My World : Titan Khan

When C.H.I.E.F.'s Hong Kong bureau chief Bruce Yee (yes, he's heard all the jokes a million times) contacted Captain Satellite asking for assistance about a "problem" he had encountered, he didn't dare elaborate further. Why? Because he had uncovered a sinister plot against the hero masterminded by Asia's newest and deadliest crimelord, Titan Khan.

Titan Khan is an enigma. He first surfaced in Macau, but has been sighted all over Asia. He refers to himself as "Khan", but his garb recalls that of the samurai of Japan. No one knows his true nationality, or whether he is even Asian. He has demonstrated fluency in over a dozen languages, but his "voice" in each is different and clearly mechanically-processed. Shelly Ericson suggested that he sounded like he was "badly dubbed."

Captain Satellite, Shelly Ericson, and Bruce Yee managed to overcome Titan Khan and his confederates, but it was a monumental task. They even confiscated one of his fearsome Fire Swords, but it's a sure bet that the crimelord has more to go with the vast array of weapons installed in every inch of his armor. Titan Khan's current whereabouts are unknown, but it seems certain he will return one day.


While going through my old drawings looking for ideas, I came across an apparent one-off character named "The Mighty Kahn" (sic). This particular guy had a fire sword and horns, but was otherwise pretty generic. Still, he set some wheels in motion regarding an angle I'd wanted to pursue.

Since I am interested in Asian culture, I had been looking into ways to do something in Captain Satellite that incorporated that influence. With my old character in hand, I developed something new and ever-so-slightly more sophisticated. Basing him on photos of samurai armor I have in my personal collection, the end product had the colorful name Titan Khan.

Titan Khan's backstory owes a great deal to martial arts films, and hopefully provides an intriguing narrative hook. This is one of those instances where I felt what the character did was more interesting than how he came about, so there is no proper origin.

I usually rely on primary colors for my palette, but with Titan Khan, I pulled the shades used directly off my photo references. It gives him a whole different look from most of the characters of this setting, and I think makes him distinctive.