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Paradox
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The characters and scene were indirectly inspired by discussions with Maggie Hogarth. Originally published in benefit portfolio to raise funds for Christina “Smudge” Hanson’s medical bills.
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The original was shaded entirely with gray markers, so the challenge in creating the print version was to convert those gray shades to color and to add missing details. Prints available for sale through Rabbit Valley. Original version published in Yarf! issue fifty-eight as gatepiece for M. C. A. Hogarth’s short story “Rosettes and Ribbons”.
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Unfortunately, a publication error meant this piece didn’t appear on its assigned page, leaving only a blank spot. Originally published in Yarf! issue fifty-eight as illustration for M. C. A. Hogarth’s short story “Rosettes and Ribbons”.
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This wrap-around cover illustrates the climax of the story arc chronicling Alysha Forrest’s struggle to balance two lives: by day a Fleet cadet, by night an exotic dancer and unwilling prostitute. The issue on which it appeared was my last as art director. Originally published in Yarf! issue fifty-five as front and back covers in reference to M. C. A. Hogarth’s short story “Steel”.
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Alysha emerges from a block of marble, a statue coming to life, and reaches toward the stars for which she yearns; the upper part of her Fleet uniform dissolves into exotic-dance costumery, in turn disintegrating and leaving her lower body nude. This piece is more symbolic and less representational than usual. Originally published in Yarf! issue fifty-three as illustration for M. C. A. Hogarth’s short story “Blood Money”.
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A range of seemingly unrelated thoughts and ideas came together in “Collateral Damage”, which turned out well enough to please both Maggie Hogarth and me. “The Visit” is a mood and character piece set after Laelkii Takara has retired from Fleet service to put out her own shingle and bring up a passel of kids. Maggie rated it “slick” and offered strong encouragement to finish it. Paradox created by M. C. A. Hogarth and used with permission. Stories are not necessarily canonical.
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This was based on a rough sketch drawn by the author. Originally published in Yarf! issue fifty-two as illustration for M. C. A. Hogarth’s short story “A Cold and Gentle Dark”.
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Alysha Forrest and Laelkii Takara each dance for a very special audience of one—Matthew Brighthaven and Ashley Browning, respectively. These were thank-yous to Maggie Hogarth for her friendship and support. Characters created by M. C. A. Hogarth and used with permission.
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The gatepiece was rushed for what was supposed to be a tight deadline, and suffered somewhat; still, it and the interior illos pleased the author. The flags are shown with heraldic hatching—horizontal lines for blue, vertical lines for red, and so on. Artistic license was needed to show the flags clearly, since the story describes them as flying from the same staff. Originally published in Yarf! issue fifty as illustrations for M. C. A. Hogarth’s short story “Two Uniforms”; gatepiece subsequently published as part of the short novel Alysha’s Fall.
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Captain Alysha Forrest meets Ashley Browning for the first time. Paradox created by M. C. A. Hogarth and used with permission. Story is not necessarily canonical.
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Miscellaneous Milieux
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Created for an on-line role-playing setting that never actually got started, this airship was designed for a world where technology and magic co-exist uneasily. Manse Wyrd created by Kim Liu and used with permission.
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The last issue of the limited comic series Bureau of Mana Investigation went through some editorial shuffling, ending with a hole on the inside back cover. The grayscale original was commissioned to fill that hole, and the print version was colorized later. Prints available for sale through Rabbit Valley. Bureau of Mana Investigation copyright 2004 Backbreaker Studios; used with permission.
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This was commissioned for a graphic story project. The vessel’s bow is to the left, protected by a debrís shield of fused asteroid-mining tailings. Aft of that, a framework (hexagonal when seen from bow or stern) holds eight fifty-foot cargo boxes filled with forty-foot containers, as used on container ships and big rigs. The red engineering module contains a fusion ring, an FTL generator, and a contragravity drive. It and the blue habitat module have a beveled-hexagon cross-section. The slab-like green module supports secondary engineering systems and six short-range trans-atmospheric vehicles on hardpoints. Four shuttles are configured for passengers and two carry four cargo containers each.
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This VHS sleeve for a hypothetical and rather unusual Zig Zag Studios product was an interesting design challenge, done for a lark. Zig Zag created by Malcolme “Max Blackrabbit” Earle and used with permission.
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This was the first major piece completed using Photoshop. Background shading and textures were “painted” onto the scanned ink drawing. Originally published in Anthrolations issue two as gatepiece for Kim Liu’s short story “The Crucible”.
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Amazingly, this took only three or four hours to finish, which was fortunate, because it was solicited two weeks before the printing deadline! Originally published in a promotional calendar for Associated Student Bodies. Alex created by Lance Rund and Chris McKinley and used with permission.
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The heavy outlines and flat colors are reminiscent of European propaganda posters of the twenties and thirties. The poster’s design follows the story’s description very closely. Prints available for sale through Rabbit Valley. Original version published in Yarf! issue twenty-four as illustration for David White’s short story “The Soloist”.
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According to Jymn Magon, co-creator of the series, Rebecca Cunningham wasn’t originally intended to be quite as bitchy as she ended up getting written. She was also supposed to be a very lonely widow and a bit of a romantic. And, yes, I had a bit of a crush on her. Talespin is the intellectual property of the Walt Disney Company.
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This outline inspired a couple of other folks. Dave White came up with Talespin Again, set a dozen years later, when the older characters are in their forties or fifties, Kit Cloudkicker is in his early twenties, and Molly Cunningham is eighteen, neatly avoiding the problem of finding new voices to play the children’s roles. Waverly Pierre considered writing some short fan stories to explore alternate futures for the characters, which led to Carrie Prim and the Prim family’s hotel. Incidentally, Jymn Magon, co-creator of the series, commented that describing Molly Cunningham as “Becky Junior” is spot-on. Talespin is the intellectual property of the Walt Disney Company.
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It seems many if not most Star Trek fans sooner or later write “Ensign Nancy” stories—wish-fulfillment self-insertion erotic fantasies. More than two decades after it was written, this one now inspires winces, but other folks seem to enjoy it, so here it is. Star Trek is the intellectual property of Paramount Studios.
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Playing around with characters and story ideas in the Star Trek universe seems to be almost inevitable at some point in a science-fiction fan’s career, and I was no exception. However, in a departure from the abundance of “galaxy-famous” fan characters, I decided to concentrate on an ordinary officer with a reasonably distinguished but relatively quiet career, ending as a commodore behind a desk somewhere in San Francisco. Star Trek is the intellectual property of Paramount Studios.
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