Really, it was a piece of cake. In fact, we could have just used the original artwork as our entry and moved on. But we didn’t because it was missing something very major in it (and no, I’m not talking about a background.) It was missing Tony’s involvement. The Generic Funkin’ Cartoons are of course his creations and not having his hands deep into it would have been a mistake. So I decided to devote this picture solely to his property. And unlike the other appearances Muskrat Moe, Killer Ken, and Nappy Ned have made, this time the boys would be flying solo. No Erik or Crispie or anyone else from the cast. Just 100% GFC.
When it comes to “The A-Team” itself, I have nothing but fond memories of the show. Even when watching it as a kid, I knew how absurd the whole thing was. People didn’t die in explosions; they just flew into the air real high. B. A. Bararcus would never get in a plane with that fool Murdock, but he always fell for drinking a drugged glass of milk. The government spent three seasons trying to locate them, but Boy George and Culture Club did it in three hours. And what were the bad guys thinking always locking the team up in a shed with a construction vehicle, a blow torch, and an unlimited supply of sheet metal? Didn’t they know that loud rumble suddenly coming from inside was a bad ass make-shift destruction mobile about to burst from out of the wall? Yeah, it was beyond dumb but I soaked up every minute of it with a huge grin on my face. - Jake
Ink Smudges: I created Generic Funkin Cartoons in the early 90's as an outlet for my creative juices. The band I was in at the time, Generic Freestore Children (yes GFC) was at an impasse as our output started slowing, and I needed to vent my psychotic thoughts. So I took the various members of my band and various other folks who we all hung out with and transformed them into odd looking creatures with mostly alliterate names. The comics themselves were brutally violent affairs filled to the brim with sexual innuendos, vulgar language and like I said - violence. They were quickly drawn comics made on lined notebook paper and usually done in pen. During my entire reign of doing these comics I completed a total of 3 full comic issues, ironically more than have actually been completed by the "host" of this very site. Granted they were crude - but they were very funny, and a must read amongst my band of co-horts back in the day. And yes - for those wondering - I WAS Muskrat Moe.
What most people, including Jake, don't know - is that the character of Frump is NOT actually a character in the GFC universe. Well at least not at first, he's sorta been adopted in over the years, but initially he was just this standalone character that I created years after I had moved on from GFC. And yes, he too is sorta loosely based on me.
When Jake and I decided to do our own website all those years ago, and he told me he was going to include his comic book creation Plight into the site, I thought it was only fair that I resurrected my old creations for a proper internet debut as well. Well one thing led to another and eventually I had more fun drawing Jake's funny book than my own, but I didn't want to leave my guys out in the rain - so as a joke I started drawing my characters with Jake's, even though there was no way they could exist in the same universe. Then Jake started using them as well, and now we've come to the situation we find ourselves in today. GFC and Frump have officially become a part of the Plight Summer Blockbuster Universe - sort of in the same way that Crispy and Cat Guy have. They are now, for better or worse, Plight characters, but only in the alter-verse that is the Blockbuster Gallery. Weird huh?
For this picture I really didn't try anything new. I used a thicker ink to give it a more "cartoony" vibe which really looks nice and crisp. I kinda balked on the background, not giving it the character that I usually do on these GFC pics. And frankly the dialogue was invented after sitting and staring at the screen for 30 minutes trying to figure out what I should say WITHOUT saying: "I love it when a plan comes together." Which is the overplayed catch-phrase for the A-Team as a whole. Don't be surprised if this picture disappears and reappears later on with a new look as I have this feeling that I may still tweak it down the line. - Tony