If you were at SPACE or Free Comic Book Day, then you should have seen this one already. But, if you weren't, then here's another new book! Huzzah!
The second issue of SDF: Pulp is now available from TORC Press. It's an 8 page BWG Mature Readers comic with a painted cover for $1.50 plus $1.00 S&H. It can be acquired either at my online store at http://www.torcpress.com/store.html or by sending check or money order to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.
Like the previous issue, this one's got two four page strips and a one page bonus strip (a particularly nasty bonus strip this issue to boot). The Cactus Joe strip features CJ and Pengy Penguin battling a Gigantic Skeleton, with an added mini-strip featuring Secret Soldier's Monster Hunting Tips. The Bad Jack strip features Bad Jack fighting a barroom full of thugs. There's also a horrible, yet kinda sexy, mutation. Very Cronenberg/Burroughs.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Dr. Dendull
The nefarious Dr. Dendull debuted in "SDF: Sombrero Friday" in the King Smooth story. He really only has a brief cameo, more of a presence than a character. He pops up later on in a "Liquid Jar" strip, but I can't remember which issue it's in (Lost Jigsaw Pieces, maybe?). With only two (very brief) appearances, Dr. Dendull, somewhat ironically, is one of the more successful villains in the TORCverse, because, as we all know, Villains never seen to have a very long shelf-life in my little universe.
The not-so-good Dr. Dendull returns in "SDF: Pulp", where it turns out he is the object of Bad Jack's hatred. Why? Well, we'll get to that, eventually. In the meantime, let's talk a little bit about where Dr. Dendull came from.
The start of Dr. Dendull comes, like a lot of my stuff from the "Super Duper Fun Comix"/"SDF" era, from the germ of William S. Burroughs. In several of Burroughs's works, there's a character named "Dr. Benway". Unlike most of Burroughs other characters, which typically consist of a name and a vague purpose and little else, Benway pops up enough that he kinda develops into something of an actual personality. Benway is a quack, a hack, a drug dealer, a con artist, a charming manipulative scumbag. He's got his greasy fingers in all sorts of pies. In David Cronenberg's film "adaptation" of "Naked Lunch", Benway pops up early, getting "William Lee" hooked on the Black Mead, then reappears at the end of the film as a the crossdressing, would be world conquering, world class drug dealer, slavemaster. So, yeah, I always liked Benway.
I thought to myself, what if we took the general attitude of Benway, and instead of making him a person, what if he was a living disease? A thinking, living virus that was selfish and manipulative and lived only to make everything like himself. A twisted horror, an anti-doctor who lived to deny the Hypocratic oath. Sounded good, now all I needed was a visual.
I was immediately reminded of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". If you've never seen Brazil, for the love of all the is holy, watch Brazil. Anyway, in Gilliam's Brazil, one of the main character's best friends is a seemingly nice fella (played by Michael Palin, the cute Python, no less), who works for a Government run group called "Information Retrieval", which specializes in torturing people for information on terrorists (that don't actually exist, interestingly enough). Anyway, when Palin's character is working, he wears this really creepy looking Baby mask. That was always a creepy concept, that there was this horrible, murderous, torturer hiding behind this horrible mask, was, at the exact same time, a loving, happy-go-lucky, family man with a cute little daughter. The image stuck with me, so when it came time to design Dendull, I took a modified version of the Babymask from "Brazil" as the centerpiece. From there I just gave him hospital scrubs and rubber gloves, and I was set.
To witness the horror that is Dr. Dendull, check out my new book, "SDF: Pulp", available at http://www.torcpress.com/store.html. Right-o.
The not-so-good Dr. Dendull returns in "SDF: Pulp", where it turns out he is the object of Bad Jack's hatred. Why? Well, we'll get to that, eventually. In the meantime, let's talk a little bit about where Dr. Dendull came from.
The start of Dr. Dendull comes, like a lot of my stuff from the "Super Duper Fun Comix"/"SDF" era, from the germ of William S. Burroughs. In several of Burroughs's works, there's a character named "Dr. Benway". Unlike most of Burroughs other characters, which typically consist of a name and a vague purpose and little else, Benway pops up enough that he kinda develops into something of an actual personality. Benway is a quack, a hack, a drug dealer, a con artist, a charming manipulative scumbag. He's got his greasy fingers in all sorts of pies. In David Cronenberg's film "adaptation" of "Naked Lunch", Benway pops up early, getting "William Lee" hooked on the Black Mead, then reappears at the end of the film as a the crossdressing, would be world conquering, world class drug dealer, slavemaster. So, yeah, I always liked Benway.
I thought to myself, what if we took the general attitude of Benway, and instead of making him a person, what if he was a living disease? A thinking, living virus that was selfish and manipulative and lived only to make everything like himself. A twisted horror, an anti-doctor who lived to deny the Hypocratic oath. Sounded good, now all I needed was a visual.
I was immediately reminded of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". If you've never seen Brazil, for the love of all the is holy, watch Brazil. Anyway, in Gilliam's Brazil, one of the main character's best friends is a seemingly nice fella (played by Michael Palin, the cute Python, no less), who works for a Government run group called "Information Retrieval", which specializes in torturing people for information on terrorists (that don't actually exist, interestingly enough). Anyway, when Palin's character is working, he wears this really creepy looking Baby mask. That was always a creepy concept, that there was this horrible, murderous, torturer hiding behind this horrible mask, was, at the exact same time, a loving, happy-go-lucky, family man with a cute little daughter. The image stuck with me, so when it came time to design Dendull, I took a modified version of the Babymask from "Brazil" as the centerpiece. From there I just gave him hospital scrubs and rubber gloves, and I was set.
To witness the horror that is Dr. Dendull, check out my new book, "SDF: Pulp", available at http://www.torcpress.com/store.html. Right-o.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Bad Jack
In my latest book, "SDF: Pulp", I introduce a brand new character named Bad Jack. Although Jack is a new character, he's not a new concept for me. He's actually the latest (and hopefully greatest) in a long line of what I call "Fallen Heroes".
The Fallen Hero concept is an idea I've been working with since Year One of TORC Press. The idea goes like this: Once upon a time, from the 1960s through the early 1990s, the TORCverse was very similar to any other Superhero Universe. There were Superheroes in flashy costumes, and Super Villains in flashy costumes, and the Good Guys fought the Bad Guys and the Good Guys won most of the time and everything was peachy keen (that was a hell of a run on sentence). Then something Really Bad Happened. I'm not sure what, but I know that the catalyst was the formation of the Ortex Corporation, and it's rapid rise to power throughout the world. Long story short, bad things started happening to all of the Superheroes and Supervillains. Some died in horrible ways. Others got maimed. Others disappeared. Some were tortured, mutilated, and then killed in a gruesome and highly embarrassing manner. Regardless of how it happened, all of the brightly colored Super Heroes and Villains vanished from the Earth within the space of a few short years. Supernatural and Otherworldly Beings, like the Ortex Corporation, the Bob Mafia, O.V.E.R.T., and the Cult laid claim to the world. And the only things left to combat them were... well, other monsters, like Cactus Joe the Clown.
BUT, not all of the old Super Heroes (and Villains) died off completely. Some survived, but all of the survivors were... changed. The Old Guard Super Heroes were all reduced to mutilated freaks, monsters, cyborgs, zombies, and so forth and so on. Despite falling from grace, the men and women who at one time protected the earth, continued their vigilance, even in their new forms.
We've actually seen several of these Fallen Heroes in the TORCverse. The most prominent, of course, is Mr. Dark, who debuted in "Pulp Horrorshow" and later reemerged in a new form in "Gulatta!" (same guy, interestingly enough. I might explain it someday. Maybe). That Mysterious Soldier that appears in the "Welcome to Mosquito Island" segment in "SDF: Drifter's Rhapsody" is another one (You can also see him on the back cover of "SDF: End of an Era", and look out for him in upcoming issues of "SDF: Pulp"). And lastly, there's poor, freaky deaky, I have no idea what else to do with him, Doom Eagle who appeared in "Pulp Horrorshow" Volume 2. All three of these guys used to be Marvelesque do-gooders, until something horrible happened to each of them. Now they're strange, dark monsters. Fun!
Which brings us to Bad Jack. Bad Jack used to be a good guy. He was a normal human gifted with extreme physical skills and a razor sharp mind. He fought criminals as Gold Hawk, shiny champion of the people. Then, something terrible happened, and it all went wrong. Gold Hawk died, and in his place stands Bad Jack, a withered husk fueled by pure hatred. Having invented a horrible mystic art called Black Science, Bad Jack lives only to get vengeance on the man who broke him. And that man is none of other than one of the worst villains in the TORCverse, the nefarious Dr. Dendull.
Check out "SDF: Pulp" Issue One at www.torcpress.com.
The Fallen Hero concept is an idea I've been working with since Year One of TORC Press. The idea goes like this: Once upon a time, from the 1960s through the early 1990s, the TORCverse was very similar to any other Superhero Universe. There were Superheroes in flashy costumes, and Super Villains in flashy costumes, and the Good Guys fought the Bad Guys and the Good Guys won most of the time and everything was peachy keen (that was a hell of a run on sentence). Then something Really Bad Happened. I'm not sure what, but I know that the catalyst was the formation of the Ortex Corporation, and it's rapid rise to power throughout the world. Long story short, bad things started happening to all of the Superheroes and Supervillains. Some died in horrible ways. Others got maimed. Others disappeared. Some were tortured, mutilated, and then killed in a gruesome and highly embarrassing manner. Regardless of how it happened, all of the brightly colored Super Heroes and Villains vanished from the Earth within the space of a few short years. Supernatural and Otherworldly Beings, like the Ortex Corporation, the Bob Mafia, O.V.E.R.T., and the Cult laid claim to the world. And the only things left to combat them were... well, other monsters, like Cactus Joe the Clown.
BUT, not all of the old Super Heroes (and Villains) died off completely. Some survived, but all of the survivors were... changed. The Old Guard Super Heroes were all reduced to mutilated freaks, monsters, cyborgs, zombies, and so forth and so on. Despite falling from grace, the men and women who at one time protected the earth, continued their vigilance, even in their new forms.
We've actually seen several of these Fallen Heroes in the TORCverse. The most prominent, of course, is Mr. Dark, who debuted in "Pulp Horrorshow" and later reemerged in a new form in "Gulatta!" (same guy, interestingly enough. I might explain it someday. Maybe). That Mysterious Soldier that appears in the "Welcome to Mosquito Island" segment in "SDF: Drifter's Rhapsody" is another one (You can also see him on the back cover of "SDF: End of an Era", and look out for him in upcoming issues of "SDF: Pulp"). And lastly, there's poor, freaky deaky, I have no idea what else to do with him, Doom Eagle who appeared in "Pulp Horrorshow" Volume 2. All three of these guys used to be Marvelesque do-gooders, until something horrible happened to each of them. Now they're strange, dark monsters. Fun!
Which brings us to Bad Jack. Bad Jack used to be a good guy. He was a normal human gifted with extreme physical skills and a razor sharp mind. He fought criminals as Gold Hawk, shiny champion of the people. Then, something terrible happened, and it all went wrong. Gold Hawk died, and in his place stands Bad Jack, a withered husk fueled by pure hatred. Having invented a horrible mystic art called Black Science, Bad Jack lives only to get vengeance on the man who broke him. And that man is none of other than one of the worst villains in the TORCverse, the nefarious Dr. Dendull.
Check out "SDF: Pulp" Issue One at www.torcpress.com.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
New Book: SDF: Pulp Issue 1
Right. For those of you who weren't at SPACE, I've got a brand new book available. "SDF: Pulp" is my latest little experiment. It's only 8 pages long, and I've crammed two strips into the thing. I'm working with something of a European approach, where I'm trying to tell as much story as possible in as small a space as possible. I'm also experimenting with serialization, which is something I've never done much of. The specs on the book are: It's 8 pages in BWG with a color, painted cover for $1.50 plus $1.00 S&H. It's a Mature Readers book, too, cause I don't like having a rulebook. It can be acquired online at http://www.torcpress.com/store.html or you can send Check or Money Order to: TORC Press, c/o Joseph Morris, 330 S 5th St SW, Clay City, IL 62824.
Well, what's it about?
The Cactus Joe strip- It's pretty simple, Cactus Joe and Pengy are in full fledged Monster Hunter mode, chasing after a mysterious villain named Vlad. In their quest for bloody vengeance, they've got an army of monsters to deal with. I'm approaching the strip in a manner similar to an old school Sunday Comics strip, sorta like a very crude "Prince Valiant" with blood and boobs. In the first installment, CJ and PP fight Skeletons. Woo-Hoo!
The Bad Jack strip- Bad Jack is a bit of a throw back in a way. It's the story of a guy who used to be a superhero, but something horrible happened to him, and now he's a withered husk seeking bloody vengeance. It's also something of an experimental strip, as I'm intentionally trying to give the strip a vague David Lynchesque vibe (there's even a blatant Lynch reference in the first issue), plus, once again, there are allusions to Alice in Wonderland. The first issue features Bad Jack attacking a bar full of criminals.
In addition, there's a one page mini strip on the inside back cover (so it's actually 9 pages, but whatever).
Since it's only 8 pages, and I can do eight pages in a week, I'm shooting for monthly with this series. My goal is for this series to run and tell the full story of Cactus Joe vs. Vlad. If I can wrap up Bad Jack's story as well, then so be it. If I can't, I'll finish his story later, in another book.
Well, what's it about?
The Cactus Joe strip- It's pretty simple, Cactus Joe and Pengy are in full fledged Monster Hunter mode, chasing after a mysterious villain named Vlad. In their quest for bloody vengeance, they've got an army of monsters to deal with. I'm approaching the strip in a manner similar to an old school Sunday Comics strip, sorta like a very crude "Prince Valiant" with blood and boobs. In the first installment, CJ and PP fight Skeletons. Woo-Hoo!
The Bad Jack strip- Bad Jack is a bit of a throw back in a way. It's the story of a guy who used to be a superhero, but something horrible happened to him, and now he's a withered husk seeking bloody vengeance. It's also something of an experimental strip, as I'm intentionally trying to give the strip a vague David Lynchesque vibe (there's even a blatant Lynch reference in the first issue), plus, once again, there are allusions to Alice in Wonderland. The first issue features Bad Jack attacking a bar full of criminals.
In addition, there's a one page mini strip on the inside back cover (so it's actually 9 pages, but whatever).
Since it's only 8 pages, and I can do eight pages in a week, I'm shooting for monthly with this series. My goal is for this series to run and tell the full story of Cactus Joe vs. Vlad. If I can wrap up Bad Jack's story as well, then so be it. If I can't, I'll finish his story later, in another book.
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