OSTI ForMark

--Older Stuff--
O.1
O.2
The following pages show some of my
earlier works, which I posted in weekly
threads in the Freefall-forum on the NICE.
All the quotes are from those threads.
(Originally only the files behind the picture-links changed (as

indicated in the quotes), so now most of the first 46
OlderStuff-threads only show the same two pictures
everywhere. Starting with thread number 47 I worked with
alternating picture-names, with the result, that these later
threads still show the right pictures.)
And here come the quotes and comics now...
O.3
quoted from:
Older Stuff 1 (aka => The Early Stuff)

Freefall-forum - topic # 002149
18 July, 2004
"
This is some of the early stuff from the magazine Midnight
Zoo. (Now out of publication.)
Sam was a bit more respectable then, and had the line that
separated his eyes into two complete eyes rather than the
little suggestion of the line that he has now.
Sam’s eyes changed after seeing an Eric Schwartz drawing
of him and realizing how much better he looked that way.
(Or it might have just been from Eric Schwartz drawing him.)
Also will toss up the single frame comics I was doing for
the magazine at the time.
The file names for these will not be changing, so next
Saturday’s updates will overwrite these ones.
Enjoy the amazingly bad artwork of the past!
Marvel how I haven’t progressed one tenth as far as Scott

Kellogg in getting better!
See how many comics are related to the movie Alien!
All this and more in coming weeks.

"
O.4
O.5
quoted from:
Older Stuff 2 (aka => Early Stuff: Aliens: The Zeltechs)

freefall forum - topic # 002168
24 July, 2004
"
In the last “early stuff”, Won-Tolla asked about other aliens
in the Freefall universe. So here are some comics with an
alien race called the Zeltechs. Physical design is the easy
part of any race. The fun stuff comes from how to make an
alien society. The Zeltech’s are plants. The translators cover
their communication organ which is essentially an organic
L.C.D. It made the race a lot of fun because they developed
speech and writing at the same time. (Rather like displaying
Japanese Kanji on their chests.) You can imagine how much
this sped up their progress, as old ideas didn’t get lost.
They aren’t very physical. They don’t walk, they pick
themselves up, scurry a few feet forward, then sit back
down. After they’ve rested enough, they do it again. In early
days when they fought, they would rush towards each other
at a snails pace. They have good vision, and could “read”
what the other person was saying long before they were
close enough to physically reach them. Battles were like the
meeting of hostile debating societies, and usually resolved
before they could get close enough to actually hit each other.
As for what they do, Zeltechs are rather single minded.
They are conquers.
O.6
The goal of the Zeltech race is complete and utter
domination of the breakfast cereal market. I thought it
would be fun to play with the whole “alien invaders” ploy,
only to find the aliens were here, were bent on taking over,
but after such a minor thing, it would be debatable if it was
even worth it to fight them. And they do make a pretty good
breakfast cereal.
In Freefall for the web, I found out pretty quick I didn’t
need any extra aliens. Since it’s easier to add something
than to take it out, I never developed the Zeltechs for the
web comic. I did think about it when I first started. You can
see the shadow of one in the background of Freefall # 0013.
I only consider two of the gags worth putting out now.

EVERYONE does a “How can you tell them apart?” joke.
It’s like the hairball joke for cats. I think it’s embedded in
our racial consciousness. The first gag, well, it was only a
year after the Soviet Union had broken up, and the cold war
still seemed very real. I’m happy to see that we passed the
point of two nations staring eyeball to eyeball with their
fingers on nuclear arsenals without losing a single city.
"
O.7
O.8
O.9
quoted from:
Older Stuff 3
7 August, 2004
"
Opps! Forgot to put up the older stuff last weekend. Guess
this is what happens when your brain gets older too.
"
O.10
O.11
quoted from:
Older Stuff 4
15 August, 2004
"
More older stuff. Didn' t forget this weekend, just got
delayed at work. Which is as good as forgetting, only now I
have a lame excuse.
"
O.12
O.13
quoted from:
Older Stuff 5
22 August, 2004
"
More older stuff. In the early days of the comic, I was still
operating in “Star Trek” mode, where the ship was able to
go in between star systems. With holographic memory, I’m
pretty sure I’m going to be wrong on disks as storage
medium as time goes by.
"
O.14
O.15
quoted from:
Older Stuff 6
29 August, 2004
"
In my early drawings, Florence had really skinny ankles. Of
the three main characters, she’s the one who’s changed the
most as I’ve learned to draw.
"
O.16
O.17
quoted from:
Older Stuff 7
2 October, 2004
"
Forgot to update the Older Stuff threads after Dragon Con.
Will take care of that now. The single drawing is the first
and the last I ever tried to draw with a vector graphic
program.
(I just couldn’t get the hang of drawing by dragging curve
endpoints around.) The Freefall comic shows some of the
earlier lack of thought in the design. Sam’s suit is out in a
vacuum, and Florence’s suit has chest mounted indications
she couldn’t possibly see.
Working in the navy and industry taught me a bit more
about ergonomic design, though I still make mistakes now
and then.
I’m just more aware of them.
"
O.18
O.19
quoted from:
Older Stuff 8
9 October, 2004
"
Rather than terrifying creatures of the night, I’ve always
seen vampires as having a hard time adapting to modern
times. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, especially
when the dog is in the hundreds.
"
O.20
O.21
quoted from:
Older Stuff 9
16 October, 2004
"
Character development in progress.
When I first drew Sam, I was going for the look of a WW1
pilot.
I wasn’t sure why he was in a suit, so was casting about for
a reason. I thought chlorine breathing would be good, until I
learned a bit more and realized he wouldn’t be able to eat
foods based on oxygen biology.
So I simplified. This comic is a gray area where I was
casting around a bit to see what ideas worked.
And Florence’s ankles are way too thin.
O.22
O.23
quoted from:
Older Stuff 10
23 October, 2004
"
Probably the first picture I ever drew of Tangent. Robots
and mathmatical names just seem to go together.
"
O.24
O.25
quoted from:
Older Stuff 11
30 October, 2004
"
It’s almost Halloween, and seems like a good time for this
one.
One of the few “story” bits that ran in “Midnight Zoo”.
"
O.26
O.27
quoted from:
Older Stuff 12
6 November, 2004
"
Part of human survival is our ablity to eat almost anything.
"
O.28
O.29
quoted from:
Older Stuff 13
13 November, 2004
"Of all the single frame comics I’ve done, this is the one
people remember the most.
Freefall. It only goes to show how much technology can

change, and in ways, hard to predict. In 1991, I thought
VCR’s would be around for at least 30 years.
Compact disks didn’t hold enough information, and there
was no practical way to write to them.
Little did I know that DVD’s would soon change that, and I
can easily see DVD’s going away in 10 years or so as the
same information is going to memory and hard disks.
"
O.30
O.31
quoted from:
Older Stuff 14
20 November, 2004
"
Vampires are always shown doing well. I think that’s part of
the allure. Become a vampire and own your own castle. My
vampires never seem to be that lucky.
"
O.32
O.33
quoted from:
Older Stuff 15
27 November, 2004
"
While it’s hard to tell from the drawing, that’s a stack of
floppy disks the robot has his hand on. The old 5.25 ones.
"
O.34
O.35
quoted from:
Older Stuff 16
4 December, 2004
"
I've always had a soft spot for mad scientists.
The Freefall comic is again in my earlier thoughts of it,

when the ship was a lot more mobile than it is now.
"
O.36
O.37
quoted from:
Older Stuff 17
11 December, 2004
"
While Sam and Florence have changed since the start of the
comic, Helix has pretty much remained how I first
envisioned him.
"
O.38
O.39
quoted from:
Older Stuff 18
18 December, 2004
"
I really should have made the window bigger in the
Vampire comic. Kind of hard to see the sun shining outside.
Freefall. Yep, I was still in the “artificial gravity” phase.

Much more fun to have micro gravity.
"
O.40
O.41
quoted from:
Older Stuff 19
25 December, 2004
"
Ah, Christmas time. When you travel though the snow and
ice and get to see while you may think you’re weird, you’re
positively normal compared to your relatives.
For the Freefall comic, while not exactly Christmas, it does

have Helix being fascinated by a snow globe. I’ve always
liked Helix’s simplicity.
"
O.42
O.43
quoted from:
Older Stuff 20
1 January, 2005
"
Didn’t think I would be able to get on to post today. Phone
line is acting a bit flaky. Ah, well. Persistence.
"
O.44
O.45
quoted from:
Older Stuff 21
8 January, 2005
"
Robots have always been a fascination with me. They’re
affected by a sort of economic Darwinism, where only the
popular models survive. It’s not creatures jumping on each
other to kill and eat, but it’s still survival of the fittest, red in
tooth and LED.
"
O.46
O.47
quoted from:
Older Stuff 22
15 January, 2005
"
I still can’t get over how skinny I used to draw Florence’s
ankles.
"
O.48
O.49
quoted from:
Older Stuff 23
22 January, 2005
"
Sam didn’t have much of a personality when the comic
started. Here is one of the first glimmers of what was to
become Sam’s personality showing through.
Neural interfaces. Direct linking your mind to a computer.

Everyone likes to show the upsides, but what happens if
you’re just plain nuts? Would an interface make you a more
neurotic if that was your tendency?
"
O.50
O.51
quoted from:
Older Stuff 24
29 January, 2005
"
Florence used to worry more about signs than she does now.
She’s gained confidence as the comic’s gone along.
"
O.52
O.53
quoted from:
Older Stuff 25
Freefall forum - topic # 002702
5 February, 2005
"
The opening line is right out of Alien 3. Perhaps it’s just me,
but for the aliens to have blood that acidic means any
caustic that comes in contact with it would create quite a
violent reaction. Caltrops and baking soda would result in
the equivalent of a small mine field to them.
Home Exercise Machine. Guaranteed to keep you running,

and it really, really works.
"
O.54
O.55
quoted from:
Older Stuff 26
12 February, 2005
"
Brazil. Around 1992, the world farm owners started noticing
the huge growing season down there. I thought it was just a
matter of time until Brazil became first an agricultural
powerhouse, followed by the industry infrastructure. Ah,
well. The prediction looked good at the time.
Motors usually refer to electrically driven devices. Engines
use fuel air mixtures. That’s probably why the freeway signs
continue to catch my attention.
"
O.56
O.57
quoted from:
Older Stuff 27
19 February, 2005
"
Vampires have phobia’s too.
"
O.58
O.59
quoted from:
Older Stuff 28
26 February, 2005
"
Survival of the cutest. Tuna fish aren’t as cute as dolphins,
so it’s all right to eat them. I’m sure tuna feel the opposite
and that we should eat dolphins instead. They probably
aren’t cute at all from a tuna’s point of view.
Lemmings. Is there any kid who hasn’t had their parents say
this to them?
"
O.60
O.61
quoted from:
Older Stuff 29
5 March, 2005
"
I can not believe how skinny I used to draw Florence.
Though I’m breaking about 700 rules of relationships by
mentioning weight gain and a lady in the same sentence.
Dr. Frankenstein. His hair is a bit off, but I like how the
jacket came out.
"
O.62
O.63
quoted from:
Older Stuff 30
12 March, 2005
"
In the comic Pogo, Walt Kelly would write the names of
friends on the sides of the boats his characters used. George
Johnson is a fellow instrument tech at Fermi.
Robots. It’s easy to add detail on things you know you only
have to draw once.
"
O.64
O.65
quoted from:
Older Stuff 31
19 March, 2005
"
At the time this comic was drawn, GMR heads on hard
drives were yet a dream in a designer’s eye, and CD’s were
rare. I think Star Trek (The Original Series) might be the
one to get things right, with small squares of holographic
memory.
"
O.66
O.67
quoted from:
Older Stuff 32
26 March, 2005
"
Something else that fell by the wayside. Sam used to play
the bagpipes.
Robocop and Alien facehugger. Great movie concepts that

don’t work great together.
"
O.68
O.69
quoted from:
Older Stuff 33
2 April, 2005
"
Helix. When it comes to standing still, nobody should be
able to beat a robot. Though I expect with intelligence, they
would get just as bored as a human who stands still.
Aliens again. The poor bugs didn’t seem to have much of a

retirement plan.
"
O.70
O.71
quoted from:
Older Stuff 34
9 April, 2005
"
Health Care. Like law, once it stopped being a “higher
moral calling” and became a business, it became a problem.
Though here, I think it is more a case of the insurers than
the doctors.
"
O.72
O.73
quoted from:
Older Stuff 35
16 April, 2005
"
The guy with the mustache is Pop Rivet. The one who had
his truck stolen early in the comic, but hasn’t made an
appearance yet.
"
O.74
O.75
quoted from:
Older Stuff 36
23 April, 2005
"
In the early comics, the ship was already in flyable
condition. With Sam at the helm, there was no guarantees
how long it was going to stay that way. I’ve also found at
work it is a bad idea to park under the lightpost where the
seagulls roost.
"
O.76
O.77
quoted from:
Older Stuff 37
30 April, 2005
"
There’s Florence with the thin ankles again. Also a couple
Cresh pieces.
In trying to make each intelligent species unique, I had the
Cresh take symbioses to a such a level that there are no
“stand alone” species on the planet. Everything co operates
with other species to form a complete organism.
The guys you’re seeing here are essentially intelligent
mobile stomachs that link with a larger tree like organism to
download food and memories.
This is why the Cresh never leave their planet. You don’t
need life support for an individual, you need it for a couple
of acres.
"
O.78
O.79
quoted from:
Older Stuff 38
7 May, 2005
"
Food is always more fun when it requires a little effort. Sam
was a much less disruptive alien in the earlier comics, no
where near as much personality as he has now.
Single frame comic. Who says quantum physics doesn’t

scale up into the real world?
"
O.80
O.81
quoted from:
Older Stuff 39
14 May, 2005
"
Early Freefall. Still the skinny legs. Not one of my better
gags either. The single frame gag still holds up well, though.
"
O.82
O.83
quoted from:
Older Stuff 40
"21 May, 2005
A couple of comics that are showing their age, one because

the man who made so many headlines years ago is now
almost forgotten, the other because it’s moved out of comics
and into real life.
"
O.84
O.85
quoted from:
Older Stuff 41
28 May, 2005
"
In the early comics, both Sam and Helix were vacuum rated.
"
O.86
O.87
quoted from:
Older Stuff 42
4 June, 2005
"
Early Freefall. Believe it or not, that’s not Winston. I drew
up several models for Winston before he appeared in the
storm sequence. Posting the older stuff and going though
old comics, I see I drew an almost identical character when I
needed a human for Florence to be with. Really need to
clean out my mental file cabinets every now and then.
Time travelers almost never make little jumps back in time.

Though I can see where it would be a little disconcerting.
Too many folks would be running around complaining
“Back in my day, it was cause, then effect!” Though once a
time machine is invented, there wouldn’t be such a thing as
“Back in my day” anymore, would there?
"
O.88
O.89
quoted from:
Older Stuff 43
11 June, 2005
"
The text on the robot’s book almost ran off the cover.
Something that I is easy to fix in a scanned image. On a
paper image, get out the “white out”, find that “white out”
doesn’t hold ink like paper does, and finally say “Good
enough”. All in all, image fixes are much easier now that I
can scan and edit them on the computer.
Freefall. This one caught my eye after reading Kathy’s

“Carry On” this week.
"
O.90
O.91
quoted from:
Older Stuff 44
19 June, 2005
"
Using animal organs. I hadn’t even heard of stem cells in
1993, though the idea of cloning individual organs has been
around for a while, just no one knew how to do it.
"
O.92
O.93
quoted from:
Older Stuff 45
25 June, 2005
"
Zero G allows you so many possibilities, I don’t know why
so few people use it.
Another comic showing it’s age. Memory chips went to

Asia all right, but Korea and increasingly China. Russia sold
their battery technology and never really developed the
industry at home like I thought they would.
For the newer folks, the “Older Stuff” consists of comics

that appeared in print, and in respect to their original
publishers, they only stay up a week.
"
O.94
O.95
quoted from:
Older Stuff 46
2 July, 2005
"
Sam still has the split goggles in these early ones. Also took
more time drawing them. Easy when you only need to do a
comic every couple weeks.
"
O.96
O.97
quoted from:
Older Stuff 47
9 July, 2005
"
A couple of comics that are really showing their age. For a
while, there was a problem in hospitals of people waking up
during their operation.
It was only a few people out of tens of thousands, but still
caught media attention.
The Freefall comic shows its age in different ways. At the
time I was still doing circuit board repair.
These days, they’re like most other electronics. Cheaper to
buy new than repair the old, if you even COULD repair the
old.
DVD’s and data disks are also going to be a thing of the
past. Broadband is going to make it so that all info,
including movies, will be “on demand”.
Cable companies have realized this and are working to get
the jump on things. A separate system (For pay of course)
where you can access all their movies and video files.
Their hardest job is going to be to convince people to stick
with them when soon any computer will be able to provide
the same thing.
"
O.98
O.99
quoted from:
Older Stuff 48
16 July, 2005
"
Early Freefall. Not scientifically accurate, but still fun.
Anthropology is an interesting field. When I was growing

up, Neanderthals were considered animals. Sub human.
During my lifetime, findings have shown they had a culture
and buried their dead. They had brains larger than modern
humans. (Though tiny frontal lobes, the section of the brain
necessary for suppression of thoughts into action.)
Still, the brain is an energy intensive organ, and all that
extra brain was probably doing something.
From the heavier bone structure in the body and greater
muscle mass, it’s been thought that Neanderthals killed
animals by “scream and leap”, perhaps using a club but no
throwing weapons.
More muscle, more bone, more brain in the body control
areas. I would theorize that Neanderthals would have
significantly faster reaction times than modern humans.
"
O.100
O.101
quoted from:
Older Stuff 49
23 July, 2005
"
Hmm. Can’t really think of anything to say for these ones
today. How about “Submitted without comment.”? Yep, that
works.
"
O.102
O.103
quoted from:
Older Stuff 50
30 July, 2005
"
All the lettering in these old comics was done on a laser
printer, then cut out and glued onto the comics. Which was
better than trying to hand letter and use white out whenever
a mistake was made.
Now that the entire comic is done on the computer and the
“cut and paste” is no longer literal, they’re much easier and
faster to do.
"
O.104
O.105
quoted from:
Older Stuff 51
6 August, 2005
"
A comic done with a couple of Simon Barber’s characters.
Based on the Deep Ones from Lovecraft’s works. Lovecraft
loved frogs and fish and octopuses for his creatures. He
played with such ideas that Lovecraft had, transporting them
into a modern setting. Things like driver’s license pictures
that would drive the people who see it insane. They didn’t
get pulled over for speeding much.
"
O.106
O.107
quoted from:
Older Stuff 52
13 August, 2005
"
Single frame comic. With internet speeds being what they
are, I think that the internet is going to replace cable
television before too long. The Star Trek fan films we’re
seeing are just the beginning.
"
O.108
O.109
quoted from:
Older Stuff 53
20 August, 2005
"
Last week was the last of the old single frame comics.
Maybe I should start to draw a few new ones. When time
permits. So two Freefall comics for older stuff now.
"
O.110
O.111
quoted from:
Older Stuff 54
27 August, 2005
"
Helix and Florence have always had an interesting
relationship. Little bit of rivalry for the number two spot on
board.
"
O.112
O.113
quoted from:
Older Stuff 55
3 September, 2005
"
Another way poor engineering practices can let bugs get
into the system.
"
O.114
O.115
quoted from:
Older Stuff 56
10 September, 2005
"
In navy Basic Electricity and Electronics school, the radar
set we worked on was the SPS 10, or as we called it, the
Spiz 10. Being an older set (They let us baby techs play
with it, it had to be simple and rugged), it used a ton of RF
energy to detect what radars today can do with a fraction of
the output. We were never able to get it to make popcorn,
but I’m pretty sure it would fry a chip.
Phones. The Cell Phone explosion wasn’t something I

expected. (Well, none have actually exploded yet, though
there has been one fire.) Millions of personal phones in a
city, limited frequency band, I didn’t see any way it could
be done. Fortunately for the telecom industry, someone else
could.
"
O.116
O.117
quoted from:
Older Stuff 57
17 September, 2005
"
Couldn’t resist the pun. For the science behind it, if the chip
were wrapped in something like polyethylene, this could
actually work for a small portable neutron detector. (The
portable ones I’ve seen in use are about the size of a
basketball.
This one would still be about the size of a softball due the
need to thermalize (Fancy word for “Slow down to the
neutrons to the speed they would move normally in room
temperature”) the neutrons for detection.
Sam’s personality is starting to appear. You’ll also see a

Zeltech at the end of the bar, and a couple of the Cresh
gatherers walking about.
"
O.118
O.119
quoted from:
Older Stuff 58
24 September, 2005
"
This series could come out of the current comic. Character
personalities are just about set.
"
O.120
O.121
quoted from:
Older Stuff 59
1 October, 2005
"
Micro gravity is too much fun.
"
O.122
O.123
quoted from:
Older Stuff 60
8 October, 2005
"
Hard to believe it was just 1995 when most records I dealt
with were written on paper and not accessible by computer.
I don’t even remember the state of the art of Character
Recognition for scanning at the time.
The screen Florence is using is based on the 3D display that
uses two lasers, and where the lasers intersect, they excite
the material enough to emit light. Essentially a flat screen
that is just a sheet of plastic and all the active components in
the pillar columns.
"
O.124
O.125
quoted from:
Older Stuff 61
15 October, 2005
"
Another change in the “on line” comic compared to the
early stuff. Helix sleeps now.
"
O.126
O.127
quoted from:
Older Stuff 62
22 October, 2005
"
Couple more of the early computer drawings. Proportions
were still giving me problems, and I hadn’t yet found Pro
Motion to use as a paint program.
Still, quite a bit you could do in PC Paintbrush. I still use
that program today for my lettering.
"
O.128
O.129
quoted from:
Older Stuff 63
29 October, 2005
"
First half of the storyline, next half will be next week. Lots
of differences spotable here from how the comic has
progressed. Sam is almost honest.
"
O.130
O.131
O.132
quoted from:
Older Stuff 64
5 November, 2005
"
Conclusion to story started in Older Stuff 63.
"
O.133
O.134
O.135
quoted from:
Older Stuff 65
12 November, 2005
"
One of the earlier “Full Page” comics. Easy to tell from
Florence’s really, really thin ankles.
"
O.136
O.137
quoted from:
Older Stuff 66
19 November, 2005
"
More fun in microgravity.
"
O.138
O.139
quoted from:
Older Stuff 67
26 November, 2005
"
Again showing the ship capable of going from star to star,
but still no artificial gravity. The idea for the readers is
pretty old, but I can’t think of anyone who did the idea
better than Ben Bova in “Cyber books”.
No reader has yet appeared to be able to replace paper yet.
But he has the publishing industry reacting like the
recording industry reacted to mp3.
"
O.140
O.141
quoted from:
Older Stuff 68
3 December, 2005
"
Florence and Helix had a rivalry going in the early comics. I
had pictured a smaller comic with much more going on in
the ship in transit. More like Red Dwarf than the comic is
now.
"
O.142
quoted from:
Older Stuff 69
10 December, 2005
"
Really, why get a flat screen when the technology is capable
of so much more?
"
O.143
quoted from:
Older Stuff 70
18 December, 2005
"A bit late on posting this one. Sorry for the delay.
"
O.144
O.145
quoted from:
Older Stuff 71
31 December, 2005
"
I’m not going to say it, but it was pointed out that this is a
bit light for Florence’s size, and like Helix, you can draw
your own conclusions on her current weight.
I don’t know how much of a concern that would be with
carnivores, who’s weight can shift quite a bit from before
they eat to after they eat.
"
O.146
O.147
quoted from:
Older Stuff 72
7 January, 2006
"
Sometimes even old comics remain surprisingly topical.
"
O.148
O.149
quoted from:
Older Stuff 73
14 January, 2006
"
Florence is starting here to be a character on her own, rather
than just a reactor to Sam and Helix.
"
O.150
O.151
quoted from:
Older Stuff 74
21 January, 2006
"
Reading about LCD goggles, GPS, and image recognition
software. It wouldn’t surprise me to see LCD goggles that
could do overlays when you look at the stars before long.
"
O.152
O.153
quoted from:
Older Stuff 75
28 January, 2006
"
More fun with Florence. Starting to show a little more
canine in her personality.
"
O.154
O.155
quoted from:
Older Stuff 76
4 February, 2006
"
I think everyone but the music industry understood that
entertainment was eventually going to move on line.
Give it a little more time, this is how movies and other
entertainment is going to go as well.
Can’t see it happening to sculpture anytime soon, but with
the advances in Rapid Prototyping machines, who knows?
"
O.156
O.157
quoted from:
Older Stuff 77
11 February, 2006
"
Every now and then, it's fun to see how many references I
can squeeze into a comic.
I’ll be heading back from California at this time next week,

so no update on the Older Stuff. Perhaps next Sunday,
depending on how the flight goes.
Last trip, every flight was delayed. Will have internet access
this time, so comic should continue normally, and will be
able to keep up and post on the forum.
"
O.158
O.159
quoted from:
Older Stuff 78
25 February, 2006
"
Out of the older Freefall comics, unless I can find the disk I
stored some of the earlier Amiga stuff on. But still have a fair
archive of other stuff and drawings, so Older Stuff threads
should continue on a bit more.
This comic was drawn not too long after coming back from
Australia and finding the Footrot Flats comic. Seeing the
relationship between Wallace and his dog, considered for a
time of making Freefall totally planet based, with a human
Sam and much smaller Florence.
The guy with the mustache was Sam, the fox, Florence.
Showed them around work, and the idea went over like a lead
balloon. (Even then, I’m generous. Near lynching would be
the actual result.)
The guy was recycled as Pop Rivet. Amy the Squirrel by Eric
Schwartz should be recognizable by everyone, and this little
comic was inspired by his animation “A Walk in the Park”.
"
O.160
quoted from:
Older Stuff 79
4 March, 2006
"
The “aliens” influence here is pretty obvious in both the
critter design and the suit. Took a long, long time to get all
those lines drawn for the shading.
"
O.161
quoted from:
Older Stuff 80
11 March, 2006
"
Well, try as I might, I could not find the original files for
these comics. Think they’re on the disk drive that I couldn’t
revive. So guess we have to do with scans of print outs.
"
O.162
O.163
quoted from:
Older Stuff 81
18 March, 2006
"
More older stuff. Both Sam and Helix are vacuum capable
here.
"
O.164
O.165
quoted from:
Older Stuff 82
25 March, 2006
"
I haven’t heard this in elevators yet, but it’s just a matter of
time.
"
O.166
O.167
quoted from:
Older Stuff 83
1 April, 2006
"The first comic is a re run. Included here to show the

change in drawing style. Like everyone else at the time, I
was still using CRT’s for my displays on the ship.
The last comic shows the biggest shift in how I saw the
characters then to how they are now.
"
O.168
O.169
quoted from:
Older Stuff 84
8 April, 2006
"
Seeing how it’s getting near that magic date of April 15, a
few older comics on the subject. Comic number three is
more accurate than I would like to admit.
"
O.170
O.171
quoted from:
Older Stuff 85
15 April, 2006
"
When you only have to draw them once, it’s easy to go for
complex robot designs.
"
O.172
O.173
quoted from:
Older Stuff 86
22 April, 2006
"
This one really makes me wish I had been able to find the
original files. It was in color.
Had to make this one a bit bigger (and all the problems it
does to the forum) in order to make the lettering visible.
Don’t ask me who the Kushtax are. Probably just a name I
made up to sound alien.
"
O.174
O.175
quoted from:
Older Stuff 87
29 April, 2006
"
The older Freefall comic is going to take some work to get
the lettering readable. So for this week, here’s a drawing of
Jim Groat’s character, Red Shetland. Don' t see a date on the
drawing. Think I did this one back in 1992."
"
quoted from a later post within that thread:
"
It was done for one of the Red Shetland portfolios by
request.
"
O.176
O.177
quoted from:
Older Stuff 88
6 May, 2006
"
Another one I had to make a bit bigger to even see the
lettering.
"
O.178
quoted from:
Older Stuff 89
13 May, 2006
"
If there was one thing working in nuclear power got you
familiar with, it was drug testing.
"
O.179
quoted from:
Older Stuff 90
27 May, 2006
"
Like just about everyone, I’ve found foxes are fun to draw.
As Hortmage said, there’s just something that catches the
eye with the combination of cat and dog. The critter to the
right came out of discussions about powered armor.
I was reading through a few books on Vietnam, and the
majority of a soldiers time is not spent fighting. I was
looking more for a “grunt” than a main battle tank.
Reversed the “normal” cybernetics part.
Lay down the inorganic frame, then grow the critter over it.
The tricky part was coming up with a cell design that could
withstand hydrostatic shock. Borrowed from “waveless”
water bed designs for that one.
Artwise, still in my “skinny ankles” phase.

"
O.180
O.181
quoted from:
Older Stuff 91
3 June, 2006
"
Too bad both Warner Brothers and Paramont grip their
copyrights so tightly. There'
s a lot of fun in combinations.
"
O.182
quoted from:
Older Stuff 92
10 June, 2006
"
An exercise in drawing piping. In the real world, things are
never this accessible.
"
O.183
quoted from:
Older Stuff 93
17 June, 2006
"
Another drawing practice, this time in using lots of little
lines instead of outlines.
The fish trap is one used by the Pacific Northwest Indians.

"
O.184
O.185
quoted from:
Older Stuff 94
24 June, 2006
"
Sometimes even my references are from the past. “Varcel’s
Vixens” by Susan Van Camp http://www.artbysvc.com ,
who lives up in Flint, Michigan. Yep, the same town
portrayed in “Roger and Me”.
"
O.186
O.187
quoted from:
Older Stuff 95
24 July, 2006
"
Been a while since I updated the “Older Stuff” section. Well,
a little late, but we’re off and running again!
With so many “evolved” critters wandering about, always

wondered what their reactions would be to their ancestors.
Would it be like us and monkeys? I know people don’t seem
to have any special fondness for monkeys. Humans prefer
dogs and cats.
"
O.188
O.189
quoted from:
Older Stuff 96
29 July, 2006
"
Much of the older stuff is drawing practice. Like this swamp
scene at night.
"
O.190
O.191
quoted from:
Older Stuff 97
5 August, 2006
"
Even here, it’s obvious. I’ve never gotten the hang of
drawing eyes with the iris. Ah, well. Time for more practice.
"
O.192
quoted from:
Older Stuff 98
12 August, 2006
"
With the little heat wave we' re having in the midwest
thought I'
d put up a picture made for cooler times.
"
O.193
quoted from:
Older Stuff 99
19 August, 2006
"
I think it'
s written someplace that every person who draws
machines has to draw a giant robot at some point.
"
O.194
quoted from:
Older Stuff 100

16 September, 2006
"
Been a while since I’ve updated the Older Stuff. Using
links this time so I don’t fill up the whole thread. Four
pages. Empires was a series Chris Grant drew in YARF!
He also gave me an insight into artists when I asked him
how his hover tanks flew, and he said “I don’t know. I just
draw them because they look neat.”
Makes me realize I make things a lot more complex than I
need to.
"
O.195
O.196
O.197
O.198
O.199
quoted from:
Older Stuff 101

23 September, 2006
"
I don’t normally do drama. For one thing, I can’t draw well
enough to pull it off. The art in this one is done by an old
friend Andy Watts, who learned how to draw better than I
ever could in the space of about a year. (Yeah, there are
guys who pick up things so fast, it’s incredible.) This is my
darkest piece to date.
"
O.200
O.201
O.202
O.203
O.204
O.205
quoted from:
Older Stuff 102

1 October, 2006
"
This might not be my first piece of computer artwork, but it
comes close. Mouse drawn. Again, probably look better
from the original files (on an Amiga floppy disk someplace).
The Labrat cartoons were done for YARF!
"
O.206
O.207
O.208
quoted from:
Older Stuff 103

8 October, 2006
"
And the follow up from the last Lab Rat comic. Switched to
hand drawn after finding out how long it actually takes to
draw something using a mouse.
"
O.209
O.210
quoted from:
Older Stuff 104

15 October, 2006
"
Another one of the Labrat cartoons. Pretty much every
cartoonist makes a wacky inventor type. Labrat is mine.
"
O.211
O.212
O.213
quoted from:
Older Stuff 105

22 October, 2006
"
Ricky is the creation of Freddy Andersson. Ricky is a bit
like an anime superhero type.
Labrat and Ricky were always engaging in contests of one
upmanship. This is one that stands pretty well on its own.
"
O.214
O.215
quoted from:
Older Stuff 106

29 October, 2006
"
Last posting I had mentioned the FNC. Will have to see if I
can get Freddy’s permission to post some of the stuff from
in there. It was set up a bit like Rowrbazzle in having
sections with interior covers. Here’s one of mine.
"
O.216
O.217
quoted from:
Older Stuff 107

19 November, 2006
"
Starting to run out of general purpose older stuff. ‘Course,
that gives me an excuse to play around with paint programs
and put newer stuff up here.
But until then, another “Furthest North Crew” interior cover.
I used to use a lizard in a pair of Bermuda shorts for my
avatar. An alter id rather than an alter ego. No plans to bring
him back. He’s far too close to Marmoe’s avatar, even if he
isn’t blue.
"
O.218
O.219
Quoted from the Freefall website:
MU ZU
These are the strips that ran in the

comic book MU ZU, presented in
the order they were printed in. Zu is
now out of publication, so this page
will not be updated. Two comics
(Red Dwarf and Poker) were not
printed in ZU, but are included here
'cause it seemed like a good place
for them.
O.220
.The chase is on.
O.221
.Rules, rules.
O.222
.Fun with physics.
O.223
.A tribute to Red Dwarf.
O.224
My first comic done entirely on the computer, and does my
inexperience show!
O.225
.What you see...
O.226
.A short training session.
O.227
.Who needs an audition?
O.228
.Bathroom humor
O.229
.Poker.
O.230
THE
END
April Fool!
O.231
April Fool! – 1999 by Ian McDonald
http://www.brunothebandit.com/
April Fool! – 2001 by Tailsteak

http://oneoverzero.keenspace.com/
April Fool! – 2002 by Leonard Cachola

http://inniesandoutties.comicgenesis.com/
.
.
O.232
April Fool! – 2003 by Henbe
http://fifine.purrsia.com/
Random:
Alternate hand-washing Reality by me
O.233
Cameo Credits
There are a few distinct kinds of cameos

hidden. in..Freefall.
Among them there' s those of fellow
artists and/or their creations. Then there'
s
a heap of cameos showing drawings of
people (or their avatars) from the forum-
community. -.Some of which I know in
real life.
(In the 1000+ strips of Freefall there will also be

lots of cameos of famous robots, another heap of
forumite-cameos and then some others more.)
The very first Cameo appeared in:
# 0239
Bruno - by Ian McDonald
Then, after a long pause I included a few

more online-comic-characters when Sam
and Helix went to the movies:
(In order of appearance)
O.234
# 0441
Dr. Zap - by Stylle Wagner and Greg Older (left guy)
Nick - by Jeff Darlington (right guy)
# 0442 - panel 1 -
Kevin - by Thomas K. Dye (doggy-plush)
Junior - by Tailsteak (one-eyed ball)
# 0442 - panel 2 -
Kevin - by bill Holbrook
# 0443
Suzy and King Luca - by Darren Bleuel
# 0444 - panel 1 -
Kevin - by Vince Suzukawa
# 0444 - panel 2+3 -
Flink - by Ryan Smith
# 0445 - panel 1 -
Tiffany - by John - The Gneech - Robey
# 0445 - panel 3 -
Jeb - by Erik Sansom
# 0446
Biff by Kevin Pease
# 0447
Bruno - again - by Ian McDonald
# 0448
Cecil (giraffe) and Jack (fox) - by Scott Kelloggs
# 0449
Sabrina - by Eric Schwartz
Ken - by Chris and Dave White
# 0450
Bruno - by Chris Baldwin
# 0451
Millie - by D. C. Simpson
.O.235
Some time later I posted the following in the forum and got
a great response to it:
quoted from:
Summer Cameos
19 June, 2002
"
It’s summer, and time to do a few things just for the fun of it.
Thinking about where the story line is headed, namely into a
shopping mall where I’m going to have lots of products and
folks in the background, it gives me the opportunities to do
cameos. Lots of cameos.
Humans and robots can be put in directly as background
characters, and others can be used in product ads, movie posters,
toys, etc..
I’ve already done cameos of other comic characters, and the
people here on the forum are a pretty lively lot, so why not do
cameos of people here?
I’ll need to install a few red rubber balls around the computer for
safety, but other than that, it sounds like a fun idea to me.
I do worry a bit about lawyers in this “I’ll sue the car dealership
because they sold my son a car that he got into an accident in.”
world, so will put down a few rules so there will be no
misunderstandings.
O.236
1: You’ll get no formal recognition on the main site. By this, I
mean your characters name won’t appear on the comic or the
main page. I will post the names of the people who make an
appearance here on the forum on the day they show up in the
comic. If there is a collection of Freefall, there will be a page
listing the characters who appear and who they belong to.
2: I make no claims on any copyrights or characters other than

my own. Cameos are being allowed for a one time use in Freefall,
and if I want to use your character again, I have to get your
permission again. This also means that your character is YOUR
character. No use of other people’s property, such as Bugs
Bunny or Sluggy Freelance.
3: No money is involved.
4: “Print” quality copies will be made available. Since I draw

Freefall on a Wacom tablet, I don’t produce any originals. One
digital copy is just as valid as any other copy.
5: Posting does not guarantee that your character will appear in

the comic. I don’t know how much response this thread will
draw. But will do my best to get as many appearances in as
possible.
If you would like your character to appear in Freefall, please post

that I have your permission for a one time use in this thread.
Whitepony (for the Whitepony Mall) has already generously
allowed me to use his name and likeness in the comic, so he
doesn’t need to repost. Pictures are best for me to work with to
get the likeness right, but can also work from word descriptions.
"
O.237
And that was how it started...
Here'
s a list of the resulting cameos:
(again, in order of appearance)
# 0662 Hortmage
# 0663 Alan Foreman ' Al'
# 0664 Aris Katsaris
# 0665 Chessie (the ferret)
# 0666 SP-3CT-3R Specter
# 0667 Dusty668
# 0668 Lightice
# 0669 Kavasa
# 0670 Little_Dragon
# 0671 Otookee
# 0672 Gumba Masta
# 0673 RedEarsAU
# 0674 Pastangum
# 0675 White Pony
# 0676 Stuffington Fluffypants '
Fluffy'
# 0677 Character by X-Viila
# 0678 Archae99
# 0679 Spiritwalker (staring down a cow)
# 0680 Calbeck
# 0681 Marc Xavier
# 0682 Paul Scott Gibbs'Uni-Former Deluxe
and Mzzkiti by Redfern
# 0683 Kryslin
# 0684 Toktobis
# 0685 Night-wulfe
# 0686 Saski Berth
# 0687 Steven Roy
O.238
# 0688 RustyB
# 0689 Icefox
# 0690 Rukis
# 0691 Arc Nova
# 0692 Arcaton
# 0693 K'Lynxyl (Bianca Xixi by Alqua Kalina)
# 0694 JamesB
# 0695 Chief_Petty_Officer_Klerk
# 0696 Karl (a friend of mine)
# 0697 Olletho
# 0698 Lurking Dragon
# 0699 Porter
# 0700 Tugrik (forum and comic site host)
# 0701 Nornaguest
# 0702 Cheetaur
# 0703 Earl McClaw
# 0704 Angelfish
# 0705 Mako (The wheel, not the guy in line)
# 0706 The Gone Fission cast by Hunter
# 0707 Wolfius'Uniphase Armories Interversal
# 0708 Dark Ferret
# 0709 DanDan Cougar
# 0710 Murray
# 0711 ccdesan
# 0712 Bill Holbrook
# 0713 TrueKaiser
# 0714 Sheepdog
This concludes the list of Cameos for the first 1000 strips.
O.239
Index
--Other Art—
Mark'
s "Older Stuff" O.3
MU ZU Comics O.220
April Fool! O.231
Cameo Credits O.234
Index O.240
Just can'
t get enough? Then be sure to visit:
http://nice.purrsia.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=21&t=000474
to explore the "Freefall-Forum Welcome Basket"
for more information about
Freefall
the Webcomic
O.240

OSTI ForMark

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

OSTI ForMark

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

OSTI ForMark

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

--Older Stuff--

(Originally only the files behind the picture-links changed (as

And here come the quotes and comics now...

Older Stuff 1 (aka => The Early Stuff)

Enjoy the amazingly bad artwork of the past!

Marvel how I haven’t progressed one tenth as far as Scott

See how many comics are related to the movie Alien!

All this and more in coming weeks.

Older Stuff 2 (aka => Early Stuff: Aliens: The Zeltechs)

I only consider two of the gags worth putting out now.

And Florence’s ankles are way too thin.

Freefall. It only goes to show how much technology can

The Freefall comic is again in my earlier thoughts of it,

Freefall. Yep, I was still in the “artificial gravity” phase.

For the Freefall comic, while not exactly Christmas, it does

Neural interfaces. Direct linking your mind to a computer.

Home Exercise Machine. Guaranteed to keep you running,

Robocop and Alien facehugger. Great movie concepts that

Aliens again. The poor bugs didn’t seem to have much of a

Single frame comic. Who says quantum physics doesn’t

freefall forum - topic # 002972

"21 May, 2005

A couple of comics that are showing their age, one because

Time travelers almost never make little jumps back in time.

Freefall. This one caught my eye after reading Kathy’s

Another comic showing it’s age. Memory chips went to

For the newer folks, the “Older Stuff” consists of comics

Anthropology is an interesting field. When I was growing

Phones. The Cell Phone explosion wasn’t something I

Sam’s personality is starting to appear. You’ll also see a

I’ll be heading back from California at this time next week,

"The first comic is a re run. Included here to show the

quoted from a later post within that thread:

Artwise, still in my “skinny ankles” phase.

The fish trap is one used by the Pacific Northwest Indians.

With so many “evolved” critters wandering about, always

Older Stuff 100

Older Stuff 101

Older Stuff 102

Older Stuff 103

Older Stuff 104

Older Stuff 105

Older Stuff 106

Older Stuff 107

These are the strips that ran in the

April Fool! – 2001 by Tailsteak

April Fool! – 2002 by Leonard Cachola

There are a few distinct kinds of cameos

(In the 1000+ strips of Freefall there will also be

The very first Cameo appeared in:

Then, after a long pause I included a few

(In order of appearance)

2: I make no claims on any copyrights or characters other than

4: “Print” quality copies will be made available. Since I draw

5: Posting does not guarantee that your character will appear in

If you would like your character to appear in Freefall, please post

April Fool! O.231

Cameo Credits O.234

for more information about