#enticia

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Like most teenagers, Enticia thinks she has everything all figured out… until she doesn’t.

Jackknife is absolutely a jerk, wolf-whistling is most definitely rude, and Enticia’s completely in the right to be angry at both.  But whether Enticia’s powers are manipulating people’s minds, hearts, or both, it’s not exactly an appropriate reaction.  And sometimes when people make excuses to justify their actions, it can be a slippery slope to excusing worse actions.  Thankfully, Enticia’s managed to make some unlikely allies – perhaps even friends – to help her put things into perspective.

Wolf Blitz has shown up in the comic at least twice, but this is the first time we see him without “heart eyes”.  He’s even got his paws on a Heroball, which Dino-Mo said he used to play in the Gym-Nauseum storyline.

Interface makes his debut in today’s strip!  I think that I had Wade from Kim Possible and KidVid from the Burger King Kids’ Club in the back of my mind when I created this guy.  He can hook up to computers and other devices to take control of them or download their information into his brain.  His suit can also display information via printout, the display on his visor, or even a hologram.  He’s about as good a hacker as Belt Boy and B.O.N.N.I.E., but his arsenal of tools is significantly more limited.

The third panel references Belt Boy offering a mechanical hand to Enticia after beating her on the X-Platform in the Ally Need Is Love storyline. The picture of Cannon shows him listening to Enticia after failing to break up Belt Boy and Titanium Maiden’s date in The Dating Scheme. Titanium Maiden is wearing her gym clothes from Gym-Nauseum, standing sternly as she did when she defended Belt Boy’s trust in Enticia. Dino-Mo also wears her outfit from that same storyline, in which she gave Enticia a major reality check.

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Hey, folks!  I'm still working on getting my website updated, AND I won't have a new update next week while I'm in San Antonio, so here's this week's comic AND some delicious recipes for Heroes of C.R.A.S.H. milkshakes!

Not much to say about today's comic, except that some of the dialogue about feelings was inspired by a book I had as a child about sticking up for yourself.  It's important to recognize that feelings aren't good or bad in and of themselves; they just need to be dealt with in a healthy way.

I'd previously thought of trying to turn HoC into either an ice cream flavor or some sort of cereal (After all, my comic is based on Saturday morning cartoons, and what goes better with them than cereal?).  But when Jessi Sheron, creator of the webcomic The Sea in You (Check my Links page!), started the #MakeYourComicADrink hashtag on Twitter, I thought of what to do with my comic.  I had considered some sort of float, soda combination, or hot chocolate mix, but then Jessi suggested I do a milkshake.  Brilliant!  I could take my ideas for HoC ice cream flavors, and make them milkshakes, which are WAY easier to make!

Happy Thanksgiving from TheHeroesOfCRASH.com!

If you know what this monster's from, you probably feel old right about now.  And if you don't... well, then I probably feel old right about now.

I'm a sucker for holiday specials, and I still watch them every year.  However, Thanksgiving seems to get overlooked, stuck between the two most marketable holidays for TV specials (But let's face it; Halloween and Christmas tend to play off children's greed, so of course they're easy to market).  This picture pays homage to two of my favorite Thanksgiving specials.  The dialogue, obviously, references A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, whose legendary meal I long to reproduce one day.  The picture itself, though, references a more obscure special: Nick's Thanksgiving Fest.  This special first aired on Nickelodeon in 1989, and was comprised of several shorts, plus two major cartoons: "Thanksgiving Nightmare" and "Thanksgiving Dreams".  This dough monster appeared in the latter cartoon, in which two children from a poor family dream about shrinking to six inches tall and partying with a living Thanksgiving meal in their kitchen.  When the kids accidentally knocked a boxfull of yeast into a bowl of dough, this bizarre monster was created.  If you saw Nick's Thanksgiving Fest, or saw my Daily Drawings in 2016, you probably remember this culinary creature quite well.

I decided to draw Enticia and Daisy for this picture; like the kids from the original special, I wanted to draw a pair of siblings, so it was between them and Cannon/Mackenzie.  I love drawing Daisy, and felt that there should be at least one child, so I drew her and Enticia.

If you didn't see my update earlier this week, I wrote a tribute to Stan Lee, which you can access through a link on the main page of my site.

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Unk's no fool... but he's sure feeling like one right now. Because of his unusual name, large stature, and laid-back attitude, many assume that he's simple-minded, but that's hardly the case (He's very much like Titanium Maiden in that regard). However, Necros is taking advantage of the fact that Unk has never matched wits with him. Flailing about in a desperate manner to lure Unk into a false sense of security, then making a humble request that tricked Unk into lowering his head into position... Necros adapts to new situations pretty well. If Unk, Belt Boy, and the rest of our heroes want to stop them, they're going to need to maintain the element of surprise, which is easier said than done.

The Collective of Heroes recently had a Halloween art trade! It's like a Secret Santa, minus the secrecy. Dan (creator of the webcomic Vanguard) gifted me a picture of Belt Boy with a pumpkin, while I drew Shane (creator of Heroes of the World and Beyond) a picture of Cybat. After you check out these pictures, you can check out their comics via the Collective of Heroes widget on my site!

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Enticia didn't want Necros to flip over her THAT way... or DID she? There's a bit that I could comment on here, but I won't, because I don't want to spoil things.

Sometimes it's fun playing with the paint effects, whether it's using transparency to create a glowy effect in panel two, or different paintbrushes to make streaks of color in panel three. I'm quite pleased how this strip turned out, especially those panels.

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When you threaten those close to Enticia and she brings out the glowy eyes, you KNOW you're in trouble. Enticia often comes across as self-centered - and maybe she deserves that to some extent - but she's fiercely loyal to those who can get past her seemingly shallow exterior. It's obvious that she's protective of her family (especially her little sister, Daisy), but this moment shows just how much she values her friendship with Belt Boy.

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Belt Boy comes to a realization about what being a leader means (fairly literally!).

One of my less-traditional layouts, as I tend to favor 4-panel strips in a 2x2 layout. If you count the bottom left panel as 9 panels instead of one, this strip has more panels than any other strip I've done, at a whopping 14!

Speaking of that 9-in-one panel, that was especially fun to draw. I wanted to make sure that each mini-panel showed off its character through the background and his/her facial expression. Gelatin Boy is a bit nervous about Belt Boy's faith in him, and his background is based on the wobbly shape of his head. Dodge and Dino-Mo are calm, but impressed by Belt Boy's attitude, and their backgrounds show a flying dodgeball and a dinosaur fossil, respectively. Sugar Rush, as always, is enthusiastic and ready to help out her friend; she's got a peppermint swirl background. Titanium Maiden is feeling proud that Belt Boy seems to have gotten over his attitude problem from earlier and is showing his team proper respect, and she's thankful that he's okay; her background, of course, is her signature flower. Cannon's smirking as if to say, "About time you wised up, BB," as he sits in front of his purple-on-green stripe (His hand resting on the panel frame represents his tendency to break the fourth wall, by the way!). Unk is almost as pleased as Sugar Rush to help out a friend, but is a bit more chill about it, as he is regarding most things; his background shows off his shades. Enticia is moved by his attitude toward his team, especially as she's been reflecting on her own leadership abilities; the insignias from her "heartbreaker pants" (as I call them) are in the background. Jackknife, with his pointy insignia behind him, is doing that mock-gagging thing because he's sick of all this sappy emotion-sharing. And of course, in the last panel (or space between panels), Belt Boy and B.O.N.N.I.E. stand before Belt Boy's signature utility belt buckle.

If you missed my announcement on the main page, I've greatly updated my Fan Art page! This includes two bits of fan art I got through social media this past week: Cannon by BigNoseBug on Twitter (a storyboard artist for the upcoming Thundercats cartoon), and Belt Boy by Ken Bailey (creator of EnergyGirl, and the winner of my last birthday contest)!  Here they are:

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Enticia accepts Dino-Mo's accusations; conversely, Belt Boy can't accept defeat.  I like how this storyline's been exploring Enticia and Belt Boy's characters in different ways.

Enticia has always been a flawed and somewhat egotistical character, who has put distance between herself and others, and allowed people to get hurt in the process.  Now, she's seriously considering what people think about her and trying to listen.

Belt Boy, on the other hand, has always been a seemingly perfect boy scout-type, but while he's friendly with others, he's hard on himself.  Now, he's sinking further into his delusion that perfection is attainable, and he's becoming blinded to what he's doing.