The Good Old Days

I’ve told the story before. Thundercats introduced me to 80s cartoons and like most folks of the 80s Thundercats holds a place near and dear to my heart. The characters are iconic the concept was fresh for its time and it has rightfully earned its place being immortalized in pop culture.

Thundercats, like many of the action cartoons of the 80s, had a fleshed out, well-defined style of animation with detailed realistic looking characters. Over the years, mainly to cut costs and maximize profits, networks have moved away from that style and have either gone the route of 3D or adopted a much less defined comical portrayal of characters. The networks target a younger, less risky, audience so they’ve determined that comedy is the way to go. Both in story and image. With the massive success of shows like Spongebob Squarepants, Adventure Time, Stephen Universe and Gravity Falls they believe they have found a formula for success. They believe that applying that formula to virtually any concept will achieve the desired goal. So their latest application of that formula is with “Thundercats Roar”. Have a look at their introductory video.

The internet, however, was not amused and let the folks at Warner Brothers know how they felt.

Is everything going to look like some screwed up mashup between Steven universe, teen titans go,adventure time?
That #ThundercatsRoar isn’t thundercats.
Not everything needs to be a damn comedy. I don’t have nostalgia levels of those who grew up with it, but- pic.twitter.com/pBl1dhh98p

— Busy Kitty (@LeoneLaTwerk) May 19, 2018

To illustrate their displeasure, many parodies started popping up on Twitter demonstrating what would happen if the popular art style were to be applied to other classics.

I hope X-Men gets a reboot soon#ThunderCatsRoar pic.twitter.com/JHOcpPB9Uy

— Simon Boxer (@sboxle) May 23, 2018

Whatever your thoughts are on Thundercats Roar, these parodies popping up are pretty great.#ThunderCatsRoar #CartoonNetwork pic.twitter.com/CKT0TeMMLU

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) May 21, 2018

The YouTube video posted by Warner Brothers got a record number of dislikes.

While there were those defending the reboot for the most part the majority of folks were upset. Basically folks were saying if you want to create shows with the cartoony style that targets younger audiences that’s fine. But why should you do it with such an iconic series as the Thundercats? Fair enough.

Thundercats Roar means opportunity for the independent creator.

Here’s my take on Thundercats Roar and it is from the perspective of an independent creator. Thundercats is owned by Warner Brothers. That means they can do pretty much what they want to with it. I don’t have to like it, but my dislike of it affects them in no way. The studio wants to make money. They’ve found what they believe to be a formula that works and it is well within their rights to apply that formula to anything they own. I don’t like what they did with the iconic series. But I’m not their target group. The original Thundercats from the 80s, in my world, will always be the “real” Thundercats and that’s absolutely fine. Let them do what they will.

The result of the repeated application of this “formula” though, is that the place has become absolutely saturated with that style and there’s a niche of people that are tired of it. When we decided to work on the Celflux Animated Short I chose the 2D action animated style of the 80s to do it. I surmised that there were people out there, like me, who had a feeling of nostalgia for 80s styled action cartoons and who longed to see something like that again. Some tried to discourage me and told me I should use 3D because it’s “popular”. Or that 2D action cartoons don’t have an audience. The reaction to Thundercats Roar shows me that is not necessarily the case.

Since the networks are saturating the airwaves with this new comedic style, it’s creating an opportunity for independent creators like me who are doing something different to reach an audience who is looking for something different. Imagine if you will if big name studios were all doing 80s style action cartoons. Do you think I would have any hope of Celflux being seen at all? The answer would be a resounding no. But with the growing frustration with the current cartoons, I can present an alternative to that small niche that is looking for an alternative. Celflux has the opportunity to stand out from the crowd like an oasis in a desert. So to Warner Brothers, I say “Keep doing your thing.” Of course, there’s still no guarantee that Celflux will be a success. That’s why it’s called “opportunity.”

If you want something different, support independent creators.

I have been saying for a long time that the future of 2D animation lies with independent creators. Because networks want to be “safe”, indie creators are the ones taking chances and trying new things. Presenting alternatives to the cookie cutter model that the large studios have settled on. I would encourage anyone out there who is tired of the same old same old to look for and find an independent creator who is doing something that you like and support them. With your help that creator can bring something into pop culture to help balance the scales so to speak.

One such project you can support is Celflux. We very recently launched our first crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. If you are a lover of 2D hand-drawn animation and if you are nostalgic about the awesome cartoons of the 80s. If you would like to support 2D hand-drawn animation and help keep it alive and relevant. If you support the creation of diverse content. Then the Celflux animated mini-series is the project for you. We have been working on Celflux as a graphic novel since 2013. We started work on the animation in 2017 and are committed to seeing it completed. So consider this project if you’re looking for independent creators that you can support. You can also support by spreading the word and letting others know what’s happening.

Visit Indiegogo

Conclusion

So in conclusion. Thundercats Roar is what it is. Folks that are upset about it have a couple choices before them. They can either rage about it, which is a popular thing to do on the internet, or they can seek out alternatives that they like and support it. I would encourage everyone to do the latter.

Till next time.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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The post What Does The Thundercats Reboot Mean To Me As An Indie Creator? Opportunity. appeared first on Celflux - Graphic Novel & Animated Series.

The Early Days

I first started sitting in front of the television as early as the age of five. Jonny Quest (1964 ), Birdman (1967), The Herculoids (1968), Space Ghost (1968) and, Thundarr The Barbarian (1980) were some of my early introductions to cartoons. I fell in love with animation immediately. I loved seeing these characters with superpowers in action and I remember thinking to myself, even way back then, “Boy I wish I could do that someday.”

During the 80s I was introduced to a lot of great animated sci-fi and fantasy movie classics. Watership Down (1978), Heavy Metal (1981), The Secret of Nimh (1982), Rock and Rule (1983), Fire and Ice (1983), Starchaser The Legend of Orin (1985), Transformers The Movie (1986), Gi Joe The Movie (1987), Gandahar (1988) and, Brave Starr The Movie (1988). This is just a small list and I haven’t even touched on the Japanese animation that I discovered in the 80s and 90s. I singled these out because they had the greatest effect on me at the time. So my hope was that one day, maybe, I would be able to animate something.

Just a few of the classic sci-fi and fantasy animated movies that I came across in the 1980s.

The First Celflux Trailer

When Dixie Ann and I decided to create Celflux I wanted to create a trailer to help promote the book. The first one that I did was similar to a motion comic. Have a look at it here.

It was cool and got the job done. I simply used the images from the comic itself and put them in the video. At the end of the trailer, I did my first animated footage and it was of Samantha doing a flyby. I realised then that the next trailer that I did had to have more than just the motion comic.

When you have a burning desire to create, you find a way to make it happen.

I started this post talking about Thundercats. The reality is I’ve always loved 80s cartoon intros. Bionic Six, Thundercats, Silver Hawks, Visionaries, you name it. I loved the action and energy demonstrated during those intros. Have a look at this Visionaries Knights of the Magical Light intro.

So I wanted to do a trailer for Celflux with an 80s cartoon tribute feel to it. I didn’t have the skill or know-how though, so I decided to approach some animation studios to get some quotations. I got quotations of $20K and 30K for a 30-second intro. Astronomical and rightly so. Make no mistake animation is a very difficult, tedious and technical process. So I couldn’t be angry with anyone who charges those prices for their animation work. It is well deserved. I, however, did not have that kind of money. So what was I to do? I thought to myself “Perhaps crowdfunding?”. Crowdfunding is a strange creature and is not for everyone. Many people see the success of certain crowdfunding campaigns and think that it’s easy to do. We have a saying in Trinidad. “Gopaul luck, ain’t Seepaul luck.’ It means what one person will get away with, another person will not be so lucky. Therefore, we decided against that. So we didn’t have the money and couldn’t raise it. Most folks would give up on the idea at this point. But my fellow indie creators can bear witness that we don’t give up that easily. When you have a burning desire to create, you find a way to make it happen. I thought about that little boy sitting in front of the television all those years ago hoping that he would someday animate something and realised, that little boy’s time had come. I was going to teach myself how to animate, and I was going to attempt to animate the 30-second trailer myself.

Is it Possible To Animate Alone?

This is a question I had to ask myself. As I said earlier, animation is a very difficult, tedious and technical process. Hence the reason there are usually teams of people working on any given animated project. So I had to find out if it was possible for one person to do it all by themselves. I was happy to discover that the answer was a resounding YES! I found that there are hundreds of talented animators out there creating masterpieces all by themselves. The advances in technology and the availability of software has made high-quality animation possible for the single creator. There are several case studies, but the one that stands out to me was the story of Makoto Shinkai.

Makoto Shinkai left his job to work on the animated short Voices of A Distant Star

Makoto Shinkai born as Makoto Niitsu, is a Japanese director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer. The story is told that in May 2001, Makoto quit his job at a video game company and began to work on a film called Voices of a Distant Star. As he would later say in an interview, the 20-minute film took about seven months of “real work”. The film went on to be critically acclaimed and is talked about even to this day. The work on Voices is fantastic and one is hard-pressed to believe it was all done by one person. But it was. So it was possible. I decided then to apply myself. Look at tutorials on YouTube. Learn about the animation process, frame rates, cinematography, lighting, film editing and so on. It was a learning process but I put my best foot forward. The result was the first Celflux Animated Trailer. It had a lot of room for improvement, but I was happy with it. So we put it online and set it loose. It racked up about 14K views (on Facebook) in a relatively short period of time. By no means viral, but it encouraged us that we did something worth watching.

The Celflux Animated Short.

Many folks saw the first Celflux trailer and gave us some great feedback. One of the individuals was Ms Camille Selvon Abrahams. She is the owner of Full Circle Animation Studios and the head organiser of an event called Animae Caribe that takes place annually here in Trinidad and Tobago. She saw the trailer online and extended an invitation to us to be guests at Animae Caribe. We’re eternally grateful to her for this because she gave us an opportunity to introduce Celflux to a local audience. The response to Celflux was fantastic. Our books and t-shirts sold out and everyone has some really encouraging words for us about our animated trailer. Because of the positive response to the first trailer at Animae Caribe and online, I asked Dixie Ann if she thought we should try to do an animated short film. Dixie Ann is always encouraging and convinced me that I could do it. So I again decided to do more research into the process of creating an animated short. This was going to be more involved than the first trailer. This was going to have a story, and actors, and lots of other cool stuff. So I got to work on the planning. The first thing I did was write a script. I had to learn how to do this as well. Scriptwriting is a skill. Much respect to those who do it for a living. With a few drafts and much trial and error, I was able to complete a stand-alone story featuring the characters of Celflux. The second thing I needed was voice actors. I found the Voice Acting Club and I put out a call for people willing to collaborate on the Celflux Animated Short project. To our surprise, we got quite a few responses from folks wanting to be a part of it. All of them very talented. We eventually settled on a group that we believe are not only the most talented, but the most decent, helpful and genuine individuals you would ever hope to meet. We are lucky to have them on board.

Demetria Bridges – Okira, Kate Sample – Samantha, Matthew Curtis – High Councillor, Sarah Brown – Genocyde, Tony Black – Raymond, Manuel Benavidez -Ahoteh, Chasity Conner – Shandrita, Tracy Pfau – Sarah, Hector Chavez – Indigo, William Harmar – Stephen, Stephen Jared – Aditional voices, George Sharperson – Aditional voices.

Gwenaël Mario Grisi the talented musician from Brussels came on board to create an original musical score for Celflux.

We want to thank Kate Sample as she was the one who brought on board Demetria Bridges who is the voice of our leading lady Okira. We also want to say thanks to Matthew Curtis as he was the one who brought on board Gwenaël Mario Grisi who would become our talented musical composer. We also want to thank Tracy Pfau who was responsible for bringing on board her husband Stephen Jared and her good friend George Sharperson. I sent them the script, and they all recorded their lines and sent them back to me. We were going to do this. For no other reason than it’s something, we wanted to do. I then had everything I needed to begin working on the next thing. A trailer.

The Celflux Secret Weapon Trailer

Like the first trailer, I had new things to learn. I needed to learn sound editing. How to match up the sound effects with the action. How to synchronise the character’s mouth movements with the voices and so on. So once again there was a learning curve. But I was following in the footsteps of all the other talented independent animators that had gone before me so it could be done. After about 5 months of work, I was able to complete and release the first trailer for the Celflux Animated Short. Have a look at the trailer here:

In April of this year, after some encouragement from one of the voice actors Tony Black, we submitted a proposal to CreativeTT. There was an open call for individual filmmakers to receive grants for film projects. The Trinidad and Tobago Creative Industries Company Limited (CreativeTT) is a wholly-owned State enterprise established by The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago through the Ministry of Trade and Industry. CreativeTT’s mandate is to stimulate and facilitate the business development and export activities of the Creative Industries in Trinidad and Tobago to generate national wealth and, as such, the company is responsible for the strategic and business development of the three (3) niche areas and subsectors under its purview- Music, Film, Fashion. In May, we received an email from CreativeTT that told us the Celflux project was selected to receive a grant for Marketing and Distribution. We can’t really talk about our plans yet, but suffice to say we are seeking to take Celflux to the next level. You can find the official announcement by CreativeTT here.

Conclusion

So that’s the story of how the Celflux Animated Short came to be. We began working on Celflux the graphic novel in 2013, and had no idea where it would take us. Now four years later, we’re working on an animated short with a great group of voice actors and a state investor behind us. If you had told us that in 2013, we would never have believed you. I’d like to encourage my fellow independent creators out there to live that independent spirit. Follow your creative heart and do what is necessary to bring your creations into reality. Don’t let the pursuit of fame or money cloud your vision. Don’t let anything hinder your creativity. In the immortal words of Shia LaBeouf “Just do it!” You never know where your journey will take you.

Till next time. All the best.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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The post Why I Taught Myself How To Animate. The Celflux Story appeared first on Celflux - Graphic Novel & Animated Series.

Our recently released animated trailer has risen to 13K views on Facebook. This is more than I ever thought possible when I was making it. Because of that response and some really positive feedback from our fans, we have decided to embark upon an even more ambitious journey. We’ll be making a Celflux animated short film.

UPDATE: Celflux Animated Short First Trailer Completed.

As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I’m a child of the 80s and my early Saturday morning cartoon addiction was the inspiration for me spending nine months creating the Celflux animated trailer. You can have a look at the trailer:

Or check the 13k views on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2fbd82D

I had to learn most of it from scratch and there was a learning curve. Through it all, I’ve learned a lot and we received som really good feedback. So Dixie Ann and I were talking about the possibility of us doing an animated short. Was it possible? Could I do it? It would be a lot of work. But I thought to myself it wasn’t necessarily about my ability but more about “What have I got to loose?” So as is our custom we began to do our research. We also had to decide if we were going to do a short with voices for the characters. I did everything for the trailer. But I couldn’t do voices. We decided that we had to have voices. But who would want to be a part of this little project? So we took a leap of faith and sent out requests. To our surprise, we were inundated with auditions of extremely talented individuals who wanted to portray the characters of Celflux. So much so, that it was really difficult to choose the voices because of so much talent.

What helped us decide was not how well someone could deliver a line, because as we said all the auditions were awesome. No, the deciding factor was if the individual could capture the spirit that we had in mind for the character. This was really important to us because the voices had to be believable. So today we are happy to introduce you to the talented voice artists who will be lending their awesome talent to bring the characters of Celflux to life. We want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of these individuals who not only have committed their time to help us, but they have really expressed a confidence in the project that really encouraged us. We encourage everyone to show these guys all the love and support possible.

Demetria Bridges – Okira: Her tagline is “The voice with the velvet touch.” Believe me, when I tell you, that’s a perfect description. Demetria has accepted the awesome task of being the voice of our leading lady Okira. She is an extremely talented and experienced voice actor with a long and impressive resume. She is also a fan of 80s cartoons. We are very lucky to have her as part of this project. You can find out more about her work and connect with her via her
Website: www.demetriabridges.com
LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/demetriabridges

Kate Sample – Samantha: You would remember Kate as the voice at the beginning of the trailer. She did a really good job for us and was excited to learn that we wanted to do a short. She is also highly talented and a really cool individual. It means a lot to us to have her on board. Visit her links to show her some love and support.
Website: www.BostonBritVoice.com
Voices 123: http://voice123.com/katesample
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kate-Sample-BostonBrit-Voice-1488146798064029/

Matt Curtis – High Councilor: When we heard Matt’s audition for the High Councilor, we were immediately sold. The guy is a vocal wizard. If someone can make you see facial expressions by just hearing their voice, that person is talented. He also has a long and impressive resume and a lot of experience doing character voices. To have him as part of the Cleflux project is invaluable. You can connect with him at these links:
Website: www.MicTheMatt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MictheMatt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MictheMatt

Manuel Benavidez – Ahoteh: Manuel describes himself as a newbie to voice acting. Well, we couldn’t tell. Because his audition was exactly what we had in mind for Ahoteh. Ahoteh is one of the main characters of Celflux and we needed someone to properly deliever him. The intensity and spirit were perfect so we immediately let him know that. He’s also shown us a great deal of encouragement and is really excited about the project. We are excited to have him as well. You can reach out to him on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/manuel.benavidez.9

Tony Black – Raymond: We’ve always pictured Raymond played by Michael Jai White in a live action version of Celflux. So for the animation, we said we wanted a voice “similar” to Michael Jai White. When Tony sent his audition, we thought the real Michael Jai White was auditioning for the part. The guy did a perfect impression. We are really lucky to have this guy as part of the project. We have no doubt that Raymond will become one of the most memorable characters of Celflux because of Tony’s portrayal. You can check out his many other impressions and extensive demo talent via his Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/user-69124635

Chasity Conner – Shandrita: How can you demonstrate an introverted person using a voice? That’s what we had in mind as Shandrita’s personality. Chasity was able to capture that. She has extensive experience doing voices for anime and said Celflux was a project she really liked the first time she saw it. She, like the other voice actors, is very talented. We are really blessed to have her on board. You can check out her work via her Social Links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CeeCeeVA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ceeceeva/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ceeceeva
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CeeCeeVA

William Harmar – Stephen: William has a strong English narrator’s voice. His YouTube channel has some really powerful readings of short stories that reminded us of those radio dramas that we used to listen to long ago. The guy is a vocal performer. To play Stephen would be a walk in the park for him, in our opinion. He sounds like he belongs on Broadway. The guy is that good. His audition for Stephen sold us immediately. We still can’t believe he is on board. You can check him out on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/GentlemanWalrus

Hector Chavez – Indigo: Versatile. That’s the word that comes to mind in listening to the work done by Hector. We needed a crazy, unhinged portrayal for Indigo. We wanted it believable. Hector delivered it spot on. His YouTube channel shows his wide range of work. His talent speaks for itself and we really appreciate the fact that he is part of this project. Follow him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HectorChavezVO
Or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmAyESqajZTY37-sRFXB6Q

Sarah Brown – Genocyde: The interesting thing about Sarah’s audition, is we weren’t sold at her portrayal of Gencyde, but on her introduction of the audition. She started out by saying. “Hello my name is Sarah Brown and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Genocyde”. The way she spoke saying that, sounded like Genocyde to us and it was enough for us. But even more than that, she captured Genocyde’s rage perfectly. In our minds, we saw Genocyde’s rant while we listened to her voice. It was perfect. As with the other talents, we cannot believe how lucky we are to have her as part of the project. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synaes

Tracy Pfau – Sarah: So we’ve saved Tracy for last. But believe me when I tell you she is by no means the least. Tracy is not just a voice actor, but an accomplished movie and TV actor. As her IMDB page will tell you, (yeah, she has an IMDB page) she’s had roles in Touched by an Angel, Vampire Diaries, Chuck, Married with Children and Dragnet to name a few. To say her resume is extensive is a drastic understatement. She is an excellent actor. We still are in disbelief that she sent us an audition and wanted to be a part of the project. You can check out her work at her website http://www.tracypfau.com/ and on IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0679336/

So here you have it. The amazing voice cast of our Celflux animated short film. It will be titled “The Secret Weapon”. So here’s the thing. With this level of talent being on board, I’m challenged to bring my work up to the level that will be worthy of this kind of talent. As with the trailer, I’ll be doing everything myself. Yes, all of it. I have my work cut out for me. But I’m excited about it because not only is the team talented, they seem to really believe in Celflux and that’s a huge, huge encouragement to me.

We won’t be doing any form of crowdfunding for the Celflux Animated Short. The only support we’re asking of our fans, is to help us spread the word. Share the news with your friends using the hashtag #CelfluxFilm. So stay tuned for updates as we begin this journey, and we look forward to creating something we hope fans can watch and enjoy.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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“It was a time when magic was more powerful than science, and only those who control the magic, control destiny. They are the Visionaries.”

(from Wikipedia)
“Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light was originally a range of action figures from Hasbro, released in 1987. This action figure range was promoted by two different media, telling the stories of the characters. The better known of the two was a half hour animated television series made by Sunbow Productions in the same year, but there was also a comic book series issued by Star Comics.

The toyline was not a big success, which led to both the series and the comic being cancelled after a very short run. The comic lasted only 6 issues, and was cancelled halfway through a four-part storyline. The animated series lasted one season of 13 episodes, and was not picked up for a second, possibly because all Sunbow cartoons came to an end after The Transformers season 4 three-parter (“The Rebirth”) and G.I. Joe: The Movie, when Sunbow lost its contract and did not get it renewed.

The story was set on the planet Prysmos, an advanced society where all electronics had failed and the people were forced to rely on the old magics. The Visionaries consist of two groups of knights — the Spectral Knights and the Darkling Lords. They are both called to for a competition by the wizard Merklynn. After surviving traps, dangerous creatures, and each other, the survivors on both sides are rewarded. Everyone of them is given a different animal totem which appears on the front of their armor, which they can turn into. The animals are selected by Merklynn based on their personalities.”

I can still remember how excited I got when I heard the Visionaries intro. Those words spoken by the very dynamic voice of the shows narrator Malachi Throne, over some dramatic operatic type music. The heavy male voice, almost Gregorian Monkish, choir singing the intro. The song was only four lines long. But it was extremely awesome. The animation for the show’s intro was also like nothing I’d ever seen. It was quick, dark, rich colours and mind blowing.

“Visionairies,
Knights of the Magical Light.
Visionairies,
With Magical Powers they fight.

Powers of mind, strength, skill, ‘n’ speed.
Powers to accomplish the greatest of deeds.

Visionairies,
Knights of the Magical Light.”

Here’s the intro.

It was very interesting to know that the cartoon was not the primary object of production. It was actually the action figures. The cartoon and the comic were actually marketing tools created to promote the toys. They both suffered early demises because of the poor sales of the toys. I’m sorry the creators didn’t decide to continue the cartoon, because it was really popular and up to this day is still a classic.

There are some really dedicated fans of the Visionaries who have put together a virtual encyclopaedia of the Visionaries. You can find a lot more information on the show, the comic and the cartoon there. http://www.thevisionaries.net/

Do you remember the Visionaries, and was it one of your early inspirations? Till next time.

Cheers.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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(from Wikipedia)
“ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions (the same that created the SilverHawks, TigerSharks, and The Comic Strip) debuting in 1985, based on the characters created by Tobin “Ted” Wolf. The series, for which Leonard Starr was the head writer, follows the adventures of a group of catlike humanoid aliens. The animation for the episodes was provided by the Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation, later acquired in 1989 to form Walt Disney Animation Japan. Season 1 of the show aired in 1985 (65 episodes), followed by a TV movie entitled ThunderCats – HO! in 1986. Seasons 2, 3, and 4 followed a new format of twenty episodes each, starting with a five-part story.

This was the ThunderCats poster that introduced me to this awesome show.

ThunderCats follows the adventures of the eponymous team of heroes, catlike humanoid aliens on a planet called Third Earth. The series plot begins with the dying planet Thundera [thun•DAIR•uh] meeting its end, forcing the ThunderCats (a sort of Thunderean nobility) to flee their homeworld. The fleet is attacked by the Thundereans’ enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who destroy most of the starships in the “ThunderFleet,” but spare the flagship hoping to capture the legendary mystic Sword of Omens they believe is on board. The sword holds the Eye of Thundera, the source of the ThunderCats’ power, which is embedded in the hilt. Though the Mutants damage the flagship, the power of the Eye drives them back. The damage to the ship means the journey to their original destination is not possible, instead having to journey to “Third Earth”; which will take much longer than they had anticipated. The eldest of the ThunderCats, Jaga, volunteers to pilot the ship while the others sleep in capsules; however, he dies of old age in the process, but not before ensuring they will reach their destination safely. The flagship contains the young Lord of the ThunderCats, Lion-O, as well as the ThunderCats Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, WilyKit and WilyKat, and Snarf.

When the ThunderCats awake from their suspended animation on Third Earth, Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has slowed, rather than stopped, his aging, and he is now a child in the body of an adult. Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct the “Cat’s Lair,” their new home and headquarters, but before long, the Mutants have tracked them down to Third Earth. The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed, however, as a demonic, mummified sorcerer calling himself Mumm-Ra recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire the Eye of Thundera and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil may continue to hold sway over Third Earth.”

Thundercats had a huge influence on me as a creator of comics. The group dynamic, the fantasy world of Third Earth. The technology. The magic. Mumra The Ever Living. “Sword of Omens. Give me sight, beyond sight.” Oh boy the show was the ultimate. The Thundertank. Each of them having their own special ability and weapon. I actually got ThunderCats on VHS before the series came to Trinidad. Looking back at it now, much of the dialogue seems corny and recited, but back then it was the best thing on TV. The logo was iconic. Up to this day it still works. It’s intro is still one of the best even to this day and can rival many modern cartoon intros. The theme song. Don’t get me started on the theme song. You can still sing it can’t you? Of course you can. It was that good. Here’s the intro again just to enjoy.

Here’s a comic con panel with the original voice actors of ThuderCats.

Brief history of the ThunderCats by Mask & Cape.

Here’s the intro for the 2011 version of Thundercats. My personal opinion was that the original intro was so good it could not be topped so they decided not to even do an intro for the new version.

I loved and still love the ThunderCats and it was a great influence on me as a creator. What were some of your early inspirations? Till next time.

Cheers.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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When we first started the Celflux project, it was more a project of love. Just to realize a childhood dream of creating your own characters and stories and sharing it with others. We really did not have any stated goals or directions we wanted to go in other than knowing we had six volumes that we wanted to create. Let me say here that it’s not always a good idea to start something without a plan, but sometimes the journey of discovery is the most rewarding. Celflux has grown into a lot more since we first started. The research we’ve done has helped us create solid achievable goals that we can work towards. So we’ve decided that we’ll be creating six volumes with approximately four issues each. When we’ve completed the volumes, we’ll be compiling them into the graphic novel for that volume. May be hard cover, may be soft cover, we’re not sure yet.

So we recently completed Issue no.1 of Vol.I, and we’ve made digital copies available on DriveThru Comics for sale. We’d also sent it off to the printers to get print copies ready. Recently we received the proofs for the print copies. We were blown away by how fantastic the book looked. No, it’s not me tooting my own horn, it’s me genuinely surprised at how cool the book looked. It did not look like something we did. It looked like someone else did it. It gave us a really good feeling. A feeling like the thing you created came to life. Which brings me back to the Oprah moment I was having earlier. Holding the print copy in our hands we realized that we were not in this for the money. We felt a sense of accomplishment just by being able to create something and see it in physical form in our hands. We’d done it.

So our goal is to finish all six volumes, which is approx 24 issues and bring them all to print. If we can do this we will be content. We’re already satisfied with completing the first one and feel a sense of accomplishment. This little print comic book is a big deal to us. So it’s good to set goals, and work towards them, but find your accomplishment in the little things. This would make it even better when you achieve the big goals and you’ll still feel accomplished even if you don’t reach them.

Oh and The print copies of Celflux will be available on DriveThru Comics soon.

Till next time.

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And so we begin our journey to more great fans. If you like Celflux already, spread the word so others can become a part of the journey.

Till next time.
The Celflux Team.

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