QUANTUM CHRISTMAS CARD FOR 2014!

And we're back for the holidays after a long absence which will be explained shortly, I hope to your satisfaction.  It's time now for the 26th annual unveiling of the most awesome holiday event of all:  THE QUANTUM CHRISTMAS CARD!  And here it is.

Making his fifth official Card appearance is Nature's Child himself, Jon Wilde, a.k.a. WILD JON, accompanied this year by boyfriend and lifemate Thomas "Tom" Tierney, who I believe is the first supporting character ever to appear on a Card.  As we look in on Jon and Tom on Christmas morning, we find them in the middle of opening their goodies--or at least some of them!

Now, as for what's been going on the past few months.  We were supposed to have had The Adventures of Lucky Vega fully up and running after that first sequence of strips.  But I've had a lot of personal things going on that put the strip in a stall, and after that loss of initial momentum I started to reconsider some things.  I was happy with the strip as I had it, but I started to realize that I wasn't completely comfortable with the comic-strip format, those tight bands of panels in which I was drawing the story.  I found I wanted the story and the artwork to have more room to be more expansive, as in a regular comic book page.  At the same time I found my heart wasn't really in the idea of starting the whole thing over yet again.  At length I reluctantly decided it was time to change my major project for a while and come back to The Adventures of Lucky Vega more refreshed and really ready to do it up right at a later date.  That left me with the question, to which project should I switch?

For the present state of my personal life, I decided that I should go with the simplest thing I have.  Not simplistic, just simple and comparatively easy to accomplish while trying to negotiate some other things I have going on.  There was only one choice, and it's something as imaginative as you would expect and as sexy as you would like!  As for exactly what the new major project will be...   I've already dropped a big hint, though you'll have to come back for further news to learn exactly what it is I'm up to.  

Meanwhile, please feel free to forward and share this cosmic Card to your friends and loved ones as always.  It's about giving.

Happy Holidays, everyone, from Quantum Comics Blog.  Ho-ho-ho!

25-YEAR HOLIDAY TIME WARP!

The Adventures of Lucky Vega will resume soon.  But first, Quantum Comics Blog is proud to present something special for the holidays.

We’re about to see the always-anticipated unveiling of the annual QUANTUM CHRISTMAS CARD!  But this is a very special year, as 2013 marks the 25th year that I’ve been creating these heroic holiday offerings.  Think of that:  25 YEARS!  For the occasion, before we see the latest edition of the most wondrous Card of all, we first take a look back two and a half decades into the past.  Presenting once again: the first, THE ORIGINAL J.A. FLUDD CHRISTMAS CARD!  Yes, it's a souvenir of that time before the discovery of fire when I would physically print these things on card paper and mail them in envelopes with postage stamps.  It features heroes of the universe in which I first started creating characters, dating back to high school!  (Yes, that far, believe it or not!)  Some of the concepts of this earlier, pre-existing universe still survive in altered forms in my present work.  For this historic occasion, then, a peek way back into history!  Then, after this little time warp, scroll directly down below this post for the official unveiling of this year’s Card!

QUANTUM CHRISTMAS CARD FOR 2013!

It’s QUANTUM CHRISTMAS CARD time again! Can there be a more awesome holiday event than the annual unveiling of the cosmic Card?  Short of the appearance of Father Christmas at Macy's Parade, methinks not!  But this year's Card marks an extra-special occasion, for it is in fact the 25th annual Card!  Our tradition is now a quarter of a century old!  Bear in mind, since not everyone has known me or looked at my work for 25 years, only a very few people have actually seen the Card every year since I started.  And for some years there were actually TWO Cards, one of which went only to gay men and heterosexual women.  It's true.  But this is the 25th year in all that I've been creating these heroic holiday offerings, so for 2013 I wanted to do something really memorable.  So in the midst of production I made a critical decision and called out to the assembled Quantum heroes:  "Okay, lads, costumes off this time!  We're making it a SWIMSUIT EDITION!"

Everyone got on board for this, even Cirrus of the Environauts, who's very straight-but-not-narrow and prefers to strip only for his very fortunate girlfriend.  His little brother Aquarius, who's a model on the side, cajoled him into it.  "Come on, Trey, the Boss says costumes off.  Take one for the team…"  Wild Jon, Draco Rex, and Seastorm (making his debut this year) were game for it on the spot, as their standard or preferred outfits are either very revealing or almost nude anyway.  The World Champion, who publishes a men's fitness magazine, doffed his duds without hesitation.  The Serpent (also appearing for the first time), whose ambition other than to be a hero is to be one of those "octagon fighting championship" guys you see on TV, duly shed his suit; you know those guys do their fighting in nothing but their boxer briefs anyway.  (And this is supposed to be entertainment for straight men…)  And the also straight-but-not-narrow Satellite, another hero making his Card debut, has one of the best costumes ever but was willing to take it off for the entertainment of any ladies watching.  And so, here we have the 25th official Card in all its glory, and the tradition goes on.

As always, the Card is free to share with friends and loved ones as you desire, with my compliments.  Cheers and greetings from Draco Rex, Wild Jon, The Quantum, Idol, Seastorm, Cirrus, The World Champion, The Satellite, The Stone, Lucky Star, The Point, The Serpent, Aquarius, and their creator.  And may you all have a historically happy Holiday Season!

GET LUCKY AGAIN!

I know, I know, it's been a while.

By way of explanation, I haven't posted anything new in The Adventures of Lucky Vega for the past several weeks because I've been sidetracked by other work and other projects--one of which is this year's mind-boggling Quantum Christmas Card.  And when you see that, I hope you'll think our little hiatus was well-justified.  Also, in the set of new strips for Lucky that I had completed there were a few panels that I wanted to take back for re-drawing because, frankly, I wasn't satisfied with them and I didn't want them going out the way I had them. However, work on the strip is back in progress, so it's time to pick up where we left off.

Next week the Holiday season begins in earnest and I expect to be with you through it with not only The Adventures of Lucky Vega but some other things I hope you'll enjoy seeing almost as much as I enjoyed doing them--including that Christmas Card!  So keep on coming back, hear?

DECISION BY DISTRACTION!

So how does Lucky and Roger's test of the Vega Shield in the Immersion Room finally end up?  The arrival of Lucky's father decides the outcome of their contest.  But will Dr. Vega be impressed with any of it?  He doesn't exactly seem happy to see what's going on.  Time will tell what's going on with Poppa!

ENTER...DOCTOR VEGA!

As Lucky and Roger continue their very creative test of the Vega Shield, they haven't yet noticed that they have an audience.  Dr. Esteban Vega, Lucky's Dad, doesn't seem very impressed with what his son is up to.  Is he just annoyed at the way Lucky is using the equipment or could something else be going on?  Future strips will tell!

WHO GOES THERE?

And now, the start of another reveal and the first little plot twist for the first story in The Adventures of Lucky Vega.

HAIL TO THE KING!

Quantum Comics Blog will be back after the Labor Day Weekend with more of our preview of The Adventures of Lucky Vega.  Meanwhile, please join me in celebrating what would have been the 96th birthday of the man without whom you'd be surfing some other Blog right now.  At Kirby-Vision, it's Jack "King" Kirby's birthday, and a number of artists and I have contributed a suite of drawings to honor the King of Comics.  Thanks and have a great holiday.

ART AND TECHNOLOGY

Don't let me hear you say you can't get ideas when ideas are all around you all the time.  Sometimes they're even sitting right in your hand.  Case in point:  Since the lead characters in The Adventures of Lucky Vega don't have super-powers (this is pre-Environauts, remember), I wanted them to have some clever weaponry.  One idea that I came up with was the Vega Shield, the reveal of which we saw last week.  But energy shields are a very familiar idea; I wanted Lucky and his posse to have something that was distinctly theirs.  It then occurred to me that a very clever idea was right at hand--right there in the very materials that I work with as an artist!

Some of you fellow artistic types are probably familiar with the way some inking and coloring pens are made these days.  Some of them are actually two pens in one, with a different kind of point at each end.  Typically, one end will be a marker-type point and the other will be a brush-like point.  In a flash of inspiration I imagined a weapon that would be kind of like one of those pen combinations.  At one end it would be a light sabre, typical of the weapons used as the Jedis and Siths in Star Wars.  But at the other it would be a particle beam weapon, comparable to Star Trek's phasers and any of the myriad other such beam weapons in popular fiction.  This was the birth of the Vega Duoblade!  Problem solved, unique weapon created!  See, you just have to look in the right place for the right idea.

THE TRUE TEST!

As Lucky and Roger's workout in the Immersion Room continues, we start to discover the extent of the inventiveness of our young hero and his father as Lucky reveals a new technology and challenges Roger to help him test its effectiveness.  What is the true purpose of the Vega Shield?  Is it merely a defensive weapon, or is the vision of the brilliant Dr. Esteban Vega much broader in scope?  Future strips will tell the tale about the Vega Shield and many other things!

A FRIENDLY DUEL

As Lucky and Roger have at it in the Immersion Room, they are surrounded with holographic tableaux of outer space scenes that were suggested by a lot of the things I watch on TV.  I'm a science-documentary buff, and I spend a lot of time on channels like Discover, Science, and History, watching programs on subjects including astronomy, astrophysics, and space travel.  I can't get enough of shows like that, and I incorporate some things that I see on them into my storytelling.  I'm always on the lookout for ideas, and science is one of my favorite places to look!

IMMERSED

Lucky, who is capable of virtually anything scientific, is about to try out some of his new super-high-tech innovations with the help of his friend Roger.  The Immersion Room is not quite a Holodeck such as you see in Star Trek.  Its tableaux are not solid like the ones aboard the Enterprise.  But Lucky has something planned for this room this morning, as we shall see...

STARTING THE PROGRAM

And now we begin The Adventures of Lucky Vega in earnest.  As we open the first story, young Lucky is about to do something both awesome and fun.
 

AGE OF AQUARIUS

With a Webcomic version of The Adventures of Lucky Vega now in thumbnailing, I decided it was time to have a set of final master drawings of the lead characters of The Environauts, both as they will appear when they acquire their super-powers and become Earth's most awesome adventurers, and as they'll appear in the prequel.  These model sheets are in the process of coloring right now, but I'm continuing a preview of them here.

The powers of the Environauts reflect the spheres of the natural environment through which life has evolved (or will evolve as man advances), from Ocean to Land to Sky to Space.

Roger Blaisdell, a.k.a. AQUARIUS, is the youngest Environaut and the team's embodiment of the "Ocean."  Indeed there is not much that Roger loves better than the sea; whether he's surfing at a semi-professional level or working as a lifeguard, he's happiest in or near the ocean.  He's an aspiring actor and model as well; typically his favorite thing to model, as you might guess, is swimsuits.  Roger would like to be a movie star, but his life as a hero may keep him performing on a very different stage.  Roger skipped a grade in school and is almost as intelligent, in his own way, as his best friend and the Environauts' leader, Lucky Vega, a.k.a. Lucky Star himself.  Roger is the person that Lucky loves and trusts the most (except for Lucky's lady love, Professor Elise Hall) and is the second in command of the team in spite of being the youngest.  Taking the lead is a role to which Roger has long been accustomed; in his very dysfunctional family he was always running interference between his alcoholic mother and big brother Trey and their emotionally withholding father.  Roger and Trey tease each other back and forth, but an unbreakable bond of love runs through their relationship and extends to Roger's interactions with the team; Aquarius is the emotional "glue" that holds the Environauts together.  Perhaps because of his home life, Roger has always been romantically attracted to girls who are different from his family:  black girls, Latin and Asian girls, girls of every type but blonde and Caucasian.  His greatest love will not even be from Earth:  Nerelle, the ocean-exploring alien lass who is directly responsible for the origin of the Environauts!

Aquarius has the power to transform himself into a body of living liquid and perform a variety of water-related power stunts.  He can become waves and sprays of water that can hit with the force of most powerful waves that surfers ride, or the discharge of the strongest fire hose.  He can envelop a foe in his own liquid body or use his body to protect one of his partners from falling or being thrown.  Perhaps his coolest ability is the power to control his own surface tension.  Aquarius can pass through another body of water without dissolving into it, grab and hold onto something while he is liquid, or flow up and down walls and across ceilings.  He can also assimilate moisture from the atmosphere or an outside source if he needs to replenish himself.  When Aquarius is on the job, the surf is up and the bad guys are sure to go down.

SKY HIGH WITH CIRRUS

With a Webcomic version of The Adventures of Lucky Vega now in thumbnailing, I decided it was time to have a set of final master drawings of the lead characters of The Environauts, both as they will appear when they acquire their super-powers and become Earth's most awesome adventurers, and as they'll appear in the prequel.  These model sheets are in the process of coloring right now, but I'm continuing a preview of them here.

The powers of the Environauts reflect the spheres of the natural environment through which life has evolved (or will evolve as man advances), from Ocean to Land to Sky to Space.

Warren "Trey" Blaisdell III, the sexy CIRRUS, is the "sky" character.  Trey, the oldest of the four friends, is the classic "reformed bad boy," a once wayward youth with a heart of gold.  A recovering alcoholic and drug addict who's done prison time for possession and sale of illegal narcotics, Trey is the member of the Environauts who feels as though he has the most to prove to the world, and to his friends.  He's also been by far the most sexually active of the lot; by his own reckoning he has bedded every girl he's met since he was 14.  His adventures in the circle of Lucky Vega will bring him to the one girl that he'll want for life--if he can convince himself that he deserves her.

Cirrus possesses the power to become a living body of water vapor and charged particles, a human storm system who can shape himself into fog, invisible water vapor, a thunderstorm, freezing rain and hail, gale-force winds, even a small tornado.  He can generate lightning at will and has been known to threaten to show his opponents "what ball lightning tastes like".  The most aggressive member of the team and the one least patient with fools and authoritarians, Cirrus is the one that the other Environauts are most likely to have to hold back for the good of everyone.  To his credit, Trey is unswervingly loyal and would unhesitatingly lay down his life for the others, especially his little brother Roger (Aquarius), whom he calls "the Squirt".  Though he is a loose cannon, Cirrus always has everyone's back.

KING KIRBY LIVES!

Quantum Comics Blog will resume with posts of new material after the Labor Day Weekend.  In the meantime, as is my annual custom, I participated in the birthday tribute to the King of Comics this year. To see my contribution to the festivities and the wonderful work of other artists who remember King Kirby, go to http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/kirby-vision/