I am currently plotting out a "doujinshi" comic that will emerge at some point in the near future. In discussing this with my good friend Marc Ellerby, he said that I should do a Gen 13 fan comic. Gen 13 is a nineties comic which I read one issue of, nearly three decades ago, and I do not feel like I am the person to undertake this project. But with an hour to kill before a lunch reservation, in the environs of Central St Martins art school, I tried to capture the wonder of Gen 13 for Marc.
My initial effort was on paper, rendered at high speed before someone asked what I was doing. Please bear in mind that I was looking at Google Images on my phone in a crowded area. I noted down the names of the characters that I could recall.
When I got home, I tried a bit harder to capture these character designs, which let me tell you, I do not think would pass muster if presented professionally today.
Okay, so this character is called "Grunge". I remember this after all these years because it is a terrible name. His costume is a pair of red tights pulled up over his belly button, a chest tattoo, and sunglasses. Shocking.
I don't know what this character is called. He's on fire, yeah? And he has a Stone Temple Pilots type beard. Cool.
Now, the big draw of Gen 13 was a character called "Fairchild". She was drawn about twelve heads high, with a very healthy bosom, legs like a giraffe, and a tiny waist. Forget everything you know about human anatomy, and just get involved.
Why is her leotard so high cut? I don't know. It's not practical for day to day use. Not to be uncouth but she's already got a pretty tough waxing job just with those 60 inch legs.
I tried to work out her proportions a second time but I think I still undersold it:
Anyway the feature presentation ends there. Gen 13 has more characters to draw (Faux-bilee and Psy-not?), but my energies were exhausted.
