Hey, everyone! It's been a while, but fear not, I will blog more consistently here, at Truthful Comics, AND Patreon! Let's start with a personal big one:
The 28th anniversary of issue number o of the notebook series of Fred Peterson: The Mighty Warlord!
It happened in September, actually, but here we are! As most of you know, by the time I made issue 0 of this notebook series, Warlord had already appeared in 4 different stories as part of an ensemble cast of characters (many of them predating Warlord's own creation), and this one shot was the first solo story with Fred and some familiar faces: Jane, Jon, 'Dita, and Akuma!
The inspiration for this 0 issue was Zero Month from DC Comics' Zero Hour event that introduced issue 0s company wide for all titles, so I did that with my characters.
The 28th anniversary of issue number o of the notebook series of Fred Peterson: The Mighty Warlord!
It happened in September, actually, but here we are! As most of you know, by the time I made issue 0 of this notebook series, Warlord had already appeared in 4 different stories as part of an ensemble cast of characters (many of them predating Warlord's own creation), and this one shot was the first solo story with Fred and some familiar faces: Jane, Jon, 'Dita, and Akuma!
The inspiration for this 0 issue was Zero Month from DC Comics' Zero Hour event that introduced issue 0s company wide for all titles, so I did that with my characters.
Aside from Warlord, I also made 0 issues for DTF6 (then known as Ultra Force), Danger Zone, and The Mysterious Exorcist. Warlord was actually the last one I did, especially because I was actually very into the story of DTF6 at the time. But after reading The Ray's ongoing series issue 1 by Christopher Priest and Howard Porter, Warlord just HAD to be done.
Fred in this issue is kind of a dick lol At this point of his story, Fred had been through many personal losses and was just...bitter. So much that when I decided to do an actual series in notebooks, I had to pretty much deconstruct the character a bit to at least make him relatable without being overbearing.
Fred in this issue is kind of a dick lol At this point of his story, Fred had been through many personal losses and was just...bitter. So much that when I decided to do an actual series in notebooks, I had to pretty much deconstruct the character a bit to at least make him relatable without being overbearing.
Jane has ALWAYS been one of my favorite, if not my favorite character to write in Warlord, even back then.
Since all the characters were already grown adults here, Jane was much more decisive and mature than she is in the current webcomic, but, watching her grow as a character is just interesting to me seeing her original version compared to the current, and watching her growth slowly becoming the character she originally was.
What's even more fun is watching the readers watch that growth, too, it makes me feel VERY fortunate.
'Dita (Rocker) was one of the few characters that actually stayed relatively the same as she was in the original notebook stories.
Since all the characters were already grown adults here, Jane was much more decisive and mature than she is in the current webcomic, but, watching her grow as a character is just interesting to me seeing her original version compared to the current, and watching her growth slowly becoming the character she originally was.
What's even more fun is watching the readers watch that growth, too, it makes me feel VERY fortunate.
'Dita (Rocker) was one of the few characters that actually stayed relatively the same as she was in the original notebook stories.
Jon (Rising Star) was also more mature in this iteration of the story, despite also going through many losses and changed himself, being one of the first characters I ever created.
And of course, Akuma. Akuma has always had the same attitude and look, but his origin story changed as the notebook series went on to the point that it's the same as the one that we'll eventually see on the webcomic.
Even back then and despite the horrific things he's done, he's always been a very popular character, even now in the webcomic.
And of course, Akuma. Akuma has always had the same attitude and look, but his origin story changed as the notebook series went on to the point that it's the same as the one that we'll eventually see on the webcomic.
Even back then and despite the horrific things he's done, he's always been a very popular character, even now in the webcomic.
I'm so VERY fortunate to still have these notebooks. Thumbing through them even now envelopes me in a wave of nostalgia and transports my feeling back to the past when I created these.
To a time I was a stranger in a strange land, adapting to a new life in Puerto Rico after having being born in Brooklyn.
Simpler times when I would turn down dates and hanging outs in highs school because I couldn't be bothered to be taken away from my notebooks and sketch books.
Putting my headphones on and spinning a cd, or listening to late night radio programming, only getting away from my blank pages to snack and drink or run to the bathroom before my sister did.
Thank you all for supporting me through the years, and sticking by in the tough times. I will always do my best to put out the best I can do, it's not always perfect, but it's always me.
Thank you, until next time, I remain Dangerous.
-Alvaro "Lance Danger" Cortes Jr
To a time I was a stranger in a strange land, adapting to a new life in Puerto Rico after having being born in Brooklyn.
Simpler times when I would turn down dates and hanging outs in highs school because I couldn't be bothered to be taken away from my notebooks and sketch books.
Putting my headphones on and spinning a cd, or listening to late night radio programming, only getting away from my blank pages to snack and drink or run to the bathroom before my sister did.
Thank you all for supporting me through the years, and sticking by in the tough times. I will always do my best to put out the best I can do, it's not always perfect, but it's always me.
Thank you, until next time, I remain Dangerous.
-Alvaro "Lance Danger" Cortes Jr