Character Index Activated

Greetings from the Flyknife Comics Mobile HQ, dudes/dudettes/Cyber-Zappers/Computrons/cop-killers (check all that apply)! The man himself is back in the seat after (checks notes) a year? Holy Toledo. Yeah, shocker, the update schedule has never really materialized beyond intermittent kickouts every time I have a new comic to exhale but can you blame me? Life’s hard on the lunatic fringe, and I hate the internet! So sue me!

Nonetheless I know you stinkers love a peek behind the curtain so I figured I’d give you a little taste of what’s up at the HQ. Once a year is enough, I reckon!

First things first: Starbreakers 3 is still kicking and in progress. Last time I updated it I was chugging through the roughs, which took longer than I expected, but now I’m into the inks and pencils, so we’re doing well. The continuing aftershocks of the FAD (Fifth Anthropocene Dataclysm) mean that I’m not able to beam myself cross-stream and do any convention appearances this year, but since I don’t have any new books to show for it, I think that’s probably for the best.

Regarding Starbreakers 3, two things of note. First: I have almost enough done to release a “then and now” compilation on the site, which will show off the first “scene” of the book in both its original (2019-2020, your timestream) and current (2025, your timestream) iterations. I think this’ll be a fun exercise that’ll show you how far I’ve come at the HQ with the tools and talent that I’ve been building up over the last long silence.

Second, since there are no conventions for me to stump at this year, I’m probably not going to get it printed right away, which means it’ll be the first “online-first” Valiant Stars comic that I do. It’ll be released in batches as I finish them. The exact divisions will be irregular- the book wasn’t written with that upload format in mind- but I want to get it out in the world a little earlier than I otherwise might, and as much as I enjoy doing conventions, I’m tired of tying my publishing schedule to my convention appearances- especially with most conventions (in your timeline, anyway) slimming down their vendor attendance and a small-timer like me getting to do fewer shows.

The other piece of reasoning there is that whether in my timeline or yours, printing is EXPENSIVE. You’d think in the distant future of 27.777 we’d have found a way to print 50 copies of a 200-page book that doesn’t cost an arm and a frigging leg, but nope! The Binary Order has been locking down all data, print or otherwise, ever since the Battery went nuclear (it’s kind of their thing) so any good-sized print shop is off the table and all the pirate joints cost through the nose for the risk. I get it, but boy it ain’t easy. So, anyway, all that contributes to the plan to release Starbreakers 3 online-first.

Speaking of plans, updates, “online” and The Valiant Stars, if you’ve been paying attention you might’ve noticed over on the ol’ Bluesky that there’s been a fitful stream of new characters dropping. Given that these characters have never appeared before in The Valiant Stars and are not slated to appear in Starbreakers 3, you might well wonder what the deal is. Glad you asked!

Long-time fans will know that Kobra Stallion and the other Valiant Stars books are based on Kobra Stallion (two season TV series running from 1988 to 1989) and Starbreakers (an OVA from 1990 that Laughing Lizard outsourced to an unnamed production company). We use C.H.R.I.S’ high-test quantum drills to burrow into other timelines, and then I use a combination of the Adaptation Engine and good ol’ fashioned elbow grease to condense the time-data into a readable format- these then become the pirate broadcasts that shoot through into your time, circumventing the efforts of the Binary Order to control information and thereby the fate of humanity.

However, during the FAD a funny thing happened. The timequakes were so significant that several timestreams actually got jostled loose and crashed into one another. This was catastrophic, of course, but it resulted in a new, combined timestream wherein Laughing Lizard didn’t file for bankruptcy in August 1990, but instead managed to stay open thanks to Starbreakers’ unexpected success in the home video market. Kobra Stallion continued to air new seasons for years to come, and this meant the introduction of new characters, new arcs, and all-new adventures for a generation of precocious snakepunks. We’re still working on reconciling the effects of this stream-jostling but the resulting blast of all-new data is a step towards patching some of the holes after the FAD and also kicking the Binary Order’s teeth in, as all good punks must. So the characters you’re seeing are from WILDHEART ACCELERATION UNLIMITED, the third season of Kobra Stallion, which picks up after the Starbreakers arc (itself continued in a three-part OVA called JET GENERATION, on which you better believe I’m working hard). Look forward to seeing characters like Kitty Kissbang, Alaric Goldtongue, and Masahiro Barisov “The Butcher,” along with all kinds of spicy new supplemental material to get you locked in on ADVENTURE!

All this new material occasions a new feature, and one I’ve been meaning to add for a while: character indices. These will give you a little more info on the characters of The Valiant Stars and help you keep track of the crazy happenings in the story. I’m gonna be working on more supplemental material now that we’re five (soon to be six!) books into the series and well over 1000 pages total. Just because you can read everything for free doesn’t mean it’s an easy go keeping track of everything!

So never fret when updates are scarce, champions! I’m always beavering away at the latest thing and you know I’m doing my best to keep you in fast-paced high-flying snakepunk adventure. So until the next one-

Stay Vigilant, Stay Valiant
Bruce