The following is from the back page of my comic book.
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Jack Quasar was created in 1977 as a tribute to Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and more contemporary influences, Star Trek and, of course, the just-released Star Wars.
My initial idea was a “James Bond in space” and in fact, the original title was Jack Quasar, Man from S.P.A.C.E. I never came up with anything I liked for those letters to stand for and with a couple of exceptions, Jack was more space cowboy than spy.
In the fall of ’77, my family moved from our hometown of Leland, Mississippi to Long Beach, Mississippi, and it was there that I started drawing Jack Quasar. Jack’s adventures took place in a series of letters to a childhood friend, Walter McWhorter, who shared my love for sci-fi and comics. This was before email, computers or scanners, and I kept no copies. Fortunately, Walter did, so I still have some of those early stories.
The adventure presented here is supposed to be the first Jack Quasar story. It’s actually the third time I’ve drawn the story, and I’ve finally gotten around to adding some of the details that have occurred to me over the years.
I’d like to point out that the story as presented here was written in October 2010, long before Ridley Scott’s Prometheus movie was announced. There are a few plot points that are coincidentally similar, but I don’t flatter myself that anyone would ever confuse my work with his.
That said, there’s nothing particularly original about this story or the characters, and I made no real attempt to hide my influences. (See what “homages” to popular culture you can find.) This was done for the fun of revisiting this character, and on that level, if no other, it succeeded.
I hope you enjoy it as well.
Art
Flying Pig Studios 