TROPICA

[Dipstikk]

Crazy Uncle Dip's been kind of busy since he last talked to you folks. I tried a community college in Gainesville, an art school in Dover, New Jersey, but neither of those panned out. Over that time, I've come up with several different concepts for comics or projects, none of which got past the production stages. My latest brainchild is Tropica, and I'm posting it here because I'd to show it to you.

Tropica (which is so named because it sounds pretty, rather than having any relevance to the comic) is, superficially, a standard "Person discovers superpowers, defends people from harm," but it's also about the turmoil of tribal warfare, the consequences of choosing to defend people, trying to be diplomatic in the midst of impending war and perpetuating the radical idea that heroes come in all sizes.

Tropica's world takes place in an alternate universe, on their Earth. As is the usual fare in alternate universe stories, things here are different from things on our earth. Some animals evolved differently or didn't go extinct, Roman mythology is the widely accepted belief system instead of Christianity, some cultures are different from their parallels here and some continents are arranged differently.



It doesn't take place in a city or a developed country. The comic's story begins on a set of islands called "Moa," the parallel to our Hawaii. Tropica stars a young, dark skinned woman named Kei, who discovers a source of superpowers and decides to use them to defend the people on Moa and protect them from harm with the help of her friend, a native Moaiian named Mahi, who has latent fire-conjouring skills that he's not quite at home with. As they discover the wild nature of their island home through their exploits, a whole world unfurls around them, one that is home to fantastic creatures, new people, hidden dangers and the promise of impending war between two tribes who want to have dominion over Moa for their own reasons. Through it all, Kei makes some powerful and amazing allies and finds herself pitted against ruthless villains who become bitter arch nemesis.


The protagonist, Kei, faces off against a giant eel, as the viewer faces off against a weird sensation in his pants.

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU FELT.

Treated in a way like a set of fables and myths translated into a comic and vice versa, I try to readapt mythical concepts as they would appear in a comic series. Elemental forces as superpowers is a common theme (Kei having mastery over water, and one of the villains develops a gang of elemental-powered mutant humans), other sentient species vie for power over the island, and the story's own native doomsday myths eventually unfurl.

So, at the risk of going any further and revealing too much too soon, please enjoy the images.


She got to make that in woodworking class. Jealous? You fucking bet you're jealous.

Kei
Kei is an orphaned child, remembering absolutely nothing from her infancy, only that she was raised on Moa by a foster mother in Ku'ono, a fishing tribe on the bay. Though curiosity of her origins always sit at the back of her mind, Kei prefers to live in the here and now. Since being emancipated, she's spends her days fishing and bringing back fish for Ku'ono to trade to other tribes. When she and her friend Mahi came across the artifact called the Tempest Phial, which gave her the superhuman abilities that make her a legend around Moa, Kei decided to put them to good use and help people who needed it. Having seen signs of it on the day of her rebirth as a hero, she also hopes to use her powers to prevent impending war. However, dark secrets surround this artifact, and Kei soon discovers that she may have gotten into something that water manipulation and super-strength may not be enough to save everyone from. Kei's not as fast as her friend, Mahi, but she's surprisingly limber. Her cumbersome appearance is part of what makes her such a deceptive foe. In addition to her physical strength, Kei relies on her intellect to best her foes. She's very capable of running, but only after she's secured her top.


I'd turn for Mahi.

Mahi
Mahi is Kei's best friend. Slightly younger than Kei, the two have known each other since childhood, but spent time apart since they left Ku'ono, with Kei going off to become a fisher and Mahi training with a local reliquary and sorcerer, Kumu. Mahi's job as Kumu's apprentice is to keep the treehouse they live in tidy, and to locate artifacts with his teacher. Kumu chose Mahi, however, because Mahi possesses the ability to conjure fire, but lacks the ability to control it. In an attempt to impress Kumu and see his old friend Kei again, Mahi decided to take it upon himself to find an artifact called the Tempest Phial. When on their trek to locate it, Kei was impaled by a trap spear, and Mahi had to use the phial to revive her, thus giving her the powers it held within its water. After discovering a plot by another tribe to conquer the island, the two have decided to team up and use their powers, for better or worse, to defend it. Though he's a third her size and not very strong, Mahi is quick on his feet. He also has his fire powers... when he can get them to work.


Part of a rush job test comic I did.

The Ku'ono
After the Old Pact rendered the tribes of Moa cooperative, peace and prosperity have held everyone together. Part of the pact was the development of trades. Tribes in the dormant Mt. Pele would supply minerals, tribes in the thick of the forests provided wood, while tribes along the ocean would supply fish and beach-born supplies. While there are plenty of tribes who supply seafood and oceanic items, Ku'ono has made a tradition out of it. Led by the portly and welcoming Alaka, the Ku'ono people are down-to-earth farmers who lead pretty average lives. The kind of placid, benign folk that would panic if beset by a monster or an elemental on the rampage...


Pardon the proportion issues. Sometimes we must re-learn what we think we already know, yes? This was done before that.

The original idea for the story was that Kei's powers would only activate after she changes into an "elemental form," which was much taller than her. I decided that it essentially renders Kei's human form useless and switches focus from her character to the blue elemental, which I think diminishes her to have her rely on it all the time. It's also impractical to be fourteen feet tall and girthy in a dense jungle. I haven't dropped the concept, but the blue elemental form now remains as a "super sayan mode" that Kei will have to hone her new abilities to activate.

[enchilado]

Did you draw those pics?

[STM]

sexy! Are we going to see a comic of this then?

[moxco]

You could of cut the third pictures dress a bit higher. And also did you know that the Moa is a big-arsed, extintct, flightless bird from New Zealand?

[Dipstikk]

Did you draw those pics?

Yessir.

And also did you know that the Moa is a big-arsed, extintct, flightless bird from New Zealand?

Absolutely, the islands are named after it. The Moa is one of Moa's main forms of livestock. A lot of people living in the jungle breed them like cattle.

[MeechMunchie]

at the risk of going any further and revealing too much

A feat also achieved by Kei's bikini.

BADUM-BUM-TISH

[Wings of Fire]

I like this, the world and characters sound quite believable.

[enchilado]

I like it. Good pictures, good story, good Kei, and Moa fuckin' rock.

[Dipstikk]

I thought I rushed that picture of Kei, so I drew a better one. I forgot that her collar lays over-top her cleavage, too...

[Dipstikk]

A color guide for Kei.

Edit: Crap, does this count as a double post?

[Oddey]

Nope. In any fan corner thread, you can double post, so long as your bring in new material.

On a more relevant note, these are just as good as the robotnik ones.

[MeechMunchie]

Suddenly I have an urge to listen to Sir Mix-A-Lot.

[Dipstikk]

Suddenly I have an urge to listen to Sir Mix-A-Lot.

I prefer Queen.

GET ON YOUR BIKES AND RIDE!

[Dipstikk]

So, I told you I'd be adding writing to this in addition to images. Here's some of the villains I've got planned for Tropica.


Elder (Kapupui)

Male
Age: Stuck at 76
Height: 5'6''
Weight: 110 pounds
Powers: An almost universal knowledge of magic and science. Is also a master of deception. If sheer cunning and craftiness were a superpower, he'd be a Kryptonian. Has many contacts and acquaintances both on the island and beyond.
Weaknesses: Can weaken quickly depending on the power of the spell he casts. He's not very quick on his feet.
Personality: Relentlessly devoted to the capture of Mona. Wants to add her to his already impressive army of indentured Elemental goons so he can take over Moa.

Elementals
Humans who have been altered with magic to give them elemental traits, such as earth and wind. Some elementals have control over specific things, such as the temperature in the air or the force of gravity. It’s important to note that a few of these elementals were forcibly created by a Kupupaua, or "Elder," who brainwashed them and has also embedded one half of a small gem, called a life-stone, within their bodies. To insure their obedience, this shadowy figure holds the other halves of all the life-stones he had implanted, and if one half is broken while the other half is inside an elemental, that elemental dies.


-Overgrowth (Olai)

Male
Age: 42
Height: 7'
Weight: 700 pounds when he was human, almost a ton as an elemental
Powers: Can cause seeds around him to grow at a rapid rate, and can control the direction of their growth. Since he is basically sentient soil, Overgrowth can survive even if he is dispersed, and will eventually re-form.
Weaknesses: Extreme heat, which dries his dampened soil body out and saps him of his fluids. Taking on too much water can cause him to turn to mud. He can survive even if he is destroyed, and will eventually re-form.
Personality: Placid, chivalrous, and kind of slow. He does not enjoy fighting, and given the choice, he would rather stop and smell the daisies. However, Overgrowth was implanted with half of a life-stone, and must follow the orders of his creator if he is to continue to live. Has been brainwashed into thinking that Mona was the one who mutated he and his wife.
Extra notes: Married to Whisper.

-Whisper (Makani)

Female
Age: 38
Height: 5'9
Weight: 120 pounds as a human, light as air as an elemental
Powers: Can control the flow of air around her. Is capable of creating hurricane-force winds.
Weaknesses: She is physically weak (especially now with her body being gaseous) and cannot sustain a gust for long, but nothing can truly harm her, since her body is barely tangible.
Personality: Depressive. She was horrified when she and Overgrowth were changed into elementals, and wants nothing more than to be changed back into a human. She is uninhibited with a life stone like Overgrowth, but because of their bond, chooses to fight by his side. Has been brainwashed into thinking that Mona was the one who mutated them.
Extra notes: Married to Overgrowth.

-Celsius (Anu)
Male
Age: 24
Height: 5'9’’
Weight: 200 pounds
Powers: Control over the temperature of the air, which means he can either boil Mona or freeze her.
Weaknesses: Easily distracted, and only as strong as any other human, which means he’s easily knocked out.
Personality: A cocky braggart. He talks bigger than he’s capable of backing up. Has the attention span of a coconut.

-Heatstroke (Pahupira)
Female
Age: 27
Height: 5’9
Weight: 130 pounds, 65 pounds when her power is activated (body composition becomes lighter)
Powers: Control over her own fire. Unlike Mahi, her body is comprised of heat, and does not conjure it.
Weaknesses: Water, for one. She was created as an assistant to Elder before being used against Mona, long before Elder was aware of Mona’s water powers, and since that Mona never used water powers (he favored brute force), it was never considered that fire maybe wasn’t the smartest weapon to use against her. Mahi can also manipulate the fire she generates. Another setback is her ego, for Heatstroke has a massive inferiority complex. Mona calls her “hothead” just to fuck with her.
Personality: As stated, she’s an egotistical bitch with a superiority complex. Her ego became far worse when she realized how ineffective her power was against Mona’s water powers. She is commonly used to draw Mona out to an area where the other, more useful, elementals can fight her.

-Planetfall (Uneke)
Male
Age: 36
Height: 5’9”
Weight: Varies based on how he’s using his powers
Powers: Controls the force of gravity in small (but still devastating) bursts
Weaknesses: A very simple understanding of how to use his powers. Smash stuff, make people fly, that sort of thing. If he ever fully understood the kind of damage he could do, the universe itself could be his plaything.
Personality: Simple-minded and driven only by the word of his master. Elder keeps this one on a very short leash.

Villains that don’t fit into the “Elemental” category

-Mother Nature (Holana)

Female
Age: 29
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 210 pounds
Powers: The Dr. Doolittle of Moa Island. She can telepathically communicate with any non-sentient species of animal within a two-mile radius to do as she asks.
Weaknesses: Protective of her animal friends, and will often run to their aid without realizing the events around her, or become too emotional to fight rationally. Is otherwise about as strong as a normal human of her size, but not very fast.
Personality: Motherly, but seems to understand animals better than people. Not surprising since she was practically raised in the wild. Tries to get along with her team, but Heatstroke usually sabotages her efforts. As a result, though she's been brainwashed into hating Mona, she doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the team and feels conflicted.

-Hunter (Mako)

Male
Age: 35
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 250 pounds (muscular)
Powers: While he doesn't boast supernatural powers like the rest of the clods he has to work with, Hunter is very agile and strong. He’s also armed with weaponry that can pierce Mona’s skin, which is normally impervious to damage. No one else has access to this kind of weaponry, not even Elder, which makes Hunter very important to him.
Weaknesses: Has the strength of a normal human being, and a good sock to the jaw from Mona can knock him out. She just has to get to him.
Personality: Hunter is a bounty hunter who takes his job seriously: bag the schmoe and get paid. That’s not to say he doesn’t have time to toss around some witty banter, but business comes first. He makes sure he’s well-armed and has exactly the right kinds of weapons to take down his target. He's egotistical, selfish and sees his teammates as obstacles to work around.

Mindgame (Lolopo)
Male
Age: 17
Height: 5’5’’
Weight: 120 pounds
Powers: Telepathic, and can generally fuck with your perception.
Weaknesses: Physically weak, more so than an average human.
Personality: A brooding teen who was tricked into helping Elder. He believes that Elder can help the boy save his parents from slavery, but he isn't sure of how trustworthy Elder is because he is somehow blocking the boy's telepathy.

Thunder (Heliki)
Female
Age: 47
Height: 7’9”
Weight: 800 pounds (very muscular)
Powers: Thunder is extremely strong, but more importantly, she’s stronger than Mona. She’s kind of the “Hulk” of the series.
Weaknesses: She’s not very quick on her feet.
Personality: Usually intelligent but very strong and dangerous in a bad mood. She believes that Mona and Mahi are shape-shifting demons, responsible for destroying her village and killing her parents.

Enemies not officially affiliated with Elder

Nodak and the Miako

Height: Avg of 6'10, Nodak is about 10' tall.
Length: about 14 feet long, Nodak is over 30 feet long.
Weight: 400 pounds, Nodak is 1,500 pounds.
Powers: No supernatural abilities beyond those one would expect from maniraptorian dinosaurs, but most are very skilled fighters. Nodak commands the Miako, making him very dangerous. Some Miako are capable of seeing visions of the future and wielding unrefined magic.
Weaknesses: Good old fashion ass-whup.
Personality: Many are devoted to Nodak's dream of exterminating the humans. Some are driven by visceral disgust of human beings, others are driven by the fear of consequences in disobeying their leader. All are ready to die for their cause. Nodak himself is powerhungry, delusional and, needless to say, a complete megalomaniac.

The Formicians

Height: 11 feet tall (usually)
Weight: 500 pounds avg.
Powers: No supernatural powers: Are giant, humanoid ants that live under the smaller island, Kaikua. Incredibly strong; can crush a human skull like a lemon and slice through steel with their mandibles.
Weaknesses: Sudden light flashes can severly disrupt their vision (though, being cold-blooded, they do require sunlight to work and funnel surface light through filtered tunnels, softening it to be used on their bodies). Sudden bursts of extreme heat can cause their exoskeleton to crumble.
Personality: Extremely paranoid of humans; will suspect you of crimes if you so much as blink around them. Their lead soldier, General Aenictus Bron, believes that the humans have been spying on them for years, and the only thing keeping him from attacking them is the surprisingly rational queen, Leptanilla Prima.

Wraith (Ma-Za Dek)

Female
Age: relative to us: 20 (in her third metamorphic stage)
Height: 15 feet
Weight: 450 pounds (no bones)
Powers: No superpowers. Her body is boneless which makes her very flexible and elastic. Long tentacles brim her slug-like body. These tentacles are very muscular and thus her main method of attack is to constrict and choke her victims. She is naturally amphibious, and is more graceful in the water then she is on land. She's nearly as strong as Mona.
Weaknesses: Prolonged periods out of the water can cause her to dry up. She's also very slow on solid ground.
Personality: Volatile. Ma-Za is an escaped prisoner who was arrested on a different planet in a different time for torturing and subsequently devouring humanoids. She is extremely hostile and vengeful towards anyone who tries to stop her. Her deranged mind and sadistic nature both make her extremely dangerous.

Mikini
Male
Age: Indeterminate
Height: 8 feet
Weight: 1,500 lbs
Powers: Several odd-looking weapons that can actually do harm to Mona, the ability to cut through her moisture shields. Unnaturally strong.
Weaknesses: Unable to identify Kei as Mona unless Kei uses her powers. Only able to attack Mona or the powers Kei uses, not Kei herself. She and Mahi usually get away from him by the skin of their teeth.
Personality: None to speak of. Never speaks. Surprisingly, unlike Mona's other enemies, he seems uninterested in destroying her for any discernible personal gain. He won’t attack Mona if there is another human in his path.

[Dipstikk]

TO HAVE FUUUUUN?!

[STM]

why did you do that? and will you be releasing a story?

[MeechMunchie]

I like the Formicans. Also,

[enchilado]

Muppetnik!

[Dipstikk]

why did you do that? and will you be releasing a story?

I did it because I didn't think that simply editing the post before it would illuminate this thread and let you know that I've added to it. Plus, Robotnik makes for good thread bumps.

I'll be releasing script excerpts that I've written to wet your appetites for more (hopefully!), but I don't plan on releasing a comic or book without help. I don't feel comfortable going it alone and want this to be a project that involves multiple people.

[STM]

i'd be happy too help

[Wings of Fire]

When I have some time later tonight I'll read over the character bios and give them the attention that they deserve. I've had a quick browse though, and I absolutely love the pictures.

[enchilado]

What kind of help do you mean? Story ideas or summat?

[Dipstikk]

Story ideas I have down. I'm pretty good at those; in fact, I've got season one and the skeleton of season 2's episodes written out (though I've considered turning this into a combination of a novel and a comic book, I mostly just want to make it into a comic)

I'm talking about writing, dialogue in particular, which I don't trust myself with.

[enchilado]

Mm, I can probably do that.

[STM]

I don't mind helping

[Dipstikk]

Aw fuck, I can't edit my villains post anymore.

Well, here's my updated version of Nodak.

[enchilado]

He is COOL.

[Dipstikk]

A good reaction to the Miako so far. I'm glad, people don't seem to respond to feathered dinosaurs well.

I'll introduce Bloodbeak later tonight, Nodak's former ally turned worst adversary (and in effect, an ally of Kei and Mahi). If you like Nodak, you're going to love him.

[Dipstikk]

Bloodbeak, former general of the Miako army and an invaluable ally to Kei and Mahi. An honor-bound warrior driven by vengeance for the dishonor of banishment and hellbent on killing Nodak to restore it. About as tall as a horse.



Would speak and sound a lot like

[enchilado]

Cool, but he only has one arm and one leg!