Luby Work: Character Design: Marduk: Intergalactic Detective

Marduk is a character of mine from WAY back, from high school! Originally, his purpose was to maim and kill my friend, Brian, during English class, along with the rest of the violently goofy cast of the weekly ‘comic’. Things have changed with time and now I’ve reinvented him with more attention to the original mythology I took his name from and more detail on the world, which has become much darker and much, much more serious, as I’ve grown up. 

Marduk is very powerful, very bitter, and very, very old creature. His universe was once one of great science and powerful magic working in unison towards great ends, but magic has fallen out of practice in the last millennia, and is regarded as superstitious nonsense by most of the modern worlds. Marduk lives on the dingy world, Moraine, overrun by organized crime and under the control of corrupt government. It’s a seedy, vicious place where everyone has criminal records, mob ties, and dark pasts. Marduk himself has been there as far back as he can remember, over 700 years, when the place was still an un-colonized outpost. Beyond that, his recollection is a bit fuzzy, but he knows its only the tip of the iceberg and he knows he has a heinous past indeed to hide from. Currently he runs a small private eye operation, and has advertised no limits on the job, any person, organization, or world. No job to big, no job too small, no job too far. Unfortunately, he’s made more business as a bounty hunter, and his reputation for efficiency keeps the jobs coming in.

Marduk is a very efficient and ruthless fighter, with an unknown breadth of martial skill and training. His is a high-range Emp (Empowered: superhuman individual) but not high enough on the scale to warrant too much attention. He is a gruff, secretive, P.I., who has no qualms about taking on jobs for the mob, or taking dirty money as payment. On a world this crooked, he reasons, all money gets dirt on it sooner or later. So do people, it seems, and Marduk has a dim view of humanity, knowing that in a forgotten corner of the galaxy ruled by the mob, all people get dirt on them too.

Luby Work: Character Design: Lander

I had given some thought to the idea of airships and sky pirates, and wht with a look back at some ideas of mine in junior college, I came up with these characters.

Sam is a sensetive, shy young 16-year-old who, unfortunately, has a family full of rowdy, carousing Sky Pirates! He has a very strong honest streak, doesn't like loud noises, hates the taste of rum, and would much rather spend a quiet afternoon in the sun with some books, star charts and paper and ink to persue his true passion: cartography! He is an expert navigator, and has had his training in arms since age 6, like the rest of the family. He also likes to tell people he's adopted.

Sam's uncle, Crash, is the Sky Pirate's Sky Pirate! He's the loudest, most boisterous rowdy pirate in a family or loud boisterous rowdy pirates. He was going to be the one to inherit Granddad's Pirate Lordship, but showing up drunk to the preceedings violates even a Pirate's morals. He's elected to go on a quest of self-discipline out on the open sky where all the temptations of a pirate will be there waiting for him to resist them, that'll prove his will. His nephew, Sam, has been brought along as the most level-headed of the Lander family to help steer him on the right path, literally and figuratively.

Luby Work: Character Design: Creatures!

I’m makin’ MONSTERS!

I dunno what this is, exactly, some kind of Dragon-Goat. I took the body design of a goat and laid the characteristics of a dragon on top of it (scales, horns, claws, ect.) I feel it makes for a unique, though sufficiently organic looking monster.

Luby Work: Character Design: Random Cartoons

Here’s some random cartoons!

Mad Jack is a Berserker, and a moody Berserker at that. No one knows why he decided to be a death-dealing kill-machine, but his dark profession has permeated his whole outlook and he is a very morose individual who, nevertheless, is violently protective of his twin sister, Jasmine.

Jasmine is a great and powerful mage... in-training. She's sure she'll be great and powerful in no time at all, just be patient. In the mean time, she spends her time galavanting around with her twin brother, the aptly-named Mad Jack, and firting with men whom are then chased off by said overprotective brother.

Luby Work: Character Design: The Aerognome

Who hasn’t seen that old Bugs Bunny cartoon, The Falling Hare? Remember? It’s the one where Bugs is up against a crafty little airplane Gremlin. You remember! In case you don’t, here’s the YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l8mWGCeBu8

So ANYHOW, come to find out that the phenomenon isn’t limited to cartoons and the Twilight Zone, it used to be a problem as far back as the 20’s! (thank you Wikipedia!) It was a superstition towards a new technlogy, happens

SO, stories like The Spiderwick Chronicles, etc. are magical tales of Fairies, etc.really living in our world, but just out of reach. and Gremlins can be a kind of fairy (though there is a negative connotation…) And I went on thinking up yet another comic/book/other project…

Widget is a strange little gnome. Orphaned, he was barely accepted by a small village of Fairies in the forest outside Wrenfax, watching the RAF airfield going up. He had been chastised by the fairies for grubby clothes and his ability, common to all Gnomes, of not being able to fly at all! and as he has found no real welcome in his foster home, its time he made his own way. After watching the planes take off and land, and the mechanics working on them, he has found his home! Taking up residence in an unused locker, he has fashioned himself a pair of retractable steel wings, just to see what all the fuss was about!

Ethwyn is a fairy(faerie) princess, but only in name. Otherwise, she's a bit of a tomboy, and not at all satisfied sitting on velvet cushions, or waving to the commonfolk form high towers. She craves adventure! The kind of adventure only in stories these days. Men have waxed and spread and adventure can hardly be found anywhere anymore, swallowed by the advance of their cities. Well, she'll just have to go in and drag it back out, who knows, it could be... and adventure to try...

Turg is a goblin, and by his nature is dim, nasty, brutish, and short; but only by human standards. He's simply the Fey World's answer to the average thug. He enjoys dirty work and revels in dull cruelty and gratuitous violence. His weapon of choice is a large, converted double-sided can opener with which he is frightfully proficient.

Luby Work: Character Design: the Atomic Duo (Nazi Martians)

Every good hero or hero team needs a good villain or villains to be heroic against. And I’ve got one of the most clear-cut, black-and-white villains there could be… Nazi Martians!

NAZI MARTIANS! Can't get more evil than aliens allied to the 3rd Reich and the SS! They imitate the Nazi soldier uniforms in an effort to blend in. Unfortunately they are no good at imitating anything, and tend to get hung up on Earth languages, let alone accents!

Yup, the Atomic duo guards the world against the ever-present threat of Nazi Martians! But the Martians have their own allies on Earth…

Otto Verklampt is an evil genius, no really, he is! Though a brilliant Mad Scientist, more than a century ahead of his time, he suffers from a crippling sociophobia. Combined with a strange love of public speaking, he tands to put himself in situations where he becomes catotonic with fear. Thankfully, he seems to have no problems socializing with his machines (to which he has an unhealthy attachment) and with the Martians, which he sees as less than human. His rocky relationship with his steady girlfriend, Annalisa, was saved the night of her 'accident' when he transplanted her brain into a robot body. He is now more in love with her than ever before!

Annalisa was a reclusive beauty, emotionally scarred after coming second in the Miss Europe Pageant, she enrolled in the Verkalsberg University where she feel in love with her chemisty professor, Dr. Verklampt. The two had a whirlwind romance, but Annalisa could tell something troubled him. The day she moved in with him, she stubled upon his Martian bunker under his castle, resulting in an accident which crushed her body. If not for her beloved, she would have died, but she is estranged by his attraction to her robot body.

Luby Work: Character Design: Sir Clegis

Some more examples of my work. Anyone familiar with any of my work will have seen, heard, or read of my signature character: Sir Clegis. The title is a comedy/fantasy chock full of action and adventure. It follows the small shape-changed pet lizard, Sir Clegis, and his quest to find his life’s meaning. It leads him from his Wizard master and into the myriad of lands and peoples in the world around him, eventually thrusting him into war and romance as his heart is stolen by the North King’s daughter, no less!

Sir Clegis is the hero of the story and, despite his inexperience, displays almost supernatural skill at weapons of all kinds, and battle insctincts that rival the most seasoned of veterans. All this wrapped in a kind, though impulsive, heart.

The Princess of Clegis' romantic aspirations. More than a yet-unnamed archetype, her life of luxury belies deep reserves of inner strength. But, is she the girl for our lizard hero? Does she even want to be..?

Luby Work: Character Design: Zoic

My PR lady told me I should post some of my own work to my blog, I guess she’s right, So Here goes…

These are character designs for a comic/web-comic concept of mine, an anthropomorphic sci-fi adventure following the exploits of The Renegade and it’s crew. The Renegade is attached to the recon fleet of the planet system Zoic, a militant collection of 5 planets. Zoic has entered into an intergalactic war with a far distant galaxy of reptilian creatures, the Skrags. But there is something more than Zoician ambition at work here, with raids on un-allied civilians and expropriation of creepy old ruins on long forgotten planets…

Thor, the Weapons Specialist and Recon Director. He is an angry, violent, militant chipmunk. I personally like that dichotomy, the violent shrimp sort of thing. He tends to have a cold outlook on his job as well as fellow shipmates. He is addicted to combat, and keeps himself in peak condition and always at the ready.

Minerva is a spunky, flirtatious skunk with a well-endowed set of hips and a great voice. That's why she's the Communications Officer and a master of intergalactic etiquette and diplomacy. She's upfront, honest, and kind. Minerva is the kind of officer that any crew is glad they have aboard for their own sanity.

Diana was a party girl throughout her academic career. She's found it harder to celebrate like she did in college, both from the years, and the cushy job she wants to keep. Though she may not imbibe the obscene amounts of alcohol she once did, her mouth is as filthy as ever and her attitude still belligerent.

Mithras looks like a kindly old penguin scientist with a short beard and a German accent. By-and-large that's what he is, but when he's 'inspired', Mithras can get a bit giddy, and rambles off long calculations or theories as if everyone around him shares his genius at hyper-advanced calculations and superliminal propulsion. Under stress, however, "the Professor" emerges, strict and curt, with no patience for distractions or monkeyshines!

RC is a Recon/Comm Assistant, series 7. They're up to series 9 now, but the 7's still work pretty well, and the captain had helped pay for her out of his own pocket. Unfortunately, her personality is a bit too active. It seems she was decommissioned and worked in the private sector, serving as assistant to a retired admiral and his wife, then recommissioned. It seems, during the interlude, her personality picked up a significant modulation, and she's acted like an 8-year-old-girl ever since.

Keep your eyes open for more posts in time.

~Luby