It’s Brian Daniels. I don’t think it’s Saturday for him. Poor Brian.

This is the old man’s assistant. The bureaucrat one rather than the buffed out military one. I was trying to make him as bland and non-descript as possible.

At various times Brian has been an only child, an orphan and had a sibling. This sketch is of Brian’s sister the cheerleader. I don’t think I ever gave her a name. I’m pretty sure I didn’t come up with a name for the guy in the lower right; the sister’s boyfriend and brother to one of Brian’s best friends. That best friend is the kid with the glasses who showed up in a sketch earlier in the week. Him I named but, unfortunately, I’ve forgotten what the name was.

All clear?

The unhappy looking old man and his buffed attendant are from the 1999/2000 version of King Roach. That version of the story was set in modern day America. The old man was the head of a top secret organization that had developed advanced technological and biological weapons. Of course, one of their bioweapons, a monster called Saur Thirteen had escaped and was terrorizing the countryside. King Roach and Saur Thirteen were to fight and then, once King Roach had defeated Saur Thirteen, the old man’s organization would be after King Roach to make him one of their weapons. It wasn’t exactly a fresh idea then and it’s only gotten more stale over the years.

I did actually get a chunk of art penciled for this version of the story. No doubt I’ll post it once I find it.

On the right we have Brian Daniels, our hero, who transforms into King Roach. As much as I hate to think of it Brian is basically me when I was a kid. With a bigger nose. He’s not even a Mary Sue version of me. He’s kind of annoying and whiny. (Oh sure, you don’t see it. You don’t have him living in your head.)

On the left is Lucas Braeburn, one of our hero’s best friends. Lucas wants to be an evil genius.

So if I ever do manage to do a King Roach series it will probably be called King Mantis. I went looking for another name for the character after finding that there already was a King Roach comic at kingroach.com. It’s gone now. There’s a hacking guide at that address this morning. I’ll keep referring to the character as King Roach here – I’ve got so many posts labeled that there’s no way I’m going to edit them.

More King Roach randomness. I’m not sure what Aunt Hortense is doing here. I mean, other than sometimes it’s fun to draw Aunt Hortense. I think I might have been intending to have her show up and bedevil poor King Roach. At one time or another I’ve imagined her bedeviling all the other characters in my head.

Some supporting characters from the 2000 version of King Roach. The man with the glasses is an assistant to the sour looking old man. The old man would become General Nathan aBoyd in a 2005 incarnation of King Roach. The assistant would become Wallac Flinhassen. Looking at the two designs now I think I prefer this version. The kid in the upper right is Lucas Braeburn, one of Brian Daniels’ best friends. The mummy with the pig tails is a relic of an ancient lost civilization.

Sketchbook page from 1999 or early 2000, featuring King Roach characters. This is the Brian Daniels incarnation. The hairy guy on the bottom right is a sasquatch. ‘Cause everything’s better with big apes.