Look for LobStar on Kickstarter 11/4/25!
@badneighbor.bsky.social
Writer-artist-editor-publisher. One half of Very Big Comics. Cast member of Dungeons & Randomness. Player of Warhammer and Warcraft and sometimes fighting games. Husband. Dad.
With 2 hours left, we're only $100 away from $3k and 1 backer from the funny number. Someone has an opportunity to be a real hero, here.
Verybigcomics.com/lobstar
Verybigcomics.com/lobstar
December 4, 2025 at 1:20 PM
With 2 hours left, we're only $100 away from $3k and 1 backer from the funny number. Someone has an opportunity to be a real hero, here.
Verybigcomics.com/lobstar
Verybigcomics.com/lobstar
For the last day of the LobStar campaign I want to share this drawing of Matt my 7 year old did because he likes that his dad makes comic books. It's nice to hear my boys be excited by or even proud of what I do.
24 hours left in the campaign, if you want to get in on it
verybigcomics.com/lobstar
24 hours left in the campaign, if you want to get in on it
verybigcomics.com/lobstar
December 3, 2025 at 3:12 PM
For the last day of the LobStar campaign I want to share this drawing of Matt my 7 year old did because he likes that his dad makes comic books. It's nice to hear my boys be excited by or even proud of what I do.
24 hours left in the campaign, if you want to get in on it
verybigcomics.com/lobstar
24 hours left in the campaign, if you want to get in on it
verybigcomics.com/lobstar
Would society even see them as a hero? What would the people in charge do about it, since it’s their systems the hero is dissatisfied with?
So without giving too much away for future chapters of LobStar, that’s why this is a superhero story.
So without giving too much away for future chapters of LobStar, that’s why this is a superhero story.
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Would society even see them as a hero? What would the people in charge do about it, since it’s their systems the hero is dissatisfied with?
So without giving too much away for future chapters of LobStar, that’s why this is a superhero story.
So without giving too much away for future chapters of LobStar, that’s why this is a superhero story.
LobStar is my best attempt at telling a superhero story about someone who’s trying to take a more “progressive” approach to saving the world. What if the status quo wasn’t worth protecting? What if the hero disagrees with what constitutes justice and wants to enact change on the world to save it?
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
LobStar is my best attempt at telling a superhero story about someone who’s trying to take a more “progressive” approach to saving the world. What if the status quo wasn’t worth protecting? What if the hero disagrees with what constitutes justice and wants to enact change on the world to save it?
Those with great power often use it to protect the systems that are in place rather than to find ways to fix those systems. It’s often the *villains* who are trying to enact change, but are written so that they take things too far and hurt innocent people so the hero has no choice but to stop them.
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Those with great power often use it to protect the systems that are in place rather than to find ways to fix those systems. It’s often the *villains* who are trying to enact change, but are written so that they take things too far and hurt innocent people so the hero has no choice but to stop them.
When they're done well, superhero stories really do work as a sort of modern mythology, delivering messages with a lot more boldness than other styles.
And again, they’re just fun.
But, superheroes have traditionally been very conservative in their approach to what things like duty and truth are.
And again, they’re just fun.
But, superheroes have traditionally been very conservative in their approach to what things like duty and truth are.
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
When they're done well, superhero stories really do work as a sort of modern mythology, delivering messages with a lot more boldness than other styles.
And again, they’re just fun.
But, superheroes have traditionally been very conservative in their approach to what things like duty and truth are.
And again, they’re just fun.
But, superheroes have traditionally been very conservative in their approach to what things like duty and truth are.
They’re fun to write and read, and in my opinion they’re an excellent way to convey a message. Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. Great power, great responsibility. People fear what they don’t understand. Hope. Duty. Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
They’re fun to write and read, and in my opinion they’re an excellent way to convey a message. Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. Great power, great responsibility. People fear what they don’t understand. Hope. Duty. Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Why make a *superhero* story about a lobsterman?
The concept seems like it would probably do okay as a more realistic slice-of-life story, or an adventure comic, or even something like horror. Maine has enough of a reputation for being spooky.
The easy answer is because superheroes are fun.
The concept seems like it would probably do okay as a more realistic slice-of-life story, or an adventure comic, or even something like horror. Maine has enough of a reputation for being spooky.
The easy answer is because superheroes are fun.
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Why make a *superhero* story about a lobsterman?
The concept seems like it would probably do okay as a more realistic slice-of-life story, or an adventure comic, or even something like horror. Maine has enough of a reputation for being spooky.
The easy answer is because superheroes are fun.
The concept seems like it would probably do okay as a more realistic slice-of-life story, or an adventure comic, or even something like horror. Maine has enough of a reputation for being spooky.
The easy answer is because superheroes are fun.
So, that’s why Matt Murphy is a lobsterman. His background is in doing hard work for a tough industry that recognizes the need for sustainability over maximal profit. I think that helps make him a principled man, a good guy who stands up to do the right thing.
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
So, that’s why Matt Murphy is a lobsterman. His background is in doing hard work for a tough industry that recognizes the need for sustainability over maximal profit. I think that helps make him a principled man, a good guy who stands up to do the right thing.
Lobstering is still a tough business and the waters of coastal Maine are far from saved, but the fact that there’s still a lobster industry there at all is a success. Other factors beyond the lobstering community’s control (like global warming) make it an ongoing battle with no end in sight.
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Lobstering is still a tough business and the waters of coastal Maine are far from saved, but the fact that there’s still a lobster industry there at all is a success. Other factors beyond the lobstering community’s control (like global warming) make it an ongoing battle with no end in sight.
So while it wasn’t entirely for altruistic or environmental reasons, they got together to save their industry by foregoing short-term profit in favor of long-term sustainability. Strict size limits were imposed, as well as other rules such as throwing back females with eggs.
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
So while it wasn’t entirely for altruistic or environmental reasons, they got together to save their industry by foregoing short-term profit in favor of long-term sustainability. Strict size limits were imposed, as well as other rules such as throwing back females with eggs.
Some time ago, they recognized that if they kept harvesting at the rate they were going, they’d fish up all of the lobsters in the area. Ecological disasters aside, they’d also destroy their own livelihood.
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Some time ago, they recognized that if they kept harvesting at the rate they were going, they’d fish up all of the lobsters in the area. Ecological disasters aside, they’d also destroy their own livelihood.
Matt wants to do what he thinks is right at the expense of any personal gain. It was like a microcosm of the one thing I knew about the lobster industry before doing any research for the story: lobstermen of Downeast Maine were one of the very first harvest industries to self-regulate.
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Matt wants to do what he thinks is right at the expense of any personal gain. It was like a microcosm of the one thing I knew about the lobster industry before doing any research for the story: lobstermen of Downeast Maine were one of the very first harvest industries to self-regulate.
Why make a superhero story about a *lobsterman*?
“For the pun” was the original answer.
The second answer is that I can’t really think of an “iconic” New England-based superhero, so it seemed like a good idea.
But, why a lobsterman, specifically? Besides the pun.
“For the pun” was the original answer.
The second answer is that I can’t really think of an “iconic” New England-based superhero, so it seemed like a good idea.
But, why a lobsterman, specifically? Besides the pun.
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Why make a superhero story about a *lobsterman*?
“For the pun” was the original answer.
The second answer is that I can’t really think of an “iconic” New England-based superhero, so it seemed like a good idea.
But, why a lobsterman, specifically? Besides the pun.
“For the pun” was the original answer.
The second answer is that I can’t really think of an “iconic” New England-based superhero, so it seemed like a good idea.
But, why a lobsterman, specifically? Besides the pun.
This time I wanted someone with better cartooning skills who could carry storytelling weight and character expressions. I asked @sierrabravoart.bsky.social to draw it, by then my oldest friend in comics. We added Carlos on colors and @marinletters.bsky.social on letters, both now regulars with VBC.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
This time I wanted someone with better cartooning skills who could carry storytelling weight and character expressions. I asked @sierrabravoart.bsky.social to draw it, by then my oldest friend in comics. We added Carlos on colors and @marinletters.bsky.social on letters, both now regulars with VBC.
It took about nine months, but I finally found the story, what it was really about. More than a single issue, I came away with a complete 168-page story that represented a lot more than just a silly guy with a bad pun for a codename.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
It took about nine months, but I finally found the story, what it was really about. More than a single issue, I came away with a complete 168-page story that represented a lot more than just a silly guy with a bad pun for a codename.
Jump to 2022. I had a couple of self-published books under my belt. My partner-in-comics Kristi and I were working on the Fairytales from Mars anthology and talking about a longer-term partnership that became Very Big Comics. I wanted to try again on LobStar and we had a number of talks about it.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Jump to 2022. I had a couple of self-published books under my belt. My partner-in-comics Kristi and I were working on the Fairytales from Mars anthology and talking about a longer-term partnership that became Very Big Comics. I wanted to try again on LobStar and we had a number of talks about it.
I only posted 8-10 pages of Lob*Stah before I took it down; I wasn’t satisfied with my art and I really had no idea where the story was going. Matt Murphy and the Lord of Lobsters went up on the shelf, but I wasn’t done with them yet. Every few years I’d dust it off and take another stab at it.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I only posted 8-10 pages of Lob*Stah before I took it down; I wasn’t satisfied with my art and I really had no idea where the story was going. Matt Murphy and the Lord of Lobsters went up on the shelf, but I wasn’t done with them yet. Every few years I’d dust it off and take another stab at it.
The seventh comic we launched with was a little story called Hans Vogel is Dead by @sierrabravoart.bsky.social. It would go on to be published by Dark Horse Comics and is the only one of these Silent Chord comics to last. The others all fell away for one reason or another, as webcomics often do.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The seventh comic we launched with was a little story called Hans Vogel is Dead by @sierrabravoart.bsky.social. It would go on to be published by Dark Horse Comics and is the only one of these Silent Chord comics to last. The others all fell away for one reason or another, as webcomics often do.
Around that time, some mutuals were discussing a webcomic site, a platform for several of us who each had our own idea for a story we wanted to tell. We called it The Silent Chord. It launched in March 2015 with six webcomics. LobStar (at the time called Lob*Stah) was one of them.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Around that time, some mutuals were discussing a webcomic site, a platform for several of us who each had our own idea for a story we wanted to tell. We called it The Silent Chord. It launched in March 2015 with six webcomics. LobStar (at the time called Lob*Stah) was one of them.
I remember workshopping the script with the Boston Comics Roundtable, some questions were brought up that I didn’t have answers to, things about establishing rules for the world, are there other superheroes in this setting? How do characters feel about someone like Matt Murphy?
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I remember workshopping the script with the Boston Comics Roundtable, some questions were brought up that I didn’t have answers to, things about establishing rules for the world, are there other superheroes in this setting? How do characters feel about someone like Matt Murphy?
So I toyed around with the idea a bit, something about a superhero from Maine.
The origin story would be as unserious as the name: a lobsterman gets lobster powers from a lobster god and goes on wacky New England-type adventures. I sketched the character and wrote a 24-page first issue.
The origin story would be as unserious as the name: a lobsterman gets lobster powers from a lobster god and goes on wacky New England-type adventures. I sketched the character and wrote a 24-page first issue.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
So I toyed around with the idea a bit, something about a superhero from Maine.
The origin story would be as unserious as the name: a lobsterman gets lobster powers from a lobster god and goes on wacky New England-type adventures. I sketched the character and wrote a 24-page first issue.
The origin story would be as unserious as the name: a lobsterman gets lobster powers from a lobster god and goes on wacky New England-type adventures. I sketched the character and wrote a 24-page first issue.
In summer 2014 the name “LobStar” came to mind while driving to New Hampshire, and I thought it was pretty funny.
That’s the origin, really.
At the time I was a new father, our son wasn’t a year old yet, and in my sleep-deprived brain I’d been thinking about a new effort at making comics.
That’s the origin, really.
At the time I was a new father, our son wasn’t a year old yet, and in my sleep-deprived brain I’d been thinking about a new effort at making comics.
November 29, 2025 at 10:50 PM
In summer 2014 the name “LobStar” came to mind while driving to New Hampshire, and I thought it was pretty funny.
That’s the origin, really.
At the time I was a new father, our son wasn’t a year old yet, and in my sleep-deprived brain I’d been thinking about a new effort at making comics.
That’s the origin, really.
At the time I was a new father, our son wasn’t a year old yet, and in my sleep-deprived brain I’d been thinking about a new effort at making comics.
Wanna see something wicked cool?
This is the official challenge coin you'll be able to get when you back LobStar 🦞⭐️
This is the official challenge coin you'll be able to get when you back LobStar 🦞⭐️
October 15, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Wanna see something wicked cool?
This is the official challenge coin you'll be able to get when you back LobStar 🦞⭐️
This is the official challenge coin you'll be able to get when you back LobStar 🦞⭐️
LobStar is setting sail on #kickstarter November 4th! Follow @verybigcomics.com for details and updates!
September 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
LobStar is setting sail on #kickstarter November 4th! Follow @verybigcomics.com for details and updates!