Everyone’s favorite space hero is under the gun! The spinning asteroid is starting to close in on Zoz, and the asteroid hasn’t changed course enough!
In a list ditch effort to save his home world, Zik reroutes all remaining power to his mining ship’s engines and sets them on a controlled overload. He’s hoping the power will ramp up to critical levels right before it reaches the atmosphere. If all goes according to plan, the ship will explode and hopefully break off enough of the asteroid that the remainder will burn up in the atmosphere. It’s a risky move, but it’s all he has left!
As the planet looms closer and closer, Zik launches the escape pod with himself and Ramesh. He’s fone all he can – let’s hope it’s enough!
Zik has to use his grappling hook to make it the rest of the way to Ramesh’s crashed ship, but he finally gets there! He discovers that his friend is alive, but unconscious. Tying Ramesh to his back, Zik prepares for the trip back. But before he leaves, he sets the ship to fire its engines once per revolution of the asteroid so as to push it in a uniform direction, as well as to slow it’s rate of spin. That accomplished, Zik starts to haul himself back to his own ship with Ramesh in tow. Upon his return, he stows his friend in the bunk, which Zik explains doubles as an escape pod for the mining ship.
Hey Zik pals! Do you use Webtoons to read comics? Well, Zik is now on Webtoons as well! I’m reformatting my back catalog of pages and uploading them as soon as they’re ready, so it’s a good opportunity to rediscover Episode 1: Prison Planet. Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you know when a new page is up!
As Zik and Amelia finish listening to Metallica, they get back into Zik’s story about the deadly spinning asteroid and it’s direct trajectory towards his home planet Zoz.
Zik’s strategy to spin his ship to match the rotation of the asteroid and land at the pole worked! He was able to land safely, anchor his mining ship, and fire up the powerful engines to begin pushing the asteroid on a new trajectory to hopefully nudge it away from Zoz.
In the meantime, though, his friend Ramesh is in serious trouble after that crash landing! Zik is unable to get into contact with Ramesh, meaning that he’s incapacitated somehow. Quickly donning his breathing and grappling gear, Zik prepares to save Ramesh!
Just in case his mining ship gets dislodged from the asteroid, Zik anchors himself to the hull. He carefully makes his way across the surface of the asteroid. It’s spinning so quickly that the stars appear to be whizzing through the heavens! Indeed, the closer he gets to the equator, the faster the rotation is, and eventually there isn’t even any gravel or stones left on the ground.
By the time Zik is near Ramesh’s ship, the force of the spin pulling him away from the asteroid is greater that it’s limited gravity, and up and down have reversed themselves! Zik is now fighting to stay attached to the asteroid, hoping that his grappling gear is strong enough to hold him!
Your favorite space hero Zik pauses in his narrative of the tale of the spinning asteroid because this part of the story reminds him of a song. He’s twisting, turning through space trying to land on an asteroid, and the lyrics to an Old Earth song by Metallica fit quite nicely! He sets the ship on autopilot and loads up the tune so that Amelia can hear it.
For those curious, here’s the song:
Meanwhile, on the Kodiak, James Anchor is on the bridge watching Amelia’s flying lessons with amusement. She certainly seems to be having fun out there! Gerald, currently at the helm, agrees.
Tactical officer Emma has been busy analyzing the recent battle with Queen Elcyra in the hopes of discovering all she can about Zernabian technology. She gives Captain Anchor an update, and he asks her to focus on the torpedoes for now. It’s very odd that guided torpedoes could miss the only target in the area, and James wants to know why.
But first, he needs coffee! Incidentally, coffee is a great beverage to enjoy awesome space adventure comics with! Grab a cup with me! Mmmmm, that’s good stuff.
Zik continues the story of the giant spinning asteroid! As he and Ramesh arrive, they see that it’s rotating very quickly, making the asteroid much more difficult to land on. Ramesh tries to match the spin speed with his ship, but even hurtling around it at top speed isn’t enough, and he crashes in front of Zik’s eyes!
Your favorite space hero tries a different tactic; he will try to land at the pole, where the speed of rotation is so great! By rotating his ship, he hopes to achieve a gentle touchdown on a very difficult target. Will he make it? Stay tuned!
It’s story time! Zik starts telling Amelia the tale of how he saved the entire planet of Zoz. The story begins with a distress call from some scientists who had been studying a recent gravitational anomaly in the Zozian solar system. They noticed during their observations that a large asteroid was heading straight for Zoz!
Zik and his friend Ramesh happen to be fairly close to the asteroid in question, so they anchor the ore they were mining and set off to investigate. But when they arrive, they notice something highly unusual: the asteroid is spinning extremely rapidly! What will our hero do?
DEFENDER ZIK LORE BREAK!
The gravitational anomaly that caused this spinning asteroid has never been explained, although it is theorized that it may have been linked with another unexplained event that occurred not long after, and which had another dire connection to Zik: the death of his mother. More on that later. But this asteroid is a real mystery. The odds that it would have randomly been sent straight at Zoz with such velocity from so far away were calculated to be incredibly tiny, even disregarding the unexplained nature of the anomaly. There are many who saw some kind of sinister cosmic intelligence behind this event…
Zik is helping Amelia learn how to fly! He instructs her on how to ease out of the barrel roll she was just doing. She’s certainly having the time of her life!
The two ships are heading back towards Zoz, and Amelia wants to know how long it will take to get to her new home. Zik tells her that it’s pretty far, so it’ll take a couple of days to traverse all those light years. Plus, they’re not heading straight to Zoz – they need to make a stop somewhere else first.
Changing the subject, Amelia asks a personal question. She’s noticed that the other Zozians treat Zik as if he’s really famous, and she wants to know if she’s imagining it. As it turns out, Zik is quite famous back home! He begins the story of the time he saved the entire planet…
Look out, universe! Amelia is behind the wheel of Zik’s ship and she’s having a blast! Flying is awesome!
In the distance, the Kodiak also makes its way back to Zoz. It’s a long trip, and a perfect opportunity for Zik to give Amelia her first flying lesson. She looks like she was born flying!
WELCOME TO ZIK EPISODE 2! And look at that! Zik is in full color now! That’s right, from this chapter onward you’ll get to enjoy the adventures of your favorite space hero in color. The first episode was in greyscale because I’m still learning the craft of comic making, and I wanted to focus on other aspects first without having to learn color on top of it. It’s also cheaper to print, so that will allow me to get episode 1 into a book sooner!
Buckle up, let’s get this episode soaring into the stars!
Zik turns to James Anchor and thanks him again for arriving in the nick of time. Our heroes seem to have gotten away! But Zik thinks it may have been too easy. Think about it: Queen Elcyra wasn’t aiming her torpedoes properly, and she all but ceased fire right after the Kodiak landed its first shot. Zik thinks she let them go! But why?
Meanwhile, Trent and Amelia have arrived on the bridge in their new space suits! This will keep them much safer while traveling in the dangerous environment of space! (Seriously, why the heck do people on Star Trek wear pajamas to work?)
And, clinging to the hull, deader than a doornail, is the clonoid that Queen Elcyra planted on the hull of the Kodiak…
WOW! It’s the end of the first chapter of Zik, The Gallant Defender of Zoz! Prison Planet has been quite an epic tale, clocking in at 147 pages! I’d like to take a moment to thank the people who have supported me in getting here, especially Adam Black and Raven Perez for their art and story-writing advice. These guys are great coaches! Also, all the great readers who have been tuning in every week to see the continuing adventures of their favorite space hero, and especially the awesome site members who have signed up to get the extras. And lastly, my awesome family for being supportive as I spend countless hours drawing and drawing and drawing. Thanks!
Episode 2 starts very shortly! Next week I will be featuring some amazing fan art that up until now has only been available for site members. The week after that, a whole new Zik adventure begins, along with a major shift! Stay tuned, you’ll be blown away!
Zik has gotten a direct hit on Queen Elcyra’s massive ship! James Anchor notices that it’s had the desired effect: the rate of fire from Queen Elcyra’s ship has dropped off dramatically! That means it’s time to get the heck out of here, and he gives that order to the helmsman Gerald. James also gives Zik the green light to cover their escape with a few more rounds from the Kodiak’s howitzers! Boom! How do you like that, you tyrant?! Elcyra’s ship is now leaking air from three big holes!
