Author Archive: lorenzo ross
Hi, my name is Lorenzo Ross. I write & draw several comics that can be seen on my website alternativecitycomics.com. I try to inject a bit of humor into all of my strips because I believe you can be serious about your work without taking yourself too seriously. This is my second time doing the challenge and I've decided to create more characters for the alternative city universe. Good luck to everyone participating!
#5: Papa Doc’s Zombie
This unfortunate individual is the zombie bodyguard of the Haitian gangster Papa Doc (day 4). He’s not your decaying brain eating variety like in The Walking Dead, but the more traditional type of Haitian and African legend. His real name is unknown but some say he was a client of Doc’s who was unable to repay his loan.
#4: Papa Doc
Papa Doc is a Haitian Bokor or sorcerer what some would call a witch doctor. Since his arrival in Alternative City he’s made a name for himself in the underworld as a loan shark and as someone you would go to if you wanted an enemy “taken care of”. Despite his small stature Papa Doc is feared by most people in the community. Partly because of superstition and partly because he usually travels with a seven foot zombie that he created, and no one wants to end up like that poor doomed soul.
# 3 Ditto
Ditto is a mysterious character who operates on the fringe of the law. He has allegedly been seen at the scene of several jewel robberies and witnesses swear that he is able to split into two or more versions of himself and in some cases appearing behind a guard that had the drop on him and knocking the guard unconscious.
#2 Behemoth
Behemoth was born a mutant weighing in at seven foot six and near 500 pounds. highly recruited by Kristy Kelly who put together C.H.A.M.P.S and the Awesome 5!, Behemoth shunned the superhero spotlight and in fact tried procedures to reduce his stature which ironically made him stronger and turned his skin blue.
#1 Krank
Krank was just an average career criminal until he agreed to take part in an experiment because he was low on cash. What he was transformed into was a rampaging maniac with an addiction to pure electricity. Every few hours he must connect to a battery charger to renew his life force giving him superhuman strength for a short time.
2013 returning challenger: Lorenzo Ross
Hello everyone, this is my second year participating in the challenge. I was fortunate to finish last year’s challenge but it was by the skin of my teeth. This year’s strategy is going to be a little different as I will not try to post all finished artwork (pencils, inks, color) but go for a more sketched look. Like everyone else I’m really busy with other projects so to help with expediting the process all my posts will be drawn in sketchbook or manga studio to save time. If you’d like to check out some of my work you can visit www.alternativecitycomics.com Thanks and good luck to everyone!
#29 and 30: White Flight and The Black Menace
Flight can fly and Menace has the strength of about ten men and is bulletproof.
#27: P.W.
Also known as Prince Winston, homie of Loach and Moochie. He’s the on always getting them into trouble. Everybody has a friend like P.W.
#25: Chunky Guacamole
That’s her stage name when she’s performing at the Shaved Cookie. By day she studies law enforcement so she can become a detective like her girl Sandy Torres whom she gives tips to help solve cases.
#21: Mississippi Slim
Otha Hercules Jefferson, is a fried chicken mogul as well as the owner of a chain of liquor stores and funeral homes. Word is he also owns 200 pair of alligator shoes. He is also the sworn enemy of Luther of Luther’s Rib Shack since Luther accuses him of stealing his chicken recipe.
#20: Lockjaw
Lockjaw is a local enforcer that does it old school with a baseball bat. The locals gave him that nickname because of his tendency to scream at his victims through clenched teeth as he beat them to a pulp.
#19: Mr. Poopy Pants
MPP is the guy that lives down the block that the kids throw rocks at his windows and he comes out cursing them  in his wife beater and sweatpants that he seems to wear everyday.
#18 : Zintar
The last wish of Joseph Zintar was to live forever. His son, a scientist working on the CHAMPS project granted him that wish. Before he died, his son transferred his brain waves into an experimental synthoid giving him everlasting life.
#17: The Queen
The self proclaimed “Queen of Crime”, formerly known as Phillipe Caufield has always lived by his wits. For several years he was the boy-toy of a powerful Greek smuggler, until the fateful day his sugar daddy tried to have him killed. After surviving the attempted assassination, he managed to hack into his ex-lover’s swiss bank account and hire his own band of thugs to blow up Daddy’s yacht. With unlimited resources and a band of mercenaries at his disposal he decides to relocate to Alternative City where became the arch enemy of Otis Wonder.
# 16: Boogaloo
Boogaloo is one of those guys that’s right on the cusp of being a criminal but never gets caught. He does what he has to do to survive. Aside from being a snappy dresser, he also has a jones for 60’s soul music and rib tips. He’s seen frequently in and around Luther’s rib shack where he’ll pick up a large order while he unloads a couple of Rolex knockoffs. When Otis Wonder needs some info about what’s on the streets, Boogaloo is his man.
#15: Boomerang Boy
The true identity of Boomerang Boy is unknown. His powers appear to be blinding speed and an arsenal of trick boomerangs.
#14: Dingbat
Not much is known about Dingbat other than he is the self proclaimed world’s greatest acrobat and he concentrates his nightly patrols mostly on the west side.
#13: Steel Boy
Steel Boy was the first successful experiment by Professor Gepettus who would later create the Flamester. In reality he was just a stepping stone in the process of creating a synthetic human. After his creation in 1942 he was recruited by the armed forces to fight the Nazis. After several years leading the war effort along side Golden Boy and the Flamester he was decommissioned in 1950 and put into storage.
Day 12: The Leopard
Andre Tobias was just your typical teenager whose life consisted mostly of parties, girls and video games, until fate took control of his life. Shortly after his 18th birthday, Andre began to suffer violent attacks that began with him sweating, shaking and losing his temper and ended with him in jail. Andre never knew his parents and was raised by his aunt, so this led him to question her about hereditary conditions that his parents may have had. When pressed for an answer his aunt told him that he had been abandoned by his parents because he was cursed. The next day she moved out without a word and was never seen again.
Andre desperate for an answer, tracks down his paternal grandfather in hope that he can explain his dilemma. Grandpa Tobias explains to him the history of his family which is of Gullah Geechee decent. It seems that grandpa’s dad while visiting New Orleans from his native Georgia had incurred the ire of a voodoo priest by stealing away the affections of a woman they both desired. As a parting gift, the priest cursed their family declaring that every third generation if a male child is born he will transform into a creature that is half man & half cat. Hearing  this revelation causes Andre to suffer an attack and undergo his first transformation into The Leopard. Grandpa too undergoes the transformation and the two fight. Andre easily kills the older leopard and his last words were “thank you”. Andre is arrested for the murder of his grandfather and after he transforms in a jail cell and a video camera records his escape the Feds are called in. Enter CHAMPS, looking to add to their growing number of super-humans and the rest is history.
Day 11: Loach
Michael Loach’s family is pretty well off. Not rich, but doing better than most of the families in our hood. He’s pals with Moochie (day 9) and P.W. (whom we haven’t met yet).The three boys are friends out of necessity as much as anything else. The jocks won’t talk to them and the thugs want to beat them up, so their strength is in numbers. In this case the number is three.Here’s a shot of Loach enjoying one of his favorite pastimes, getting greasy food from the chicken joint on the corner.
Day 10: Extensia
Brenda Jenkins was a shy bookish girl with low self esteem. Tired of the cruel taunts showered upon her by her co-workers, she visits the shop of Madame Felucca, a practitioner of Obeah, a type of sorcery practiced in the west indies. At her wit’s end Brenda begs Madame F to give her strength and confidence and proclaims that she would pay any price to achieve these goals including her very soul. In an effort to oblige her client, Felucca performs a ritual involving the dreads of an Obeah woman that was known for her powerful spells. During the ritual the woman’s dreads and Brenda’s hair merge and become one.
The effect on Brenda was immediate. She went to work the next day, Â told everyone off and quit her job. Days later she began to notice physical changes as well. Not only was her strength increasing tenfold, but she discovered that she could move her hair which was now very long just by thinking about it. Eventually she could not only move it but also increase the mass making it a deadly weapon. She was soon discovered by CHAMPS (see day 2) and added to their roster of heros for hire.
Day 9: Moochie
Moochie is based on kids I knew growing up. I imagine the strip being somewhere between Peanuts and South Park which I know covers a lot of territory.
Day 8: Sandy Torres
Sandy is a private investigator and Otis Wonder’s partner(day 6). She is originally from Brooklyn, NY where she worked as a bodyguard for celebrities when they came to town. She is a highly skilled martial artist as well as en expert marksman. Sandy’s sarcastic sense of humor is a perfect contrast to Otis’s serious demeanor.
Day 7: Dr. Bop
A former professional wrestler that was banned from the sport for not sticking to the script and at times pummeling his opponent to a pulp. Bop was last seen in a cameo working as a bouncer at Club Alternative (see Alternative City #0 ). In the future expect to see the 400 pound man-child in upcoming issues of Otis Wonder Investigations. It is Dr. Bop’s face that I use on the AC comics logo just because he’s such a handsome fella.
Day 6: Otis Wonder
Otis is a former linebacker for the Oakland Raiders. He played ten years of pro football redefining the position of linebacker while becoming the first football player to reach billionaire status thanks to wise investments and not pissing his money away on cars, mansions and hoochies. An injury forced him into retirement and a tragic accident involving his daughter inspired him to give back to others since he had been blessed with so much. He studied law enforcement and became a private detective so that he could work without the restraints of the police force.
Now Otis runs a community center located in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city so he can offer the youths an alternative to gang involvement. It’s a state of the art facility that houses classrooms, computer labs as well as the headquarters for his private investigation firm that accepts no payment for their services and chooses clients that are the most needy.
Day 5: Black Belt Johnson
In the 1970’s Black Belt Johnson was a master of Karate as well as the starting point guard for the Chicago High Tops, an expansion team in the ABA. This is all part of a cover for his job as a secret operative for the U.S. government.
#30Characters Chatter…