CONCLUDED - Our Heroes come home from the Doom Bear Land! Coming soon,
the sequel, as Powernaut 1992 continues with Romance and Death!
http://www.eilertech.com/stories/powernaut/1992.htm#13
... Time for the Author's Notes!
The schedule has big plans for 1992. The Doom Bear comes first, because
his story actually ends here. (For the then-foreseeable future.) This is
no secret to the experienced reader of Powernaut Comics, because the
2014 comic reveals this. Yet as the editor of this Powernaut Comics in
1992, I have labeled this episode for what it is: Return of the Doom Bear!
The many hirelings of Ellipsis were inspired by their various creators.
But they fit well into 1990s comics - and into a certain role-playing
campaign. As I recall, there were at least seven heroes ready to
confront the Doom Bear. I have edited out one "Super-Jew" whose powers
were about the same as Crusher Joe Corrigan. Also, "Angora" who would
actually have been good at breaking superhumans out from captivity, if
only I had acknowledged that at the time. (Her replacement character for
a high-power campaign became Vara Hosea.) Also one "Doc Help", likewise,
but he usually declined hazards. The "wow, Another Possession" comment
comes from the campaign, based on tournament role-playing which the
players had just come from. (They said, "Jessica Incident".)
Leo deserves special mention... Later Powernaut Comics (though published earlier) show him with human form early in his career, feline features
after his time of further transformation, and vampire features after
that. But Powernaut 1992 shows him with feline features, because it is
natural to draw him that way. The adventures which would decide that,
are all unpublished. Note that Fractal Time was having an outbreak in
1992, according to the 2005 map. With that and all the reality shifts
he's been through, anything goes for Leo in 1992. (Short of vampirism,
which is known to have come later.)
Likewise, the exact pictoral details of the downfall of the Doom Bear
may differ between 1992 and 2014. Honestly, in any comic book world, it
would be amazing if any flashback got all the details right.
The "second string" Happy Bears were inspired by the role-playing
campaign. Megaphone had just shot one of his mega-weapons (probably the
Fuel Air Demo which was practically his battle cry). Every bear had fled
except for Slow Bear, Stupid Bear, and Suicidal Bear. (As Gamemaster, I
said that in passing.) I have stayed true to that incident, only I have introduced Senile Bear 'cause I needed a fourth.
* I can relate to Senile Bear now. Indeed, I colored him the same color
as my beard, and I gave him a walking stick much like one of my own. 8{D>
* I gave some thought to the other bears' colors too; I asked the
Internet what colors go with Slow, Stupid, and Suicidal. They came up
with traffic signs, a color named "Stupidity" which came close to the
Doom Bear Realm background color for this comic, and a suicide awareness ribbon. Well then...! I tried to get appropriate chest symbols from the Internet as well: a Slow Vehicle symbol, a lack of thought, and a noose.
* Public Service Announcement: Suicidal Bear is not some goth creature,
he's just a different shade from Lucky Bear. He is a survivor of
suicide, and he's not alone; not all suicides succeed. But oddly, he's
the best adjusted bear for when evil overcomes his world. If you know
people like Suicidal Bear, it seems to be best to occasionally share
things they like but otherwise treat them normally. And maybe thank them
for being alive.
* Baby Nuke Bear is first published here, but has been around almost as
long as the Doom Bear himself. Baby Nuke Bear just didn't make it into role-playing games, because those were busy enough. Hence, how the
Powernaut takes care of that for Total Conversion.
I feel that the surprise star of this series is Christine Lassiter. She
shines through in the final strips, sorting out some soap-opera stuff.
Then she bows out, in favor of Paula Page for Powernaut 1992 Episode 2 -
which is already undergoing plotting. If only I could offer her anything
better than a team-up with Pizza Fu after that...!
(signed) Scott Eiler, 11 October 2021.
--
-- (signed) Scott Eiler 8{D> ------
http://www.eilertech.com/ -------
"Your Royal Highness, instead of devoting yourself exclusively
to Minerva, should, instead, rather offer sacrifice at the altars
of Bacchus, Orpheus, Venus, and Morpheus."
- Advice to Prince Duarte of Portugal. From "The golden age of
Prince Henry the Navigator", by Joaquim Pedro Oliveira Martins.
Coming soon to Project Gutenberg.
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