Today’s page features the first speaking appearance of Alix Motari who is the first big addition to the crew of the Lucky Strike since Bucketbot back in episode one. I’m very glad to finally have her in the comic after showing her off in different promotional art.
She was created by my friend, Mr. Freeman. We’ve known each other since high school and he does a lot of fun cosplay. I love to have my friends involved in my comics in some capacity, so I told him to develop a character I can integrate into the stories. So he came up with Alix, originally Alex, and over the years we hashed out ideas, but ultimately I ended up having to take on the bulk of that work since my stories were becoming very continuity-heavy. Alix is a character who ultimately is owned by Mr. Freeman, and who he has control over. In my work, she is more like an alternate universe version that I can use in ways to best serve the stories I am trying to tell. Alix has had a pretty long life in the form of fan art and commissions as she is very much Mr. Freeman’s character, but I like to think she’s finally existing in the way she was originally intended.
Alix is not the only character who exists in the manner, though. Illyana, space pirate, originated from my friend Poinko’s comic, Lancaster: The Ghost Detective. The original archive is gone, however the entire thing exists on gumroad as a downloadable archive. Also, there is Maxine, who was created by my friend Reed. She is a mascot for the Multi-Artist eXchange, but he let me do a take on her for my own usage in Cosmic Dash.
So really, Alix is just another example of a series of respectful, creative relationships I’ve established. Deft Beck‘s characters for his Nightlifers project are kind of the next logical extension to this. The characters are his to do with as he pleases, but they exist in the Cosmic Dash universe. It’s interesting to see how his stories expand on things I’ve mentioned, or establish new things to mention in my stories.
Really, I guess this sort of character exchange is the biggest form of respect I can give a person. So If we’ve worked together before, or talk a whole lot, and I ask you to work with me on a character, know that this is a very serious and important thing I suppose.