A Hero a Day: TITAN-X

A cross between Ultraman and Greek mythology, Titan-X is the last living titan, tasked with battling the ancient beasts that have escaped from the pits of Tartarus.

I did have some trouble settling on a color scheme for this character.  I'll probably stick with the one above, but here are the rest of the color combinations that I came up with.

A Hero a Day: CAPTAIN BALL

There was this news a few months back about an attraction in Disneyland (or was it in Disney World?) that was shut down because it unfairly depicted fat people as bad guys.  I thought about it, and yeah, in most media, including comics, fat people do tend to appear as villains.  Well, either that or comic relief.  Indeed, the few fat superheroes that do exist are usually played for humor.

That said, I guess there is something somewhat comical about Captain Ball here, but I think he is bad-ass in his own way.  He can roll himself up into a huge ball, not unlike Bouncing Boy, but other than that, he can also control his mass so as to be either as soft and bouncy as a rubber ball or as super-hard as a wrecking ball.  He also has superhuman strength and incredible agility for a man of his size.

As for the origin of the name, "captain ball" is just one of those funny-sounding words that just grab me for some reason. I used to think maybe I would use it for a superhero basketball player or something.  But then again, I know next to nothing about basketball.

A Hero a Day: LONGJOHN

The term "long johns" has sometimes been used to refer to the "long underwear" or tights commonly worn by superheroes.  The idea behind this character, LongJohn, is a sort-of magical costume that gives its wearer the ability to stretch and contort his body.

A Hero a Day: LIGHTNING MAN

Lightning Man is another character suggested by my 4 year-old nephew, who described him as colored blue and can make himself long like the Elongated Man.  Instead, I just made him into a being of living electricity, and to simulate the appearance of stretching, his limbs take on the form of lightning bolts when he uses his powers.


"Lightning Man" sounds like a pretty average superhero name, so I figured someone else might already have used it at some point.  Sure enough, it turns out there have been several characters that have gone by this name, such as the future adult self of Legion of Super-Heroes member Lightning Lad, Superman himself assuming a temporary identity, and the hero of this original webcomic series.

A Hero a Day: CAPTAIN LANGGAM

This character was inspired by a doodle made by my 4 year-old nephew of a superhero he called "Captain Langgam" ("Captain Ant"). Usually, when creating an insect-based hero, I tend to fall back on a Kamen Rider-inspired look, but I avoided that and opted for a more traditional superhero design. Also, his name might suggest a typical tiny superhero like Ant-Man or The Atom, but I avoided that stereotype as well. Instead, Captain Langgam possesses the abilities and proportional strength of an ant. He can also fire a powerful "sting blast" that is equivalent to the bite of about a few hundred fire ants, giving painful new meaning to the term "parang kagat lang ng langgam."*

*"Just like the bite of an ant."