Megastar, the star of the show!

Well, I figure this blog has laid stagnant long enough. So instead of letting it continue to do so, I thought I'd post some stuff over the next few months related to my next to-be-published comic story. I've managed to wrangle a spot in a future issue of Digital Webbing Presents, a pretty high-profile digital anthology that is available through Comixology. The story features my character, Megastar, with pencil art by Jake Bilbao and Dario Carrasco, inks by Mark Stegbauer and colors by Juan Caque.

"Did I hear you right?" I'm sure you're saying, "Two artists?" Yes indeed, my good blog-reader, there are two artists... and for very good reason. You see, in this particular story Megastar is finagled by his huckster of a brother, Sammy into watching the pilot episode of an animated series Sammy has produced which features Megastar as the main character, as shown above with art by Jake Bilbao.

Through the machinations of the villainous SFX, a former special effects guru who is now an eeeevil wizard, Megastar is transported into the cartoon and forced to see it through to conclusion in order to escape... if he can!

The story is humorous and loaded with enjoyable action sequences. Megastar is a character I've gotten a bit of mileage out of, especially now that I've figured out what I want to do with him. Megastar was initially brought to life by the thought, "What if a famous movie star woke up one day with superpowers?" But now I've expanded that idea in the same way that Dwayne McDuffie created the Milestone Universe, through a "big bang" event that showcased superheroes and villains in a more urban, under-served economically and politically environment. I wanted to showcase what would happen if that type of chain reaction occurred in a completely opposite place, the privileged and comfortable setting of Hollywood. Megastar has begun to evolve into my own humorous commentary on the fame-obsessed mentality people seem to have these days.


My version of Hollywood is called Crescent City, where actors, musicians, agents, producers, directors and all the other professionals that make our entertainment possible dwell. The "big bang" granted a number of them strange and wonderful powers, and the joy of the concept is figuring out what these various professionals might do when these powers emerge. 


Megastar is Michael Whitman, the most famous celebrity in the world, and he uses his powers to protect the citizens of Crescent City from any threat to their safety. But he's also happy to use his powers to increase his chance to bolster his career through film roles, commercials, endorsements or anything else that might increase his fame and fortune. He's shallow, self-important, and a bit of an ass, but the people of Crescent City eat it up. He's a flawed hero for a flawed populace that values celebrity over accomplishment--sizzle over steak.


SFX (and a number of the other villains) is similar, in that once he created movie magic through hard work and innovation, but once he realized he could do actual magic, he took the easy way with no thought to whether it could be harmful or not. Eventually people got hurt, his career was ruined when Megastar exposed him, and now his only thought is revenge.


It's a fun world, and I'm full to the brim with ideas for characters and scenarios that just might see the light of day at some point down the road. So hop into this vehicle I call a blog and enjoy the ride, because there's a lot more to come.