Sorcerox

A life-long coal miner, Karl Jandacek was caught in a mine collapse. Caught in a pocket, his foot pinned under a rock, Karl watched in horror as some sort of liquid seeped into the cave and began to fill what space he had. It looked like he would drown. But he did not.

Instead, as the strange fluid finally submerged the wounded man, it caused a burning sensation. Karl soon lost consciousness.

When he came to, Karl wasn’t Karl anymore. His body had changed. He looked down at his clawed hands and grey skin from new eyes and noticed that he could see things he could not see before, mystical energy fields that permeated everything around him. And he could affect this energy.

The people on the surace assumed Karl Jandacek had died, but instead he wandered further underground to test his powers. When he dug himself out a year later, he was Sorcerox, a sorcerous monster intending to conquer the world.

To serve him, Sorcerox has created two mystical monsters, Fire-And-Wind and Water-And-Rock. Each with the powers of the elementary materials of which they are made. Fire-And-Wind is a flying flame and Water-And-Rock is a flowing torrent with a stone core. While these are beings of rudimentary intelligence, they have developed a sort of personality. Fire-And-Wind is a reckless, impulsive, angry creature. Water-And-Rock is more patient, more calculating, more cunning. Together, these elemental enforcers make a powerful pair, a threat to the heroes that oppose Sorcerox. The primary line of defense against Sorcerox’s villainous invasion is the wizard dog Wizardog, who makes a point of digging up the villain’s schemes and routing them wherever they turn up.

Okay, behind the scenes stuff: Sorcerox was another one of those unnamed sketches that I found among my files and decided to give a name and a story to. He looks more like something I’d been trying to fit into a more generic (and probably terrible) fantasy story, but I figured he could work in the context of a superhero story just fine. To that end, I tried to give him a more standard supervillain origin (a blue collar worker who has an accident and gains powers is Electro, for example). I didn’t quite nail it, but I like how it turned out well enough.

The two elemental monster things I just drew because, once I’d had the idea, they seemed like they’d be easy to draw (and it is easier than drawing people, even if they aren’t too indicative of their nature). I thought that they’d be henchmen for some mad scientist character, but when I sat down today to write some villains up, it all looked like it fit together.

Kill-A-Lot-Bot

When the robotics wing of Astounditech Incorporated was the victim of serious financial cutbacks, the staff decided, in a moment of anger, programmed one of their most advanced robots to go on a killing spree. Unfortunately for them, it was very good at it. The robot killed the heads of the company, the programmers and engineers, and just about everyone it came across. It killed a lot. Eventually, the authorities were able to stop the robot’s rampage, but just then the Robotic Raiders arrived to recruit Kill-A-Lot-Bot to their goal of human extinction. Taken to the machine team’s secret base, Kill-A-Lot-Bot continues to join the serve.

I have opinions on the idea that Artificial Intelligences would want to destroy all human life. To greatly simplify those opinions: I figure they probably won’t have much reason to want do that. This character is the opposite of that. Unlike most of the villains I’ve done so far, this one is neither a villain assigned to one of my heroes from previous Super Sundays, nor meant to stand alone. The Robotic Raiders have appeared in one of my Robexor stories. Why make another robot for a team already staffed with several robots in a story I already did? Honestly, I mostly just wanted to draw a robot, so I did.

Fireclops

In this corner, from the Isle of Mystic Fire, the terrible daughter of the Burning Sky, the flaming creature with a hunger for roast human: Fireclops! Striding forth from the vortex that leads to the Magic Realms, Fireclops tears through cities and towns setting fire and eating people. This is the exact kind of magical threat that Konwaag the Magic Hunter seeks to put to an end. Which of these two powerful beings will come out on top? And how much damage will the human race suffer in the meantime?

Nothing much to say about this one. Just drew a cyclops, then added fire. That happens sometimes. If Konwaag is meant to be a rival hero to Noblewoman, Fireclops is the kind of threat that makes us know that Konwaag is still a relatively good guy. And that way, Fireclops and Noblewoman can work together to fight.

Mr. Slime

While making an attempted robbery of a chemical plant’s payroll office, Deke Sleeman happened to be spotted by a particularly bitter security guard. The guard chased the crook, who fell over a safety railing into a vat of toxic waste. Sleeman seemed to dissolve, and the company decided it would be best to keep the authorities in the dark about what had happened. No need to draw unwanted attention. A few weeks later, a mass of ooze pulled itself out of the vat of chemicals and attacked the security guard, leaving him dead.

In time, Sleeman was able to pull himself into a shape resembling his former human self. He now had the ability to transform himself into slime, simply ooze or deadly acidic, and he was noticed by the owner of the chemical plant. He could use a man of those unique talents for certain unconventional jobs. Sleeman was willing.

I drew Mr. Slime one time years ago, at work I think, and just left him among my notes. I liked the idea and the look, a pretty conventional villain I thought, so it seems perfect to break him out now. I think that Mr. Slime could do double duty in my superhero universes, fighting regular superheroes like the Beam as a crook following the Hydro-Man archetype, but also he would be on the team of pollution-themed villains who fight CommandOak. Let’s get the most out of our slime guy.

Krygax the Killer

Krygax was created by the mystical Night Fellows to serve as their perfect killing machine. They did a good job with creating a killer, but were not as careful as they should have been with creating a loyal servant. Krygax will serve the Night Fellows as long as it allows him to kill, but given any bit of freedom and any bit of boredom and he will find new victims of his own choosing. The Night Fellows, worshippers of a demon called Karaksus the Uncontrollable, are now, ironically, burdened by an uncontrollable minion. Still, no matter how hard it is to wrangle the mystical assassin, he is useful as a weapon against the Night Fellows’ sworn enemy, Skullserpent.

Like Mr. Slime, a sketch of this character has been in my filing cabinet for years. The difference here is that, as far as I know now, I had no idea of who he was when I drew him. I certainly never gave him a name or any kind of backstory. He was just a doodle. But now he’s a guy on my website thing. No idea gets left behind.

The Warrior Poet

Oswald K. Whittaker was a weak, sickly child. Never able to live up to the standards of manhood set by his father, a famous footballer, young Oswald spent his days in books. But when Oswald turned sixteen, the secret magic blessing that runs in the family line granted him with amazing strength and power (and his father lost his). Now, with the strength that rivaled his intellect, Oswald became the Warrior Poet, a super-strong wordsmith who is willing to break any laws he feels he must to create a work of art.

I’ve always liked when you get a scientist villain who robs for chemicals or computer parts for their experiments, instead of just going for money. The Warrior Poet here is like that, but instead of science, he is a patron of the arts. He might break into an art museum to steal some painting that he wants to write some ekphrasistic poetry about, or he might break into a library to steal a rare first edition of some obscure book of sonnets.

Josiah Curse

With a distinctive facial scar and trademark clawed hand weapons, Josiah Curse is not an assassin you hire for subtlety. Josiah Curse is hired when you want to make a point. You’re saying, “This is what happens to those who have wronged me. You don’t want this to happen to you.”

Josiah Curse once drove a motorcycle off a cliff and landed on his target’s face. He once stole a bunch of monkeys that had been used for science experiments, kicked them until they were all really pissed off, then locked them in a room with a target. He once threw a javelin into his target and it was then struck by lightning. He once bit a guy’s forehead off and held him down while he bled to death. He’s basically not a nice guy.

I didn’t really have any big plan with this one. I wanted another street-level hitman type, and the name just came to me, then I drew this guy. Maybe he runs afoul of Marv Thinker on some case, why not?

Club Man

Conrad was a young construction worker who fell off a roof, but the ground he hit wasn’t the pavement below. Somehow, Conrad fell into a dimensional tear leading to Ogretropolis, a city for ogres. With no way to return home, Conrad had to fend for himself in that strange town, eventually finding a job as an exterminator (his relatively small size helped him get into areas the big ogres couldn’t and he fight the dog-sized insectoid pests). When he had made enough money, Conrad was finally able to pay a magician to send him home. Back on Earth, Conrad realized he had grown stronger and his enchanted club was more powerful than most Earth-material. With these advantages, it was easy for Club Man to continue cleaning up pests, but this time it is the criminal variety that is on the receiving end of his wallopings.

I’ve always been drawn to big dumb good guy characters. There’s something I relate to in the fellow who is strong and stupid as an ox, but it still a decent guy. I feel like that character was all over the place in my youth, but is less common now. I’m not at all surprised by the conventional “twist” on the trope by having the big guy also be smart, that happens all the time now, so I just wanted to harken back to the lovable dumb strong guy.

Wizardog

Who is a good dog? Wizardog is! Yes he is!

With mystic powers passed down from the ages, Wizardog protects mankind from various threats and creatures from Realms Beyond. Intelligent enough to communicate with humans, Wizardog doesn’t bother, with the exception of little Maggie Bronson, his owner. Wizardog wages his war in secret, expecting nothing in return, except a scratch behind the ears at the end of the day.

Super Animals are one of those elements of superhero comics that some people don’t like. As with all the other weird stuff I’ve mentioned over the course of this year, I think super animals can be done well. I won’t be happy until we get Krypto in a Superman movie. It’s a shame Hollywood hates me so much. (It’s not a superhero comic, but an excellent example of pets fighting supernatural stuff would be Beasts of Burden. Read that thing.)