Makena In Mongreltown is not only my first attempt at shorter stories here, but it’s serving as a showcase for all the people who pledged at the Make-A-Mongrel tier for my Kickstarter to reprint Volume 2 (which is now for sale with all my other books in the Store). Benjee the farmer, Augustus Facejob, the bull-headed alchemist, the tentacled medic, Aki the blood elixir merchant, and the eight-appendaged explorer searching through the garbage are all custom mongrelfolk from the campaign. But speaking of that garbage, there’s one mongrelfolk who is making a return appearance from my previous Kickstarter to reprint Volume 1.
It’s hard to miss big Louie the Garbage All-Knowing Man, and if you noticed a thematic similarity between him and Margie the Trash Heap (nyaaah!) from Fraggle Rock rest assured that it’s very much on purpose.
Louie is my dad’s custom mongrelfolk. When my parents pledged during that first campaign he’s the one who wanted to design a character. His request was to have a mongrelfolk who was a nod to Margie, trash pile and all. While both Louie and Margie share a dwelling in a giant trash heap, I didn’t want to mimic her design as a living garbage oracle. I also needed a character that was clearly visible in a pile of refuse, and seemed somewhat otherworldly in his trashy tranquility. So I used a different, smudgier digital pen for him than any other character, and make him a weird slimy white so his bulky body really stood out against the dark heaps of garbage. Whether that’s the brilliance of his enlightenment or a coating of waste water is up to you to decide.
I couldn’t resist the chance to put Louie back into the comic. There’s just something so weird and different about him, and I’m often drawn to drawing characters who are both of those things. So thanks for the inspiration, Dad! And for showing me Fraggle Rock as a kid. Nyaaah!