This is what I consider to be the first Jack Titan story, and as with anything, there’s a lot I’d change, but I really do like this attempt. Compared to the first version of Jack with it’s clunky opening and generic premise, “The Tomb of Mar-Tolok” has some color and personality.

At this point in time, I’d been reading Space Mullet and Old City Blues online, and I wanted to create a web series of my own. I did post this story, but it ultimately fizzled. I wasn’t ready. But it proved to be an essential piece in my development as a storyteller, which is key.

Some things I like:

Doku and Hura—the two-headed witch sisters—are personal favorites. I was happy with how I was able to convey multiple aspects of their personalities in short order. Their determination to free their “brother,” and their cunning in using Jack to do so, their sadness at seeing Mar-Tolok’s tomb, and their resolve for revenge at the end. I did a few rough sketches of them, but they were designed and written right here on these pages.

The thing I like most is that I finished it. A complete story that I printed and still have a few copies of. One of the few that I pushed over the finish line. I knew I couldn’t mess around because of my limited page count, so I dropped Jack in, let him do his thing, and got him out.

I also think the colors turned out really nice. Lots of blues, grays, pinks, and purples.

Things I didn’t like:

Hanah. She’s basically a mute, and that’s because I didn’t know what to do with Jack’s partner yet. He needed a ragtag team that I could use as the basis for future stories who’d have their own motivations, histories, and character arcs. For me, it’s essential for adventure stories to feature a ragtag group of characters who—out of necessity and circumstance—reluctantly adopt each other as family, disagree at every turn, but ultimately grow to care for and love one another.

Lastly, the design of the series started coming together at this stage. I created a logo, which immediately gave the book a sense of permanence in my mind. Jack Titan was beginning to take on shape and volume, which was exciting.

***

After completion of this short story, I drew the following three images while on vacation with my family. I consider these three illustrations as defining moments in my growth as an illustrator. In rare moments along the cartooning journey you can feel yourself level up. This was one of those scarce occurrences.

I’d been drawing with the most consistency and determination I could muster, and the fruits of that labor was coming alive on the page. Particularly the drawing of Kimmy, who would be a key member of Jack’s team, and Linus, who’d serve as a rival bounty hunter to Jack’s crew and constant thorn in their collective side. And he had a gigantic laser gun.

Both of these characters would appear in Jack’s next iteration.