[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Disappointed by the lack of Goldfish crackers for his school lunch, Steve took his “Tuesday Surprise” outside to eat. Unbeknownst to Steve, an ordinary boy, a Peruvian devil bug had landed on his lunch, and he accidentally ate it. Minutes after eating the slop of food and the poisonous bug, Steve started to feel strange.
He grew a third eye, which blinked vertically, and grew gills on his neck. Antennae popped out from his head and a second nose sprouted his face. His mouth literally dropped to his stomach and from his sides, pincers emerged. The most horrifying change, though, was the enormous sail that protruded from his back, so that he could sail the sea with his body as the boat.
This monstrous creature was no longer Steve. He was the evil villain, Fish Gills.
Collaboration between the dozens of children at the Medfield Public Library and comic book artist Eric Fulford designed the hilariously creepy creature during the library’s “Comic Book Creation Show” on April 20.
With two large easels and several giant pieces of paper, Fulford used the children’s suggestions to create an incredibly unique comic book. Before Fulford and the children created Fish Gills, though, Fulford asked for a member of the audience to volunteer as a model.
This model was a young girl named Olivia, who enjoys eating blueberries, playing hide and seek, frequently draws in her journal, and loves horses. Fulford drew Olivia as he interviewed her, and revealed a caricature of her to the audience. He set it aside, though, and seemed to forget about it while he asked the children to devise three villains.
For the first villain, the children suggested Fulford draw an evil dancing princess holding a sword. For the second, one child tested the comic book artist’s creativity by asking him to draw an evil dog carrot – a root vegetable with the head of a vicious dog replacing a traditional carrot’s leafy stem. Lastly, an evil painter depicting his lair in a painting joined the villainous group.
Fulford also taught the children about speech and thought bubbles in comic books. He also told them about onomatopoeia and gave examples like “boom” and “whoosh,” which are frequently used in action comic books. Together, the children decided that they would also incorporate “splat” into their comic, as well.
After concocting the wretched villains, including Fish Gills, who the children decided would also be wearing a two-piece wrestling outfit and high top sneakers, in addition to having lengthy armpit hair and an afro, Fulford was ready to tell the story.
Fulford chronicled Fish Gills’ life of crime. The villain used his sail to travel from store to store on the coast and steal Goldfish crackers. His thievery, however, was no match for Olivia.
In the story, Olivia packed a bag of blueberries for her journey, and set out to put a stop to Steve’s crimes. She battled and out-smarted the evil princess, dog carrot, and painter, and finally came face-to-face with the villain. With a “whoosh,” “boom,” and “splat,” Olivia defeated the villain, and shared her blueberries with him as Steve returned to his pre-Peruvian devil bug form.
Thanks to the Medfield Public Library, Eric Fulford, and the children in attendance, the day was saved.
