I’m not the first person to notice that most African-American super-powered individuals have “Black” in their name somewhere (you never see “White Superman” or “White Flash” or “Pink Green Lantern”; for some reason it’s only dark-skinned people that need to have their melanin level slapped onto their super identity). But I do think I’ve found what is either the a) lamest b) most egregiously offensive or c) funniest example to date:
I have uncovered the first hidden treasure in the Great Random Comic Book Pile — behold the insane awesomeness that is … Prince Chaos!
I’m tempted to love the mutton chops, or maybe the fur fringed, plummet-to-the-navel neckline, or even the strange hash marks all over the ruby red outfit. But I’m going to have to go with the tiny “Kilroy” type face peeking up from his crotch as my absolutely favorite bit of this ensemble. I like to think that in some future issue, this tiny man will get his own dialog, which, believe me, will rock.
The character is from issue number 13 of “E-Man”, by First Comics. The original run of the series was artist Joe Staton’s first big-time gig, and has a frenzied, crazy, “somebody’s high” vibe that’s hard to describe. For instance, the first few issues are narrated by a ghostly Albert Einstein. I am not making this up.
Staton later went on to work on Green Lantern during the years I was collecting it, and now that I have read E-Man I can see why they’d give him that assignment. GL’s crazy ring-inspired creations (giant irons swatting villains, enormous glowing jackhammers digging out a mine collapse, catcher’s mitts galore) are a lot like the various forms into which E-Man contorts his energy body. In just this one issue, for instance, he turns into a life-preserver with a duck head, a bouncing toaster, and a freeway overpass.
Again, I am not making this up.
In that kind of context, I suppose a mind-controlling, space-traveling, fur-clad, tiny-crotch-man-wearing lunatic actually seems pretty normal.
(Image and character © 1984, First Comics, Inc., E-Man, Volume 1, No. 13.)
I am happy to announce that the Expansion Pack items have now been added to the Female Dwarf figure! You can access the new items at the usual place.
The last remaining body template to be updated is the female Brick. After that, I’ll need to clean up all the bugs, and hopefully duplicate some of the components into other slots. For instance, I’d like to make the Standard Coats available on the Overshirt and Undershirt layers, and vice versa, across the board.
And after that, I’ll probably be done with HeroMachine 2 for the foreseeable future. We’re in the midst right now of figuring out what’s next; my guess is that we’ll probably focus for a while on putting out much smaller, one-off versions like the Rock Star Edition and Real Life Edition. Think of things like a smaller HeroMachine with just one pose featuring exclusively Powered Armor, or Old West items, or Modern Teenager clothes, that kind of thing.
On the plus side, such releases can come out much more frequently. There are also business advantages, since such mini-applets are entirely self-contained and can be easily shared on other web sites, unlike the full 2.5 which spans hundreds of files and six subdirectories. On the down side, you’ll be limited to just the items in that applet, so you’ll have a situation where there might be items you’d love to see in the full version that just aren’t available, and vice versa. It’s almost like going back to the original HeroMachine 1, where if you chose the Martial Artist pose you couldn’t have guns.
But, if there are specific items that people in general are clamoring to have in the full release, we can probably schedule another Expansion to include them.
Anyway, enjoy the female dwarf Expansion, and as always, please comment in the Bugs post if you come across anything weird.
I don’t know what Grodd’s been smoking there in Gorilla City, but he certainly doesn’t look like a mind-controlling, world-dominating super-intelligent ape to me in this picture:
But whatever it is, I bet he got it off of Angar the Screamer. That’s the kind of crossover I think any self-respecting love child can endorse. Peace, happiness, and evil; the sixties live again, my friends!
UPDATED: This contest is now closed, and the winner is Hades! You can see the final panel here; thanks for the great entries, everyone. If you want to try again, Caption Contest 2 is now underway!
Here’s how it works.
