I always meant to do more WIERDLINGS stories after the 4 I did in high school. But somehow, years flew by and I never got around to it. I wrote 50 GUN! stories before taking a break in the late 70's, spent several years obsessively working on GALACTON 2230, 6 months on GENERAL JUSTICE (a patriotic hero), several more years on a number of GUN! projects, and then did a revival of STORMBOY, the super-hero I'd created back in 1966.
In the midst of that, an incident happened where a worm virus got onto my computer hard drive, and I had to have the entire thing re-formatted, causing me to lose any files not backed up at the time. There was such a rash of these things happening (it was August 2001) that it took a week for me to get my computer back. I'd gotten so used to using the thing every single day, it was a shock to suddenly have to be without it for that much time.
I took the opportunity to dig out some art boards and re-draw the 1st WIERDLINGS story from scratch. Initially, the idea was, I'd pencil it, and a friend of mine I'd inked a book for would return the favor and ink it for me. But he got so focused on the idea that it was supposed to be a "Steve Ditko tribute" that he felt it needed to be re-worked extensively. While there was some Ditko in there, as I explained a few pages ago on this blog, that was only one of many elements in the mix. Anyway, I wound up inking it myself-- and doing the coloring-- and "special effects"-- in Corel Draw. I also used Photoshop for the very 1st time here, in an attempt to do some things I simply could not do in Corel Draw.
While I was at it, I also did a small amount of tinkering with the writing. Not much, but just enough to smooth out some rough edges. Among other things, this was the point where I went out of my way to base Willard on actor Anthony Ainley.
And so, here's the redo of "HERE COME... THE WIERDLINGS!" Enjoy.
Story & Art Copyright (C) Henry R. Kujawa
All prominent characters are Trademarks of Henry R. Kujawa
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