Fangalot Fink (aka FINK!)

Fangalot Fink (aka Fink!): The Sci-Fi SuperSpy Age

When 1976 had finally passed, 1977 had propelled us into a completely altered dimension. Science Fiction literally ruled the media and the fashion. Especially with the Jetsonesque modern furniture of the late-Seventies, and the endless TV shows which had primarily centered around some form of space travel. From 1977 until 1980, the airwaves were bombarded with such programs as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Quark (no relation to the DS9 Ferengi, sorry)--a Star Trek parody focusing on the exploits of Interplanetary Sanitation Workers in deep space. These shows ironically competed with more 'down-to-earth' shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and SuperTrain.

However, while the small screen and literature had concentrated on the sci-fi genre, the silver screen had decided (excluding Lucas' Star Wars) in resurrecting the SuperSpy craze with James Bond. Overall, kids of the mid and late-Seventies were now replacing the typical western/action heroes with Luke Skywalker and Flash Gordon.

Observing the transformation with the weathering trend, I had instantly realized I'd have to drastically re-invent the format form which Fangdini had failed acquiring with his former audience. Confidentially, if I had known then what I know now, I probably would've never pursued this concept, and settle for being a Star Trek researcher for the NCCT's Sci-Fi Department.

Notwithstanding, requiring some intricate research, I had began viewing every current sci-fi show which had been available on television (remember, this was the pre-TVR/DVD age, folks). After watching endless amounts of space operas, time travel and the usual schlock, I had realized why it had taken me awhile getting used to science fiction: the formulas always came out a bit too serious for entertainment. Admittingly, some shows did attempt injecting a little humor, but the process would always revert back into pure, hard adventure. Even though I could see nothing faulty with having adventurous tales, I had wanted something slightly more fun and entertaining for audiences to enjoy.

After all, during the Seventies' Sci-Fi, one had always felt intellectually deficient whenever one would view a hardcore program. When all you really wanted was some good, old-fashioned escapism instead. Taking these intriguing factors into account, I had conjured up a new series that was a hybrid of Quark and Get Smart. The yield product came in the form of a new character known as Fangalot Fink.

Fink! - The Illustrated Series
Fink! was the infamous series about an intergalactic, wolf-detective known as Fangalot Fink, who was known purely by his wondrous reputation for his ingenious, investigative skills. In reality, not unlike his predecessor--Maxwell Smart (Agent 86)--Fink would normally bumble into these mystifying cases, and somehow, miraculously solving them by pure luck. But unlike his human counterpart, Fink wore a trenchcoat, spoke with a Humphrey Bogart voice, and was a freelance private investigator. Strangely, it had always appeared out-of-the-ordinary most of Fink's cases centered around an infamous criminal organization known as PLUNK (to this day, I have never deciphered what the letters had originally stood for).

PLUNK had been headed by the (then) anonymous, nefarious Dr. Fangerstein, who unceasingly despised Fink's uncanny knack for dismantling his most carefully thought out schemes for dominating the Free Intergalactic Worlds. But what had definitely infuriated the fiendish Dr. F to no end, was the perplexing fact an incompetent detective like Fink, could successfully manage on ruining most of PLUNK's intricate plans.

One prime example was a case where Fink had been hired to locate a missing IntergalacPolka CD Program (Fink! had been remarkably advanced for its Time, and researching Omni magazines and watching old Jetson episodes, didn't exactly hurt either.). During his investigation, he accidentially uncovers PLUNK's latest diabolical plot: Dr. Fangerstein has developed a sinister invention, The YaYa RayCannon, and intends on using it for overthrowing the Intergalactic Leaders.

Apparently what makes this scheme works is this: whenever the YRC's beam attacks a person, its bizarre emissions renders the victim into a helpless, dance-like trance. They end up moving their bodies rhythmically up-and-down while uttering a peculiar chant: ya-ya-ya-Yo-yo-ya-ya-ya (get the picture? Hey, considering the strict guidelines at NCE, it was the best we could go for). By sheer coincidence, Fangalot unwittingly defeats Dr. F's plans by inadvertently sabotaging the weapon's programming system. Mistaking the YRC for a new CosmiDisc Player, Fink removes the Yaya/Chacha Programming Disc, and replaces it with the recently discovered I-Polka Disc.

When the YRC activates once more, Fink unintentionally causes the Intergalactic Worlds to undergo an Intergalactic Polka craze, which enigmatically spreads throughout the Universe. As always, the result ends up annoying and baffling PLUNK and Dr. Fangerstein to no end, not really certain on how Fink managed screwing up his invention in the first place.

Taking such creative episodes, one would expect Fink! to last for about two years at least. Unfortunately, Fangalot had never gotten the chance to last over three months. This time the cause wasn't poor readership, but instead a live-action Saturday Morning show being re-aired, which threatened Fangalot Fink's Toon career.

Fangalot Fink vs. Lancelot Link
One thing about the late-Seventies, the economy had taken its toll on everything. Because of this, some networks would recycle old shows from their vaults in order to save on production costs. On March 1977, NBC had temporarily re-aired episodes from Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, as a midseason replacement. And this is where the controversy had begun.

For those who used to view it on Nickelodeon, you already know the concept. If not, imagine Get Smart amalgamated with Planet of the Apes, and you'll obtain a clear image of the program. Seriously, however, even though both characters had similar names, I hadn't seen any problems, since Fink! had nothing else in common with LLSC, and nobody had seemed on caring about the dubious circumstances.

Mainly because I, myself, had never actually seen the show until 1985 (specifically because when NBC re-aired it, I was usually watching other programs, or going out with the family), most of the NCCT fans had preferred Fink! over Lancelot. And that's when the real trouble had begun.

First off, Fink!'s obligations had gotten drastically altered from its two-year committment to one month, then a transfer student, Sheila, had developed the delusion the producers of LLSC had been in cahoots with Mr. Parsons. Despite the fact LLSC had been created in 1970, six years prior to Fangalot's creation. But when you're a second grader, you don't consider the chronological nature of things, and Sheila kept on developing many conspiracy theories against LLSC and Fink!

One was the delusion the LLSC producers had sneaked in an agent, who stole my concept, then gave it to them. Whereas they simply then took the concept on a more 'down-to-earth' level and substituted live chimps for the cast. As if things weren't confusing enough, Sheila had insisted the school take legal action against LLSC for copyright infringement of my clever idea. As I had aforementioned, since (at the time) I had never witnessed a LLSC Episode, I had merely considered the whole shebang as nothing more than an inexplicable coincidence. Nevertheless, due to Sheila's constant persistance, and the possibility of getting NCE involved in a ridiculous, messy lawsuit, my teacher and I had sagely chosen to cancel the series.

Although Fink! had ended, the character was hardly forgotten. Later when I did a FANGARIUS/Tenchi Muyo crossover, Fanger admitted Kiyone was his cousin, and her father happened to be Fangalot Fink. Whereas she recalls being the one helping Fink solve his cases, which is why she has such patience with Mihoshi.

Dr. Fangerstein was eventually spun off later from the series in 1983, except here he was reanimated into a wacky, mad scientist due to technique being botched in Texsylvania. Of course, Dr. F and Edgar (his Lurchesque manservant) would make obscure references about Fink from time-to-time.

Anyway, after Fink!'s cancellation, my drawing and reporting abilities were far from over. For the remainder of the second grade, I had been appointed as NCCT's freelance cartoonist, scientific reasearcher, and proofreader. During that time I had made infinite experiments with other characters, however, none of them were quite alluring as Fangalot Fink had been. And like him and Fangdini, I had never predicte my next school year would hear another odd creation. A creation which would end up being the most unlikely component towards Fanger's on-coming existence.

The Great Fangdini

The Great Fangdini

As with Chester, The Great Fangdini began originally as a manuscript creation, but still had managed on entering the Toon World. Fangdini spun the incredible adventures about a Wolf-magician (possessing W.C. Fields' voice) who traveled to far-off, exciting locales. In essence, Fangdini served as a children's version of Gulliver's Travels, since the mystical traveler always visited places dealing with the problems kids had to contend with in the late-Seventies. Despite the similar concepts, and Fangdini's backfiring magic, the real message behind these intriguing tales had always been clear: always be proud of what you are, and be yourself (I think there's an old commercial in there somewhere).

Amazingly, people began developing open-minds towards Fangdini. For one thing, he never used his spells for bullying people, but instead as a unique method of teaching them about themselves instead. Although more wolf-propaganda films continued to be produced, people seemed on accepting Fangdini as a gentle being, rather than another demented creature of destruction.

Nonetheless, even with this small success, I had never imagined Fangdini would become illustrated. That is, until a strange event had taken place at New Caney Elementary.

The Toonerization of Fangdini
Whenever you start watching a Seventies cartoon that's been produced by an independent studio (not Hanna-Barbera, Filmation or Rankin-Bass), you've probably wondered why the characters resemble something a child might have dreamed up than a writer. Chances are, the characters probably were. In fact, Fangdini's transformation from the literary to the illustrated world originated from a very unique scam which some unscrupulous cartoonists would pull on unsuspecting kids.

You're probably thinking: what kind of desperate schmuck results to stealing from kids? Similar to our Internet, the Seventies was a time where you could literally get away with most things. Except for murder, naturally, and around this decade, kids didn't have many rights as they do now. Especially when it came to owning literary works, illustrations, or animation. Back then, minors weren't permitted to legally reserve, or copyright, such properties. Apparently, state and federal laws considered adults as the exclusive, responsible party in handling such legalities, therefore, if you wanted to copyright something [while under 18], you technically could do so through your parents [if they were willing].

Regrettably, this temporal, legislative oversight (In 1977, a Texas Bill came out protecting kids' rights for copyrighting properties.) gave many corrupt artists fro the Animation Underworld the chance for conjuring elaborate schemes of snatching ideas which were solely drawn and developed by kids. At the time, most got away with the crime since technically the ideas had not been copyrighted, and they were willingly donated to the person. Thus, no actual laws were broken. Unless, of course, the schemer ends up misrepresenting his/her self, and a possible illegal cash transaction was made in the bargain as well.

On October 1976, the unspeakable, aforementioned fate had befallen the students of New Caney Elementary. And I had also nearly fell victim for the alluring mechanization myself. The incident had occurred when a stranger [whom I'll refer to as Jack Parsons] had come to NCE. Parsons had spun a wild tale about his studio conducting a character-search contest. The contest required us in creating a supplementary character for the studio's residential werewolf Toon. Common sense promptly took a back seat, as my mind instantaneously went Hollywood, for I had seen this as an opportunity for Fangdini to transfer himself into the Tooniverse.

Previously, about several months earlier, The Great Fangdini had been sent into limbo, since I had begun working on other ventures within the Toon realm. One particular project was for a temporal local kids' publication, Orange You Nuts? when I had stayed in Orange during the Summer of '76. Orange You Nuts? (OYN) was sort of Orange's version of Mad for Kids, it had showcased parodies and alternate realities of popular characters and shows. My brief stint for OYN had been the superhumanization of Harvey Comics, in the form of Super Casper & Wonder Wendy (neat names, eh?). Thus, it had seemed reasonable for me wanting to Toonerize one of my own, personal charcaters for an animation studio.

Ironically, when I had gone on a Fall weekend visit to Orange, in for Li Chan (a Japanese friend, who I'll tell you about later) assisting me with Fangdini's prototype, I had never suspected Scott would save me from making an erroneous mistake.

Toiling feverishly on a Fangdini prototype, Li and I had finally produced the primary image for The Great Fangdini. Obviously Fangdini was a magician, so we dressed him in the standardized tuxedo and top hat. We went with the Loopy-De-Loopesque design over the Fangface template everyone had been using. One reason was as a fail-safe measure, meaning if he was rejected by the studio, I could still safely use Fangdini in other projects. After the initial image was finalized, we realized Fangdini required some props.

Long before Harry Potter came upon the scene, Fangdini utilized his mystical feats with a wand and a spell book. Before revealing anything to Mr. Parsons, something had forewarned me to first show the Toon to Scott. As with all good artists, I had essentially wanted an unbiased opinion upon the character before unleashing on an unsuspecting public.

Scott liked the character and had inquired about what I had intended on with Fangdini. Considering OYN had now gone out of print and there were no other kids' publications out there at the time. When learning about Jack Parsons, Scott had forewarned me about a similar scheme which had occurred in Bridge City. Except here, the school board had the common sense investigating the so-called representative's claim before allowing the contest to begin. Consequently, they had discovered the whole thing was a scam, with the representative stealing the submissions for himself. They also learned by the time most schools realized the ploy, it had been far too late to legally pursue these guys.

Returning to Conroe, I had immediately contacted one of the school board members, who in turn, contacted our principal. They promptly checked out Parsons' story with the studio. Turns out, not only was Parsons dismissed from the studio, they had claimed he had been dismissed for (get this) copyright infringement. The authorities were called in, and Parsons was arrested. Fortunately, I had felt relieved my suspicions had prevented me from giving Mr. Parsons any cash (he claimed there was a $15 entry fee), and not showing him any preliminary sketches.

When the disturbing news had reached the NCE classes, everyone who had painstakingly contributed to the contest were less than thrilled, feeling ultimately betrayed and hurt. Although I had managed in recovering their works, it was like when offers you chocolate cake and you get carob cake instead. One of my New Caney friends, Scott P. had come up with an idea: recalling how I had worked on OYN, he had wondered why couldn't the NCE produce a similiar publication. Taking into account the effort the students had gone through, my teacher and principal had immediately consented. And The New Caney Comical Times had been forged.

The New Caney Comical Times (NCCT) ran comic strips and articles produced and written by the students, and it was here The Great Fangdini had emerged upon the illustrated scene.

Yet, despite Fangdini's Toon debut, his mystical hijinks had only produced an episode count of ten strips. And unlike his literally persona, taking the Classic Harvey Comics route, the strips were shorts of Fangdini performing malfunctioning tricks and spells. Ironically, it wasn't because Fangdini was a wolf that did him in, but rather the changing fads at the time. Thanks to George Lucas' upcoming film, Star Wars, as well as Star Trek reruns hitting late-night TV, the genre had slowly shifted from fantasy to science-fiction. Space travel expediently had submerged such lands like OZ and Wonderland. The result had sent Fangdini into his final disappearing act around January 1977.

The Great Wolf Debate

The Great Wolf Debate

Back in 1972, my foray into art started back in Ms. Bracken's (I used to call her brack-king, so I'm not too certain upon the name) preschool where I had created colorful explosions out of painting numbers (nasty habit I acquired from Sesame Street). Nonetheless, the trouble actually started when we heard about Grimm's Fairy Tales: specifically tales about The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood (ever notice how everything in kids' stories are little) where the wolf was portrayed as the bad guy. Also came the fact these tales never made any coherent sense to begin with.

For example, we know if, say, Yogi Bear, replaced the wolf in Red Riding Hood, he wouldn't attempt on devouring Red, but would conceive an elaborate scheme for procuring the kid's 'Pic-a-nic' basket. Therefore, I had always wondered why the wolf just simply didn't do the same if he was truly starving.

Then consider the third pig. If he was so intelligent, why didn't he offer the wolf a roast, or some other edible substitute for him to try, rather than boil the poor thing in a pot of water?

Ms. Bracken had felt I made some excellent arguments on the subject, and had decided on letting us rewrite our own versions of these tales where the wolf turns out to be the good guy. Thus, the first incarnate of The Great Fangdini was born. However, in these altered stories, the magician wolf was actually a wizard named Chester.

The Tales of Chester
Despite the illustration here, Chester started off as the only pre-Fanger character never to have been drawn. He was an entirely prefabricated, drafted work, where he actually helped shed the truth behind the libelous tales the Grimm Brothers had written. For instance, in Red Riding Hood's case, Chester helps the heroine by foiling a bunch of greedy hyenas from making off with her food basket. Consequently, Chester disguises himself as Red's grandmother, not as a means for devouring the little girl, but in an elaborate scheme educating the hyenas not to steal from others.

In the Three Pigs, Chester contends with a con-artist who sells the Pigs shoddy building materials. Naturally the man plans on swindling them out of their money, but Chester saves the day by tricking the phony contractor with a magically-constructed building. When the man enters the place, the building instantly transforms back into a pumpkin. Chester promises to release the man but only on the condition he make good with the pigs. As a result, the pigs not only get their cash back, but the man ends up helping them construct a proper place of residence.

Although Chester was definitely an innovative approach to the classics, sadly, due to the consensus programming of the originals, the character was never really accepted and quickly faded into obscurity. That is, until about 1982, when Chester was finally illustrated for a Wonderland scene, where he later became one of Fanger's cousins.

Meanwhile back in the Seventies, about two years would pass, 1974, when the Wolf Debate returned, and at an unlikely source: a classic Universal horror film.

The Great Wolf Debate: Myth vs. Reality
Four years into the Seventies, censorship began deteriorating slowly with the local programming. Before all these specific guidelines came out from ACT, the FCC and the usual watchdog groups, there had been only one Universal rule to censoring programs: keep the shows immaculately clean during family viewing hours (later, these hours were denoted as prime time). Simply translated, the local stations could air anything they wanted during the late hours of the night, which is why some kids can recall seeing such items as classic horror, or sex-oriented, films past their appointed bedtime. It was this peculiar set-up which sparked the first Great Wolf Debate.

Back in 1974, my mom was attending Lamar University (the Orange Annex), earning her teaching degree, while my dad worked at West Orange Jr. High (what middle schools were refered to back then), where he taught history and helped out with athletic events. Because of this, my mom would sometimes attend a night course, and my dad would have to attend, a basketball or football game. Consequently, I ended up spending the night at my grandmother's house, where Uncle Joe usually babysat me.

Now unlike my other family babysitters, Uncle Joe would always let me stay up and watch late night television. Automatically, I'd fall asleep halfway through the shows, then wake up early the next morning, so my parents had never realized I had stayed up past my bedtime.

Anyway, one late Friday night, I had ended up watching my first horror movie, The Wolf Man. Since I was different to begin with, I didn't even scream towards this bizarre film. Ironically, the movie had brought back some unnerving, conflicting facts. The werewolf appeared more like a lean Tasmanian Devil to me than any type of wolf I had ever seen. Also came the occurrence the monster lacked any verbal skills like its Toon, or storybook, counterparts. As with all kids presented with confusing evidence, I had proceeded pelting my uncle with an inquiry about the werewolf's unrealistic actions. In other words, why didn't it speak or act like he storybook wolves? At first, he had intended on simply dismissing the interrogation with the basic difference that one was on television, while the others were mere pieces of fiction (like that really clarified things), but he had unwittingly ended up contemplating over the confounding question.

Of course, I had never received any legitimate answer, and my Uncle Joe had acquired a major dose of insomnia that night over my perplexing inquiry. Adding to this mystification, my Ranger Rick magazine had an article about wolves, which completely dispelled any myths and rumors to the assumptions we had made about them being vicious beasts. Nevertheless, the real fire behind the debate ignited in 1976, with my friend Scott.

Scott lived in my other grandparents' neighborhood. Considering himself the resident know-it-all of Orange, Texas, he always took sheer delight in getting the best of me. No matter the topic, he invariably produced an answer I never could counter back. The result would normally transform me into an infuriated Daffy Duck whenever I dared fight back. The debate began when my family had been preparing for our move to Conroe, and I was staying the summer with my grandparents in Orange. To be more precise, the incident occurred when Alec Brown had just received Showtime (back then, the only pay-movie channel) and had invited Scott and me to come over and watch some horror films.

Mysteriously, the first film we had seen was an Agatha Christiesque werewolf movie, The Beast Must Die. The movie sounded like an episode straight from The Addams Family. In this tale, an eccentric millionaire has a fetish for the supernatural, especially where lycanthropy (art of transforming one from human to beast) comes into play. So like all wild sportsman, he invites a bunch of people to his mansion, knowing one of his guests is a werewolf. Whatever the plot had been, I can clearly recall I had made a joking comment that it would be fascinating to be a wolf. Scott immediately berated my suggestion, claiming it was completely asinine, since I'd transform into a mindless, killing machine. Before the typical battle erupted, Alec miraculously came to my defense upon the subject.

One, he informed Scott what one sees in the movies does not authenticate its belief system. Namely, Scott had been going on some inaccurate assumptions, since his beliefs on werewolves were purely based on folklore, rather than hardcore facts. Therefore, Alec had questioned our current knowledge of werewolves, and wolves in general. Due to the atrociously, unjustified film, King Kong, we had been grossly incorrect about the normal gorilla's behavioral patterns. Rather than carry on the debate, Scott just gave me and Alec a disturbing expression before leaving.

Still, The Great Wolf Debate had been resurrected, because due to the Seventies overload, we as humans have developed an incurable habit of mislabeling things at face value. However, what actually had fueled the next creation in Fangarian evolution was Scott taunting me for believing in such wild ideas. Little did he suspect he'd be eating his words when I had spawned my second creation..

The Seventies: A Fangarian Perspective

Whenever I start talking about Fanger, many find it hard believing the Fangarian Ancestry originated back to the infamous era known as the Seventies. Despite a sitcom, and the Retro-Hype from some cable channels, from my POV, the Seventies were anything but a tied-dyed, bellbottom experience.

The Seventies: The Pollyana Years

Many people recall the Seventies as a bizarre, rollercoaster decade: America was still reeling from the Sixties' Fallout with JFK's Assassination, the Vietnam War and Woodstock. In fact, before the Seventies even got off the Chrono Launching Pad, it first years were fraught with many weird disasters.

Although the Vietnam War officially ended in 1975, the US Gov't. had withdrawn our troops about two years earlier. Despite being saddened (at least I thought we were back then, considering I was only six) by the unwarranted losses during the war, America didn't give our vets any welcome back parades or any type of commemoration or commendation. The famed Vietnam Veterans Memorial would not be constructed until about 1982, where it had been designed by Maya Ying Lin, a Yale architectural student and was dedicated in Washington, DC.

In 1974, President Nixon had gotten embroiled with Watergate, ending up as the only American President ever to resign from office rather than be assassinated or impeached. And if things weren't bad enough, The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union had cropped up the age-old Red Scare, coupled with the threat of nuclear war. Even with all the peace treaties from Arms Control being established between the Superpowers in Geneva. Amazingly, the Seventies themselves hadn't even reached its mid-life yet.

Although we began starting working on fixing our planet socially and ecologically, it seemed at the time the nation was more concerned with our own problems. Like the economy and energy crisis. And if you were a child growing up in a small Texas town, these problems had never existed in the first place.

Entering this world on October 3, 1968, I spent half the Seventies in a town known as Orange, Texas. Like most Southeast Texas residencies, Orange could be best described as a modern-day Mayberry without Sheriff Taylor or Deputy Fife. Back then, everyone knew everybody, crime wasn't a major concern and you could purchase a lot of stuff for just one dollar (okay, perhaps about ten or twenty comic books, since they were only 35 and 50 cents in those days). Overall, people just wanted to forget about the Past in general and focus on living in the Present (which wasn't easy since DePalma kept directing those Vietnam films every chance he got!)

The most peculiar thing behind the Seventies in Texas was, although Texans had never gone remotely mod, our television and the media definitely did, and the insidious transformations first started with children's programming.

The ACT of Children's Programming

The Action for Children's Programming, or ACT, was first established in 1968, but its true influence didn't come into play until the Seventies. ACT was responsible for the Children's Television Workshop coming into play for shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company, and was originally designed for enforcing educational programming for public broadcasting. Regrettably, ACT also inspired a lot of parent/teacher 'watchdog' groups which, in turn, gave the network censors major headaches.

Besides regulating advertising within children's programming, ACT petitioned for the networks and the FCC to provide some type of safe programming for children, which supported healthy values (and you wonder why Barney and Friends didn't get created in this era!) with a minimal amount of violence (meaning blood, guts and gore. Apparently hitting someone seemed to be more socially acceptable back then, than blowing their brains out with a gun!) The result produced this daily format:

After an hour (or so) of network news, you were allowed broadcasting a children's show of live-action, cartoons and puppets. In this case, the popular kids' show of the Seventies was Captain Kangaroo, which lasted for about one hour. For reasons totally known to the networks themselves, the next children's program, Sesame Street, would not air until about four hours later (if you lived in Texas, where it aired around noonish.).

The final children's time slot (other than Saturday Morning) of the day would consist of old cartoons and children's shows in the late afternoon, until it was time for the local news to come on. Due to all the Texas 'watchdog' groups, Channel 6 (KDFM; CBS Affliate), would air reruns of Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones during prime-time, since some of the early-Seventies' shows had once been considered unsuitable for kids.

Taking all of this into account, you're probably wondering why we kids didn't protest this, after all, everybody had seemed to be protesting about one thing or another. First off, you must remember this was the pre-Nickelodeon Era, and about this time I was only about three. Not to mention, kids who were old enough to protest, either never watched television, or were usually too mesmerized by the tube to complain.

So what does all this have to do with Fanger? Amidst the Seventies, my protests weren't so much about the children's programming, which ACT and 'watchdog' groups were so intrinsically were keeping safe for us. But rather instead with some conflicting facts about nature and the standardized children's fairy tales we were allowed to read.

Fangarian Intro & Some FAQs

Greetings, folks! After about a decade or so, I've decided on creating a blog about FANGARIUS in general. Created back in 1977, Fanger's undergone more changes and transformations, from starting as a reluctant sidekick, into a Paranormal Time Lord.

Along the way, you'll also meet some characters I've done before Fanger, as well as some odd spinoffs. But before I welcome you to this blog, I'd thought it best to answer some questions for you, so I don't constantly end up answering the same inquiries.

I've noticed you have three blogs about Fanger, what gives?

Although all three blogs are Fangarian in nature, I'll clarify the distinctions among the three:

The World of Fangarius - The Blog you're in now. Here you'll learn about where Fanger originally came from as well as his separate Incarnations, and how he end up being an extension from Doctor Who. Not to mention also meeting some other characters I've created along the way.

Fanger's Follies - Originally the first Fangarian Blog I did, where Fanger usually spoke about stuff, but the problem here was two things: (1) It wasn't getting enough hits, and (2) I discovered the posts were a bit too controversial. Therefore, it has now regenerated into a place where you can read Tales about FANGARIUS. I'll try keeping it updated a little bit better than my other fiction attempts.

Fanger's Twilight Tales - Inspired by my own attempt: #TwilightZoneThursdays, this Blog focuses on the strange and unexpected, and unlike the other two blogs, interactive, where I hope readers will contribute their tales as well, fact or fictional. A nice place for fans of the Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, the Outer Limits and other anthological tales as well.

Why does Twilight Tales have a Mature Warning while the others don't?

Unlike the other two, Fanger's Twilight Tales will be interactive, and as I've learned with most interactive blogs, though the authors may use discretion, some participants may not. Rather than receive flak from parents, or other readers, I sagely use the warning as a precautionary measure. That way, no one can claim they weren't warned. However, I would like to add the warning DOESN'T mean you can submit crude and vulgar stuff for the sheer pleasure of it.

Instead this warning allows participants in freely expressing their tales without fear of having to censor themselves in the process.

I've noticed the World of FANGARIUS and your MySpace Blogs on Fanger's Origins differ quite a bit. Why is that?

Rather than give you a lengthy explanation, here are the two critical reasons: (1) Failing memory; and (2) keeping Fanger's rights of ownership.

When Ashton Kutcher invited me on obtaining a MySpace account, my true intention was sharing more info about Fanger with other members. However, that was back in 2006, and the true origins I had was written in a folder I had. Unfortunately I started penning Fanger's memoirs about 1997 (his 20th Anniversary) and due to unexpected events, I ended up shelving the folder in a closet for several years.

Thus, I was going with what I vividly recalled with Fanger's Past and just published what came to mind about my character. Currently as I was going through some stuff, I had relocated Fanger's memoirs. Luckily most of it was intact, since where it was stored had suffered some water damage. Rather than go back and tediously re-edit the MySpace Blogs, I've decided on simply putting the revised information here in this blog.

As for the second, one the problems with the Internet is not only Identity Theft, but artist theft as well. Because of this, you have to always copyright your work. Otherwise you get some schmucks with limited talent ripping your work off and getting away with it for the most part. And as we know MySpace, Facebook and DeviantART have been prone victims of this practice.

Regrettably, I was also victim of it in MySpace, thus I've been somewhat protective of my character and other properties. So usually when I started telling people a bit about Fanger, I purposely left some things out, preventing others from prefabricating similar tales. Here in this blog, I'll be able to freely discuss my characters in-depth, hopefully without others deciding on 'borrowing' them without my permission.

Which leads to the next question..

Fangdarius? Who the HECK is Fangdarius?

About March 2007, a person known as Henry Gail, decided on lifting some of my images from DeviantART, opening an account on MySpace and then have the audacity claiming I 'stole' his work. However if you ever come across his page you'll notice some oddities about him.

(1) Apparently he's lifted stats from my friend, Ashton Kutcher; (2) He claims he created his character back in 1985, however, mine predates back to 1977; (3) And he only has laughingly made three or four pics of his so-called character, without providing any real background story to them. They've also been Photoshopped from my pics you can find at http://fangarius.deviantart.com. Which; (4) They're simply altered versions of FANGARIUS with a Jewish motif. And; (5) He hasn't drawn or composed anything since 2007, even though he also has a DeviantART account as well.

Regrettably when I had first confronted him, he made erroneous claims of 'registering' his character at some bogus government site (remember, folks, just because a site has '.gov' at the end, doesn't mean its officially endorsed by the US Government). Then kept insisting I was the thief rather than him, even claiming he was 'inspired by God.'

But what Mr. Gail doesn't know is, I've got his number and discovered he, too, was a prefabrication as well. After having his account traced, I discovered his real place of origin. Meaning he was put up by a former employee I used to work with as a sick, demented joke. The truth is, I'm not Anti-Semetic, nor Anti-Jew, as Gail keeps on insisting to his friends, but I am Anti-Theft.

How did you know Fangdarius/Henry Gail was fake?

Not too hard. Essentially, Mr. Gail's not quite as anonymous as he likes one to believe. When a so-called 'concerned' friend started informing me about Mr. Gail's activities, 'Fangdarius' started mirroring them exactly.

But the real factor was DeviantART. You see, when I started confronting him about it, he claimed he'd never been to the site. However, when the DA Mods helped conjure up an intricate tale for me to post, he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Roughly translated, he started posting about the post, post haste, so to speak. The reason it trapped him was this: whenever you flush out a poser, you usually set up a scenario like a parent or guardian sending you an apology for the poser's behaviour. As a result, the poser usually claims one of two deceptions: (1) The parent/guardian is deceased; or (2) The parent/guardian doesn't speak the language, nor has a computer, nor ever has had used a computer, or doesn't have an account.

Naturally, Mr. Gail selected the 'deceased parent' excuse. Thus, causing his tales to fall apart, the other problem is he does have a DA Account, but you'll notice, he hasn't submitted anything in there. Mainly because, many of my DA Fans are aware of my work, and every time he attempts posting something, it gets reported and deleted from the account. Also, he hasn't really done anything with the account since he opened it.

Truth is, overall, he doesn't really say anything about his characters, and seems more intent on just trying to razz me.

Fortunately, I've done what most do with 'posers' like this: I've blocked him. Primarily on the fact he's not real and I'm not going to waste my time on him. If you ever encounter him, don't worry about it, nor give in to his deception. If he presses on that FANGARIUS' knock off of his character, simply ask him about his character's origins and background, and you'll probably receive some one-line comment rather anything coherent.

In short, just ignore him. After all, many of my friends, including Jeff Smith of Bone, will tell you Fanger's the real deal.

Why is it you have more images of your recent works, but almost nothing of your earlier stuff?

Ironically, unlike most budding artists, I was really modestly shy about my earlier works. Essentially I learned right away, when you usually get noticed, you sometimes get a swelled head. Or worse, you end up dealing with critics who won't hesitate knocking off your pedistal. So for the most part, I rarely kept my early published works, and usually most records of the past publications, they've been lost due to unforeseen circumstances. However I did manage finding some scraps of early versions of characters and redrew them back in 1997. And you have to remember, I came from an era before AutoSave, DeviantART and the Internet.

Also how come you don't have any of the publications you list in your posts like Orange You Nuts?, The New Caney Comic Times and the Fifth Grade Express?

Originally when I started composing FANGARIUS' Memoirs, I had immediately started conducting some research for retreiving some clippings or records. Unfortunately, I discovered during the Seventies, due to ecological and financial reasons, after so many years these places didn't keep these publications recorded. Mainly because they were never considered to be 'official' publications (i.e. newsworthy materials), as well as some never imagined the necessity of storing these publications for posterity.

However, some of my friends did keep early sketches of characters, but since they were on rice paper and badly faded, I promptly went and reillustrated them as they were originally drawn back in 1984.

Truth is, these publications did exist in some form or fashion, and I did different characters before Fanger came into existence.

Anyway, I hope this answered most of your questions. Enjoy the World of Fangarius, and I also hope you'll visit Fanger's Follies as well as Twilight Tales.

Fangarius