Janice

So, we've got a space captain and his right-hand man. Let's check in on the rest of the crew.

Why, here's Janice. If she looks familiar, it's the family resemblance. Janice is Speedy's older sister. If she looks skeptical, it's because she's been hearing Speedy's "brilliant ideas" for most of her life.

50% skeptic, 50% enthusiast, and 100% exhausted is about the mix for Speedy's big sister. When you're dealing with a "jump in and ask questions later guy", like Speedy, there needs to be someone to keep him in check.

Some might think that she's a wet blanket, but when the chips are down, Speedy knows Janice is there for him.

- Joe

Speedball

Introducing the funnest space captain in the Mid-Mesobary System

Say hello to your Captain.

His friends call him "Speedy", and almost everyone he meets is a friend eventually.

From the tender age of six, when he watched his first episode of "Captain Spacetime and the Adventurers of Tomorrow", Speedy felt the call of adventure. 

He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's certainly got the imagination, heart, and gusto to more than make up for it. 

The wise J.K. Rowling once said, "If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." In that sense, Speedy is a king among men. Never one to pass by anyone in trouble, Speedy is helpful to a fault.


His childlike sense of wonder can get the crew of the Infinite Salamander into quite the pickle, but his energy and spirit always get them out of that same pickle in style.

In the coming week, you'll get a full bio on Speedy and a background on how he came to captain the nicest wreck in space, The Infinite Salamander.

- Joe

Toad

When I think about Toad, I think back to my fourth year of Latin in high school. Back then, we read "The Aeneid" in the original Latin. The bottom of each page was filled with dictionary definitions for less-frequently used terms. It also included all proper nouns, since they wanted to be sure the student would be able to keep the characters straight.

The hero of "The Aeneid" is, of course, Aeneas (for whom the book is named). In that story, there is a character named Achates. At the bottom of every page where he is mentioned, the dictionary listing said, "Achates: Faithful companion to Aeneas".

Toad is the Achates of our story. I'll bet you didn't know we got all classical-lit up in this here comic.

Kirk and Spock, The Doctor (name one) and his Companion, Han Solo and Chewie, Dr. Sam Beckett and Al... the list goes on and on. For every great hero, there's a main man (or gal) he relies on for support.

When the fur starts flying, Speedball can always count on Toad for backup.

- Joe

PS - I also wanted to name this character Arcadies in a nod to the classics. If you agree, bug Jim. He totally is in love with the name Toad. :)

Main Characters

L to R: Toad, MDK 3030, Captain Speedball, and Wonk

Introducing (some of) the main cast of the upcoming comic series, "Into the Void". This all-ages action-adventure series follows the crew of the Infinite Salamander as they voyage through space and... well... into the void, as it were.

Some background on the comic

These character designs from Jim Mehsling are a couple of years old. 

Jim and I met at Krytpon Comics on "Free Comic Book" day. He was knocking out some beautiful artwork for the crowd, and we struck up a conversation.

Jim had an "Into the Void" webcomic that he had abandoned in late 2011 due to an overload of other projects. I took one look at the character designs and some of the old stories and was immediately impressed. Visually, it was easy for me to uncover the heart of each of these characters.

I offered to take over the writing duties and asked Jim if I could send him over some character bios. Luckily for me he agreed to take a look. Once he read over the bios and backgrounders, Jim jumped at the chance to work together, re-imagining and re-building the world of "Into the Void".

This blog will keep you all abreast of the latest developments as we march towards issue #1.

Questions and commentary are welcome as Jim and I march "Into the Void" with our first comic series!

- Joe