The Devil Queen from Outer Space

Descending to Earth in a UFO that looks like a ball of flame, the Devil Queen from Outer Space is Queen Malefactra, an archmonarch of evil with a desire to conquer the human race and set up a hell on Earth. With an army of sci-fi devilry (robots made of skeletons, laser pitchforks, etc.), she has the means to do it!

When she’s not actively trying to conquer the world, Malefactra is a temptress looking to make deals. At the cost of your immortal soul, she can use her nano-magic to make your dreams come true, though it always seems to find some way to make sure it also furthers her own cause.

This was just an attempt at designing a character with that sense of fun that I think superhero comics need to embrace. The theatrics of hell symbolism and the grandeur of outer space invaders seem like a perfect fit for superheroes.

Flood

Alphonse Gordon was one of the founding members of the Strange Squad. In the 1960s the group was assembled from a group of scientists who had been mutated from experiments. Flood had accidentally transferred his consciousness into a body of water, which he soon learned to control and animate. Though he did the heroism thing with the Strange Squad, it was only for the money, so when someone else offered more money, he happily accepted and left the team. Though, deep down, he admits he seems to have lost out considering that the team has gone on to be an internationally successful organization and he is just a criminal for hire, he takes it in stride and continues working for whoever is willing to pay.

Another very easily drawn character. I would assume that being a living puddle would suck.

Cut-Up

Cut-Up is a part time superhero, part time stand up comedian. His career in comedy began before the other one, in fact he was working at a small club in New York when he was one of dozens of people caught in an explosion caused by a supervillains doomsday machine malfunctioning. Some people were killed, some were wounded, but this comedian was instead changed: He found that he could transform any part of his body at will into blades or spikes. His minor celebrity and his newfound powers combined to lead him into the circle of superhuman celebrities (shapeshifting actors, cyborg stunt-men, super-strong wrestlers, etc.) but he found his experiences with them to be hollow or soul-numbing. It wasn’t until he met some actual superheroes and saw how they used their powers that he really understood what he could do with his life. He joined the Strange Squad and has served with them ever since, but not without taking time to do stand-up.

Cut-Up is another one of those superheroes I created as a kid. At some point I wrote down the name and the idea that he was a comedian, then did a little doodle (Cut-Up had hair then, but I figure he is older now). The decision to have him be a member of the Strange Squad was also I have to stress that if I ever made a comic with the Strange Squad, Cut-Up would definitely not be tossing wisecracks and acting wacky in the style of the “funny” members that every superhero team seems to have. Cut-Up would be dry and sarcastic, sure, but no more so than anyone else. I don’t seem to have ever given Cut-Up a real name as a kid, and I still haven’t.

Monstora

Monstora is the child of a monster and a heroic monster hunter who realized that they had more in common than they thought. She doesn’t know that, though, having been raised in an orphanage after her parents realized that they also had a lot that was not in common, then killed each other. Now called Carla Smith, she does not know the origin of her ability to transform parts of herself into monster-forms, but so far she finds it quite fun. Having used her powers to help people in her small town, she is making a name for herself as a superhero, but she has also caught the notice of a family of monsters who recognize the energy signature of the powers, and the notice of an ancient order of monster hunters who investigate such sightings. Now both of those groups are coming to that small town and Monstora will have a lot on her plate.

Monstora is one I made up on the spot. I basically just drew a hero with weird monster limbs and had to come up with something to do with that. Done.

Bludgeonak

There is dimension called the Bronze Zone where there is a world ruled by an evil, powerful warlord called Oppressar. Oppressar holds power with the help of an army of pseudo-mechanical henchmen created from a cosmic-energy factory on the planet’s moon. But during a time of special celestial alignment one of the henchmen was created with more energy than was intended, making it smarter and stronger than its brethren. That henchman, designated Bludgeonak, saw Oppressar for the evil he is and escaped. Now Bludgeonak sides with the scattered rebels who live in the underground tunnels of the Exiled Gods of the Bronze Zone.

I was definitely going for a Jack Kirby vibe with this one (specifically his later crazy cosmic stories). Obviously as I am, at best, a reluctant artist, I don’t think I am fit to hold a candle to Kirby, but I couldn’t commit to a year of superhero creation without visiting his style. Bludgeonak was a character made up on the spot at the time of sketching, and his story made up on the spot again at the time of writing this. I don’t know why I decided to go with the headless torso kind of design (maybe I was thinking of Arnim Zola), but those circles on his chest are supposed to be his eyes. For the record, I’m picturing a color scheme of bright oranges and red mixed with black.

Brain Pain

When J. Paul Dean was born, he seemed like an ordinary child, but as he grew older it was clear that something was wrong. While his body grew rapidly, surpassing a normal adult size by the time he was ten years old, his head never changed from its original infant size and appearance. And apart from the physical aspect, there was something else: he could read minds. In his late teens, he was contacted by the Mind Set, a loose community of mind-powered individuals who gave him a home and helped him adjust to society.

Now, as an adult, Brain Pain has become an adventurer working with the Strange Squad. He’s something of a celebrity superhero, appearing in television interviews and getting book deals. Perhaps most importantly: when he goes into dangerous situations, he wears a helmet.

Brain Pain is one of the characters I thought up as a kid (which is also my excuse for the name). The whole tiny head and massive muscles thing was supposed to be a twist on the frail telepaths with big heads that are the more common formula. It’s just clever enough that it stuck around in my memory.

With the power to create an unbreakable sphere of pure force around himself, Forcefieldo is a member of the Strange Squad, the world’s foremost superhuman explorers. When not on missions with the Miami-based superhero team, he returns to his home in Nairobi to fight crime there.

Forcefieldo is a pretty generic superhero. That is kind of the point, though. Forcefieldo is a Kenyan, but that is not represented at all in his superhero identity. Far, far too often in comics when a character is from any country other than America, or any ethnicity other than white, they’re some stereotype. There are exceptions obviously, especially as time goes on and more characters are created, but, man, it’s crazy how many not-exceptions there are. So anyway, this is my attempt to add one more to the exception pile.

For the record (there’s a record, right?), Forcefieldo and the Strange Squad are both from my old notes. The Strange Squad in particular was my Fantastic Four rip-off team, though my version progressed from the 60s to the present (well, the 90s, which was the present at the time) and recruited new members as others came and went. Forcefieldo joined the team in the 90s. I’ll probably have more Strange Squad characters show up this year, since reaching into my notes will usually be quicker than thinking up someone new.