One consequence of Heywood's humble origins as a role-playing character is that he has a rather extensive back story. From the very beginning I wanted to know more about where this guy came from, who his friends were, their adventures together, and what sort of trouble he got into that led to him finally having to leave them behind and come to Canada. These explorations into Heywood's past resulted in the idea for a Mynarski Forest spin-off prequel comic that I'd eventually like to do. Unfortunately, I've barely had the time and energy to keep Mynarski Forest itself going, much less another major project, so the new comic will have to wait indefinitely until I can tackle it. In the meantime, here are some pics of Heywood with a few of his old friends.
Tthe spin-off takes place in an alternate reality where Heywood's delusions of being a pilot are real. The story follows the misadventures of the offbeat inhabitants of the struggling, isolated resort community of Poplar Ridge in the Colorado Rockies. Heywood is a brash, fun-loving, seat-of-his-pants bush pilot who runs the town's air charter service along with his co-pilot/partner/boss Loran Cochrane (top-left), a serious, no-nonsense, by-the-book vixen with a decidedly checkered past of her own. Their wildly different personalities lead to a lot of conflict, but also complement one another, resulting in a mutual, grudging respect and a Maverick/Goose type friendship.
Further complicating Heywood's affairs is the town doctor, Loran's spirited younger sister, Anouk (top-right). When not running the clinic, she carries a slight crush for Heywood, which her sister strongly disapproves of and he is completely oblivious to.
Among other things, Loran inadvertently became mayor of the town. Somebody had to do the job and nobody else was willing to do it, so she got stuck with it by default. To handle most of the drudge work, she hired the town manager, Erlenmeyer Smith (bottom), an inexperienced but eager young black-footed ferret. Erlenmeyer looks up to Heywood in a sort of Richie-Cunningham/Arthur-Fonzerelli type friendship but still gets annoyed when Heywood occasionally picks on him. His dream is to one day become the director of public works for New York City, but his excessive naivety will likely keep him in Poplar Ridge forever.
The town is inhabited by an eccentric bunch of other characters including the bar owner, an airhead, spoiled, heiress chihuahua; the town innkeeper and deputy mayor, an irritable antisocial badger; the tourist outfitter, a tough, gruff-but-lovable rabid wolverine; the town sheriff, a corrupt-but-harmless, con-artist raccoon placed there by the Federal Witness Protection program; and the general store owner, a neurotic mountain lion who moved to the town with his wife following a nervous break-down after their convenience store in Denver was robbed one too many times. In short, Heywood has a lot of colourful friends who miss him very much. When we'll actually get to visit them is anybody's guess; even I can't say at the moment, although I certainly am looking forward to the project.
|
Previous Strip
Next Strip