The trouble with Comrade Cockroach–beyond my apparent inability to spell his dialogue–is that as a villain, he needs heroes to fight. I mean, sure, there’s his arch nemesis Bold Eagle, but the beauty of that relationship means Cockroach should always lose. And while Bold Eagle may be above Cockroach’s weightclass, I don’t want him to seem like a buffoon. Because Cockroach IS good at causing mayhem and hurting people and doing all that badguy stuff. The Cockroach loses not because he’s incapable, but because his ambition strips his abilities.
Comrade Cockroach is very good and being bad. It’s just too bad that Bold Eagle is even better at being good.
Which is perhaps why I felt the need to sketch Cockroach fighting not the Bold Eagle, but an Ultraman-ish raygun-wielding alien of some sort. Has Comrade Cockroach just pummeled a team of well-meaning but untested youths, not unlike Ultraman Moebius’s Crew GUYS? Did the blood on his fists once pump through the sincere veins of young men and women who only wanted defend their home and learn the true meaning of friendship? Perhaps.
But only because I find that scenario hilarious.
The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
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