The 13th generation
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.
Comments (20)
BTW, someone tried to get two fraudelent charges on my account and since it happened the day before Patreon billing you'll be down one rabid fan for up to six business days until I get my new card in the mail. I will be back, definitely!
You're a good egg, Steve.
I feel like I'm public enemy number one amongst your community for getting you to draw this 90s trash.
Well, I think the question my readers should ask is, did John fall or was he pushed?
Grunge was named after the genre, so I assume his name would now be "VapourWave" or "DreamPop."
You're speaking my language, Matthew.
They were mindless fun that hasn't aged well. Fairchild has been reintroduced in the New Wildcats series and the result is not bad. I do wanna Grunge revival too with very little changes to the character.
Be aware, Adam Warren (Empowered, Dirty Pair [us version]) drew several specials, and wrote the last couple years of the first run. There is not much piss left to take from this series. His "Behind the Powers" issue of these New (but not very original) Mutants would be worth tracking down (it's issue #60).
I went to a church camp back in high school with a girl who had legs that were NEARLY those proportions... In retrospect, I can't figure out if I missed a chance there, or if I saved myself tens of thousands of dollars in orthopedics bills.
To each their own but... Grunge is an awesome name!
HMMMMMM
Oh man, Gen13. Not going to lie, I did like this series as a teen and still have a bit of a soft spot for it now. It helped that most of the stories had an element of humor/parody to them. It was also probably the most "90's" comic of the 1990's.
Outside of The Maxx, I feel like most of the original Image line was both derivative and created by 13-year-old boys (either actual or just at heart). Liefeld was obviously the worst, but the boob socks on these characters! Make it stop!
Thank you for asking those questions
One assumes there is a tactical advantage to unencumbered hips.
Gosh that is a lot of leg.
Also what's going on with her forearm? Why are all her muscles in the region of her elbow? We shall never know.
The fire guy was named "Burnout", and the other two on the cover there are Freefall (aka Not Jubilee) and Rainmaker. Why I still remember the names of the characters from a book I didn't even like, I have no idea, but there were are.
“Wherever you think her knees start, think again.” Haha. I have never heard of this team so this was a delight. The end pic had me going “Ooohhhhh….this must be Leifeld.” Am I right?
Nah, not Liefeld, the anatomy isn't quite THAT bad. It's J. Scott Campbell, another "hot" 90s artist, but more from the Jim Lee style than Liefeld.