#5 – Sparkplug (the Motor Teen)

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

As mentioned in my previous posts, the first five characters I’m creating are all based on me, so, collectively, they are called, “The Vitos.” This is the last of them.

All of the Vitos had an explanation to them, a reason or trait that they were based on. For the life of me, I can’t remember what made me want to create Sparkplug. Thank goodness I saved the chat log for the conversation I had with Michelle, my wife:

Michelle: the last one is always the hardest
 your very determined / driven
me: hmmm
Michelle: how bout that?
me: it’s good
 now to build a character around that
Michelle: hmmm, let me think…
 they have to never give up
me: the little engine
Michelle: lol
 yep
 non-stop
me: wait
motor is another name for an engine
Michelle: yep
me: so, how about Motor Man?
 Motor Boy
 ?
 Motor Lad?
Michelle: i like man
i wanted one teenager
 like a sidekick type
Michelle: k, lad
me: Ha!
 Motor Teen

After that, I took to Twitter and asked for another name for “motor.” In my head, Motor Teen sounded too much like Motormouth or Motorhead (not that there’s anything wrong with those). Paul Montgomery (aka FuzzyTypewriter in this challenge) gave me Sparkplug. And there you have it.

Now, I haven’t really given his origin much thought. I know he’s about 16, he suffers (or is in remission) from cancer, and he never gave up hope that he would be out of the hospital, but I don’t know his name, the source of his speed powers, or anything else. So, that’s TBD.

Tomorrow, I turn the tables and give you five characters based on my wife, Michelle!

NOTE: I’m using Hero-O-Matic (aka Fabrica De Herois) to create my characters. Give it a shot!

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Category: 2011, Superhero

About the Author ()

I'm not exactly sure what I should put here, so here goes. I'm a writer, written for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, AdHouse Books, and Simon & Schuster, among others and his stories have been reprinted in other countries. Mostly concentrating on creator owned work right now, so the challenge suits me just fine. I live in Queens (Astoria/LIC), NY with my wife, Michelle, and two dogs, Kasey and Kirby. I'm not sure what else needs to be said, but I'm sure I'll keep changing this. Oh, here's something. I contribute to the Project Rooftop site. The RetroFix column was kind of my idea, so I feel like that experience will help me out here.

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