Showing posts with label behind the scenes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label behind the scenes. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

What Sort of Man Reads Captain Satellite: Number Zero?


What Sort of Man Reads Captain Satellite: Number Zero?

Photograph of the present author with a copy of Captain Satellite Number Zero. Front cover art by Wandering Kotka. Originally posted March 14, 2011.

Featuring Captain Satellite and Shelly Ericson.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Pete


Pete

I didn't know his name was Pete the entire time we were friends. I only knew him by the username "Bastard-Bird" on DeviantArt. It was an ironic moniker, because BB (as I usually called him) wasn't a bastard to me, or indeed to anyone as far as I could tell.

We crossed paths in 2015 when he did some fan art of one of my characters. This led to our commenting on each other's work, and eventually he asked for my input on a project that stretched into three weeks. Don't get me wrong - I loved every second of it! Pete's art was quirky and wonderful, but what was truly amazing was how he was able to map out multiple universes inside his head. His talent and creativity were both off the charts. It just seemed like he never quite believed it.

Pete Kowal, aka Bastard-Bird, passed away on July 13, 2016. The last words he wrote on his DeviantArt account were:

I'm leaving the page and entries up in case anyone wants to take a crack at it.

I've thought a lot about that statement. And the truth is, I could never continue BB's stories. My mind doesn’t operate the way his did. "Wayward Earth" was so uniquely his that I could not possibly pick up all the strings it entailed. His detours into other stories and universes were equally colored by his own perspective. That perspective is something no one could duplicate.

But what I can do is make sure that BB's legacy lives on through my own means. You will be seeing a tribute piece based on his work in the very near future. There's already a character in my profiles who owes an enormous debt to his design sense. As long as the Owariverse endures, Pete will be a part of its canon.

There's also the art. BB's fan art will be appearing here beginning in 2020. I also plan to present non-Owariverse art that I either helped facilitate or that I just plain want to include here. It's all fluid, because I often am making this up as I go.

In all honesty, I barely knew him. Yet I still think about him and miss him terribly. All I can do now is honor his memory by making sure his work still has an audience and is not forgotten.

Bastard-Bird Gallery at DeviantArt

Obituary for Peter M. Kowal III

If you need to talk for whatever reason, or just need someone to listen, call 1-800-273-8255.

*EDITOR'S NOTE: The image accompanying this entry is a larger version of the image BB used as an avatar on DeviantArt. The present author has no idea why he chose it, or whether it was supposed to resemble BB in any fashion. It had previously represented a strictly non-autobiographical character at any rate. Art © estate of Pete Kowal.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Story Chronology

Story Chronology

The following list records the original posting dates on DeviantArt (or elsewhere) for all current stories and related images. These dates are for the ORIGINAL version. Most have been modified since their original posting.

"The City of Clocks" - August 9, 2015

"Ninja Chief" - July 27, 2015

"Shelly's Story"
Part 1 - April 12, 2010
Part 2 - April 12, 2010
Part 3 - April 12, 2010
Part 4 - April 13, 2010
Part 5 - April 13, 2010

"The Stone Gods" - August 6, 2015

"WrestleMayhem"
Part 1 - July 20, 2015
Part 2 - July 21, 2015
Part 3 - July 22, 2015

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Profile Picture Chronology

Profile Picture Chronology

The following list records the original posting dates on DeviantArt for all current profile pictures. These dates are for the ORIGINAL version of each picture. Several pictures have been slightly modified since their original posting.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

  • Captain Satellite - October 20, 2014
  • Shelly Ericson - October 22, 2014

ALLIES & ADVERSARIES:

A-B
  • The Albino Ant - May 13, 2015
  • Amazing Girl - July 13, 2015
  • The Astro-Giants - April 29, 2015
  • Pat August - December 29, 2014
  • Karma Bando - June 14, 2015
  • "Handsome" Jack Barker - January 22, 2019
  • Hugo Beaumont - November 24, 2014
  • Black Widow - September 21, 2015
  • Blue Behemoth - January 23, 2015
  • The Burger-Meister - August 2, 2015

C-D
  • Cat-Man & Kitten - June 6, 2015
  • Kenta Chiba - January 22, 2019
  • C.H.I.E.F. & Rex Coronado - January 18, 2015
  • Clankotron - June 19, 2015
  • The Deacon & Mickey Matthews - June 11, 2015
  • Whitney DeKalb - June 16, 2015
  • Devil Dynamite - December 22, 2014
  • Disco Ball - June 21, 2015
  • Dr. Macabre - July 19, 2015
  • Doppelgirl - July 2, 2015
  • Drone Man - January 28, 2015

E-F
  • Elektroid - February 10, 2015
  • Enemy Alien - March 26, 2015
  • General Lee R. Falgout - January 21, 2019
  • Albert Fannick - February 12, 2015
  • Howard Fein - February 23, 2015
  • Firegirl - January 30, 2015
  • Gabrielle Fitzgerald - June 4, 2015

G-L
  • Gargantua Maximus - April 19, 2015
  • Girago - February 24, 2015
  • Hellbat - August 15, 2015
  • The Human Owl - January 22, 2019
  • Invincible Alliance - February 16, 2015
  • Junior Satellite Patrol (Ray Wood & Dara Green) - August 4, 2015
  • Killer Invisible - October 12, 2015 (as "Killer Volt")
  • Lord Zaur - May 18, 2015

M
  • Macro Warriors - March 16, 2015
  • Dick Major - July 8, 2015
  • The Masked Menace - June 30, 2015
  • Mr. Metal - June 23, 2015
  • Muscle Woman - July 14, 2015
  • Muttnik the Satellite Dog & Boris Petrenko - December 8, 2014 (solo Muttnik)/January 22, 2019 (Muttnik with Boris)
  • The Mystery Spaceman - June 28, 2015

N-S
  • The Neptoids - March 18, 2015
  • The Phantom Rogue - November 26, 2014
  • Princess Nikatonia - July 17, 2015
  • Professor Craneo - March 7, 2016
  • The Psychedelic Man - November 27, 2014
  • Kimber Rachelle - April 7, 2015
  • Red Taiyo - June 8, 2015
  • The Scarys - January 21, 2019
  • The Science Brigade (aka Kagaku Ryodan) - September 6, 2015
  • Sultura - June 25, 2015
  • The Sun Men - July 6, 2015

T
  • Nicola Tanihara - May 24, 2015
  • Third World - November 5, 2014
  • Third World Boys Auxiliary - October 6, 2015
  • Third World Japan Branch (aka Dai San Sekai) - August 28, 2015
  • Third World Leader - November 18, 2014
  • Thunder Man - March 22, 2015
  • Titan Khan - May 28, 2015
  • Tregaa the Tree Thing - May 5, 2015
  • Debbie Truman - January 22, 2019
  • Joe Truman - July 4, 2015
  • Tex Truman - June 2, 2015

U-Z
  • Ultimate American - February 6, 2015
  • Urban Nightmare - January 20, 2015
  • Dr. Sandor Varkoff - April 13, 2015
  • Velvet Verity - May 16, 2015
  • Viking Star - July 23, 2015
  • The Volcano Monsters - July 10, 2015
  • Ivan Walters - January 21, 2019
  • Basil Whittaker - December 1, 2014
  • Zoragaza the Mystic - June 29, 2015

Saturday, May 4, 2019

History of Captain Satellite - Part 3

History of Captain Satellite - Part 3

When we last left this series, it was April 2007. I had just created a massive multi-character picture which incorporated many Captain Satellite-related heroes and villains. So naturally, the next appearance of Cap in my DeviantArt gallery was...August 2007?!??


So...what happened? Well, I suppose I should first explain the title and rationale for the piece seen here. "Passing the Torch" was posted on August 12, 2007. Its original intent was to signal a transition in my gallery. You see, since that crowd scene from last time, I had been concentrating heavily on my childhood characters. By August, I was finally ready to get to the Captain Satellite-themed crew.

I say "original intent" because this picture took on a greater significance as time passed. Though they occupied me a lot during the summer of 2007, my "Legion" characters from elementary school faded into the background from this point forward. They never quite went away, but this was the last time they ever took center stage in my imagination.

As it turned out, August was optimistic about the Captain Satellite era beginning. I didn't start posting individual characters until October 2007. There were a total of sixteen pieces uploaded through December of that year. Many of them had proto- versions of the profiles, but I was just as likely to give no background at all besides explaining the creative process. It was still the early stages of this enterprise.

And then...silence. Sorta. I was still heavily involved in Return of Jetman during this period, so I turned my attention back to it in the hopes of completing the story still in progress. That didn't happen until 2010, and it's probably not a coincidence that was the same year Cap and company came roaring back to life.

I didn't forget Captain Satellite during 2008 and 2009, even though I had a lot of other things on my mind. There were a couple of projects which were planned, but never materialized. There's not much in the way of tangible evidence of them today, but trust me, they were real and could have been great. It's just that life had other plans...

Which takes us to 2010. This very blog had been in existence for a year, and I was looking for fresh content. I decided my superhero universe would be a good candidate for inclusion, and I began trotting out the 2007 stuff with a few tweaks here and there. This led to people asking me if I had something in mind for the characters now that I had dusted them off. Truthfully, I did not at the time, but the level of interest got me thinking.

What followed was some commissioned artwork, which led to another commission. Then I wrote the first prose story featuring Captain Satellite, conceived and completed in a single day. Before I knew it, I was writing more profiles and creating new characters and commissioning more art from extremely talented people. In a few months, the project was an actual project and even had a name coined in the comments of a blog entry - "the Owariverse."


(You can read the original entry, and these comments in their current formatting, at this link.)

This more or less wraps up the "history" portion of the Owariverse chronicles. Expect to see my vintage Owariverse art (2007-2012) in the months ahead. Meanwhile, just because this series has concluded, that doesn't mean there won't still be behind-the-scenes tales to tell.

THE END

Saturday, February 23, 2019

1986: Urban Nightmare

1986: Urban Nightmare

You can consider this a sidenote to the "History of Captain Satellite" series. Our subject today is Urban Nightmare. While there seems to be precious little art of the Nightmare prior to 2007, I do still possess his very first appearance.


The truly remarkable thing about this artifact is that I can put a date on it. You see, the full sheet of paper also includes a reference to the Steve Winwood song "Freedom Overspill" which was receiving radio airplay at the time. Since "Freedom Overspill" was released as a single in 1986, that surely places the Urban Nightmare's creation during that year, too.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Hero Machine: Shelly Ericson

As I mentioned during the on-going "History of Captain Satellite" series, tracing the evolution of my characters is not exactly a nice and neat straight line. Tonight, we're going to look at an almost-forgotten interlude in the development of Shelly Ericson. It didn't really have any impact on her character, but it demonstrates how long I had entertained certain ideas about her.

In 2001, I downloaded the "classic version" of Hero Machine. I played around with it for awhile and then lost interest. However, I never deleted it, and it was still sitting on a CD-R when I began to transfer all my old files to flash drive in late 2012/early 2013. Hiding within my Hero Machine folder was a sub-folder labeled "Characters" and among the files were a couple of early prototypes of Shelly Ericson!

(What of Captain Satellite? Good question. There was nothing for him in the sub-folder. I guess Hero Machine was deemed inadequate in visualizing Cap!)

I recreated the Shelly prototypes and then took screenshots of them so I could share them with the world. I'm compelled to mention that there were three, but Number Three looks to be the exact same Shelly as Number One so it has been omitted. What's truly amazing about these is that by August 28-29, 2001 (when these were originally done), I already had a clear concept of who I wanted Shelly to be and how I wanted her to look. It just took a few years and some helpful pointers from a couple of friends to get MY version of Shelly Ericson out in the world.


Saturday, February 16, 2019

The Making of "Shelly's Story"

The Making of "Shelly's Story"

The following is slightly revised from the original written on April 13, 2010.

And now, a few words about this particular change of pace.

I think I was in high school when I first decided that "Shelly's Story" would be a fun thing to do with Captain Satellite. The tale of Cap and Shelly's first meeting, and Shelly's subsequent job offer, are also elements which have been in my head for years. I even tried to set it down on paper once in college. But, it never clicked.

You can blame/credit [Wandering Kotka] for some of my inspiration. Since I started revisiting the Captain Satellite universe on my blog in January [2010], she has inquired a couple of times whether this was leading up to something. Well, in all honesty, no, it wasn't. I have commissioned her a couple of times with regards to that set of characters, but mostly, I was just looking for content for the blog. My little set of characters seemed like good fodder for that.

Still, I couldn't get the thought out of my head that maybe I should do something beyond the profiles (which are hilarious fun, don't get me wrong). On April 12, 2010, this story essentially wrote itself in my head at work. I had to take notes to make sure I hit the high points. This was one of those times when I couldn't get in front of the computer fast enough.

Personally, I'm proud of how this turned out. It took some fine-tuning, but I got it where I wanted it. I think it is true to the characters, and hits just the right balance in my approach. I attempted to write it in Shelly's "voice," and that was a challenge on a couple of levels.

This is sort of weird and vaguely surreal for me. After over 20 years, I've finally written an honest to goodness story with Captain Satellite and Shelly Ericson. As I've implied over the last couple of years, it's written from Shelly's perspective because she is the anchor to reality in Cap's world. But it's the origin of both of them, finally set down.

Gosh.

Saturday, February 9, 2019

History of Captain Satellite - Part 2

History of Captain Satellite - Part 2

I became a regular on the internet in February 2001, but this meant very little to Captain Satellite. I was busy with other things for those first few years, like Return of Jetman. The only true glimmer of activity with Cap was my use of his name as an alter ego for Livejournal. My LJ carried the title "Captain Satellite's Fun Fun Central" for most of its existence. At least I stopped signing the entries "Cap" after awhile...

The decision to have Captain Satellite proper make his public debut was not as momentous as it might seem like it should have been. I signed up for a DeviantArt account in 2004, but had no intention of posting art there. I changed my mind when some graphics I had posted were deleted. Rather than slinking off and forgetting about the whole thing, I chose instead to use my artwork as a form of trolling. I'm still posting it almost 15 years later, so my reasoning has evolved over time. But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself.

My very first submission to DA under this new philosophy was an image of Captain Satellite on November 19, 2004. A smaller version of it was turned into an icon, and it served as my DA avatar until sometime in 2014. It is singularly unmemorable.


If you're at all familiar with my art, you're probably thinking, "That doesn't look like one of yours." Well, yes and no. I did draw it, but it's not done in my style. It's a swipe of a Gil Kane Spider-Man from What If? #24 (December 1980). I did a lot of blatant and obvious swipes from 2004-2007 because I was treating my art as kind of a joke and also because I still had very little confidence in my own ability.

My change of direction on DeviantArt did not immediately lead to a renaissance for Captain Satellite. My gallery was mostly random odds and ends. However, Cap did play a role in two key pieces from those early years of my posting art online.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

History of Captain Satellite - Part 1

History of Captain Satellite - Part 1

In the beginning, there was Ferro Man.

(2007 artwork of Ferro Man)

Ferro Man was pretty blatantly inspired by/ripped off from the character of "Ferro Lad" in the DC Comics series Legion of Super-Heroes. Available evidence suggests I created Ferro Man in 1980. It may have been as early as February, though it was probably March. It could have been as late as April or May, but I vividly recall drawing him in my 2nd grade classroom.

Ferro Man was not my first original character, though "original" is definitely debatable in his case. I can't even trace a direct line from him to Captain Satellite. I just choose to start with him because he was the centerpiece of the longest-running fictional world of my childhood, and he filled the same basic role that Cap does now. Ferro Man was essentially a synthesis of Iron Man and Batman, with a dash of the authentic Ferro Lad thrown into the mix. He was the top hero in the imagination of Christopher Elam well into the 5th grade.

It was during my 6th grade years (1983-1984) that I rather inauspiciously conceived a character during recess who would turn out to be very important indeed. It was so unexpected that I genuinely have no recollection as to when this art actually happened. I say it was 1984, but that's really just a guess. Could be 1983; could be 1985.

Friday, January 11, 2019

Wandering Kotka


Wandering Kotka

AKA: WanderingKotka, wandering-kotka, kabukikatze, Kabuki Katze, dallyingcat, and probably others

I am grateful to all the guest artists whose talents you will see here. Their work on commissions and/or gift art brings these characters to life in a way my crude sketches never could. Many of them are friends as well. But there is one whose presence looms larger in the Owariverse than anyone else except yours truly. That artist is Wandering Kotka.

I met Kotka online in 2004, and we were collaborating just a few months later. She first drew one of my original Captain Satellite characters in 2005, but it was 2010 when her contributions grew to the point where they directly influenced the world I was creating. No one has drawn more Captain Satellite-related content than Kotka besides the present author, and she has even been called on to design a number of characters that otherwise existed only inside my head and in words I had written. I cannot imagine what this project would look like without Kotka's art and her tireless support of my flights of fancy.

Now that I've told you about Kotka the artist, let me tell you a little about Kotka the person. Her generosity, good humor, and general thoughtfulness never fail to bring a smile to my face. I'm very thankful I chose to get in touch with her when I did. Though we have only met in real life once to date, I consider her one of my best friends. And to think, we owe it all to Blue Öyster Cult. No, really!

Kotka's whereabouts can fluctuate depending on her mood, but you can always find her at http://wanderingkotka.com/.

Mascot image used with permission, © Wandering Kotka.