Pre-Elf Blood Work
As requested, I’ve had a bit of a dig around my archives, and I’ve found a few bits and pieces of my work from before Elf Blood. Be prepared to cringe.
Myr Id Ya Minuit
The earliest example I could find (and was willing to show), Myr Id Ya Minuit was a tabletop RPG I developed. The setting involved the aftermath of a collision between heaven, hell and earth, resulting in a post-apocalyptic wasteland dotted with megacities. Science-Fantasy, with very high fantasy elements.
MIYM Kell Ann Jones and Sciannah Mercy
Organ Grinda
The best developed of any of my comics before I did Elf Blood, Organ Grinda is a gritty biopunk drama about Ty Cool, a street hunter who hunts down enemies of the corrupt police state in exchange for a license to brew illicit drugs from the organs of those she kills on the way. Ty Cool, rescued from the horrors of child prostitution by her lifelong friend and partner in crime Lil’ Red, is by and far one of my favourite characters ever, because no matter the monster she has become, there’s something so soft and sympathetic about her. The surrounding cast was quite quirky as well. I’m definitely going to revisit this property at some point, though I don’t think I’ll be using the leetspeak style for the dialogue as it’s bloody hard to understand.
Organ Grinda Page
Ty Cool and Lil' Red
Felicity 'Footloose' Fogarty, another Street Hunta
Grrl Friday, Ty Cool's mechanic
I liked illustrating Grrl Friday, apparently.
META
META was a pretty dark tabletop RPG I never quite got around to finishing. It concerned the conflicts between different religious factions in a floating city, and the struggles of the good to resist the pull of corruption lest they be Forsaken by their Gods. I ran one game, and it was pretty awesome actually. Proper horror. Maybe one day.
Some churches took to the corruption more than others. They were not 'Good'.
Forsaken were, basically, vampires. Proper ones, though.
Wolf Runner
Yeah, I’ve saved the most shameful for last. Not in terms of artwork, but in story; Wolf Runner was an erotic graphic novel I was working on, though the art as you can see was fairly unsexy. The story was pretty good though: A man seeks out a wild girl he encountered in his youth, discovers that she has risen to lead her pack of wolves, and is taken on as her mate briefly, before being slaughtered to provide food for the pack once he has outlived his usefulness in allowing her to bear a child. I might actually revisit doing this one, as the story is actually quite a tragic, primal, wilderness romance.
Wolf Runner. I can't remember if this is past or present Wolf Runner.
So are Ty Cool and/or Lil’ Red jamaicans or is that how everyone speaks there, Also did you mean to make it look like Felicity head look like a snake? (I ask if their jamaicans because i can’t tell if its a accent or just slang.)
Nah, they’re not Jamaican, the dialect was my attempt at doing some sort of future slang. It’s supposed to be a Street accent mixed with general Internet and Leet slang. I think, when I revisit Organ Grinda, I’ll tone it down to a more readable level though. And Felicity is supposed to look kind of sneaky, as she’s Ty-Cool’s main rival, although they tolerate each other for the most part. Now that I think about it, almost all of the ‘protagonist’ characters in Organ Grinda were fairly evil, though in the most part out of necessity. Ty-Cool steals bodily fluids from her victims to manufacture drugs, Footloose murdered her mother because she coveted her own father, and another Hunta called Cap’n utilises a gimmick wherein he mounts a cannon on the back of an underling. And whips him. So yeah, Organ Grinda is a psychiatrist’s dream 😛
So in Wolf Runner was there any reason for the girl to rags? (Aside from making her decent for the viewer)
Good question, considering it was supposed to be an erotic graphic novel! To be honest, the concept of Wolf Runner going nude didn’t actually occur to me, and I suppose it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense that someone brought up by wolves would wear clothes.
Stylistically, though, Somebody who is only partially clothed can be a lot more exciting than somebody who is completely naked; It’s the whole driving force behind the classier striptease acts (say, fan-dancing or whatnot). Additionally, using ragged furs on Wolf Runner makes her more mysterious, truly appearing wild and providing a feeling that she’s got at least a bit of control. A female appearing naked out of nowhere in the middle of the forest raises some far more sinister and unsettling images in the reader’s head.
So, to sum my reasoning, it was mostly just character design to try and imply ‘wildness’ with the added benefit of providing a more refined thrill for the reader.
(sorry i forgot to add in wear)
So why is META set in a floating city?
In the game setting, the earth had become contaminated by the blood of the Gods, and the only land fit for farming lay under the city because it was shielded by the massive floating rock. I never actually got round to inventing any actual reason WHY there was a massive chunk of real estate hovering in the air; It was probably enchanted at some point, or maybe it occurred naturally or as the result of a Godly action.
Why was the earth contaminated by the blood of the Gods, why did the blood of the gods contaminated it?
In the META universe, magic is very much like radiation with the power turned right up. The idea was that the Gods were very active in the universe, and that they routinely fought amongst themselves and could indeed be wounded by some of the more exceptional mortals. The downside of this being that, as they sustained wounds, they bled highly magical, and therefore toxic blood that fell from heaven to earth, creating a wasteland throughout most of the planet. It took the form of black crystals when it landed, and was used by some of the more evil cults to mutate their acolytes. In the only game I ever ran of it, a shower of crystals landed in a housing area, and the team had to clear the abominations resulting from the bombardment out of the ruins so that rebuilding could begin. It was pretty fun, and quite dark!
In META what kind of gods did the churches Worshiped and why did they?
Ooh, good question. Wonder where my source materials are, if I can find them I’ll give you more of an answer!
There were a few that I can remember. There was a goddess of womankind, who functioned as an overall mother-goddess of good. Her followers were basically battle nuns, because one of her avatars happened to be a warrior who led her nation to victory. There was another faction directly opposite to hers, who worshipped the Bloody Mantis. I don’t think it was actually related to her in any way, so far as I can recall it was an outsider god, an alien being who actively looked to take in those who the other cults refused to accept. There was also a god of trade and battle. Now that I think about it, he was essentially Sigmar from Warhammer 😛
I should really find out where I’ve hidden my sourcebook. It’s gotta be here, somewhere!
Can you tell me much of the one game you run in META, if you remember? (Places, characters, quests, etc.)