Jeremy: This band may finally be ready for a van renovation. Tune in next Thursday AND Friday to see what happens! That’s right, it’s going to be a two-page update. Make sure to mark your calendars for both Thursday and Friday of next week! One comic on 5/23/13, and one comic on 5/24/13. See you then!

Jeremy: Also, I did a fun little visual nod to something you all may have seen before…

Thunder-Bal is GO (Theme Song)

Jeremy: Behind every great theme song is a great artist. Brandon Maserati (born Marcel Lamborghini) saw his fair share of musical identities in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Probably best known as the original drummer for Blood Punch, Maserati was also the touring keyboardist for Julius Seizure and the Roman Candles, Piston Partridge, and Robo-Steven, with a short stint on tambourine, electric kazoo, and backing vocals for Germany’s most prolific electronic death-polka outfit, Princëss Drëss. After touring ran its course, Brandon branched out into solo songwriting. At the top of his game, with a short list of pop music’s best in his personal rolodex, Maserati saw the opportunity of a lifetime when asked to pen the theme song to what was to become the hit movie The Neverending Story. With the ink barely dry on the deal, studio execs tore up Maserati’s contract, after finding out that Britain pop star Limahl was interested in the job. Limahl, recently divorced from Kajagoogoo, running on the full steam of the band’s hit “Too Shy” seemed like an obvious choice for the role. Brandon was ousted.

After this devastating blow, Brandon Maserati disappeared from the music industry almost overnight, and for the next several years not much was heard from him. Flying under the radar, it was rumored that Brandon had taken to not shaving and consuming only boxed macaroni & cheese and powdered lemonade mix. It wasn’t until June of 1987 that fans applauded his return to music on the short-lived 6th reunion summer tour of Blood Punch, which saw Maserati back on drums. The tour lasted only 14 days, as in-fighting in the band caused Blood Punch to cancel its remaining tour dates in Spain, West Africa, Peoria, and Australia, after its singer Piotr Saab and lead guitarist The Fist destroyed a cafe in Madrid with an epic no-holds-barred brouhaha. Despite the disastrous end to the tour, Brandon emerged with a new sense of purpose, and an impressive beard to boot. Songwriting began anew, as Maserati found a home recording his music in the form of Saturday morning cartoon show theme songs, the best-loved and most remembered being “Thunder-Bal”.

We owe a debt of gratitude to our friend Michael Ferrari, the man behind the helmet and hammer of Brandon Maserati. Michael created the song after receiving lyrics from Jeff, and some minimal instruction from me. When he first sent me the song, I was doubled over my office chair laughing. Michael really gave us exactly what we were looking for (and more!), which was a cartoon show theme song for Thunder-Bal that felt like it was produced in the 80s, in all its dated regalia! Please go check out Michael’s music and follow him on twitter. Thank you so much, Michael!

Jeremy: I actually physically assembled a motorcycle using my drums and spare items in my motorcycle parts lab, to use as drawing reference for this comic. Some of what I just related to you may not be true.

Jeremy: So, Chester’s adventure was fun for me to draw, and Elle’s was a challenge, but one I am glad I accepted. But now we get into what is probably my favorite of the 3 stories so far. Bal’s involved a lot of cartoony nostalgia for me. I hope you enjoy it, folks!

Jeremy: And this will mark the end (for now) of my foray into heavy spot blacks and white. I learned a few cool things about drawing in this style, so little elements of it may turn up from time to time in the future, where we see fit

Jeff: Who and what daydream could be next? Any thoughts, friends?

Jeremy: This is my favorite of the Elle “quest” strips, and the first strip to show blood in all its redness, if I am correct. I really like the way this one turned out. I feel like maybe I was starting to get an understanding of how to best use large areas of black and white… at least in this particular series. I wish Elle could always just fight and punch people. Maybe if we do a vigilante spin-off comic, starring Elle. What would we call it? Maybe… Hell Hath No Fury. What do you all think? Any other suggestions?

Jeff: I really asked Jeremy to go out on a limb with his art on this chapter. Personally, I think he hit it out of the park. We spent quite a bit of time trading ideas and inspirational images back and forth for this, and he managed to work in quite a bit of our antecedents. I absolutely love the feel of the thing. Any thoughts from you, Dear Readers?

The Ouro Bros band (Stan, Bal, Elle, & Chester), in order to keep up with a grueling schedule, were constantly driving and playing – but not sleeping – which led to falling asleep at the wheel, and a van crash. They were picked up by a benevolent tribute band, and they and their busted-up Luck Wagon were driven cross-country for some R&R. Now, somewhere around Seattle, the band members are attempting to find parts with which they can repair the van. Chester, the resident mechanic, gave each member a list of items to procure. So, off they go, with a little daydreaming to add color to the festivities…

Added by Jeremy right around noon: Great idea for a post, Jeff! Let me also add that not only did the band want to fix up their van post-crash to get it into a drive-able state, but that upon adding Elle to the mix back in Kilgore TX, the decision was made to renovate the van to make it more comfortable for the foursome. So these little quests are not only for finding parts to fix the van, but also to make some adjustments, per Bal and Chester’s schematics (initiated here and shown (in part) here).

Jeremy: Literally.