Meanwhile, High Atop Mount Lupus...

MOTIONARY COMICS WEEK!

Superhero comics are not only known for their memorable heroes, but also for their memorable villains. And that was a challenge for Motionary Comics 2.0- we knew who the heroes would be- Milwaukee's Real Life Superheroes, The Watchman and Blackbird. But who would be the villain?

Originally we were going to try to feature actual Real Life Supervillains, like the members of ROACH, making appearances via video and/ or Skype. This idea was fun, but as we ran out of planning time we realized the best option was to create our own fiction villain with the help of an actor.

At a meeting, one of the crew suggested actor Paul Weir to take on the role. After e-mailing back and forth with him, we came up with the mad scientist archetype Dr.Lupus, who had created a gang of werewolves named Team Werewolf in his lair on Mount Lupus.

The next step was to quickly create some short videos that we could project onto the wall throughout the evening that would feature Dr. Lupus threatening the artists, the audience, and of course the superheroes.


Photo by Matthew Miller

There is Dr. Lupus on the "set," a corner of my bedroom/ office. Alexis Hope Ronsmans provided much of the background props and the lab coat for the Doctor and the videos were quickly shot and edited by Matthew Miller of Kopasetic Productions.

Unfortunately, there was some technical problems with the projector, so only the first two (the second without sound) were shown. But! Matt later edited the five short videos together so you can see them all here:
www.vimeo.com/23099256

I wrote the dialog. I tried to stay to standard cliche mad scientist mockery. In one message, for example, the Doctor calls The Watchman "the big red cheese." That is directly from Captain Marvel and is his nemesis Dr. Sivana's favorite insult to hurl.


Created by Leonardo Da Vinci, Lon Chaney, Jr., Dr. Lupus, and Paul Kjelland

One of the most ridiculous props ever made appeared in one of the videos. The "Mona Werelisa" was quickly photoshopped by Paul Kjelland. We actually sold the framed version in a silent auction (benefiting United Way) at the event as well as a couple print versions.


Photo by Kelly Crandall

At 10PM we had a surprise visit- one of Moct's garage doors open to reveal Dr. Lupus and five members of Team Werewolf on the other side! They howled and crept around the bar, handing out "Join Team Werewolf" propaganda flyers.


Photo by Kelly Crandall

The werewolves were played by Jack Packard, Liz Koetting, Danelle Kirschling, Jason Waszak, and David Law (pictured here)and the makeup was expertly applied by Dixie Jacobs.


Photo by Kelly Crandall

We're going to have a werewolf party tonight!


Photo by Kelly Crandall

And here we have the Doctor triumphantly posing next to his 2-D counterpart!

The appearance of the superheroes, villain, and werewolves really made the show a living, 3-D show, and I think the audience was pretty fascinated and surprised. A great performance from all the volunteers!