To end this calendar year, I am going back to the “Superfluous Sunday” idea, where I take minor characters from existing PDR stories and flesh them out more.

Zoftak

Zoftak is a space cop. He often works undercover (such as when he posed as Space Pirate “Zoftak the Mighty”). While the Space Army has been able to relax since the end of the war against the Flartians, there is still plenty of Space Crime to keep Zoftak busy.

Since last we saw Zoftak, the powerful cop has been infiltrating a galaxy-spanning robot-smuggling syndicate. The rules of the Space Government lay down some very clear restrictions on the use of robots and how they are allowed to be spread about to various worlds, but some scofflaws just don’t care about that. Zoftak, posing as a bodyguard to a particularly scummy trader, has been gathering information to bring them down, but has just been hit with a major curveball: the biggest stolen robot shipment Zoftak has ever seen was just made, and the buyer was none other than the Chief of Space Police. If corruption goes that high up the ladder, who can Zoftak trust?

Churg

Churg is an immigrant from the Underground Kingdom of Mederex to SecGov City. Life in that underground realm is not great for Lizard People, so even though Churg was a highly respected medic among his people, he still thought it better to take his family above-ground, to the Robot city where he was convinced he could help more people while shaking off the shackles that would have held his children. But SecGov City wasn’t so kind to Churg and his kin. The robots there, already primed to think that Mederex’s citizens are primitive and the Lizard People most of all, found that this guy who had no money was hardly likely to be useful in any kind of medical field. Still, Churg persevered. He started a store where he could sell organic food to the few humans that existed in town (he had to import food for his own use anyway), and though it isn’t he life he wanted, he is making the most of it.

Churg was first seen on this page of Secret Government Robots.

Gus White

In the opposite of Gus’s situation, Gus White has left SecGov City to live in Mederex’s Kingdom, where he has been given a position as a Baron by Mederex, and gets to live in his own subterranean cave/castle. Though there is a Baroness (popularly known as the Black Baroness), Gus does not see much of her. She does her own thing, while Gus works mostly as a representative of either SecGov or Mederex’s Kingdom to the other group. Though the two forces remain at peace, there is always the chance things could go awry, so Gus deftly tries to make and keep allies in both locations, and across the other Secret Factions across the world. He is not trying greedily to gain power, but he is deathly afraid of losing what he has.

Gus made exactly one appearance in Secret Government Robots, turning up at a war meeting on this page.

Unable To Fly Man

Carlton G. Carlton is one of those superheroes with way so many powers that it isn’t fair for the bad guys. He’s got super strength, super speed, super senses, sonic screaming, ice beams, fire breath, lightning control, nigh invulnerability, telepathy, raygun reversal fields, invisibility, ghost-smelling, phasing, the ability to talk to animals, turn undead, water knowledge, recipe summoning, computer affinity, cloud loyalty, emotion vision, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

But he can’t do everything. Carlton is completely unable to fly (he also can’t hover or levitate or even super-jump). When it comes to getting off the ground, Carlton is just out of luck. Still, in spite of this terrible problem holding him back, he has made good of his life. He is now the leader of the Team of Superheroes, and though he does worry a bit too much about public opinion of the team, he gets to help them do a lot of good.

If I’d been better at drawing comics, my plan had been to do a story of Hover Head and friends every couple years, but it hasn’t worked out that way. Still, I have mentally fleshed out the characters a lot and hope to get back to them at some point.

Hey, we’re nearing the end of this year, and I think we can finally stop doing new alien species every week. So today I’ll throw everything I have left at the Super Sunday. It’s some new species, some revisited old species, and even some Superfluous Sunday expansion of detail for existing characters. I’m just going to burn through the remaining alien character sketches that I haven’t used and that will be that.

Nuffn

Nuffn is a Hk’Lennsr, from a strange dimension of different physical characteristics. Nuffin’s progenitors were killed in an accident and now Nuffn devotes all their time to preventing other such accidents from occurring. It’s a noble cause, but Nuffn’s friends are getting sick of hearing about it.
Universe: N/A

Glpbb

Glpbb is a Pllvm who was once insulted by Little Choy. After that incident, he did not have the nerve to go back to school and instead got a job at an advertising company on a colony world. Maybe his life is better? It’s different at least.
Universe: Green

Planet Sleck

Sleck is and entire planet. Or, at least, the primordial ooze that has come to live on this world, which has gained intelligence and a strong hive-mind capability. So while it may just be slime or gunk, it covers the entire surface of its planet with one mind. It knows how to manipulate its weather to take in sunlight when it needs it, and obscure it when it doesn’t. It has yet to encounter any life beyond itself, but it is smart and might be able to find a way to communicate if it ever did.
Universe: Grey

Perritayn

Perritayn is a Strondovarian who works on the species’s most enormous undertaking, the creation of a new planet. Perritayn’s job is somewhere between security guard and exterminator, being to prevent the spread of unwanted lifeforms on the artificial world.
Universe: Blue

Lartopo

Lartopo is the sidekick of the Universe Wizard called Goolo. Lartopo doesn’t have any magical powers, but is pretty good at dealing with people, which is helpful in the quest to repair the damage done by evil Universe Wizards, since a lot of planets are now very untrustworthy of magic in general. Lartopo considers Goolo a good friend, but apart from that is along for the quest just for the fun of it.
Universe: Brown

Thul General

Given no name as we would understand it, the Thul General is merely a general in the Thul army. The Thul army is that which serves the powerful cosmic entity known as Thul’Hamaya (the same being the Efmon family worships as Thalamaya). As is typical of such beings, the Thul General hates any beings that don’t worship Thul’Hamaya and wants their complete destruction. Leading an army of thousands, the General prepares from the next war, in whichever universe that may take place.
Universe: Beyond Local Multiverse

Oppressar

The cosmically-powered tyrant called Oppressar is the powerful ruler of the Bronze Zone and cares about little else than making sure those beneath him suffer tremendously. He has vast armies serving his every whim (including the human Dr. Zarkad), but he is not unopposed in his rule, however. His former servant Bludgeonak leads a resistance force. Oppressar doesn’t mind the opposition, though, as it gives him an excuse to engage in ever more cruel methods of oppression.
Universe: The Bronze Zone

Buttsy

Buttsy is a member of a species whose name we can’t pronounce because it requires two mouths. Buttsy works for the Space Alliance of Piano Repairers, but is actually a double agent trying to bring them down from the inside.
Universe: Bronze

And I think that’s enough for today. Expanding my fictional multiverse by exploring alien species has been fun for me, but I think now that I’ve got so much breadth to work in, it is time to start filling things in. Aliens will turn up again, of course, but from now on, let us check out some smaller-scale ideas.

In the past I have done Super Sunday profiles for characters who have already turned up somewhere in one of my stories, but who I wanted to flesh out a bit more. I called them Superfluous Sundays and this week I am doing it with aliens:

Plasglack

Plasglack was the king of his entire species during the era of Earth’s history that was called the Bronze Age. For the most part, he was a wise and level-headed ruler, taught since birth in the ways of fair governance. But upon taking over the active role as king, he found out about the humans. Man, the humans were jerks. He couldn’t help but want to destroy them. Apart from that one indiscretion, though, Plasglack’s reign was considered a fine one and his descendants rule the world to this day.
Universe: Bronze

I’ve never mentioned it anywhere (because nobody but me cares), but the stories I have written that are set in “the Bronze Age” are actually the history of the Earth in Universe Bronze. This includes “Whence Scabies“, the story in which Plasglack appeared.

Wise Alien Master

Now known as the Wise Alien Master, Gurbessy Choible was not always so wise. For most of Gurbessy’s life she was a shiftless loser, not good at making herself happy, nor anyone else. It was only after a near-death experience that she devoted herself to meditation and attained inner peace, which she now hopes to spread by teaching others.
Universe: Bronze

The Wise Alien Master was seen in this little comic, but actually first appeared in his less pleasant days playing cards at a bar in this Space Army comic. I’ve also never come right out and said this, but Universe Bronze, which is home to the likes of the Hover Head comics and the Space Army comics. The latter being sci-fi adventures, one might think they are set in the distant future. But no, the Space Army stories take place in the era I made them (the 90s) but are just set in the cosmos while things on Earth is less advanced. There’s a whole reason for this that I hope to get to someday, but we’ll see how that goes.

Kurdiflax

Kurdiflax is a Toborian man who attended Jorbos Nine High School and has since made a name for himself in the Jorbos system as an interplanetary good shipper. It isn’t glamorous work, but it pays the bills and Kurdiflax is happy with that because it gives him the chance to focus on his family.
Universe: Indigo

I dropped Universe Indigo into the list after I did the most recent overview of PDR Universes, but it is not a new one. It is the universe that my character Jhad O’Leary lives in. I had planned (and hopefully still plan) on doing more Jhad stories, but never got beyond “Jhad O’Leary’s Cry For Help“, which is where Kurdiflax appeared. That sci-fi tale actually is set in the future, but all the aliens I’ve introduced to Universe Indigo via Super Sunday are set in the present, therefore existing before that story. It may see confusing, but just remember, nobody but me has to care.

The “Supernatural Sunday” theme has been going on for more than a year now, so I think it is time to switch things up. But before we get into the next year’s theme, I will do another superfluous post of characters that aren’t even new:

Zappo

Mike Titus was a regular, ordinary young man who got caught in a science accident that gave him electricity-based superhuman powers. In Zappo’s world full of superheroes, this was not that uncommon an occurrence. It’s been known to happen. Following the examples of all the other people it happened to, he crafted a superhero persona for himself and got to fighting crime.

When I was in elementary school, I created Zappo. Drawing him at the time, his face looked like the mask he wears as I draw him now. Just inexplicable Bart Simpson-spikes on his head. I don’t know why I did it that way, but I think this mask at least makes sense of it. It would be very important to Zappo stories that he is not very powerful. A lot of superhero comics try to do stories with underdogs where the lesson seems to be “you might actually be the most powerful hero of all” and I hate that. It may go against a core tenet of superhero comics, but I don’t equate physical power with worth. Zappo would have some minor electrical powers and that’s it.

Also, we must never forget that a frog was also caught in the science accident and it also gained powers and it is now Zappo’s pet and he calls it Zap-Frog.

Clownsassin

The Clownsassin is the still-living spirit of a human who abandoned their birth-body to take on the forms of other people. Atypically for such people, when the Clownsassin takes on a new body, it immediately begins to get dressed like a clown and then go on a killing spree. Gotta have a hobby, after all.

The Clownsassin has made some cameo appearances in Secret Government Robots, including the currently running final storyline. I wouldn’t usually do a Super Sunday post for a currently-appearing character, but I wanted to talk about the origin of the Clownsassin. If it isn’t obvious from how often I mention finding information about characters in “my notes” dating back all the way to when I was in elementary school, I think up a lot of ideas but don’t follow through on stories as often as I ought. One of those things was to be “Wizard Ghosts”. They were meant to be a big part of a bunch of PDR stories, but they just sat in my head as I failed to tell those stories. And then, around 2008, the webcomic Dr. McNinja by Chris Hastings introduced Ghost Wizards (that image is from a later story). These Ghost Wizards were way cooler than my Wizard Ghosts, who were just magic users who had no permanent physical form of their own. I didn’t completely abandon the idea, Wizard Ghosts are mentioned a few times in Secret Government Robots, but I felt like I had to lessen their role. After literally years of internal debate (as I said, these things take a long time for me), I decided I can still use the ideas and just not call them Wizard Ghosts anymore. That is the term that SecGov uses for them, but they don’t call themselves that.

Muscle King Grotorr

On planet Deltoi, everyone is tough. You may think you’ve met some tough people here on Earth, but you are wrong. The Deltoids can slap rocks into dust, jump into orbit, and shrug off explosions. They are a warrior people who find all reasons to fight among each other and other reasons to attack other worlds. And strongest of them all is Grotorr. This is most fortunate, because Grotorr is a peaceful king, more likely to save other worlds from disaster than to conquer. Also, he has a gold tooth. There are Deltoids who crave violent invasions of weaker species, but Grotorr won’t allow it. After all, if those species are so weak, they wouldn’t be enjoyable to fight. Since no other species (that remains) is stupid enough to try to invade Deltoi, the only fights Grotorr gets that are worthy are would-be usurpers.

Grotorr appeared in a single Hover Head strip. I couldn’t pass up the chance to make that character into something bigger now could I? I picture Deltoid society being like the Saiyans on Dragonball. And not even what Saiyans are actually like, but what I assume they are like based on my limited knowledge. They fly around space with no ships and fight each other in world-shattering combat that takes hours.

Because it is the holidays, and I feel like doing something different, I am giving myself the present of world-building.Today I do not give sketches of new characters, but characters who have appeared in minor capacities elsewhere on this site that I am now going to flesh out more.

Dr. Greenclothes

Dr. Greenclothes is his world’s foremost scientific mind. He is also an exceptionally badass adventurer. Always expanding the horizons of his knowledge, Greenclothes has delved into trap-filled ancient tombs, fought aliens on other worlds, mentally communicated with minds in other realities, and much more. He doesn’t plan on stopping his search for truths until someone sufficiently badass can stop him.

Doctor Greenclothes appeared in this comic here. I still vividly remember that strip’s creation. It was like “I want to draw something. I’ll make a head, draw some clothes, okay those are green clothes. Who would wear green clothes? Dr. Greenclothes, of course. What would be be doing? Public service announcement? Okay…” and so on. As you can see, he came into shape as if his existence was just a given. I took that as a sign that he was important, so he got a cameo mention thing in one page of a Hover Head story and he will return if I ever get around to doing more HH stuff.

Timelion

Metaphorically, it all starts in the Beginning. If we consider Time as a river, the Beginning is the waterfall from which it flows. Next to this symbolic waterfall is a castle. That castle was where the Timelion lived. Symbolically. Timelion was king of the Time Jungles, and was a just king, but one day, the Timelion’s evil brother, the Timevulture, overthrew him. They fought on the roof of the castle, the Timelion losing when he was kicked off the roof, and into the river below.

The Timelion then had to deal with existing. Once he was in the timestream, he was no longer an idea, but an actual solid thing. Shaped into the form of a man-lion by the stories told about him, he now has no way to return to his metaphorical Beginnings. Luckily, some of his loyal followers have followed him into reality in a Timeship called the Moment’s Notice. The Timelion now travels through the ages seeking some way to wrest time from his wicked brother’s control, having all sorts of adventures along the way.

Timelion first appeared here. Unlike Greenclothes, where I the character appeared and I built him up in my head, Timelion was a more thought-out idea that I decided to introduce in a stupidly minor form because that is the sort of thing that amuses me to do. Admittedly, Timelion stories are pretty low on my priorities list.

Speedfeet

In Hell, life kinda sucks.

One particular demon hated it there, and made no secret of it. He lodged formal complaints, and tried to start petitions to get things changed. His whining got on everyone’s nerves, though some agreed with him deep down. Eventually the demon in question decided to take matters into his own hands and liven up the place with some plants. Pretty soon after that, he was kicked out. Using all of his mystical energies, the demon became Speedfeet, approximating the human form as best he could. He came to Earth to find a more fulfilling life. Turns out, that’s a lot easier on Earth than it is in Hell. After making a friend in Joe Gamolli, Speedfeet now runs a mildly successful flower shop.

Speedfeet was introduced in a strange Christmas story I whipped up in the Contains2 days. I don’t expect I’ll need to tell more stories with the character, but for world-building reasons, I am noting that he, and Joe Gamolli, are present on the same world as Mythologikelly.

C.W.

C.W. is a Fundroon. Fundroons are an alien race of shapeshifters. C.W. tends to forget he can change his shape, because he is a lot more happy just shooting.

Leaving his homeworld at a pretty early age, C.W. was attracted to the Space Army by his love of weapons. The Space Army, a pangalactic agency that welcomed beings from all worlds and species, stationed C.W. on their proud flagship, the name of which would embarrassingly be translated into English as “The Stinky Saucer”. Many adventures were had, but when the Space Army had successfully mapped out the entire universe and created a mostly-lasting peace, the Stinky Saucer and its crew were given a much-needed chance to rest. C.W. drifted back into civilian life, but never really knew what to do with himself. Still considering guns his favorite thing, he became a thug for hire, working bodyguard jobs and doing private eye gigs. Eventually, though, he got a call from his former captain, Farniconigon, who had a new mission for him. A mission that could bring him… to Earth.

C.W. was, for some reason unknown to me, the character in my Space Army comics who had most stuck with me. We haven’t seen the last of this guy if I can help it.