StarFall Comics
A Division of Pullemouttayerhat Productions
A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of StarFall Innovations
Proudly Presents:
Swamp Patrol
Ashcan Preview
Ted Stolid lay on the bed in the spare bedroom of his bother Frank's apartment, thinking of how his life had turned out. Yesterday, he'd been a normal sixteen-year-old kid with a natural talent for computers. Today, he was a living weapon.
Ted was tall, standing around six feet, and slim. He had long, unruly black hair, and a pair of piercing brown eyes.
Ted reached out and wrapped his fingers around an old cap gun he'd had since his younger years. With a slight touch of concentration, a laser shot from the cap gun.
Why doesn't this bother me? he thought. I always thought that if I ever became a freak like Donna, I'd be scared to death. But I'm not. In fact, I seem to be enjoying this....power. Donna can shapeshift, and I'm a living arsenal. Arsenal. Hmmm..... Without thinking, he began to twirl the gun by its trigger guard.
Ted's older brother, Frank, popped his head through the door.
"Ted," he stated, "the others are here for the meeting. Are you gonna join us?"
Ted stood, smiling.
A few minutes later, in the living room of Frank Stolid's apartment, Frank and several of his friends sat around eating pizza. Ted and one other, a girl of about Ted's age with long brown hair, sat apart from the group.
"Ted, who are these people?" she asked.
"Friends of my brother's, I guess," he replied. "I feel like the outsider here, Donna."
Frank cleared his throat. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you all here. How many of you are familiar with Inspector Caruthers of the Allentown Police Department?"
"He's the guy you talked to in the bar earlier, isn't it?" one of the girls, a twenty-something with short auburn hair, asked. "The guy in charge of that Anti-Corruption Task Force?"
"That's right, Jan. It appears his wife and kids were kidnapped earlier today. I was wondering what, if anything, we could do about it."
"Well," stated one of the men in the room, a sun-bleached blond with a Californian accent, "there's not much we can do, short of becoming vigilantes."
"And why not become vigilantes?" Ted grunted. "Frank said each of you had some skills, and that's why he asked you to come here."
"Who's this wiggler?" the other girl, who wore thick glasses, asked, indicating Ted.
Ted drew his cap gun, aimed it at a spot above her head, and fired a laser. Her jaw dropped, as she looked around at the burn mark on the wall.
"TED!?!" Donna excalimed, as shocked as the others. "What was that?"
"My freak ability," he muttered, dropping the pistol.
"Well, Shelly, looks like you have an answer," one of the guys said.
"Shut up, Pete."
"Okay, if we do go this vigilante route," Jan asked, "what's to prevent the police from arresting us?"
"Simple," the Californian stated. "We save the Inspector's family, and he's in our debt."
"Nice and easy, right Brill?" Shelly asked. "It's rarely that simple."
"I say we give it a shot," Frank stated. "What else can we do?"
"How about 'not get involved'?" Jan muttered. Shelly elbowed her in the ribs.
"Oh, c'mon, Deerfoot. It'll be fun!"
"Yeah, right," Ted muttered. "Fun. Like risking your life is fun."
"Try it, kid," Brill told him. "You might like it."
"And you're the expert?" Donna asked.
"I have done this before," was all Brill said.
"Oh, all right," Jan said. "I'm in."
"Me, too," Ted said. "But where do we start?"
FOR MORE ON THE SWAMP PATROL, WATCH FOR SWAMP PATROL #1, COMING SOON TO A NEWSGROUP NEAR YOU!