#bradley lites

[mousart]

Gonna be so cool once I composite it all

[mousathe14]

ahr42p replied to your photoset “Part One |  Part Two | Part Three | Part Four I told myself today...”

damn, ninja dude had an Agenda going into this. Either Fireice dude did something to really piss him off, or he's got a complex

Oh it’s definitely a complex. HotIce hasn’t done anything specific besides being. He is almost an accidental white savior. He’s a guy who, while having a lot of training, is not the best of the best, and eventually rested on his laurels, but still got the great power everyone wanted anyway.

While sneaking around, trying to find ways to pull pranks on his masters, he comes across the Fire-Ice orb, the source of knowledge of their organization, the very object that chooses a new ninja each generation to help expand its knowledge. It wouldn’t have been a big deal that Brad touched it because most who do aren’t chosen. But because of  *waves hands*  “mysterious ways”,  the orb chooses him.

A font of so much knowledge and power, and it’s in the hands of this jerk jock with a heart of gold.

So of course studious, wise-beyond-his-years Ben who has been training for most of his life, was greatly humbled to be chosen by the YinYang orb, and treated everything seriously and with respect, is absolutely furious that this clown is technically his equal. 

Sort of like Ben earned his bachelor’s degree but Brad is still a high school student but somehow got the piece of paper that grants him all the privileges a bachelors gets you.

[mousart]

No comic update, this was some doodles I did a month ago that was sort of a visual story telling of Brad Lites’s development as small bullied child into arrogant superhero and I figured I’d use this opportunity to wax expositional on the character that is Bradley Lites, the League of Heroes member HotIce, who some of you have probably seen in a few of my previous illustrations and comics.

Back when I originally conceived of him as Fire’n’Ice in around, I dunno, 2006-ish, my idea was basically “make a jock character I can like,” because back then the jocks v geeks and nerds thing was still in full effect as opposed to these days where bullying dynamics in the media have changed quite a bit.

Anyhow, the idea I came up with was someone who had all the typical traits of a jerk jock character as well as traits of your typical popular character; sociable, stupid, arrogant, aggressive, hit with the gals, and wealthy. And then I would make him someone that defended others from being bullied rather than be a bully himself because he used to be bullied!

What a concept! A complete twist! And.... Exactly the thought process that Stan Lee had behind making Tony Stark: Make people root for someone they hate.

And Brad did/does have some pretty meek origins. He was a small wimpy kid and a crybaby that other kids made fun off and kicked around for his weaknesses. In the current meta it’s his small stature but also his slowness that’ll make him a target, as well as his emotional sensitivity.

Anyhow, the next step would be that he sees an ad for an obscure martial arts dojo and he’s signed up with the opportunity to learn how to defend himself and learn to become more confident and disciplined.

And it works. And his character skills make recruiters see him as an excellent candidate to be a Yin Yang Ninja under the Fire and Ice school. Brad acquires more confidence and strength and as it increases he develops a strange psychological mix of genuine confidence and insecure over-compensation.

He is genuinely happy with the position he’s attained as a Ninja, he’s able to stand tall and strong, but also arrogant because he’s improved so much and also realizing that his wealth and strength and good looks make him awesome.

However so many of his behaviors strive from taking on things that are “supposed to” make him liked and loved. He’s star in his high school football team, that’ll make him popular, right? He’s good looking and gregarious, that’ll make him loved, right? Throw parties, throw your money around, that’s what makes people not treat you like you’re weak and worthless, right? 

He’s a little messed in that way which informs so much of his glory hounding and self-aggrandizing. He’s someone who is proud of how far they’ve come but subconsciously can never forget why they went on that path and constantly carry those scars.

He’s realized that “yes, you deserve to be loved” but constantly believes that he will lose that at a moment’s notice.

And of course all this mixes in perfectly with his eventual friendship with Ivan Mahendra-Stream, the Wind Wonder, and they are definitely an extremely odd pair, but their arrogance and insecurities are what make them perfect friends despite everything saying that’s improbably that a white 15/16 year old jerk jock with an empty head and ah heart of gold would be emotionally dependent on a rotund mixed-race but primarily Indian-Irish 10 year old supergenius.

[mousart]

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four  | Part Five | Part Six  | Part Seven  | Part Eight

This is it. I had this sketched for months but got too busy to sit myself down and do it properly and everything else I did was just, you know, took priority in terms of art. I feel as though this could have ended better, I should have done another page or something. But dammit, I have been doing so much with creative panel layouts it’s not like I could’ve, you know, stopped or anything.

But yeah, so this is how it ends. Ben wins, but makes some concessions in his perspective on Brad. Brad has learned nothing from this experience except that he now has to work to be better than this self-serious twerp.

Anyhow, hope you all liked it. It was fun and interesting making comics again.

[mousart]

Part One |  Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven  | Part Nine

It took forever due to work and school but I’m here, I’ve gotten to the next page and the last one is coming up.

Marvel at my panel work and Ben’s creative wordplay.

[mousart]

Part One |  Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six  | Part Eight

The saga continues now that I am in a place where I’m not doing finals, I’m not working my new job, and I’m not doing exercise stuff so I can just relax and finish some art.

And in this corner we actually see Brad being competent. He’s not a bad Ninja, it’s not like he doesn’t pay attention in class, he’s got a lot of fighting skills, he knows how to stealth, he was able to access his Ki even before he got this power. But because he got so arrogant and air-headed, he sort of stops himself from realizing his true potential. 

Also he’s just so easily bored.

[mousart]

Part One |  Part Three | Part Four | Part Five  | Part Six  | Part Seven  | Part Eight | Part Nine

Man, I am on a roll! I can’t wait to do the next panel, you guys are gonna love it! I hope.

Best thing about this page is that I don’t have to write out all the backstory stuff, it’s in the dialogue right here where you can make enough inferences on your own.

[mousart]

Part One |  Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Seven  | Part Eight | Part Nine

After a brief hiatus the battle continues, Brad, big talker, getting frustrated with how fast everything isn’t going his way. Ben is just so good at keeping off his guard, it’s like he’s some kind of ninja or something.

Speaking of Ninjas, who else didn’t see me doing a Naruto run? Well I did it. Hah.