kybearfuzz | Grizzly and The Bear Patrol 24 (Reply)

I left the "Boss" identity to the end, but I really do love The Bear Collector and was excited to draw him again. He is the quintessential villain for the Bear Patrol. I created a profile page for his as a bonus at the end of the issue.

I've been teasing the "Grizzly and The Bear Patrol" Facebook page with cartoons of the villains in this story, labeling each with a "Who is..." title. My mom used to tell me about radio ads for movies that would tease listeners with ambiguous questions. One she related to me was a whispering voice that just said "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane...?" with no mention that it was a movie, or it would say it with a "Coming Soon to a Theater Near You." I love that sort of unclear and unresolved teasing and I thought cartoons would be fun.

Some of these villains have been in floating around in my head for a long time. Variations of Sunshine have lingered in sketch books of mine. Originally, the globe-headed villain was a man, but I have always loved the word "Circa," and it fitted a female character better. And it gave me a chance to go back to one of my favorite goofy villains in Winnie Ticket and the Lotto Legion.

Ferryman is based on a superhero I created back in the mid-1990s, who was part of a prior superhero team. Given that "ferryman" is a common term used for the Charon who carries the dead across the River Styx, and "ferry" is an obvious homonym for "fairy," I thought he would be great to drag into the Grizzlyverse as a bad guy.

Hook is a brand new villain with a hipster look, including a man-bun, which I found myself enjoying drawing for some reason. Axeman is obviously familiar to our hero Echo. More on him next issue.

Along with the return of the Collector is a gaggle of surprise superheroes -- Focus, Universal Jack, Ricochet, Mikiedoggie, and Dynamo -- members of our Bear Patrol extended family. I have wanted to include them in a story for a while. With a milestone issue of 25 looming, I thought it was a great time to bring everyone in again. I can't wait to draw them again.