"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part Three Post Three

This particular passage was rather useful to provide some much-needed exposition behind just who Carcharodon is, as well as establish a few of his super-powers, such as having sandpaper tough skin. I also wanted to start to suggest that the Third Reich fiend is one of my cartoon universe's more formidable villains by having him best the somewhat inexperienced Bearman with relative ease.

As a result the dialogue is a little stilted, but has subsequently allowed me to build upon the shark-creature's previously close relationship with the Fuhrer; a plot point which has permitted me to have the sharp-toothed terror at the centre of some of the German's most significant battles during World War Two. In addition this story intimates that along with the fish-like U-Men, there may well be other Nazi goons 'suspended in time' hidden underground.

With Bearman semi-conscious and Carcharodon seemingly about to take a bite out of Lady Luck, things don't look good for the surviving members of the British Oil Rig's drilling team...

"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part Three Post Two

This sequence firmly establishes some of Carcharodon's super-powers, something of a reveal as to his background, and a brutally bloody reveal as to his wantonly savage character. The first couple of episodes to "The Mermen's White Death" had hopefully shown Controller Gardner to be a decent man with a deep-seated concern for the welfare of his men. As a result I hoped that his sudden, brutal demise would prove a genuinely shocking moment and immediately establish just how vile a nemesis the heroes were facing.

In addition, it's clear from Carcharodon's speech that the Shark-man is some long forgotten follower of the Third Reich's Fuhrer, and additionally provides the fish-men which have appeared so prominently throughout the adventure's earlier scenes with a name... The Untersee-Men or U-Men; a name several comic book publishers seem to have utilised, but which at the time I thought was unique to my own tales.

Angered by the senseless death of Controller Gardner, Bearman launches a desperate attack against the cold-blooded killer Carcharodon. But are even a were-creature's claws sharp enough to penetrate the tough hide of a Great White Shark...?

"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part Three Post One

As mid-story openings go, I think Part Three of "The Mermen's White Death" contains a couple of nice surprises. The first being that the Fish-men are actually part of some long-forgotten chapter of the Axis Powers, and resultantly are carrying weaponry which even sixty years later is still considered advanced.

Whilst the second is the appearance of one of my favourite super-villains, Carcharodon; a walking man-shark who also originates from the Nazi's vile experiments during the Second World War. Indeed, in the future, this former guardian of the Fuhrer predominantly provides me with an excuse to feature some lengthy 'flash-back' sequences to the war days, on account of the creature's constant reminiscing. 

Its Bearman verses Carcharodon, with Controller Gardner's life at stake...

"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part Two Post Three

The opening two frames of this sequence are fairly 'run-of-the-mill' examples of how both Lady Luck and Bearman's main super-powers work; albeit at the time of this story, the pair were still reasonably new creations. Unlike many of the other heroes I designed at the time, Bearman has two noticeably different heads and is literally assembled from numerous body parts for each of the panels... A rather time-consuming process as you can imagine.

The final scene for this episode gave me the opportunity to utilise another wonderfully detailed photograph of an oil rig and have Lady Luck demonstrate her formidable powers once again. However, in felling the Merman I think the 'cliff-hanger' rather loses its 'edge' as the protagonists don't end-up visibly being in any imminent jeopardy.

Surrounded by Mermen, Lady Luck and Bearman discover that the ocean-dwelling invaders are inspired by something far more formidable than a desire for oil; something which harks back to the days of World War Two, and something which has teeth...

"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part Two Post Two

Owing to this particular story being from the first season of "Heroes Of Godwinson" Controller Gardner's bafflement at his companions' abilities is part of a 'golden thread' illustrating that the British public are unaware of their Government having its own super-hero team. This ignorance soon evaporates in subsequent stories, and even later leads to a series of tales which focuses upon the group being unpopular with the people they've sworn to protect.

The 'wide shot' is one of the few ways I like to break-up the monotony of my six-frame sheets, and always takes quite some time to compile and 'get right'. This particular one quite nicely shows the protagonists surrounded and about to be impaled by a trio of Mermen.

With Controller Gardener's very life in their hands, Bearman and Lady Luck must battle through the Mermen's invading force and seek sanctuary elsewhere aboard Rig Hope...  

"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part Two Post One

The first two panels of this episode hopefully get things off to a rip-roaring start with a savage, bloody death. It actually demonstrates a fairly common place storytelling technique which I like to use where the lead character/s encounter someone yelling "We're doomed!", who subsequently dies horribly in the very next frame.

This sequence also features the fish-faced Mermen, an underwater race which I have used in numerous stories since they were first drawn for this one. Indeed, the scaly warriors have not only appeared in both "Heroes Of Godwinson" and my long-running super-hero serial "Alternate Heroes". But have also encountered "The Rambler" in a 2012 adventure entitled "White Star Liner".

Determined to rid Rig Hope of its invading Mermen, Lady Luck and Bearman quickly discover just how badly outnumbered they are...   

"HEROES OF GODWINSON" "The Mermen's White Death" - Part One Post Three

This entire sequence is really designed around illustrating Bearman's transformation into his were-bear form. It also gave me an opportunity to play around with some different fonts in order to ascertain which ones worked as sound effects.

The flames are actually from a photograph of a genuine explosion which has been manipulated for use on my Mooretoons, and crops up throughout many of my adventures as I think it looks rather good.

Shaken to its very foundation, Rig Hope totters on the brink of destruction. But such a dastardly attack upon the British installation is only the start of a far more sinister invasion...