COLLIDE-O-SCOPE part 7: "LUCIFER"!!

Obviously, this is the big bad guy of the series. Lucifer himself, who will plague our heroes, and scheme with the other assorted villains in his attempt to regain his lost musical treasure! He can assume any shape he desires, of course, but this is his "standard" earth form, based on the preconceptions and prejudices of humanity. "But he should be red," you say. Well, listen, Lucifer can only stomach the cliched appearance so much, and he's grown absolutely sick of red. Blue is in, for the Prince of Darkness!

COLLIDE-O-SCOPE part 3: "SHRUBB"!!

Juancarlos Delgado (“Shrubb”) -- Bass Guitar
Enigmatic, Hispanic and very hairy, SHRUBB’s face is permanently hidden by his shrub-like head of hair (hence, his nickname -- get it?) -- the only “facial feature” visible is the pair of special goggles he wears. SHRUBB’s fashion sense leans towards the early 70’s as he is usually found sporting bellbottom pants, apple hats, army jackets, puka shells, and huckapoo shirts (and Angel Flight suits when he’s feeling fancy). Tall, lanky and stoop-shouldered, SHRUBB is very laid back and relaxed, and he rarely speaks except for the occasional brief sentence, usually in Spanish, all of which makes it quite difficult to read his mood/ feelings. Very dependable and loyal, he will rarely protest or argue, deferring to the authority of those around him that he trusts.
How can SHRUBB see through that head of hair? Why, he’s got X-ray vision, of course! Not just x-ray, mind you, but SHRUBB can see in a much broader range of extra-spectrum sight, allowing him to see things others would never be aware of. He can even see when someone is lying! His “magic goggles” have even tapped into his brain through some sort of symbiotic link, and the lenses often display onomatopoeic phrases related to SHRUBB’’s state of mind. How did SHRUBB come to possess these stupefying shades and why does he hide his face? That remains a mystery for now. His bass-playing prowess, however, is not a mystery, and SHRUBB can more than handle any style of bass-playing with ridiculous ease, from lightning fast metal, to slap-funk!

COLLIDE-O-SCOPE part 1: "COLLIDE-O-SCOPE, and ATOM ALLEGRO"!!

The Ringling Senior thesis show was overall very impressive. My contribution, which I've been posting bits of here, seemed to be well-received, although I felt that it was not as polished as I wanted it to be. This past year has just been a hectic mess for me, and everything I did seemed to be terribly frustrating, requiring much more effort and stress than it should have. I think the lack of sleep and constant creative overdrive causing me to neglect any sort of social or family life over the past couple years just built up to the point where I needed to stop and rest, but I couldn't pause until the deed was done. Henceforth, my COLLIDE-O-SCOPE senior thesis project had to be birthed a bit prematurely -- I wanted to do so much more with it, but time and the forces of the universe would not allow it. I plan to continue to fine tune this showdog and actually produce illustrated stories and some assorted merchandise featuring these characters and concepts. I put a lot of effort into creating an actual cohesive storyline for the concept and solid backgrounds for the characters and how they interact, which took time away from actual visual artwork, but it was necessary if I wanted to round this thing out.

Anyway, here's the first part of my Senior thesis presentation, starting with the band members themselves. First up: ATOM ALLEGRO, lead guitarist/ vocals for COLLIDE-O-SCOPE!

Before I get to Atom's background, here's the pitch for the concept of the whole COLLIDE-O-SCOPE mess:

"WHAT IS COLLIDE-0-SCOPE?!"

Welcome to Roca Lago, the musical mecca of the world and home to the highest population of musicians, the largest number of bands and the most recording studios in the world! Due to a mystical underground spring which supplies Roca Lago with its drinking water, the entire population has been gifted with at least a moderate level of musical talent and hundreds have become masters of the craft -- some of the animals have even started to display some musical talent! In a city full of proficient musicians, what kind of band could capture the hearts and minds of an overwhelming majority of the population, becoming the greatest band on Earth, and several other planets?! Why, it’s COLLIDE-O-SCOPE, silly!!
Look out! From their not-so-secret mountainside headquarters carved into the interior of Anchor Rock Mountain, COLLIDE-O-SCOPE divides their precious time between crafting and performing the most complex and mind-blowing hard-rockin’ songs known to man, exploring the arcane limits of science and the unknown with PROFESSOR SYD “SQUIDHEAD” FLEETWOOD, and protecting the world from the forces of evil and sinister dipstick chumpwads who would seek to enslave/ destroy/ devour mankind or who generally have a stick up their asses about the whole music scene and/or humanity in general. Their success and mass popularity has spawned COLLIDE-O-SCOPE action figures, comic books, breakfast cereals, jammies, video games, hygiene products, etc., but they don’t let that get in the way of their musical integrity and hardworking can-do attitudes.
More on the band in a bit, but hey what’s the deal with that crazy underground spring? That sure sounds like a load of crickets, huh? Not so! In fact there’s a very good explanation why something as simple as an underground spring would bestow such musical prowess upon those who would drink from it. There are many legends and tall-tales to explain the nature of the spring’s magical properties, ranging from the spilled blood from the warring gods Apollo and Athena seeping into the spring to a tale of the Aztec god of hell seeking to drown Quetzalcoatl in an underground lake, extinguishing creativity in mankind. Though science has yet to discover the real answer, you can blame it on Satan! The truth is that the spring runs up through the exact spot where Lucifer and his choir of rebellious angels crashed to earth upon being expelled from heaven. Their descent was sudden and forceful, and the heavenly instruments of the fallen angelic musicians became embedded deep in the earth. Dazed and dumbfounded, Lucifer and the ex-angels emerged from the earth and wandered about for a while in a senseless stupor. When they regained their composure, they discovered they were without the instruments they could have used to sway humanity easily and immediately to their side. Due to their previous state of confusion and bewilderment, they were unable to remember exactly where their fall landed them, and Lucifer has been on a desperate search to discover this hidden cache of powerful heavenly tools. Recently, however, odd occurrences in the southwestern town of Roca Lago have begun to provide Lucifer with clues as to where his missing musical instruments might be.

When Roca Lago was founded, the citizens had no inkling of the angelic stash buried far beneath them. Years later, they tapped into the spring as their primary source of drinking water. Though it took several generations of buildup and genetic mutation, the population soon began experiencing unexplained musical proficiency, until, just a few generations later, the offspring of those lifelong residents became truly and unarguably gifted. Once this odd effect was discovered and attributed to “something in the water”, musical hopefuls flocked to the area, gorging themselves on Roca Lago’s strange water. They were disappointed to discover, however, that there were no instant magical effects and that the abilities of the residents were only the result of long-standing local genetic lines all drinking the water -- there was no “instant magical musical drink” to be found flowing from the faucets of Roca Lago.
Not everyone in the city of Roca Lago is a professional musician, but all of them play an instrument or two as a hobby, or in an informal garage jam band. Music shops are ubiquitous, there’s a street band on practically every corner, and certain sections of the city are even devoted ghettoized in line with certain styles of music (i.e. the Country/Western Boroughs, Rockabilly Road, Disco Heights, Zydeco Alley, etc.). Every year, on the town’s birthday, the entire population gathers together downtown and sets the world record for the world’s largest group musical performance, all playing a single composition in unison which can be heard for miles around. It may seem fairly obvious, but Lucifer will figure it out sooner or later, and come to Roca Lago looking for his instruments... and COLLIDE-O-SCOPE will be there to stop him!

"And WHO is ATOM ALLEGRO?!?"

Atom Allegro -- Lead Guitar/ Rhythm/ Vocals
Atom (yes, that’s his real name) comes from a long line of lead guitarists, each better and faster than the last. Growing up, Atom’s father, Alex, was his best friend. The elder Allegro taught his son everything he knew about rock guitar, even allowing Atom to join Alex’s band when their rhythm guitarist fell ill and had to quit. Atom soon surpassed his father in musical prowess, however, which pleased Alex and was a source of great pride. Disaster soon struck, as the lead guitarist of a rival band executed a scheme to cause an evil underspirit from the dark dimension to possess and ruin Alex Allegro. The scheme worked, and Alex became unnaturally jealous towards his son, sabotaging his performances and eventually threatening Atom with physical violence. Atom discovered the source of his father’s drastic change in demeanor with the help of Professor Syd Fleetwood, but not before Alex, under the demon’s influence, had laid a fatal and irreversible trap for Atom and the rest of the band. Alex was able to overcome the demon’s influence through his willpower and love for his son at the last minute, however, saving the lives of Atom and his fellow bandmates by sacrificing himself to the catastrophic snare. As his mother had passed away years ago, Atom soon found himself with no family, and no will to continue with the band. Professor Fleetwood took Atom in as his adopted son and nursed him through the grieving process, teaching him about science and allowing Atom to accompany him on his various expeditions and experiments. Soon, the desire to take up the guitar once more returned to Atom, if only to honor his father. Atom began seeking out new bandmates to start up a brand new super-group, gradually gathering together the members of the greatest band on the planet: COLLIDE-O-SCOPE! Residing with Professor Fleetwood in their mountainside mega-complex, COLLIDE-O-SCOPE divides their time between touring the world with their kick-ass concerts, exploring the mysteries of the planet (and beyond), and combatting the forces of evil and ennui that would seek to bring harm and disharmony to mankind!

"And speaking of BAD GUYS..."

What rock opera would be complete without the participation of the Prince of Darkness himself? That's right, LUCIFER himself will play a part in the COLLIDE-O-SCOPE saga. LUCIFER, of course, was cast down from heaven with a third of the angels. He was in charge of the heavenly choir just prior to his exile, though, and when he and his flunkies were plunged to earth, the heavenly musical instruments became embedded in the layers of earth directly beneath the city in which COLLIDE-O-SCOPE calls home. The shock of the impact rattled LUCIFER and his followers, however, and they sort of staggered around for a while in a daze. When they regained their senses, they realized that they were without their musical tools, yet they could not recall where they had lost them. Over time, the mystical properties of the instruments seeped into an underground lake which became the source of drinking water for the city of Roca Lago, thus subsequent generations of the town's population became increasingly musically gifted until, at last, the greatest band in the world was born: COLLIDE-O-SCOPE!!

So, there you have it -- that's how COLLIDE-O-SCOPE came to be, or at least how they came to be so damned good at what they do. More on their specific history soon! LUCIFER will eventually do battle with our heroic band as he attempts to reclaim his long-lost cache of heavenly instruments (which he hopes to use to enslave the entire human race, natch'). This is only one facet of his appearance, however, as he will of course be a shapeshifter. This is his "traditional" appearance imprinted upon him by humanity, and I'll be giving him a couple more physical forms as I go, but this will do for now. Very iconic, of course, with the whole horns/cloven hooves/spearpoint tail/goatee package we've come to expect, and there's really only so much you can do with that look, creatively. I did originally have him colored red, but that was just TOO stereotypical and expected, so I thought I'd go with a bit of a slate gray scheme instead. I expect to get many remarks along the lines of "but the devil's supposed to be red!" Tough titty, said the kitty. He stays gray. Maybe he gets red when he's really cross with someone...

"It's okay... he's a BAD GUY!"

At last, my most offensive character ever finally gets his moment in the spotlight! BLACKFACE HITLER (and the RED DWARF)!! This is the guy who rendered my Illustration instructor speechless when the prelim drawing was unveiled. I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his skull as he just sat there repeating, "Oh. My. God." I was a bit hesitant about posting this guy on here for fear that the snap-judgmentalists and knee-jerk reactionaries out there would immediately assume I'm some whacked-out closet racist/ nazi, but it's just not so, and I'm going to give anybody who has wandered onto my humble blog the benefit of the doubt. And, hey -- who makes better villains than Nazis and racists? Lemme 'splain...

I needed some more skeevy characters to populate the ranks of H.E.R.P.E.S. (see previous post) for my COLLIDE-O-SCOPE concept. I had already created a couple of loathsome and disgusting characters in ERGOPHOBOS and DOCTOR HEDONISM, but no one truly vulgar and shocking. I decided to brainstorm and toss every offensive/ controversial idea I could into my Create-O-Bucket (where all my ideas are born), shake 'em up and mold them together into one attention-grabbing eyesore of a concept. So you've got Hitler, bald-faced throwback racism, cross-dressing, false sainthood, self-induced stigmata, communism, and a mostly-naked dwarf on a leash! What more could you possibly ask of me?! Truly this guy is worthy of the label "bad guy", no? But...

I had to come up with a reason why this guy would dress/ appear like this as his normal modus operandi -- why would anyone go out of their way to chisel so many offensive facets into their persona? Just 'cuz they're a "bad guy"? No, that won't work. Then it came to me -- he's a performance artist, you see. But not just any old performance artist -- this guy is [b]heavy[/b] into Art with a capital A, and believes that true Art must be offensive and shocking. If it doesn't offend at least two demographics, then it's not Art, and he sees the world as his canvas. RED DWARF is his silent companion, a dwarf whom he surgically altered to look like Vladymir Lenin (as he himself underwent surgery to look like Adolf Hitler). RED DWARF is always by BH's side, unless he is "unleashed" to strike out at his enemies with his deadly skills of cutlery brandishing and throwing.

So, there you go. Next, I'll have to post some cute li'l puppies playing with a snail or something equally syrupy to make up for this.

THE DISGUSTING DOCTOR HEDONISM!!

New character posting for the COLLIDE-O-SCOPE concept. This is Dr. Hayden Dulgent, otherwise known as DOCTOR HEDONISM, de facto leader of the wicked and creepy H.E.R.P.E.S. orgainization (Hedonistic Empire of Reprobates Perverting Earth's Stability), who is out to pervert the world into his sick playground of around-the-clock pleasure at any price! Hayden was raised in abject poverty and was denied any and all luxuries by his overly-strict and miserly parents. Once he left home, earned his doctorate and began making some real dough, he went completely overboard, pampering and spoiling himslef with every pleasurable vice he could conceive of or invent. His growing lusts caused him to run afoul of the law, so he formed his own little empire, which he saddled with the unfortunate name H.E.R.P.E.S., and began calling himself DOCTOR HEDONISM! He began surrounding himself with other caution-to-the-wind pleasure-seekers like himself who shared the common goal of the pursuit of "happiness", no matter how deviant, perverse or illegal, and regardless of the consequences to others. Despite his haggard, withered, gray appearance, DOCTOR HEDONISM has not yet celebrated his 50th birthday. His constant indulgence in all manner of vices has ravaged his body, and he employs a team of physicians whose sole task is to keep his heart beating and the many diseases he has contracted from snuffing him out entirely, so he can persist in his pervers quest.

As he appears here, DOCTOR HEDONISM and his PLEASURE CHAIR are decked out with his ether tank and breather-mask, rare panda steak for dinner, latex gloves (to satisfy his latex fetish), 24-7 porno feed on his monitor, and nipple clamps.

Basically, I just wanted a really creepy, withered pervert in a life-supporting chair. He started as simply a mad scientist, and he was going to be the dark wizard who was responsible for PROFESSOR FLEETWOOD'S squid-head (his body ravaged by the use of dark magic), but my initial sketch of Doc H seemed to demand a back story with a bit more perverse and icky angle. I decided to make him the leader of an evil organization with one of those kitschy-cool acronym names (like S.M.E.R.S.H. or S.P.E.C.T.R.E.). His physical appearance suggested a hedonistic, pleasure-seeking organization, and H.E.R.P.E.S. was actually the first name to spring to mind (and well-fitting, too, I must say). Coming up with an extended name to fit the acronym, was a bit harder, but not too difficult. Thus was born DOCTOR HEDONISM and H.E.R.P.E.S.. Then followed the task of creating more possible creepy members for the organization. ERGOPHOBOS, I had already created, and he seemed a good fit. There are 2 1/2 more members of the group that I've created so far, and they're rather ridiculously offensive (but rightly so, as they're meant to be heinous villains -- there's a reason Nazis have been very popular bad guys: they're easy to despise!). They will be posted soon, but don't get your panties in a bunch once they're up.

PROFESSOR SYD "SQUIDHEAD" FLEETWOOD!!

This is the mentor/ benefactor/ father figure to the group of musical heroes in my animated series concept (temporarily known as COLLIDE-O-SCOPE). This fellow's appearance is simply the result of my intention to include a wacky-scientist mentor for my heroes combined with my love for cephalopods (they just make such interesting visual playthings)!

CAPTAIN BILLY CRIBKILLER, LEADER OF THE FETAL PIRATES!

This is the final color key for CAPTAIN BILLY CRIBKILLER. Part of the animated series concept (which I think I'm going to be calling COLLIDE-O-SCOPE) I'm working on. Billy is the leader of a group of nasty little pirates called the FETAL PIRATES -- they fly around in a flying pirate ship, descending on helpless victims with the aid of their floating jellyfish placentas which they are connected to via their umbilical cords. The placentas are filled with helium gas, enabling them to float, and have additional tentacles which hold their spare weapons, reload their pistolas, and help them with tasks too difficult for their tiny fingers. Pretty bizarre, I know.

I wanted to have some sort of Pirate group represented in the series, but Pirates, as a group, seem to be getting a bit played out and old (though they'll always be cool to me). So, I began brainstorming twists I could give this group of Pirates to make them stand out quite distinctly from the norm -- zombie pirates had been done, robot pirates just seemed silly, and I'm sure someone has already done monkey-pirates. Then I thought about the tendency in animated/ commercial properties to drastically de-age a character/characters for a cheap and rather uncreative "fresh coat of paint" (i.e. Muppet Babies, A Pup Named Scooby, Tom & Jerry Kids, Flintstone Kids, Tiny Toons Adventures, etc.), and it hit me: "That's it! Take the concept of Baby Pirates and go "too far" with it -- not just babies, but fetuses! Thus, the Fetal Pirates were born. The jellyfish placentas were a solution to the problem of how a bunch of fetuses were going to get around AND handle all the cool essential Pirate weaponry. I had a sudden vision (my blessed artistic "eureka moment") of a ship full of fetuses dressed as pirates and connected to buoyant placentas floating down from the sky, and I quickly commenced sketching.

There's more Fetal Pirates to come -- after all, Billy has to have a crew to command!