Industrial Powers

I should probably tell the story of Future-Texas from a behind the scenes point of view. Some time in the second season of Industrial Powers I was going to need a rock band. I have no idea what made me think that it would be a good idea to have a real band, but I did.

Iris is a techno band from Texas, and Kari knew them. That was good enough for me. She talked it out with Reagan Jones and Andrew Sega and they gave their OK. She then contacted James Kirby (Ned) from Stromkern who also plays with Iris often enough.

Mr. R from the Iris message boards came up with Sir Tom Kern and the Alpha Conspirator. I had already come up with Ray Gun Jones, and had ned as the robot N.E.D., but Sir Tom Kern was better. I was struggling with a name for Andrew, but I had the power in mind. I had even drawn the BvB filler piece already.

Well a guy with a ray gun should be from the future, and that dovetailed perfectly with some plot elements I had in mind. I even got a chance to introduce Adriano and the eye demons. (Is there a connection between Iris and the followers? Not before now, but wouldn't it be a neat idea?)

I might have amped the Alpha Conspirator's power up a little too high. The ability to manifest elements of your form in whatever you are touching can give you an extra arm when playing music, but it allows you to warp solid objects. Crushing a bottle on your head without spilling a drop is the tip of the ice burg. You'll just have to wait and see in the next issue. (Or the one after that if Kari beats me to the new year.)

Sir Tom Kern needed to be a knight. The armor came from Poland because the band is rather popular there. I also have a thing for representing places that are under represented. I put my heroes in the middle of Arazona rather than New York for that same reason. I've been to Chicago and DC, but not NY. Why would I put the heroes there?

I have been told that Andrew and Reagan look alike and that it would be difficult to do them as comic characters, particularly in black and white. Not so. The hair is radically different, Reagan's power is always on to some extent, they dress different, and Andrew has a slightly rounder face.

Have any questions, feel free to ask. There's a little chat widget, and we also have a message board if you want to give us your two cents.