Comic title: Starship Moonhawk
Comic URL: http://www.starshipmoonhawk.com
Creator(s): Michael C. Prokop
Genre: Science Fiction, Military Drama
1) What is your comic about? (it’s so open-ended, I know! Talk as long or as short as you like!)
Starship Moonhawk is a long running serial that focuses on one ship in the United Star Alliance fleet: the USS Moonhawk. The Moonhawk is built around a doomsday weapon not unlike the Reflex Cannon aboard the SDF-1 (Robotech) or (more consistently) the Wave Motion Gun (Space Battleship Yamato/Starblazers). While the weapon still exists at full power, the ship’s purpose has been altered dramatically to an ad hock mission of peace, or more accurately… peace-keeping. The series so far has six years of history behind it, so the comic actually starts in the middle of the second generation of the series. Apropos given that I began the series seemingly a generation ago in 1994.
Set in the 30th Century, the story follows 4 principal characters as they enter the phase of their careers where they serve together aboard the titanic ship. Some of them leave the working crew, eventually, but for various reasons, they are all drawn back to the Moonhawk and her sphere of influence. I still haven’t decided if the crew will ride off into the sunset a la the crew of the original Starship Enterprise (Star Trek VI), or if they will give their lives valiantly in the line of duty as in The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. This opens up endless possibilities.
Ultimately, the story is about the ship. Since the Moonhawk herself is inanimate, the crew tells her story for her. That’s the beauty and romance of this sci-fi, military epic. From Gilliad Cobalt, the ship’s designer and first captain, to the fiery youth, Rachael Harrison, the crew that sails the spirit of the Star Alliance to outer space is no less epic than the majestic lady herself.
2) How did you get started making webcomics?
In 2001, I discovered Keenspace thanks to the late lamented Stone Trek parody series’ forum featuring posts by server wrangler Kelly Price of Stalag99 (a very strange blend of furries and Unix/Linux. It amuses me, but I do not pretend to fathom the depths of Price’s humor/wit). However, I have been drawing and writing comics on paper since 1988. The rest is history. While Starship Moonhawk has been on and around the Internet since 1998, the spinoff Cosmic Feline actually preceeded it on Keenspace (now Comic Genesis) by two months on May 24, 2002 (eight years after the series’ creation).
3) Five years from now, what do you see your comic becoming? Will it be over? Will it have grown larger?
Oh, it will be larger… without question. I cannot say how long my (currently anonymous) artist will stay, but I have already launched two spinoffs and am in the planning phases for a THIRD donation-based series. The Starship Moonhawk chronology is suggested for an almost 25 years or more worth of storytelling. While the ending date is not carved in stone, I do know that the story WILL end with finality. However, the UNIVERSE surrounding the main series has an indefinite lifespan. Basically… whenever I, or the fans grow tired of it. (whichever comes first.)
4) Tell us about your main character. What are his/her motivations? How did he/she join up with your other characters and why?
Rear Admiral Gilliad Cobalt is the designer responsible for the Moonhawk’s Tachyon Cannon, as well the the basic structure of the ship. He is also her first captain. (by the way, in Navy nomenclature, all ships are feminine. It’s just the way of things.) While he was initially reluctant to be the first “line” captain of the ship, events conspired to convince him that the ship would benefit from his guidance through her maiden voyages, as well as give his stagnating career a shot in the arm. Little did he know exactly what he was bargaining for. The crew itself is mostly hand-picked and the top of their fields, but Cobalt discovers early on that without a very firm hand, these talents and egos clashing up against each other would tear the crew asunder. This forces him to adopt the role of father figure to his largely (and exceptionally) young crew. If you want an inkling of what I mean, the physiological age of the character should really be divided by about… 2. So, since Cobalt himself is 83 years old, physically he is 41.5 years old.
5) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?
Rachael Harrison… and that’s a real shame, because she gets virtually no play in the “pilot” comic story. She’s the young whipper-snapper. She’s strong-willed, decisive and loads of fun to be around. In spite of her youth (40, which equals 20-ish), she acts like someone more than twice her age. Yet when the shift is over, her hair comes down, she parties down. I wrote her to be an ex-SEAL, which means she has extensive training in Covert Operations. Most of the crew forgets she is so young because she is so efficient and mature for her age, in spite of being cute as a damn button. The exception is her strange relationship with the stoic reptillian Sorthac. She acts girly and childish around him. Almost… like he’s the older brother she never had. And this rankles Sorthac as she advances above him. More on that later…
6) What is your favorite comic page?
I am at a loss to choose after page 91. The artist I hired, as well as the coloring by Marie “ShadowsMyst” Tary has been awe inspiring. I never really thought the series would look this good. At least not for what *I* can afford. *laughs*
7) Is there a storyline you’re really looking forward to? What is it about? Give us a spoiler warning if necessary!
I can’t go into specifics, but the next major story arc after “The Mercadian Affair” ends is pretty exciting. It’s called “The Last Sentinel”, and features Rachael Harrison and Sorthac on their first off-ship mission together since Rachael’s promotion to Executive Officer, and shows how this simple change in title and rank affects their relationship and friendship. In addition, we finally get a good look at the driving forces behind Sorthac and his mysterious warrior race: the Chotan.
8 ) Can you give us a short explanation on how you make your pages? If you have a tutorial or anything, please link it.
The lineart is traditionally drawn by the artist on paper, hand inked and then scanned and e-mailed to me at 600dpi. I reduce it to 300dpi, convert it to RGB for editing, and use three primary tools in Photoshop CS2: Brush, Magic Wand and Pen Tool (a holdover from Illustrator/Freehand). Most of the tools in CS2 get a pretty good workout, but those are the primaries. On average, I end up with about 15-25 layers before dialog, and the process of coloring and lettering the page takes 3-5 hours. I do ALL of my coloring, except for Milea’s stripes, exclusively with the mouse. Milea’s stripes are the only thing I use my tablet for.
9) Be your own critic! When it comes to your comic, what are you looking to improve upon?
Scripting. My artist informed me that I frequently leave out detailed explanations of stuff she does not intimately know by heart. The other thing is pages. She and I have radically different philosophies on how a scene is set. So what seems “obvious” to me via my mental movie is not readily apparent in the script. Some of the mishaps created by this are very humorous indeed. *winks*
10) How many series do you write?
Currently…? Six. Four of which are Starship Moonhawk based. Did I mention I do commissions? *winks*
Tags: chotan, comic, cs lewis, furry, gilliad cobalt, interview, kelly price, mercadian affair, michael c prokop, michael prokop, milea, military drama, rachael harrison, reflex cannon, science fiction, shadowsmyst, sorthac, stalag 99, star trek, starship moonhawk, webcomic
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