[Roll Your Own Life] The Comics That Shaped Me (Part 11)

SCUD: THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN (1994-1998, 2008)

I guess the whole of this entry could really be the 90's indie comic revolution, but out of the many titles that emerged from this era I've decided to focus on Scud: The Disposable Assassin. One of those weird little comics that came out that really appealed to me. It was a simple black and white comic about a world where you could hire an assassin robot from a vending machine, have it go off and do what you needed to do, and when the target was eliminated the robot would self-destruct.

Scud realises that if he takes out the strange creature that is his target, Jeff, then he'll explode. So he decides that if he just wounds him - a lot - and leaves him on life support, he can keep existing. The only trouble is, those hospital bills for keeping Jeff in a coma are mounting up and Scud takes on extra assassination jobs to pay for the fees.

The writer/artist, Rob Schrab, worked with Dan Harmon (who wrote the Scud spin off about the robot mafia, La Costa Nostroid) and Schrab would go off to Hollywood and end up working on series like Community (with series creator Harmon) and the huge Rick and Morty (again, with Harmon and their friend Justin Roiland). [Sidenote, Scud is the inspiration for Mr Meeseeks from R&M)

Scud was one of those things were the cool art, the simplicity of the style, and the ease of production was an encouragement to try to produce something like this myself. Especially as there was a video game, and talk of a movie produced by Oliver Stone. Heck, if Scud can become huge, I gotta try!

Another great comic that really inspired me along the same lines was Mister Blank, by Christopher J Hicks. A story of an everyman who discovers a terrorist plot to destroy his workplace. Super simple art, really stylised, and really cool. Well worth looking at the complete collection. The Exhaustive Edition collects all 14-15 issues of it in one volume.

It was a slippery slope to reading loads of black and white indies as inspiration. Lead me to British titles like Strangehaven, Sleaze Castle, Strange Weather Lately, Kane, and more. All created by awesome and incredibly friendly indie folk who were really helpful when I started working towards doing one of my own.

Typically, by the time I got onto the scene (just as 2000 was hitting) the indie scene was in a minor decline. I'd missed the boat. But that's another story...

Back to Back to the Future

Taking time away from the noise, away from overstretching the mind, is difficult. Especially when you have periods of time where your mind can do little but wander. Standing on patrol in my dayjob, I found myself thinking about Back to the Future. 

That epic poster!

I miss the Eighties. Sure I was a nerdy teenager, full of desperation and angst. Stumbling through school, playing far too much D&D, and sitting in my room hunched over a ZX Spectrum.


I used to get obsessed with things far too easily. I loved Star Wars and everything that went with it. Was obsessed by Tron. No surprises there I suppose. However, one thing I was obsessed by in my teens that you may not know was Back to the Future. 

It's weird looking back. In this age when trailer and film posters just about give you the whole movie on a plate, Back to the Future was an enigma. The poster, that iconic Drew Struzan poster, gave nothing away. The trailers were really vague. But there was something about the wording of the title that got you interested. And it was that guy from Family Ties, so it had to be okay.

I mean, that was the only trailer I saw. It was cool, ambiguous and slick. Had me intrigued!

After the film I wasn't much better. Sure I was fourteen and too old for that nonsense but it didn't stop me from collecting the stickers (only one short of the album). I still have it somewhere, with that one missing sticker that even Panini couldn't supply direct as all the Michael J Fox fangirls had bought them all and stuck them on their exercise books at school.

When the VHS came out it was surprisingly cheap, unlike some of the other movies I was sad enough to save up to buy as a rental version - (I'm looking at you Ghostbusters and Temple of Doom). 

Rewatching the film I became fascinated by a shadow that goes across a sign at the Twin Pines Mall car park at the beginning and I started formulating theories that it was Marty coming back and witnessing the events again, even though the mall's name had changed indicating it was a new timeline...

But, hey. I was young. It was before the internet. It kept me quiet. It still is an awesome movie, and for a socially awkward teenager it proved that someone as awkward as me (George McFly) could find the girl of his dreams.

The lame cover I made for my
Ghostbusters adventure
"Back to Transylvania"

When I started trying to get into game writing, Back to the Future loomed in my head again. I had already submitted one adventure for Ghostbusters that drew upon Weird Science and being frightened by a yoghurt in my youth. 

My next attempt at writing for West End Games would be influenced by Back to the Future, Dracula and Moonlighting. As you can imagine, it didn't see light of day...


Why now to write a blog post about Back to the Future? Not entirely sure. I was at my dayjob, patrolling and keeping an eye on things in the shop, and standing next to the Back to the Future merchandise. I started thinking about RPGing BTTF and thinking about how the DeLorean would work using the Doctor Who RPG rules.

Thinking about it, the DeLorean DMC-12 Time Machine isn't too complicated as a gadget. The basic one from BTTF has Vortex (Special Trait - 8pts) as it can travel through time, but it probably has a Rare Fuel (Bad Trait - 2pts) to make it a little cheaper as it requires plutonium (or that lightning strike) to power it, and Frozen Hull (Bad Trait - 1pt) for it emerging from travel frozen up and covered in ice. It'll be up to the Gamemaster if the DeLorean actually travels through the Vortex, or does the film-like instant time-jump. It'd have 5 Story Points.

Of course, the later model loses the Rare Fuel Bad Trait, and gains Flight (Major Good Trait - 2pts). It'd probably have 9 Story Points.

Then I started thinking about Back to the Future as an RPG. You could have Doc and Marty going off on loads of adventures a bit like TV series. Remember there was a TV series of Back to the Future?

Doc could create weird new devices and things could go wrong and they could... oh... oh wait...

I just realised I've started thinking of a Rick and Morty RPG and have to stop myself.