The Nautically-Themed Adventures of Anchor Man and Buoy Boy
DMAC
Come at me, bro!Moderator Mod Emeritus
Come at me, bro!Moderator Mod Emeritus
Anchor Man and The Unsinkable Buoy Boy!
This started out as an entry for the Silver Age heroes contest but then, of course, I ran out of time before the deadline. I finished up the drawing today and thought I could turn it into a sort of mini-contest.
Whoever writes the best origin story for Anchor Man and Buoy Boy will win the original 9" x 12" inked artwork.
Who are they? What made them turn to crime-fighting? Why the nautical theme?
Let's try to keep these brief, say 3-4 paragraphs. The deadline will be next Monday, August 17.
This started out as an entry for the Silver Age heroes contest but then, of course, I ran out of time before the deadline. I finished up the drawing today and thought I could turn it into a sort of mini-contest.
Whoever writes the best origin story for Anchor Man and Buoy Boy will win the original 9" x 12" inked artwork.
Who are they? What made them turn to crime-fighting? Why the nautical theme?
Let's try to keep these brief, say 3-4 paragraphs. The deadline will be next Monday, August 17.
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This is so awesome.
I couldn't even begin to imagine a plot that would do that pic justice. Rich parents shot at sea? Acrobat parents killed by the mob at sea? Someone do something, and make it good.
edit - on second thought, no one else do anything. That way my 'totally original' origin story will win and I'll get the sweet, sweet lineart.
push the deadline back a little bit and I can do this
(also glad you didn't do it in time or I wouldn't be totally winning the contest right now!)
I wasn't sure about the deadline. If I bump it back to Monday, giving people the weekend, is that better? I just didn't want this to drag on too long.
and if you made the deadline monday by 5 PM I'd promise you an entry
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
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Yeah, it's supposed to be fun and Silver Age so don't overthink it. Who are they? Why do they fight crime? Do they have any powers? Just something short and entertaining.
As for an origin story, I have three words for you…
I'll think some more about the origin when I have the chance.
One fateful day, there was a huge storm around their ship. Lightning flashed and the waves crashed, and their ship had orders to move out. But as was the perennial problem on their ship, the anchor winch was broken, so Duncan was pulling it up, while all around him sailors pumped bilges, ran to their posts, and tried to get their ship moving out of the storm. But! - in the midst of all the chaos, an incredible event occurred. As lightning flashed all around the ship, suddenly the anchor flew straight up out of the ocean, as if propelled by an incredible force! It knocked Duncan back, and he got wrapped up in the chain as he stumbled around. The anchor then shot out straight over the ocean, dragging Duncan along as it flew! As he saw the ocean flying underneath him, and then gradually growing closer as they both fell, he knew that he was going to die - because he could not swim, and the sailors were in such chaos, no one would have been watching him at the anchor station. He closed his eyes and fell unconscious as he hit the water.
He woke up on a shore. He looked around groggily, and saw a boy sitting nearby with a life preserver.
He slowly recognized him from the ship, he was a cabin boy who did various jobs around the ship, too small to be much use for the heavy lifting type of jobs Duncan performed. He didn't really associate with the cabin boys, as he had had no use for children. The boy explained that he was Chip Dustin, and that he had been watching out for people falling overboard, and had followed as soon as he saw Duncan go over. He was able to catch up in time, due to his amazing swimming speed, and keep Duncan afloat with his life preserver, but the ship had already started moving, and was gone. Luckily this island was close enough, and he drug the unconscious Duncan here.
Duncan listened with amazement to this story, surprised at the heroism of the boy, but also ashamed at being dependent on someone else for the first time in his life. Chip mentioned how glad he was that Duncan had awoken, and glanced about at the dangerous looking jungle of the island nervously. Duncan decided to pay a life for a life, and swore to himself that he would repay Chip his kindness and get him off this island safely. They both stood, getting ready to start finding a way off the island, when they noticed further down the coast, the anchor of the ship had washed ashore. It pointed exactly to the spot where Duncan had been lying.
Ok that was longer than I thought it would be. It's not unfinished, it's a cliffhanger!
New to the city, sea-faring adventurer and general do-gooder, Hans Heyerdahl is walking back to his humble hotel room when he stumbles across a group of damn near a dozen dudes givin this kid a real hard time, see? He knew the type, those seedy motherfuckers always hangin' around the docks, and knew they were clearly up to no good. So he's all "what's the dillio?" when one of the scruffy-faced sumbitches is all "Scram, jack. Ain't yo' bid'ness."
So Hans does what any ruggedly handsome, kind-at-heart, buff-ass mama's boy would do, and he and the kid have a rompin' good time, back-to-back, beating the ever-living dogshit out of the nautical ne'er do wells in a brawl full of so many POWs and BIFFs that it'd put Adam West to shame. Defeated and humiliated, the dudes flee leaving Hans and his newfound little buddy relieved and quite proud of themselves, when sirens are a-blazin and a handful of coppers show up.
The kid cutout lickity-split at the sound of the sirens, but Hans thought nothing of it as most street urchins want to avoid the 5-0 for good reason, so he starts givin' the cops the low-down with hopes that they can catch up to some of the injured hoodlums that had fled the scene. Obviously not interested in his story, the po-pos start playing out a tune on his head with some leather slapjacks, pop a pair of cuffs on him and arrest him for disturbing the peace.
On the way down to the station, the kid jumps from an alley and like a real cheeky-monkey, drops his pants to give the cops a shot of the full moon accompanied by some raspberries sound effects. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hans busts out of his cuffs, gives the fuzz a run for the money, and he and the kid split to temporary safety.
"What's your name, kid?"
"They call me Floats."
"What kind of name is that for a kid?"
"The guys down at the dock, they like to have a good time and toss me in the water. Don't bother me none, really"
"That's a shame, kid. What's the story with those guys anyway?"
"They're part of a gang, work for the boss. He runs the whole city, even the cops, that's why I ran earlier. They make a lot of money shipping things, y'know, things they aren't supposed to. They got my Ma, says she works for 'em, but I know she don't. She even said she don't like 'em the last time I saw her. I guess they got tired of me askin' 'bout her, so that's why they jumped me earlier."
"Well, shit, kid. Me and you, we're gonna get your Ma back, and bring some peace to this town when we do it."
So, the two don domino masks for anonymity, and dress like sailors to keep from looking out of place down at the docks, the heart of the city's organized crime, where they kick ass and take names on an A-Team-style save-the-city-from-bullies adventure.
edit:
"What am I gonna be called, then?"
"The Unsinkable Buoy Boy!"
"Th-th-that ain't much better, mister."
"Shut up, kid."
These were sharks who were part pirate.
Byron fought valiantly and sent many of them to a watery grave, which for sea creatures is actually a regular grave, but for all his might, he was only a mortal man. The shark pirates pillaged his boat and set it ablaze. Jameson himself was chained to his own anchor and hurled into the depths of the sea to die. Byron held his breath for even longer than whatever the world record for breath holding is, but at last his strength gave out. He surely would have died, but was saved by the miraculous appearance of a beautiful mermaid, a priestess of her people. Calling upon the gods, she blessed Byron with the might of the oceans, giving him the strength to break free of his chains.
Taking up his anchor, he swam after the shark pirates, tracking them to their secret underwater lair. Laying waste to them with his newfound strength, he faced their dread captain Nobeard in one on one combat. Before he could avenge his beloved boat, the cowardly shark pirate fled. As Byron swam through the wreckage of the shark pirates' lair, he discovered a prisoner of the shark pirates, a young boy. The trauma of captivity had left the boy mute, but he proved to be a bright lad nonetheless, who could write and everything. Byron learned that the boy had been kidnapped as a baby and raised as a slave. Byron named him Phillet and adopted him as his ward, vowing to sail the world and find the boy's parents. Also would they search for the evil captain of the shark pirates to beat on him, and anything else that tries any evil while they're around!
And they'll do it as Anchor Man and Buoy Boy!
I imagine an old one-eyed, peg-legged sailor sitting on a sea barrel recounting this story to a bunch of kids outside of a dive bar by the ocean, so I put it into pirate-speak. Heck, he could act as an narrator for the adventures of Anchor Man and the Unsinkable Buoy Boy.
One day while out t' sea, Jonah ran afoul o' Edward Teech Jr. Jr., the great-great-great-great-or somethin' descendant o' the legendary pirate captain Blackbeard. Like his great-great-great-whate'er grandfather, Blackbeard Jr. Jr. has learned the secret o' trainin' sharks and riding them like ponies (the trick is t' spoon with them at eve while they’re still young pups…when you’re at sea lads, you take whate'er loving you can get). Blackbeard Jr. and his crew o' motley shark-ridin' no-good seadogs boarded The Sweet Mermaid t' take her as a prize to use her t' commit other acts o' piracy. Jonah fought them off as long as he could, punchin’ sharks and pirates left and right, but e'entually the pirates o'erwhelmed him. That and they had guns. Lots and lots o' big guns. Aye, me parrot concurs. Aye, Blackbeard Jr. Jr., bein' the descendant o' a bad-ass (which doesn’t necessarily make him a bad ass) decided t' deliver the Black Spot to Jonah in a bad-ass way by chainin' an anchor t' his midsection, and tossin' int' the deep. Afterwards, they re-named Jonah’s boat The Slutty Mermaid, and sailed away t' do bad thin's, like club baby dolphins with baby seals and peeing directly int' the ocean (Those scur'y dogs!).
As Jonah sank t' his watery gra'e, he ga'e one waterlogged prayer o' thanks t' Mother o' the Seas, for the good life he lived. Luckily for Jonah, The Mother o' the Sea just so happened t' be swimmin' by at that moment, and decided t' save Jonah. With a wave, she enchanted the anchor around Jonah’s waist, gi'in' him the strength and stamina o' a hundred landlubbin’ sissy boys. Then, as an afterthought, she enchanted it again t' allow Jonah t' breath underwater, bein' that he was about t' drown.
Jonah, now sa'ed, thanked the Mother o' Seas, and 'owed t' fight injustice on the high seas as Anchor Man, so that no other sailors should happen t' the same fate he a'oided. Swimmin' t' the surface, he began t' search for Blackbeard Jr., determined t' get his re'enge.
Aye, as he swam, howe'er, he came across the remains o' a wrecked ship...a shipwreck, if you will. The only sur'i'or was a young lad named Hubert Thurston Howell Wentworth Rockefeller the Third, who was marooned on a piece o' driftwood. Young Hubert recounted a tale whar his parent pleasure yacht was attacked by Whalpoleon, a whale possessed by the angry spirit o' Napoleon Bonaparte, who was out t' sink anythin' bigger than Whalpoleon. With no family left, young Hubert was now orphans…abet a 'ery 'ery rich orphan, bein' the sole heir o' the Howell Wentworth Rockefeller fortune. Jonah, sensin' a kindred spirit and fellow sur'i'or o' the sea, adopted the young lad, and christened him the Unsinkable Bouy Boy, due t' the fact he doesn’t sink, so long as he has his life preserver. It’s not magic lads: it’s just handy.
Joinin' forces, the two heroes tra'el the se'en seas, rightin' wrongs, correctin injustices, and maybe doin' a bit o' fishin' on the off days as they search for the Blackbeard Jr. and Whalpoleon the French-de'il-whale. Gar.
I got drunk and forgot to do it
sue me
issues
All right, I'm calling this officially CLOSED.
I'll try to sit down and read these and either make the call myself or open it up for a vote.
I'm terribly partial to literal superhero names.
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This sounds vaguely sexual. Even worse than some of that Silver Age Batman and Robin stuff. :P
Your art deserves better, DMAC!
When I read that, my first thought was of Ace & Gary, the Ambiguously Gay Duo.
If you want to PM me your mailing address, I'll get the artwork sent out.
This was fun. I might do it again at some point. I've also been debating offering to draw the winner of one of the regular character contests...
the best contest
gimme some drawings
do it for your canuck pride
I"M A WINNER!!!
Wooooooooooooooooooooo...Victory Lap!