Illusionist wrote:
Was Beethro inspired by Groo who was inspired by Conan?
Unbeatable warrior who can't read?
Pretty indirectly inspired, but I really liked Groo. I'm sure he was kicking around in my head. As was Conan - I saw all those movies, and read several of the Robert E. Howard books.
I think I saw Groo first in Mad Magazine, but I'm not certain. The intricate art style of Sergio Aragones was fascinating to me, and in my adolescence, I was really impressed with excessive detail in art. If somebody filled in every scrap of space available to them with illustration, that was the height of artistic credibility to me. A version of the "
spirit of generosity"
.
I never owned a Groo comic book. But I read a few issues/books cover-to-cover standing in stores. When I was interested in comic books, I didn't often have money to spend on them.
Beethro was more directly inspired by my own life as a freelance software consultant in the '90s. The nature of consulting is that you feel like an outsider most of the time, with all of your temporary and transactional work relationships. But if you like that lifestyle at all, you'll have an individualistic streak like like the Knight of Lamancha's to bolster your self-esteem.
The simple story of Beethro and King Dugan mirrored my own hustling for gigs writing database software for small businesses. Picture a sweaty 23-year-old in a blazer and tie walking alongside a boulevard to a bus stop, cars whizzing by, lugging his pleather briefbag full of floppy disks, cables, and business cards. And picture that guy Rubik's-Cubing his brain to see his ordinary life struggle as something where he was heroic. That's where Beethro came from.
And then later when Beethro had to grow up a little, and see the world as more than a series of gigs to prove himself or earn money. Well... that was me too.
-Erik
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The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
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