Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid are among my favorite creations for several different reasons. First off, they were born from ridiculous origins. From within the pages of My Book of Drawings 2 came Shnono Man and Boo Boy. These were two characters who were meant to be parody of superheroes, utilizing a facial expression used by myself and my best friend Jamin Sponaugle. Nothing about this was meant to be serious. It was just a silly drawing I did to amuse myself. I wish I could explain the names, but to my recollection, “shnono” was some goofy word we came up with.
In My Book of Drawings 3, I drew the NEW Shnono Man and Boo Boy wearing new costumes and now flying high in the sky for no particular reason than because. However, the idea to create actual heroes came about one day while looking at the drawings. Superheroes were a thing I loved. And while I had created heroic characters, none were really concealed behind secret identities. So, why not attempt that style of hero?
Looking back on the original parody, I would guess I landed on the name ‘Lightning Bolt’ due to the symbol on Shnono Man’s chest looking like a bolt of lightning. The Ghost Kid is obvious. Looking at the original drawing, which was also created in My Book of Drawings 3 I don’t think I had any ideas on a story. It was just a serious take on a silly drawing. Also, in the original drawing, I drew some villainous character lurking in a sub under the water since (for some reason) Shnono Man was running on a dock. A similar (if not the same) character appears in the “NEW” version as well. I wish I could remember why this became my villain of choice, but whatever it was, I committed to it with Bolt and Kid. When I considered rebooting the characters, I had created a new collection of criminals, reminiscent of these “cyclops balls.”
While I look back at the concept art with some fondness, I also wonder sometimes why I believed in these ideas so much. At this point of my life, I can see the makings of an amazing narrative. I guess in my youth I could still see it, but my impulsiveness led to sloppy storytelling. It was as though I had good ideas but would always take the simplest route to make them work.
In the premiere issue, we meet our first protagonist, Harold Cane, who was meant to be a scientist. This was not made apparent but implied by the scientific gizmo he was working on. Anyway, after ending his shift, he heads home in a thunderstorm. One might assume he was headed to his car when he is aggressively bombarded by several bolts of lightning before being struck directly. We then meet Ricky Peterson, who is riding his bike home from school in the same thunderstorm. He approaches a crosswalk, in which we assume Ricky has the right of way. Regardless, he is struck by a car that leads to his death.
After some quick origins, we see that Harold is fine but seemingly unemployed now (?). He checks the local newspaper for work because this was 1993, and that’s what people did back when I was a kid. He responds to a “Help Wanted” ad, and it is here we meet Mary Peterson. We assume she is in need of a handyman, because the first thing she asks him to do is get the power back on. Conveniently, Harold discovers his newfound powers while attempting to turn the electricity back on. It seems getting hit by lightning does that gives you electric powers. Realizing what he could do, he did what any one of us would do: become a superhero. Before you know it, he’s made himself a spiffy costume and is ready to fight crime as Lightning Bolt. He heads out into the city in his new Bolt-Mobile or whatever dumb fucking name I came up with. But, Lightning Bolt needed a ride since he could only shoot lighting from his hands. So, using the influence of Batman, Lightning Bolt would drive through the city and swing from the rooftops. And the city was meant to be New York City even though I never stated that directly at first. It may be established later on.
After Lightning Bolt’s first run in with crime and a terrible attempt at humor, Ricky Peterson returns to Earth in an ethereal form, and sees Lightning Bolt in action attempting to save a woman from a Wacko. The Wackos were a crazy-eyed gang that roamed the streets of New York in this world. Ricky steps in and assists Lightning Bolt, who immediately adopts him as his partner. No fear of ghosts or anything supernatural. He’s just instantly cool with it. Anyway, they head back to Mary’s house where they find a ransom note meant for Kevin Peterson, Mary’s estranged husband. More on him later. Harold and Ricky suit up to find her.
We soon learn that Mary is being held by the Cyclops Balls. More on them later. Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid cut a hole in their hideout and jump inside, immediately frying one upon entering. Another cyclop ball named Tongue informs their leader that “he’s here.” This statement would imply they were waiting on them, not Kevin Peterson. Anyway, the duo make quick work of each cyclop ball, then Lightning Bolt lights a bomb and blows their hideout straight to hell. I even did a big action panel that made The Ghost Kid think Lightning Bolt was caught in the blast. Luckily, he’s fine. He suit is just a bit tattered. Later, Harold decides to leave Mary behind because he doesn’t have time to be a handyman or whatever. He is now dedicated being a superhero. So much so that Harold and Ricky move into a cave together. The End.
Let me explain the Cyclops Balls. They were these alien-like creatures that were terrorizing the New York City, yet I never explain what they are or how they got there. In fact, it is clear from the outset that they are well-established in the city as a criminal organization. Because no one seems freaked out by them. Of course, no one seems freaked out by a ghost either. I have to believe I was inspired by something that lead to their creation. Unfortunately, I don’t remember specifically what that inspiration was. The only possible source I can think of was a game on the Super Nintendo called Super Face Ball. And while the idea of these villains was truly concocted during the “Shnono Man and Boo Boy” phase, I still felt compelled to use them. I didn’t have to. But I did which probably lead to even wilder encounters in the future. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
In the second issue, Bolt and Kid encounter Tongue and Spark, two members of the Cyclops Balls. We were introduced to Tongue in the last issue, so he must have bailed out when Bolt and Kid arrived at their hideout. Anyway, the story begins with the Ghost Kid doing some shopping (?). He spots Tongue and Spark robbing a bank as they are prone to do. He stops them then reports back to Lightning Bolt. The duo decides to go investigate their old hideout, so they load up in the all-new Kid-Copter (or whatever) to check it out. Lightning Bolt is immediately ambushed and subjected to torture by electrocution… because that makes sense. And it does as you’ll notice Harold gets amped up and uses this power up to break free. The Ghost Kid beams (?) Harold back onto the Kid-Copter and hypothesizes that Spark’s shocks could have increased his power capacity. Not sure how that works but it did.
Harold laments that he’s down another costume, so this leads to a redesign which becomes his signature look going forward. This was just a manufactured reason to put him in that new suit. And getting a new suit meant he needed new powers. While attempting to infiltrate the Cyclops Balls hideout once again, the rope Lightning Bolt is rappelling from snaps. Luckily for Bolt, he can now fly. S, he uses this newfound ability to put the smackdown on Tongue, while Kid smashes the shit out of Spark. Once “911” appears (seriously, it’s in the picture), our heroes take off. But it’s good to know that amidst all this change, new powers won’t change Harold Cane.
You may notice a bit more attention to detail with this series compared to Stephen’s Wacky Maze or Robo-Rabbit. While I hadn’t perfected my writing, I was starting to get a little better. It was required of me if I were going to write more complex stories. While the series may not seem that way at first, the next three issues showcase the series’ true intention.
The third entry starts off lighthearted enough with another Wacko attempting rape. Bolt intervenes but hesitates for fear of the woman’s safety. Luckily, Stephen White from Stephen’s Wacky Maze and The Battles at Fort Destruction just happens to be lurking behind a wall for some reason. Stephen quickly subdues the Wacko and meets Lightning Bolt. Bolt asks if he’s an amateur (even though it’s misspelled… I’m so ashamed). Stephen confidently (maybe arrogantly) assures him he’s a pro.
We then meet a new Cyclops Ball: Hypno. He works his hypnosis powers to steal some money. Then when the Ghost Kid arrives to stop him, Hypno uses his powers on the Kid by making him cut off his ghost fingers (?) then ordering him to kill Bolt. I’m not sure why I parenthesized the “s” after finger. Furthermore, how did Hypno know that Kid had a knife? Anyway, the Ghost Kid goes after Harold who narrowly misses a dagger to the forehead. Harold notices that Ricky is hypnotized (as made apparently by the text indicating as much), so he throws a bucket of water on him (A ghost mind you…) to break him out of his trance. However, it instead sends him into some other dimension where he comes out the other side with new sunglasses (??) and the ability to grow legs (???). Despite this new change, they don’t have time to dwell on it. They have to stop Hypno.
Bolt & Kid go after Hypno, not realizing they have a tail following them. As Bolt and Kid try to avoid Hypno’s gaze, Stephen drops in to assist. He whips out a trusty mirror that reverses the hypnosis onto Hypno, causing his brain to malfunction or something. Essentially, his brain got fucked hard. Anyway, Stephen’s actions prove to Bolt that he IS a professional hero, but Stephen can’t stick around because those pesky police are on their way. Harold makes the bold assumption after learning that Stephen is a hero by assuming he’s an ex-con. Luckily Stephen is unphased by this and basically comments that the cops are such fanboys! My thoughts about the world were so bizarre.
Returning to my earlier statement about improving my narrative skills, you’ll eventually note that this cameo and subsequent cameos were just laying the foundation for something bigger. Something I could have easily rushed to immediately but I didn’t. Furthermore, the meeting of these heroes felt less novel now. So, creating a big event story like The Team-Up of the Century didn’t feel necessary. It felt appropriate to hold off and reveal the intent later on.
Even though we’ve established Bolt has the power of flight, he drives around town in his Bolt-Mobile. I guess flying can be exhausting. Anyway, he chases down another Cyclops Ball whose name is not mentioned. We shall call him Tri-Eyes, mainly because I’m pretty sure that was his name. He was named that because he had three sets of eyes with different abilities. Despite Bolt using some new fangled device on the Bolt-Mobile, Tri-Eyes uses one of his powers to escape. His elusive tactics make him seem super smart to them for some reason. So they choose tread lightly when they return to the SAME headquarters that the previous Cyclops Balls were camped out in. Doesn’t seem smart to me.
Anyway, as soon as they arrive, Tri-Eyes begins blasting a laser beam, then an ice beam, before finally stopping them with his stun beam. At least, that’s what we’re assuming that beam was… even though it could easily be a hypnotic beam like Hypno had. But that would be ridiculous. Once Tri-Eyes thinks he has won the day, Lance Smith from Blood Suckers and Blood Suckers 2 bursts through this glass ceiling that the Cyclops Balls must always have to fix. Lance blasts Tri-Eyes from behind, and then blasts his eyes directly, killing him. Bolt and Kid snap out of it and meet Lance. The End.
I wish I had expanded Lance’s cameo more since his introduction into this universe is less traditional than usual. But I don’t feel as though he was that well-developed at this point either, so that may have been a factor.
Tongue is back and breaks the fourth wall to let YOU know that. Bolt appears to stop him from taking the money and nothing more. However, an off-screen presence decides to kill him instead. Glad I kept him alive for that. When then cut to the Cyclops Balls headquarters that someone has rebuilt again, only to find Blade making his way back to it. Where has he been all this time? Who knows! And we don’t have time to learn how he survived the explosion from issue #1. Instead, we see… something happening after opening the doors inside. I wish I could remember what my brain thought was happening here because I can’t make sense of it. In any case, an explosion is reported at the headquarters, leading Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid to investigate.
Upon arriving, Harold decides to suit up. Something that I feel he should have done before heading out in the Bolt-Mobile. Also, I have to note the “tornado” change into his outfit. I’m not sure what inspired that idea, but it’s a fun one. Anyway, Bolt and Kid find a mutated Blade that gives them quite a fight. Luckily for them, Robbie Rabbit appears… as opposed to his alter ego… feels like something he should have done before engaging the fight. Even more so considering it takes a moment for him to remove his disguise. I guess Blade is a patient Cyclops Ball. Once Robo-Rabbit reveals himself, he blasts off one of Blade’s claws with a Carrot Missile. Blade runs off while Robo-Rabbit awakens Lightning Bolt. After quick introductions, the trio go after Blade.
Once Robo-Rabbit locates Blade, the trio exit their flying contraptions to then fly after their adversary… Anyway, Robo-Rabbit attacks with a needle. Blade breathes fire at the Ghost Kid, turning the ghostly apparition black… as if he burned the ghost… He then shoots a claw from his left arm, leading me to believe he could easily regrow his right claw. Robo-Rabbit grabs the claw. At this point, Lightning Bolt has had enough and declares, “Now you’re going.” I feel like there should have been more to that. Anyway, I guess all three heroes unload their energy beams onto Blade, frying his brain (?). Once Blade is dead, Robo-Rabbit commands Bolt and Kid to come with him.
Lightning Bolt, the Ghost Kid, and Robo-Rabbit meet up with Stephen and Lance. Stephen (using more poor grammar) suggests forming a team, mainly because fourteen other villains have done the same thing. Everyone is seemingly onboard. But the big question is what they would call themselves. Both of the villain teams have names: The Slaughtering Seven and the Dealers of Death. Two very evil sounding names. Luckily, Stephen has the very heroic sounding name “The Destructors” ready to go, and Ghost Kid agrees it’s great. At that moment, The Destructors were born.
It became evident by the end that the first five issues of Lightning Bolt & the Ghost Kid were meant to not only establish them, but also establish their relationship with the other characters to form The Destructors. While the duo did move on to The Destructors and were fairly prominent there, I still had other ideas for these characters in their own series. Surprisingly, I had more ideas for them than I ever did for any of my other characters. This may have been due to the fact that they were more traditional. One of those ideas was a story that should have been issues #6 and #7 of Lightning Bolt & the Ghost Kid, not issues #4 and #5 of The Destructors.
The reason that I bring it up here is that story arc introduced a new character: Bones. In My Book of Drawings 3, one page features a quickly sketched Boo Boy and below him was a character dubbed Skel E. Ton. This was obviously meant to be as absurd as Boo Boy. And even though I drew it in jest, I began wondering how I could adapt that character into a hero as well. This led to a story where the Ghost Kid begins pondering the details surrounding his death. To investigate, he decides to reanimate his corpse for help. Thinking about this idea in retrospect does paint it as a bit disturbing. However, I believe the idea behind it comes from hoping the physical version of Ricky could possibly remember details that the Ghost Kid could not. But this is a story for another area of the website.
After introducing Bones and adding him to the Destructors team, it would feel as though he would only be featured prominently in The Destructors. However, when the time came to write the second series, I decided to add Bones into the mix and even rename the series Lightning Bolt, the Ghost Kid, and Bones. It’s a bit wordy. Now a trio, the heroes would next face a new threat from beyond the stars… even though the Cyclops Balls are aliens. A fact that I establish some years later.
THE ALIEN KNIGHTS SAGA
I’m not sure where the initial idea for the Alien Knights came from. If I had a guess, I came up with the name and thought it sounded cool. So, I went out of my way to create these new characters. From there, since Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid needed some new villains, I decided to create a seven-part story around them. And while the narrative for this story still leaves much to be desired, you can start to see small improvements in both the writing and the art. But as I said, it still leaves much to be desired.
Unlike Robo-Rabbit: The Series, I maintained the title and numbering system for this comic… at first. I have no idea why I felt the need to change things. I do remember when “new” versions of a thing would come out, and how you could get caught up in the “new-ness” of it all. Perhaps that was my line of thinking. Anyway, the story kicks off in space where a spacecraft nears the Earth. Five aliens beam down to Earth with a mission… which we assume is wreaking havoc. You’ll also note that the aliens don’t speak English, but some made up alien language I created. It’s literally gibberish. Hopefully, I didn’t say something in another language by accident.
The story the cuts to Harold Cane, who receives a phone call about the aliens. He decides “the man in blue” should check this. I assume this was meant to be a weak attempt at a nickname. Lightning Bolt flies out the city park, where he spots the Alien Knights. He calls the Ghost Kid for backup, who also brings along our guest star Bones. Upon arriving, the trio engage the Alien Knights. After blocking their combined firepower, the Knights retreat. Ghost Kid and Bones pursue them in the Kid-Copter, while Bolt pursues them in the Bolt-Mobile… even though he flew there.
The Alien Knights fight back in the pursuit, but the trio continues to push them back. The leader of the Knights orders a retreat to their emergency ship. Lightning Bolt tosses a grappling hook to their emergency ship… even though he can fly. The Ghost Kid approaches Lightning Bolt dangling from the grappling rope. Bolt tells Kid that he has a plan. This plan, as I kind of follow it, had Bones placing a boulder nearby. Lightning Bolt throws his grappling hook again and, this time, anchors the emergency ship. Once the ship is flailing out of control, Bones cuts the rope causing it to fly directly into the boulder. That tracks.
Thinking everything is taken care of, Lightning Bolt comments that this is a story for Harold to write. I guess Harold decided to be a reporter at some point. He writes the story and gets praise from his editor. But unfortunately, the alien threat still lives.
The inspiration for three of designs for the Alien Knights came from one of my favorite movies at that point in my life. Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College was a film I probably shouldn’t have been watching at 12 years old, but I did and it resonated with me for some bizarre reason. In fact, looking at the dark comedic nature of that film, it could explain several narrative choices I’ve made elsewhere. In any case, I used the designs of the three titular Ghoulies for three of the Alien Knights. The last two seemed to be Hail Mary, hoping to find new designs that would stick.
I know I said I maintained the title and numbering, but clearly only for one issue. Anyway, starting where the last issue ended, we see that the Alien Knights are alive, but the Leader has suffered injuries. And even though all five of them could not take on Lightning Bolt, the Ghost Kid, and Bones, the Leader sends Ratty, the rat looking alien, to take care of them. Before he does though, he decides to stop for a snack. So he shots a guy in the head and eats him. Scenes like these were my way of being edgy and dark.
Bones just happens to stumble upon him and gives chase to the super fast Ratty. Kid and Bolt also join in the chase, with Bolt seemingly catching and tying up Ratty. However, Ratty powers up and breaks free. Now, I’m not sure why Harold Cane is present and asking, “What’s up?” before turning into Lightning Bolt but here we are. Somewhere else, we see that the Leader getting his face fixed. I’ve often tried to remember what movie inspired me to write that scene. Anyway, the alien ship has been repaired, so the Knights head off to assist Ratty.
Upon arriving, the Leader orders them to open fire on the trio. Lightning Bolt throws his grappling hook at the spacecraft that has changed form between panels. The Alien Knights beam down but also cut the grappling rope on their way (??). The spacecraft explodes into the side of a mountain (?). The Ghost Kid see that the Knight have escaped. The Leader points his non-alien looking gun at Bones who distracts him and the other Knights while Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid chuck a large boulder onto them. Boulders got a lot of play in my stories. Our heroes drive away, but the Alien Knights survive once again. Thanks in no small part to the massive hole they were able to hide in that wasn’t there when the boulder dropped.
One aspect about the Alien Knights that I always look back on with disappointment is how I never gave them proper costumes. Most of them look like they are wearing jackets, and others looking like they are wearing t-shirts. With deeper reflection, I would have loved to put them in space suits from 1950s-era science fiction movies. It would have been a nice throwback look while giving them a proper uniform.
Learning nothing from the previous issue, the Leader now orders Claws, the cat-looking alien, to go after the trio. And even though we seem to be picking up where the story ended last time, Lightning Bolt, the Ghost Kid, and Bones have already returned to the Lightning Cave to relax. But luckily their security satellite alerts them to the approaching threat. They open fire, but Claws quickly dodges. He destroys the satellite but is then sucker punched by the Ghost Kid. Claws falls to the ground and is electrocuted by the ground (?).
Bones steps out to investigate (or finish him off; it’s not clear) and is immediately pulled to the ground by Claws. After someone takes a shot at Claws, he looks to the right and attacks Harold. The Ghost Kid grabs Claws and throws him in a chest that just happened to be outside the cave. But Claws breaks free! Harold asks Kid and Bones to stall them as he transform into Lightning Bolt and ascends into the sky. It seems he was expecting the rest of the Knights to appear. Finally, someone is learning. He once again uses his grappling hook to attach and hang from their spacecraft, even though he can fly…
Meanwhile, Claws somehow tosses the Ghost Kid like a rag doll, and then shoots off Bones’ right arm. As the Alien Knights beam Claws aboard, Lightning Bolt sets off a bomb, destroying their spacecraft. Lightning Bolt whips out his never-before-seen super breath to put out the fire from the wreckage, but then all three bail out before doing any kind of clean up. That’s peasant work. Speaking of which, a peasant comes to check out the crash site, where he is inexplicably pulled into a giant hole in the ground where the wreckage just was.
Once again, after meeting a supposed end, the Alien Knights survive and the Leader sends out his next punching bag. This time, it’s the poorly named Overturn, whose name I still can’t explain. I guess maybe because his head looked like it was upside down. But that still doesn’t explain his ability to transform into bastard versions of a person. Anyway, let’s look at the story.
Correcting the mistake of the last story, Overturn jumps straight out of that inexplicable hole in the ground, right into the sky aimed directly at the Kid-Copter. Overturn punches a hole directly into the vessel, causing it to crash land. Bones spots the crash and contacts Lightning Bolt to let him know. He then throws a rock at the back of the Kid-Copter (?). Overturn reveals his second nifty power which is to transform into monstrous versions of people. The perfect camouflage! This ability seemingly allows him to mimic powers as well. He and Lightning Bolt clash their bolts together. But the Ghost Kid knows how to stop him. A fire hose! Overturn then changes into the Ghost Kid, but Bones steps in to deflect his beam. So then Overturn changes into Bones, where he is swiftly taken down by Lightning Bolt. It’s the old rock, paper, scissor technique.
The other Alien Knights apparently secured a new bullet-shaped spacecraft. The Ghost Kid spots them approaching, so he employs a sly technique often used by the great Wile E. Coyote. He paints a target on a rock… Even the aliens seem confused and immediately turn around. But Lightning Bolt uses the trusty Lightning Rope to slingshot the bullet ship into the target rock since they weren’t going to do it themselves… I just realized this is the third time they’ve pulled this maneuver. But, at least the success rate is now up to 66%. As our heroes drive away, the Ghost Kid comments, “they’ll be back.” And of course they will. Not sure why they don’t just go back and ensure they’re defeat… Doesn’t matter.
Up next is the aptly named Fire Breather because that’s what he does. The last issue ended with the Leader saying, “Fire…” as if he had issued an order. But when this issue starts, we see him finishing the name. So now we know he was just saying a name instead of commanding an action. Clever, right? Anyway, this powerhouse immediately unleashes his fire breath at the Bolt Mobile, then at the Ghost Kid who seemingly gets rattled. Harold appears because he must actively hate that costume he wears. Fire Breather sneaks up behind him somehow, but Bones distracts him long enough to change into Lightning Bolt. He wasn’t going to be able to fight otherwise.
The Ghost Kid finally recovers and he puts his hat and glasses back on to indicate that he’s back! The Alien Knights arrive in an all-new even fancier spacecraft. Bolt immediately flies up to it and attaches himself to it via Lightning Rope. The success rate is more than half at this point. But the Alien Knights are learning as well. Claws cuts the Lightning Rope by dangling outside the ship… obviously. Lightning Bolt falls… even though he can fly… so he quickly asks for an assist from the Ghost Kid. Kid wastes no time in supplying the area in which he is falling with a trampoline. We all have one on hand. Bolt bounces from the trampoline back into the air and smashes into the Alien Knights’ ship.
The Knights quickly capture Bolt and retrieve Fire Breather. Bolt contacts the Ghost Kid via a new headset built into his cowl that must have been there this whole time. He tell Kid to blow up the ship with a mini-bomb. I guess to ensure he can escape. The Kid obliges allowing Lightning Bolt to break free and exit the ship before it crashed. The Alien Knights also planned ahead with escape pods. The Leader orders everyone else to wait for him at their unseen base, as he prepares to take on the trio himself.
I’ve been referring to the leader of the Alien Knights as “The Leader” since there were no indications of a name in the comic. Here, I see that I just called him “The Boss.” For the sake of consistency, I will still refer to him as “The Leader.” The Leader immediately goes after Bones with his own grappling hook and throws him into a brick wall. Lightning Bolt tries an attack but is deflected by some contraption on a spring. The Ghost Kid attempts a hat throw move that does nothing. Eventually, all three unload on him at the same time.
Meanwhile, the Alien Knights come across a lab. I thought they were supposed to be going to a base. Anyway, back to the fight it seems the Leader got the advantage at some point and has our heroes pinned down behind a well-placed boulder. Bolt tries the trusty Lightning Rope, but to no avail. The Leader captures the trio and calls for extraction. They are all beamed aboard. Claws whispers something interesting to the Leader. The Ghost Kid, being a ghost and all, phases out of his shackles and works on freeing his partners. The Alien Knights detach themselves from the back portion of the ship to escape, leaving our trio to die in a crash. Just like the Knights were supposed to do several times before. But Bolt, Kid, and Bones escape before meeting a fiery end.
The Alien Knights go back to this lab they’ve discovered. A lab that WE discover is opening tomorrow, thanks to the newspaper article Lightning Bolt found. Seems like something Harold would have known instead. Anyway, our trip know that our villains are headed there somehow, so they go after them. But little do they know that the lab contains various chemicals capable of transforming the Aliens Knights into even more formidable foes.
While I usually lament that I cannot remember the sources of certain inspirations for characters or story ideas, there is no question about the inspiration for the final chapter in this story. There was a phase in my life where I was obsessed with the movie Gremlins 2: The New Batch. This film did things I had never seen in a sequel before. Not least of which was introducing the audience to a wide variety of gremlins. I wanted nothing more than to emulate this idea, and for whatever reason, this is the story I chose to do it.
As soon as we begin, so does the action. All of the Aline Knights are ingesting liquid formulas that lead to various results. Claws becomes electric. Fire Breather grows wings. Ratty develops the ability for human speech. Overturn becomes a shark which is convenient that there is a giant pool of water in the lab. Even more convenient is the passerby that walks up to the pool in this lab and gets eaten.
Claws jumps out of a power outlet, while Ratty just comments that it’s them. The Ghost Kid and Bones immediately give chase, but Ratty runs into a giant spider web. The Leader is now half-spider. He sets Ratty free and goes on his way. It seems Kid and Bones had a delay on their pursuit, but are now ready to find him but need to split up to do so. At that moment, Fire Breather reappears. Bones prepares to fight him while Kid finally pursues Ratty. Someone shoots three arrows simultaneously that… I have to be honest that I have no idea what happens in those few panels. Mainly because it never comes back into play. So skipping that, Bones grabs onto Fire Breather. Claws reappears and directly surrounds Lightning Bolt before making his way inside his mouth. Bolt discharges Claws from his hands but is drained of his powers.
While still hanging onto Fire Breather’s leg, Bones hits Fire Breather in the back of the head with the hilt of his blade. This apparently causes Fire Breather to breathe fire onto the Leader, who was nearby. Bones then stabs Fire Breather in the chest. The Ghost Kid throws Ratty into the nearby pool of water that Overturn is currently swimming in. Lightning Bolt sneaks up on Claws, grabs him and throws him into that same nearby pool of water, electrocuting everyone inside. The Ghost Kid feels confident that everyone is dead. However, Bones spots the Leader running away in his original body. I guess the fire negated his spider form. And grabbing Claws must have recharged Lightning Bolt as he grabs the Leader by the head and electrocutes him to death.
At that moment, Lightning Bolt asks the Ghost Kid and Bones to make a promise to return one day should a threat like this ever rear its ugly face again. Bones returns to his grave, the Ghost Kid finally ascends into Heaven, and Harold officially hangs up his cape. The End.
I’m not sure why I ended The Alien Knights Saga with a sense of finality. I was not planning to retire the characters. All three were still active in the Destructors, so it’s not like I made them vanish. I think at this particular moment, I was unsure if I was planning to continue their comic. As I mentioned before, most of my characters shifted over to The Destructors because it just made things easier from a narrative standpoint. Eventually, a new story idea came about that led to the decision to continue their series a bit longer.
THE DIMENSION TWINS
Since Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid had primarily fought aliens, I thought it could be fun to mix things up with an interdimensional threat. I sketched out basic shapes with a glow surrounding them that could then transform into a monstrous version of the person they copied. I feel like this idea came to me when I was writing the Overturn story of The Alien Knights Saga. When he transforms into each character, the designs are very similar, if not identical, to these new villains. Regardless, I developed a story where these interdimensional beings would ruin the reputation of our heroes. While I probably did not succeed, The Dimension Twins arc proved to me that there were more stories to be told with these characters.
In the cross “deminsion” of Earth, three beings decide to go to Earth. Upon arriving, they realize they must change to resemble the inhabitants of Earth. Some random guy asks where Bolt, Kid, and Bones are, leading to these three shapes speaking those names aloud and taking on those forms. Never mind that they haven’t even seen these guys before. Anyway, in their new form, they make their presence known and begin attacking people around the city. Soon after, protests begin popping up with citizens demanding something be done about these former heroes. Harold Cane stumbles upon one such protest, and realizes he needs to assemble the trio once again. He suits up, heads to Ricky Peterson’s grave, and wakes up Bones and the Ghost Kid.
With the gang now reassembled, Lightning Bolt informs Kid and Bones that their names are being besmirched, and they need to do something about it. At that moment, the Dimension Twins appear before them and a fight ensues. Once the police interfere, the Dimension Twins vanish using teleportation powers. Ghost Kid and Bones are grabbed by Twin Bones and teleported away. Lightning Bolt realizes he’s alone when a voice calls out to him, taunting him to come to their tower. He immediately assumes the Empire State Building but is quickly proven wrong. As Lightning Bolt searches the city, the Dimension Twins await his arrival in China. TO BE CONTINUED…
While this wasn’t my best era of my art style, I do feel as though I was phoning it in a little with this one. Sure, I’ve cut corners before to the point where the story is incomprehensible, but the art just looks a bit sloppier than usual. At least I think it does. Maybe I was having an off day.
Whatever it may have been, I am acutely aware of the driving force behind this idea. While I can’t remember what specifically I watched or read, I had plenty of influential material where a hero is blamed for something they didn’t do. None of my heroes had dealt with that type of backlash before. I always assumed people would love superheroes and would celebrate them if they existed. But time has shown me that the Marvel approach to superheroes is probably more accurate.
Not sure why we transition from part to chapter, but here we are. Twin Bolt orders the Twin Bones to distract Lightning Bolt. So, he teleports into the sky and punches Bolt in the face while he’s flying. He then uses his powers to create an amusement park to distract him (?). When Bolt recovers, he is confused by the sight before him. He tries using his powers, but they are no longer working. So, he changes back into civilian clothes and approaches the amusement park. A random kid asks Harold to pretend to be his dad, so he could enter a funhouse, and Harold agrees. Eventually, they find a portal in the middle of the funhouse and Harold dives right in, leaving the kid behind. Twin Bones grabs the kid.
Harold drops out of the portal in the sky. He transforms back into Lightning Bolt and sticks his arm back through the portal to shock Twin Bones drops the kid into the portal, who begins transforming and reveals himself to be Twin Kid. Lightning Bolt notices a box of Chinese takeout on top of Twin Kid’s head and immediately realizes they are in China. He sets off in that direction as Twin Bolt prepares for his arrival.
I feel like the revelation that they were in China based on the appearance of a Chinese takeout box could be perceived as racist. Is it racist? I’m not the one to ask. And it certainly was not my intention. I wrote this at a point in my life when I was completely uncultured. We didn’t have Chinese restaurants in our town. Hell, I couldn’t tell you how far out we would have had to go just to find one. Needless to say, Smith County, Tennessee was fairly uncultured back then. Ironically, it still is to this day.
So the end of the last story was not just a clever preview but a panel to kickstart the next story. Lightning Bolt and Twin Bolt clash their powers. Bolt gets a quick shot in, hitting Twin Bolt. The Ghost Kid attempts to escape this electric prison Twin Bolt had made, but unfortunately he made it ghost-proof. Yet somehow, Bones is able to use his scimitar to “cut” through the electric bars and allow them to escape. Kid and Bones observe Bolt fighting. Bones takes an opportunity to help and throws his scimitar. [SIDE NOTE: You may notice that I drew Bones throwing his sword at the camera twice on one page. I had recently learned that trick and wanted to show it off.] The scimitar pierces Twin Bolt’s body. Bolt then hit Twin Bolt with a massive shock, effectively reverting the Twin back to its original form.
The Dimension Twin attacks Bones. Lightning Bolt attacks the Dimension Twin. It then retaliates against Bolt. Then the Ghost Kid attacks the Dimension Twin. A portal appears in the sky as Lightning Bolt electrocutes the Dimension Twin. At this point, I started asking where the other two are. Regardless of their location, the other Twin is being pulled towards the portal, but Bones uses that handy scimitar once again to cut off a thread of energy. His actions set off a chain reaction that causes the portal to become a vortex, sucking up any and everything within range. As the trio hangs on tight, whatever Lightning Bolt was holding on to gives way, and Bolt is sucked into the portal before it closes for good. His cape falls to the ground, landing atop the wall Kid and Bones were hanging on to. The Ghost Kid informs the Destructors, and some of them say good-bye. THE END
While the most casual onlooker could look at my wealth of stories and creations and think, “that guy is pretty creative,” those who look much deeper can see EVERYTHING that I was either inspired by or outright ripping-off. It was never my intention to kill Lightning Bolt. I just wanted to replicate a scene that I saw on the cover of Superman #76. If you look at the cover below then look back at that final panel above, it’s very obvious.
THE RETURN
After the funeral, Kid and Bones lament about the life of a hero. Meanwhile, in that cross “deminsion” where the twins came from awakens to find himself floating in a… space. The Dimension Twins spot him and attempt to capture him. Bolt’s powers are once again not working, for the third time he points out. So, he resorts to good ol’ fisticuffs and punches those shapes off into the space. He runs off and attempts to leap from one space platform to another, but the space platform disappears. Fortunately, he is able to grab on to a ledge and somersault himself up onto another nearby platform. Unfortunately, that ledge had a cage above it that drops down onto Lightning Bolt, trapping him.
Later, a council of shapes discusses what they plan to do with Lightning Bolt. Obviously, the plan is to kill him. They immediately snatch him out of his cage and place him in an electric chair. Who knew other dimensions had these too? Foolishly, they electrocute Lightning Bolt, thereby restoring his power. He quickly takes out a number of the shapes, and then grabs one and mentions that they are going to talk about sending him home. Soon after, a portal is opened and Lightning Bolt dives through. For some reason, his cape is drawn back to him. Bolt then flies towards the Destructors headquarters where he casually knocks to surprise the Ghost Kid that he had returned. THE END
Considering I wrote the ending to the last story just to replicate a comic book cover, I really pushed myself into a corner on how I was going to tell this story. Luckily, I just half-assed it as usual. You may also see yet another rip-off in the line Lightning Bolt says to the Dimension Twin: “Now, let’s talk about getting me home.” While it is not verbatim, that was directly lifted from the film Army of Darkness, a favorite of mine and my best friend Jamin Sponaugle.
After the quick death and return of Lightning Bolt, I decided to approach the series a bit differently and focus on introducing some new villains. Every story up to this point in the series centered around a group of similar baddies. I figured now was a good time to beef up his rogue’s gallery.
Lightning Bolt is flying around the city when it suddenly starts snowing in the middle of summer. He flies back to the “Lightning Cave” and asks the Ghost Kid what is going on. Kid states the obvious by saying the weather changed drastically, so Harold clarifies if he had been able to track down the source of this phenomenon. Using his fancy computer, he tracks a signal somewhere in the southeast section of the country. More specifically, somewhere between Florida and Cuba. What a way to narrow it down. Lightning Bolt flies to Florida and notices a dramatic shift in the climate. Meanwhile in Antarctica, a man made of ice is attempting to manage the climate using his ice powers as the polar ice caps melt. Lightning Bolt arrives in Antarctica and observes the ice melting. He then shouts to the unnamed ice man to accompany him. The ice man agrees upon learning it was in regards to the ice melting. Soon after, Lightning Bolt and Polar, the unnamed ice man, arrive at the secret lab where the weather experiments are taking place. They look around the place until they hear a noise coming from above them. Lightning Bolt flies up and smashed through the floor, finding the culprit.
The villain declares, “You can’t stop the Weatherman.” So Lightning Bolt attacks. His bolt is deflected and subsequently ricochets off some shield the Weatherman is hiding behind. The bolt strikes a chain holding a giant platform in the air. With the chain broken, the platform swings down from the ceiling, striking Bolt knocking him back. Polar attacks the Weatherman with his ice beam, but is quickly subdued by the Weatherman using a flamethrower, pushing him back onto a table above a giant heating lamp. The Weatherman cranks up the lamp’s intensity, causing Polar to begin melting. Luckily, the weather’s erratic nature caused a storm, which naturally causes lightning, and a bolt of lightning just happens to strike Lightning Bolt, bringing him back to full power. Bolt destroys the heat lamp and then blasts the Weatherman clear out of his lab. Another hero named Rocket randomly shows up to take the Weatherman to jail. Lightning Bolt takes Polar back to Antarctica, effectively restoring his body. THE END
I find it interesting that in the face of a creative challenge like creating a foil for your hero, we as creators seemingly default to characters not that dissimilar to that of the hero. While the Cyclops Balls, Alien Knights, and Dimension Twins were absolutely bizarre villains for this type of hero, they were wholly unique in their own way. The Weatherman feels like a villain more inline with typical comic book tropes. If you look at a character like Spider-Man, most of his villains are animal-themed. But then I consider Batman and his rogues, and they don’t typically fall under the same umbrella, even though there are plenty of animals in that mix. I guess I’m disappointed in myself for not thinking about a better villain.
Not sure why I wasn’t consistent with the titles. I think I was only listing the characters that appeared in the story. Anyway, we are introduced to a guy walking home. Upon arriving home, he finds his house ablaze. He shouts for someone named Lisa when a bolt of lightning strikes beside him. The force of the impact knocks the man back. From inside the house, the man hears cries for help. As he screams out for Lisa, his hand emits a wave of sound, knocking down the door. The man is confused but immediately learns to fly and soars into the house, rescuing his sister Lisa. Later, the man practices using his abilities and becomes Thunder. It seems Thunder has a beef with Harold Cane. The man immediately finds Harold, who responds in shock calling out the man’s name. The man’s name is Jeffrey and he is Harold’s little brother. Jeffrey has one hell of a chip on his shoulder, because he wastes no time in transforming into Thunder in an attempt to kill Harold.
Harold responds in kind and transforms into Lightning Bolt. The two attempt to use their powers on each other, but wind up absorbing the energy from the other brother’s power. So, Thunder pivots by using his power to start an earthquake. Bolt takes to the sky and throws a boulder at Thunder. Thunder obliterates the boulder before it reaches him, and then takes to the sky as well. He uses his power to open a crater in the ground, and then dives towards the hole. Lightning Bolt moves as Thunder flies into the hole, and then seals the hole back with his lightning powers (?). Later, he finds his sister and tells her that their brother is gone. Apparently, she has powers too. THE END
I’m surprised it took eighteen stories to get to the doppelganger episode. The bad version of the good guy is the easiest villain to come up with. Writing it well is the tricky part. I thought making Thunder Harold’s brother would add some interesting drama to the mix. And it very well could have had I focused any portion of the story on explaining why Jeffrey had a chip on his shoulder. Clearly his sister Lisa had no hard feelings against him. So, what was Jeffrey’s problem?
We should also address how Jeffrey and Lisa even have powers. Well, if you recall WAY back in issue #1, Harold was just struck by lightning and he had powers. At one point in time when I couldn’t come up with great origins, I just went with the most basic idea. Like Peter Parker being bit by a radioactive spider. Or Hal Jordan being given a powerful space ring. Here, a special lightning bolt gave Harold Cane powers, and he chose to use them as a superhero. So, a similar lightning bolt strikes near Jeffrey, imbuing him with similar powers. That was my rationale. I guess Lisa was just infected by the energy when Jeffrey rescued her.
At the Weatherman’s lab, we find that the Weatherman is no longer in jail. He activates a machine that fires a beam at him, seemingly changing him. The Ghost Kid receives a report that more weather anomalies are occurring. So, Bolt and Kid decide to go check it out. Upon arriving at the lab, they notice the gaping hole in the ceiling. They fly down into the lab where they are immediately attacked by the Weatherman. The Weatherman gives them no chance to recover, and continues to pummel them. Suddenly, Thunder randomly appears with a number of other characters ready to put a beatdown of the Weatherman. One by one, they each take their turn. He is burned, bombed, stabbed, frozen, shattered, and dropped from the sky. One might assume he’s dead, but I think he was meant to live. In the end, Bolt and Kid wonder why some other super-powered people came to help. Bolt thinks that they too got fed up with the weather changing. So, the Kid responds that now they have frenemies which Bolt doesn’t understand. THE END
I’m surprised how quickly I went back to the Weatherman to be the story’s foil. I would imagine it was because I had the “clever” idea to make him control the weather naturally, as opposed to it being a machine. Why I felt this to be necessary for the character is unclear to me. I also do not understand why I chose to have a random selection of heroes and villains just cameo for no other reason than to beat the shit out of the Weatherman. I also feel like the comical exchange at the end was rooted in a real conversation. Just another bizarre entry.
On the planet Venus, the descendants of the original Alien Knights are planning their revenge. They have added a new member to the team, and believe that will be the thing to turn the tide. The dog-faced leader warns them to beware the Solar Stalker, but the lead Knight isn’t concerned. They take off in their spaceship and head towards Earth. Meanwhile, on the sun, another being is attempting to race the Alien Knights to Earth to conquer first. Bones is alerted to alien activity, so he informs the Ghost Kid. Lightning Bolt goes to check it out. Ghost Kid gets reports of two separate sightings, leading Bolt to believe they brought backup. Bolt heads off to one of the reported sights where he finds the Solar Stalker observing his surroundings. Since he is not actively causing chaos, Bolt decides to move on. Bones, however, decides that he wants to keep an eye on that other alien. So, he hops on his all-new motorcycle and confronts the Solar Stalker. After a quick introduction, Bones learns that the Solar Stalker is looking for a new home, since the sun is so goddamn hot. So, Bones tells him its cool if he stays as long as he doesn’t cause trouble. Oh and if he could help with the Alien Knights, that would be awesome.
The Solar Stalker agrees, and they head off to confront them. Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid already engaged the Alien Knights. The Ghost Kid crushes Cattytwo using a nearby wrecking ball. Lightning Bolt fries Shark, officially making him the most useless added character. Rattytwo hold Lightning Bolt at gunpoint, but is quickly dispatched by Bones via a scimitar to the head. Lightning Bolt then fries Fire Breathertwo. Ghost Kid lobotomizes Overturntwo. And finally the Solar Stalker kills the Leader too. Afterwards, the Solar Stalker decides he needs to keep searching, but the Ghost Kid believes he will return. THE END
This particular issue was, at one time, planned to be the introduction of a new villain: Trixter. Clearly, he was meant to be a severe threat. However, as I began developing the character, I realized he could be much more than a throwaway villain in this comic series. That eventually lead to the development of three different stories featuring the character and several more ideas for sequels. All of which can be found on a different page that has yet to be published. But it will be soon.
I would assume since I didn’t follow through with that idea is why I chose instead to bring back one of the bigger threats. Even though they were much less of a threat this time around. I also realized that Bones had been absent since the end of the Dimension Twins arc. Not sure why I did that but his appearance did change between stories. I also love the addition of Lightning Bolt cowl radio. Now, follow my teen logic here. Cellphones were not a things. Radio communication requires towers and signals. So, for Lightning Bolt to communicate back to the cave, he needs a dedicated satellite. I envisioned this small, portable satellite coming out of his horn, along with a microphone. Never once thinking in a realm of fantasy and advanced technology. No, this had to be the thing that had to remain realistic. Not sure why I had this need to base something in reality when pure fiction gives you so much more freedom.
Our trio of heroes are taking an opportunity to relax. But as luck would have it, speaking about it makes it happen. A report comes in about earthquakes in the area. Harold finds it hard to believe that there would be an earthquake in New York. The Ghost Kid then mentions that these are unnatural occurrences. Harold immediately assumes it is his brother and heads out after him. Bones, once again, inserts himself into the situation and follows Lightning Bolt. Bolt flies towards the city and sees Thunder’s handiwork from a distance. He immediately throws a bolt at Thunder who responds in kind. Frustrated by his brother’s presence, he kicks a boulder in Bolt’s direction. He then uses his powers to explode the boulder, causing it to shatter into smaller, more weaponized fragments. As Thunder laughs at his success, Bones throws his scimitar at Thunder, but is caught by him instead.
Thunder uses his powers to knock Bones back, and then pins him to the wall of a building using the scimitar. Thunder then collapses the building on top of Bones. Lightning Bolt swoops in again, attempting to use his powers but to no avail. Thunder then uses a more concentrated version of his power in the form of a hand clap, which actually hurts Lightning Bolt. Taken aback by this, he deduces what Thunder achieved and replicates it via a nearby storm cloud. Lightning Bolt unleashes a gigantic thunderbolt onto Thunder, knocking him out. For good measure, Bolt lobs a… Bolt bomb we’ll call it, at Thunder, knocking his body off-screen. Lightning Bolt recovers Bones who is looking a little rough for wear. Bones tells Bolt to bury him and he’ll come back better than before. So they do. THE END.
If you didn’t know what my formal education was, you’d think I went to the school of melodrama. Bones “dying” is yet another example of theses big events occurring in my comics, but never earning those moments. There was no narrative reason for Bones to “die” or even go into hibernation which is basically what’s happening. I will say that I dug Thunder’s boulder attack. That was pretty inventive idea. I should wait to write until I have a few more next time.
I also want to bring up this odd choice I made to whiten Harold Cane’s eyes. For anyone who is a comic book fan, most characters who wear masks are drawn with white eyes. While I have no reason to point to as to why this trend started, I would assume it was a stylistic choice that just looked pretty damn cool. When comic book characters were brought to live-action, having white eyes in the mask maybe wasn’t impossible, but perhaps improbable. Like most things starting out, it wouldn’t look good or at least that was the argument. Fast forward to 2016 and Deadpool has white eyes in the movie. They finally cracked the code. So, what about my guy.
Well, my logical thinking was if he was going to have white eyes with the mask on, he needed to have white eyes with the mask off. Never mind the fact that the public at large would see two eyes that look like nothing but sclera. That never registered. Only what needed to make sense logically. You can even see the transition in issue #14 where I wrote it the change into the story. Eventually, I abandoned it.
This story kicks off with a proper narrative choice that confirms the Cyclops Balls are indeed alien lifeforms. A new group has landed on Earth near the old Cyclops Balls fortress in search of their cousins. Meanwhile, the Ghost Kid is building a new invention called a particle bomb. What does it do? Doesn’t matter. We don’t have time to find out because the danger alarm is going off again. Harold transforms into Lightning Bolt to check out the danger. The Ghost Kid directs him towards the Cyclops Balls old headquarters where Bolt finds the fortress rebuilt. He peeks his head through a window to find five Cyclops Balls inside having a meeting. Unfortunately, he doesn’t notice the sixth member flying behind him. The winged Cyclops Ball tosses Lightning Bolt through the window into the fortress and into a new art style. When pressed on his identity, Bolt openly admits that he killed the original five. So, the new Cyclops Balls attack Lightning Bolt. A spider-like Cyclops Ball webs Bolt to a wall, allowing a Goro-like Cyclops Ball to get a few licks in. But foolishly, the lead Cyclops Ball decides to leave Bolt to be killed later. This gives Bolt an opportunity to contact the Ghost Kid.
The Ghost Kid answers and Bolt tells him to grab a friend and head over immediately. Kid tries contacting Stephen first but gets no answer. He then turns to Robo-Rabbit who answer and seemingly agrees to help. Luckily, another random hero shows up at the Cyclops Balls headquarters and decides to help. The hero hops inside through a window and creates a clone of himself to stand guard while he attempts to free Lightning Bolt. Unfortunately, the lead Cyclops Ball catches them in the act. The hero grabs Lightning Bolt and heads toward the window. The window is blocked by the winged Cyclops Ball, effectively cornering them. The Ghost Kid and Robo-Rabbit push their ships to the limit as Lightning Bolt and the unnamed hero are surrounded. TO BE CONTINUED…
I’m not sure why I had this bad habit of not introducing characters. It’s bad enough when it’s one character, but I introduced six in this story. I knew I had a drawing with their names somewhere and here it is. I was also working on a redesign for Bones.
I said there were six unnamed characters introduced in this story but there is still one more unnamed character. That particular character actually appeared issue #19, in that cavalcade of characters that just showed up inexplicably and is named Xerox. He was named this for the very reason you would think. However, I didn’t realize that Xerox was a brand, and that this would be a difficult name to use should I want to publish stories featuring these characters. But since I’m not currently, I’m not too concerned about renaming him. Hell, his whole creation was based on the idea just being cool to me.
I also want to note the change in art style. While I can’t say for 100% certainty, I would almost bet that I stopped writing this story during my transition to a new style, and then came back to it to finish. Why I stopped is unclear, but I would say that I came down with a case of writer’s block.
Xerox and Bolt are trapped. Xerox then throws his grappling hook and captures Airborne, the winged Cyclops Ball, to hold hostage. At that moment, Robo-Rabbit arrives and shoots a Carrot missile at the Cyclops Balls. This distraction allows Xerox and Bolt to escape. Later, back at the Lightning Cave (or whatever), the Ghost Kid presents Harold with a new suit meant to improve the speed of recovery. He tells Harold to put it on and rest while he Robo-Rabbit and Xerox go back to finish off the Cyclops Balls. The trio head back to finish the job and waste no time starting a fight.
The Ghost Kid is caught off-guard by the powers of Joints, the skeleton Cyclops Ball, being able to affect him. Airborne sucker punches Robo-Rabbit in the back. Spider-Ball webs up Xerox. As all of this is occurring, in a grave, lightning strikes the gravestone of Richard Philip Peterson, and a hand emerges from the ground. Back at the castle, the Cyclops Balls seem to have the upper hand. That is until Lightning Bolt arrives. He shocks Edge, the leader, and then Scales, the lizard Cyclops Ball, and Joints. Bones inexplicably bursts in through the front door, throwing his sword into Spider-Ball‘s head. Xerox catches Airborne and Robo-Rabbit finishes it off with a missile to the face. The Ghost Kid throws his particle bomb at Edger, who escapes in their spacecraft. Lightning Bolt goes to pursue him, but the Ghost Kid tells him he is as good as dead anyway. Later, on the Cyclops Balls planet, Edge returns and begins a call to action for a full scale invasion of Earth. But in that moment, he activates the particle bomb that annihilates the entire planet. THE END
I’m surprised that I incorrectly misnumbered these issues. I think that proves even more to me that I stepped away for an extended break during the writing of the previous comic. Furthermore, I would even say that I took a break during the writing of this comic as well, as the art style shifts again on the second page, becoming more refined. Plus, it looks like I sharpened my pencil for the rest of the comic, so that was nice.
I also want to address the ending of this comic. As I wrote the summary for several comics, I noticed some of the stories ended somewhat abruptly. This particular issue ended VERY abruptly with an entire planet being destroyed. Feels like there should have been more build up to such a thing. But something tells me that I couldn’t think of any more story, so I rushed the ending to fit it on this page. Not sure why I did that exactly. It’s not like there was a paper shortage or anything. Guess I was trying to keep things uniform.
The Ghost Kid presents Bones with a special helmet designed for protection, but also to heal that face of his. Bones digs the new look. He then asks where Harold is and the Ghost Kid tells him at the store. At the store, Harold is doing some shopping and runs into an old friend: Mary Peterson.
It’s clear that I was ready to end this series, considering this was marked to be the final episode. It’s just unfortunate I didn’t write a proper send-off for the series. I still could, I suppose. Lightning Bolt and the Ghost Kid was my longest running solo series. However, the older I got and life around me started to change, it was becoming harder to write more than one comic. So, I opted to end all of my other series’ and focus solely on The Destructors. Many great ideas were spawned from this series that I carried over to The Destructors. In fact, the characters of Ghost Kid and Bones became integral in keeping the Destructors name alive and well in the future. But that’s a story for another page.
I have considered the possibility of a reboot. When attempting to redesign the characters, numerous takes and iterations came about. I knew I wanted to use the characters in some way, but I was challenged to find the right approach. At one time, I believed that I had to present these character in a new and very specific way and that the concept of this completely random duo had to be set aside. However, after some time away and being reintroduced to this world, I have some new ideas that could reboot the series properly without sacrificing anything in the process.
I always felt that Lightning Bolt & the Ghost Kid harkened back to the golden and silver age of comics where ludicrous ideas like this flourished. I even conceptualized a reverse situation called The Kilowatt Kid & the Spirit. I never went beyond that drawing, but I love the name “Kilowatt Kid.” I’ve even considered taking the format to another medium and leaning into that aesthetic even harder, but lack of time has held me back from that. Hopefully, one day this duo will rise again and I can take them to new heights to see them reach their proper potential.
THE CLASSIC ISSUES
At some point in 1993, I had an idea to redraw some of my comics. My art style had improved somewhat, and the writing wasn’t very good to begin with. So, I figured I could improve upon what I had already created. I’m not sure what truly inspired this idea. And I wish I had waited a few more years before attempting this. I think everything would have been improved significantly. Looking over these, I’m almost inspired to do it again. Almost…
It seems as though I had plans to give the next series arc, The Alien Knights, the “Classic Issues” treatment, as evidenced by some cover art I found. You can tell that my art style had evolved yet again, so I wonder if the extra detail was starting to be too much work. I really wish I had finished this one, just out of curiosity.
SKETCHES AND OTHER ARTWORK
Pencil & Paper Productions 