Sorry I've been away for so long. I've had some distractions and some computer issues recently that have thrown me way off my Blogging game, but I hope to start posting more regularly again soon and catch up with all the things I've been meaning to talk to you about.
The time has come at last for that most awesome of holiday events, the 21st annual Quantum Christmas Card. Once again the season has delivered some heroic imagery which I hope will meet with your favor and enjoyment.
The theme of this year's Card is one close to my own heart. In creating my own personal super-heroes, each with his own character history, there is one character type that shows up in a variety of forms and guises: the Prince. The Prince is that character who, even in the company of other super-heroes, is a figure of exceptional gifts, virtue, and nobility. Apparently Princes are to me what Princesses are to Walt Disney. (And appropriately, this season also brings us Disney's very first black Princess in the new animated film The Princess and the Frog. I'm seeing it for sure.) Quantum Princes are a storied and varied lot, each with one thing in common: In or out of costume (or armor, as is the case with the Machinist), they are the most gorgeous things walking, flying, or swimming. The Prince may appear in any number of ways. He may be a super-wealthy Mexican-American super-genius who wants deep down to be a regular boy (Lucky Star, leader of The Environauts). He may be a time-traveling, Irish-descended warrior with dragon wings and limitless strength and flame powers, who belongs to a society where women rule and snakes and reptiles are revered (Draco Rex, who is the Queen's son and actually, literally a Prince). Perhaps he's a living symbol of gay pride who was raised by two fathers and acquired vast powers on a trip through time (Idol); a British Rugby player who developed a terminal illness, the experimental cure for which left him one of the most powerful beings on Earth (Sterling); or the fallen Prince of a wealthy English family, cut off in disgrace from his home but elevated to immense superhuman power (Hero X). Brits seem to be a recurring sub-theme. Wild Jon, the Prince of Nature seen with Spider-Man on last year's Card, is the son of an Englishman, but the other side of his heritage is something that would take another long E-mail to explain. Point Man, a shrinking hero, is the illegitimate heir of a twisted tycoon in the U.K. And as for the aforementioned Machinist, our globe-trotting, armor-clad African-American Prince, the cure for his own nervous disorder installed computers in his brain that let him communicate with and control any device, including his own armor, that operates on a similar neural net!
Of course, I hesitate to say it, but you can never get anything perfect: Directly I finished this Card I came up with a better helmet for the Machinist than the one he's carrying under one arm here. See that? The Card hadn't even gone out yet and one character's gear was already obsolete! Oh well...
And before you ask, rest assured that the boyfriend of the clothing-shy Wild Jon was standing by with boots, a jacket, and a mug of hot cocoa as soon as this image was captured. (Jon, Idol, and Draco are all gay characters.)
Pictured, upper: Wild Jon, Hero X, Sterling, Idol. Lower: Lucky Star, The Machinist, Draco Rex, Point Man. All characters © 12-2009 by J.A. Fludd. Best wishes of the season and a happy 2010. As Draco might say, “Goddess bless us every one.”
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