merely:  To Kill or Not to Kill?  Marvel's Civil War event presented the idea of Should Superheroes Be Public, or Is It Better For Their Identities to be Secret?  But otherwise, you don't see a lot of that sort of inherent philosophical conflict.  There's tons of PERSONAL Conflicts (The Hulk don't get along with nobody), but in terms of essential philosophy, there's not a lot of depth in superhero comics.

The TORCverse is different in that the Evil Ortex Corporation has completely conquered the Earth, so philosophy in this world centers around "How do we fight back?"  For Secret Soldier, the only possible solution is to remain on Earth, in the Lion's Den, and take the battle directly to Ortex.  For the Clown, who fully understands the futility of a direct strike, the only worthwhile approach is to stem the tide of Ortex's advance into the rest of the Solar System.  So we have a little bit of a philosophical stand off here.  It's not quite Captain America vs. Iron Man, but y'know, whatchagonnado?

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-9.

One of Death Moth's tricks we haven't seen in awhile is the Black Hand Technique, where the Death Moth uses his body's Chi Reserve to create an aura around his arms or legs.  This aura allows him to cut through solid steel, let alone flesh and blood.

Of the many things I find creepy about Dr. Dendull (and yes, I know it's weird that I find things creepy about a character I created, but whatevs) is the way he talks.  His voice always sounds... syrupy in my head.  He always likes to talk friendly-like at first.  It's not until you really start to frustrate him that the monster really comes out.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24-9.

I've never really went into Electric Cherry's origin.  I don't really bother that much with origins.  One of the things that annoys the crap out of me with all of these superhero movies is that we always gotta do the freakin' origin story over and over and over again.  Restart, reboot, reorigin.  That was also my problem with Marvel's Ultimate Universe.  Here's the freakin' origin all over again.  Sigh.

Still, I know the importance of origin stories, which is why, eventually, I want to tell the origins of all 12 members of HFSAC (I'm almost through with Mister Halloween's origin over on the Patreon... I need to pick back up on that).

Anyway, as a brief overview, Electric Cherry is the half-breed offspring of an 8th Dimensional Space Goddess named the Dawn Phoenix (who was seen briefly in HFSAC 15 (I think)) and a 7th Dimensional Lightning Spirit (which, hopefully, I'll get around to debuting him sometime in the future).  She, technically, doesn't have a physical, 3-Dimensional body, a fact that was in evidence in her early appearances in SDF and Truth or Consequences #0, when she would have to take possession of a physical body in order to interact in 3D Reality.  Eventually, she got a permanent physical body (again, I'll hopefully get to that story eventually).

In typical Joseph fashion, I never really got around to doing anything with the Space Gods or Impossitropolis, and now I've wiped them all out, off-panel.  Sigh.  Anyway, instead of rambling about my deficiencies as a writer or about the billions of stories I will never have the time or energy to tell, at the end of the day, this is all just set up for our little adventure, and for the jump between HFSAC vol. 1 and 2. 

A Little Love, A Lot of Horror, and the Burning Dragon

Ah, Thursday.  The end of my comic book work week.  Time to kick back and relax.  Except I'll probably do a little more work tonight.  I dunno.  Whatever.

OH!  Before I forget, if my beautiful fiancee is reading this, you might wanna skip today's edition of Skull Mob.  Might give you the creeps.  

SDF:

SDF #10-8.

After all the sadness, it's kind of nice to have some tender moments.  Anyway, for those of you that don't know, Secret Soldier trained Cactus Joe how to fight.  Back in the old days, the Clown was a terrible fighter.  He had the power and the durability, but not the skill.  Secret Soldier gave the Clown the skill he desperately needed.  So that's that connection.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6-8.

DOCTOR----  DOCTOR  ------  DOCTOR  ------  DENNNNNNDULLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!  DENNNNNNDULL!  The festering horror, the worst, most disgusting thing in the TORCverse is loose again on the page.  The nightmare, the living cancer, the surgeon of death and destruction.  The thing that wants to eat up the TORCverse itself.  Death Moth's mortal enemy, and now he's got our Hardcore Hero completely surrounded.  This ain't good cats n' kittens.  This ain't good at all.

Side note:  The whole Dendull emerging from Peacock's mouth thing was Boolah's idea, not mine.  I hate it when he gets better ideas than I do.  Curses!

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24-8.

The guy erupting out of the portal is the Abyssal Dragon.  He's an 8th Dimensional Space God from Impossitropolis.  He's only popped up a few times.  I think he was in "SDF: Drifter's Rhapsody" (I think... was it that issue?  Maybe it was one of the others), and he was in HFSAC 15, briefly.  Now, here he is, exploding out of nowhere with a burning hole in his chest.  What's with me and all the death lately?

The Vanished, the Infected, and the Lover Boy

It's Wednesday, kids.  Well, I'm typing this Tuesday night, but whatever.  Stupid headache.  Let's roll.

SDF:

SDF #10-7

If you look closely in the crowd at the funeral, you'll see Colby Cane (the orphaned son of Candy Cane and Zombie Chick, who both died in the Candy Colored War I yammered about yesterday), Tommy Hawk (another one of the Community's orphans), and Arrowhead I (the mentor of Arrowhead II (who is "buried" in this very funeral), who, in his superhero days was teammates with Secret Soldier, King Dark, and Death Moth/Gold Hawk (all of whom are also in the panel)).  Other than that, we say goodbye to the Mystery Man.  Will we see him again?  Dunno.  It's Boolah's character, so it's Boolah's call.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob 6 Page 7.

If you've been reading TORC Press comics for awhile, you probably know where this scene is going, and you probably know what (or, more accurately, who) is infecting the Vermin Angels.  So I won't bore you with my statement of the obvious nonsense.  What I would like to say is that now that Skull Mob is about to pass away into the mists of time, I'm gonna miss the art style.  This rabid, senseless, scribbledeegook... I like it.  It's fun, and it's nice to draw like I don't give a crap.  Whatevs.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24 Page 7.

If anybody remembers "SDF: Pulp" (hahahahaaha!  I like when I write like people reading this have some sort of intimate knowledge of my comics.  Ha!  As if anyone's reading this nonsense to begin with), I had a character named Cosmico Rex, who was this Space-CheshireCat-Man guy.  My original plan for SDF: Pulp was to introduce a Donald and a Goofy to complement my Mickey (Cactus Joe the Clown, duh).  Bad Jack was the Donald (he finally achieved his destiny when he was reborn as the Death Moth), while Cosmico Rex was supposed to be the Goofy.  He never really worked out, and died during the Candy Colored War (that stinking thing again).  Poor Rex's head can be seen on the wall of Jack DuPre's office in "Pulp Horrorshow" v. 3 #2.  Cosmico Rex didn't get a lot of screen time, but what little time he got he was portrayed as something of a loverboy, and a bit of a perv (which, incidentally, was pretty fun to write).  Phantasmo Rex, who, surprise, is Cosmico's brother, is also something of a loverboy.  He's just not all that smooth or smart about it.  Which is fun in its own right.  Side note:  You know what I love about comics?  Everything. 

The Funeral, the VIOLENCE, and the Reunion

Let's Roll.

SDF:

SDF #10 Page 6.

The last time a lot of my characters died, it all happened off panel and off page.  The Candy Colored War was never put into print, so we never really got to see everyone die.  Even if we had showed all of that, there never would have been a funeral or a memorial or anything, because there weren't really any survivors (technically, the only survivors were Darlene Munroe (who met her own Waterloo during Bad Rapture) and the Puzzelor (and there's no guarantee he actually survived.  The Puzzelor that died here may not be the same Puzzelor.  And did the Puzzelor really die in Bad Rapture?  Who knows?), and the bodies (what bodies there were) were all left on the rooftop of Ortex Tower.  And of course, it's not like Ortex was gonna show any respect for the bodies.  Heck, Jack DuPre put the severed heads of the leaders up on his office walls.  So, yeah, that was hard for me, and I didn't even do that story.  Bad Rapture was really hard for me.  Jeez it was hard.  I'm really glad I had some help to get me through.  I would have probably dropped the story halfway through without the backup.  Anyway, the only upside is that I get a chance to say goodbye to this little cast of characters, give em a simple little funeral and all.  I gotta admit, I'm saddest about Darlene Munroe, but Razorfish is a close second.  I know he didn't get a lot of screen time, and he wasn't that important or made much of an impact, but he's a character that's been with me a long while, and I'm sorry to see him go.

Skull Mob

Skull Mob #6 Page 6.

And now we go in the complete opposite direction.

HOLY CRAP!!!!!

Xipe Topec just got pincushioned!  What the What?!?!

And lastly, HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24 Page 6.

Remember when I was talking earlier about all the Geek Heroes that died during the never started/never published Candy Colored War?  Welp, Mr. Halloween was one of the more significant casualties of that particular conflict.  In fact, his old Pumpkin Head is actually hanging up on the wall of Jack DuPre's office.  Anyway, he's come back from the dead in a new form.  Again, you can see that story over on the Patreon.  Other than that, one of the reasons I created Shiv was that HFSAC needed another female character to keep Tei and Cherry company.  Not that I know how to write girl stuff. 

Grief, Anger, and More New Faces

Ah, Monday.  I know, it sucks.  Welp, here's some comix to make life a little better.

SDF:

SDF #10 Page 5.

Sometimes there are no words.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob #6 Page 5.

It's never good when a giant, creepy monster is suddenly scared.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24 Page 5.  Second Half of a Double Page Spread.

Alrighty, more new faces.  The dude on the couch is the Cosmic Fool.  If you're a long-time TORC Press fan, you might remember this guy, although you might not recognize him.  He's changed quite a lot.  He most recently reappeared in this new form in "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Adventure Comix" #1.  The gal on the couch is a fairly new character named Shiv.  She first appeared in "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Adventure Comix" #2.  I'm still trying to get a handle on her as a character, honestly.  It's okay, she'll come together.  I don't think she has a lot of screentime this issue anyway.  The guy skulking in the corner is Jester Kidd, who first appeared (looking much differently himself) back in the Pulp Horrorshow vol. 4 special.  He reappeared, in this new form, in "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Adventure Comix" #1.  He's an aggressive space soldier.  He might come across as a bit of a jerk at first, but don't worry, he's got a good heart.

Speaking of "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Adventure Comix", you can help support TORC Press AND get a monthly subscription to HFSACAC by pledging a meager $5 to TORC Press on Patreon at www.patreon.com/torcpress.  Yeah, I know, cheap plug.

Broken Heroes, Giant Monsters, & New Faces

Again, according to the new schedule, this is the Last Day of the Week for me.  I might post one of my Rambling Blogs on Friday, or I may just take the day off or whatever.  Who knows?  In the meantime, let's drop some Comic Bombs, shall we?

SDF:

SDF #10 Page 4.

Poor Doc Brummer.  He cared for Cheryl almost as much as Octopus Jones did, and he was forced to watch her die.  It's weird how much occurs as I'm working.  Boolah sent the script in, and I read, thought "cool".  But as usual, when I got to this page, I just realized that Doc Brummer was just broken.  Also, being present for the birth of a 12th Dimensional NeoAngel has aged him a bit.  The other thing I like about this scene is how Secret Soldier is still on the clock.  I honestly never had much of a handle on how to write Secret Soldier, but Boolah has really got a tack on how to write the guy.  In a room full of broken people, Secret Soldier is somehow the most broken one of all.

Skull Mob

Skull Mob #6 Page 4.

When I started working with Boolah, I described to him the sort of concepts I was working with with my three series.  One of the ideas I had going was that HFSAC was about serving a Benevolent God who had your back while on the flip side, Skull Mob was about serving a God who didn't give a flying crap about you.  Sort of a whole exploration of the whole New Testament God vs. Old Testament God concept that's drove me crazy for years.  Y'know, with Explosions and Monsters and stuff.  Anyway, Xipe Topec is the worst kind of god, a vicious bully who just doesn't care about anything beyond his own plans and motives.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24 Page 4.  First half of a double page spread.

New Faces!  I love new characters.  Anyway, the guy who is floating on the left side of the page is Sphynx, who we'll see introduced over in "The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club Adventure Comix" #3.  He's the strong silent type, so we won't get a lot of dialogue out of him.  Don't worry, he's cool though.  The guy hanging upside down is Phantasmo Rex, who is almost the exact opposite.  He's a regular Chatty-Cathy.  His actual introduction will be in "HFSACAC" #4, but we'll learn a lot about him later on in this issue.  Lastly the fellow on the ugly couch (side note:  I love that our heroes live in a flashy, metallic, futuristicy super space station and yet they've still got an ugly couch.  Ah, the TORCverse) is Mister Halloween, previously known as Halloween M@n or Sheriff Halloween (yeah, the floating guy with the pumpkin head).  If you're on Patreon you can see his whole origin story unfold (that strip has been on a little break lately, hopefully I can pick up on it in a week or two).  Otherwise, he was in HFSACAC #2, and he'll be in HFSACAC #3.  He's one of my oldest characters (almost as old as the Clown himself), so I'm glad he's out there and rolling with the Fudgeheads.  It's worth mentioning that the Clown and Mister Halloween have been pals for a long time.  So there's that little bit too.

Sad Returns, Angry Returns, Surprise Returns

I've been rapidly adding all of "Bad Rapture Omega" to the Patreon site at www.patreon.com/torcpress.  In addition, I've got all of the first issue of my "lost" comic, "SDF: Cyclopean" up and available for viewing for all $1+ Patrons on the Patreon as well.

Anyway, on with the show:

SDF:

SDF #10 Page 3.  Second half of a double page spread.

The two bodies in the foreground are Razorfish and Sally Mander, both of whom actually left corpses behind.  At least they get to buried together.  That's Priest Shiki in the foreground, getting ready to preside over the funeral.  If you look closely, you can see PlatOmega holding the head of his cousin Platageddon.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob #6 Page 3.

In the original Script and Thumbnails, Boolah had a splash page shot of Death Moth facing the camera, but I went ahead and spun the camera around to his shoulder so we get a shot of Xipe Topec while we're at it.  In today's FunFact, the three Vermin Angels in this panel (Xipe Topec (the guy in the chair), the woman in leather, and the creepy thing crawling on the ground) are the original Vermin Angels that appeared in Pulp Horrorshow vol. 2 #2.

HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24 Page 3.

Filler Page.  I don't like that angle on Panel 2.  I can't even blame this page on sleep deprivation, because this was early in the 24 Hours.

Sadness and Returning Home

Heyo Ho, Let's Go!

First off, SDF time:

SDF #10 Page 2 (First half of a double page spread)

Some stuff on this page.  Octopus Jones is broken.  Originally, I didn't plan on having OJ in his Super-Suit, but I... let's just say I have my reasons, and they're personal and not story related.  Moving on.  Cactus Joe, being an Action Hero Guy, is not particularly adept at dealing with grief and tragedy.  He wants to comfort OJ, but he doesn't really know how.  Of course, the Death Moth has some serious problems dealing with this type of a situation, which is why his back is turned.  He just has no idea how to deal with this situation.  The crude gravestones in the background are for all the Geek-Heroes that died during Bad Rapture.  At first, I was going to have a series of bodies and freshly dug graves by the tombstones... and then I remembered that... well, for most of them, there was nothing left to bury.  Seriously, most of them were vaporized.

Skull Mob

Skull Mob #6 Page 2.

Not much to go into about this one, as the last two members of the Skull Mob spiral down the Bone Door's Ghost Path into the Shadowy Depths of the 6th Dimension.  Just another day in the TORCverse.

HFSAC

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club #24 Page 2.

While the Skull Mob spiral into the abyss, the remaining members of HFSAC are on their way to their Space Age Hi-Tech Hideout, the Soda Shoppe, which, once again, is obviously themed after Brother Eye.  Side Note:  When you're doing a 24 Hour Comic, Splash Pages are LifeSavers.  Expect more of these over the course of the comic. 

Bad Rapture Epilogues And Everything Else

Aaaaaaaaaaaand We're Back...

It's a New Year, Cats n' Kittens, so let's just get rolling.

As you know, Bad Rapture wrapped up, sad and dark as it was.  It's now time to wrap up this Era of TORC Press, and wrap up our little trio of books.  I know awhile back that I said I was gonna run HFSAC, Skull Mob, and SDF to 100 Issues, but the plan has changed a bit.  So, instead, I am gonna bring HFSAC, Skull Mob, and SDF to a conclusion.  HFSAC and SDF will then return with a Brand New Volume with Brand New #1s.  But before we can do all of that, we've gotta wrap up the current volumes.  We'll be running a page of all three comics Monday through Thursday, with Friday being a break day.

We'll start with SDF:

SDF vol. 1 Issue 10 Page 1.  Script/Layouts by Scott Bayler.  Everything Else by Joseph Morris.

Welp, back in HFSAC 23, the Chupacabra got punched into space by the Vertionce.  In Skull Mob #5, @byss got thrown into space by the Vertionce.  So this is is these two guys returning from space.  Boolah really wanted this scene.

Skull Mob:

Skull Mob vol. 1  Issue 6  Page 1.  (Also, SDF 10 Page 11)  Script/Layouts by Scott Bayler.  Everything Else by Joseph Morris.

As I mentioned above, this page will also, eventually be SDF Page 11, so this story takes place more or less at the same time as SDF 10.  Anyway, we've got Death Moth and Peacock leaving the Community and returning to the Burning Hotel.  Once again, Death Moth hates Peacock, because they used to be enemies, and because Peacock spent most of the Bad Rapture Event hiding behind a stump.  While other heroes sacrificed themselves to protect Cheryl, Peacock was a coward and hid, so that's why Death Moth is not in the best of moods where Peacock is involved.

Lastly, HFSAC:

The Hot Fudge Sundae Adventure Club vol. 1 Issue #24 Page 1.  Everything by Joseph Morris.  This is a 24 Hour Comic.

Okay, I know it's confusing, but this story takes place a day or two after the events of SDF 10/Skull Mob 6.  The HFSAC crew will be in SDF 10, but that story takes place before this one.  I know, confusing.  Anyway, to make things even more confusing, some stuff has happened off panel between HFSAC's departure, namely that the Hip Bros, Eyemo, Eyemii, and PlatOmega have all left HFSAC.  I thought about mentioning all of the deaths from Bad Rapture, but I was trying to avoid spoilers, so I glossed over that.  Anyway, our heroes are bummed.