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Glenmetropolis: A. S. Phyxia

Published: Apr 18, 2017

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Description

This drawing started out as something else entirely. However, it inspired me to draw more "informative" images about the project that is Glenmetropolis before I can get back to drawing the actual comic.

Let's start with the character that essentially made Glenmetropolis into what it is today - A. S. Phyxia.

This British villainess started out as a blatant expy of Disney's Cruella De Vil (the original 1961 version, of course). One of the things that stand out the most about Cruella, besides her hair, her love for fur and inhumane, scenery-chewing attitude is her smoking. In the movie, it's brilliantly used to visually illustrate how (literally) toxic a person she is.

But what if that trait was pushed to an extreme?

Enter A. S. Phyxia. Originally named Archange Suzan Phyxia, she was the first of my characters to "grow" a personality. She used to just be a tool to illustrate various scenarios, as were many of my characters when I started drawing. However, as time went by, I slowly traced her personality and backstory over Cruella's - minus the age. She started out as a brash, angry woman with little regards for anyone but herself, knocking people out with her strange ash-hair and smoke for no particular reason.

As time went on however, she became a heiress, having lost her parents in an "unfortunate blender accident" if memory serves me right. Her hair was the result of her own carelessness in a science lab. For some unexplained reason, she then turned into the fashion business.

Now, she is Ashley Suzan Phyxia. President of the Phyxia Corporation (funded in part by her heritage). She is still rough around the edges, but she's grown a heart and a brain since her inception.

Visually, I again took obvious inspiration from Cruella De Vil for her earlier designs. She once donned a floor-length green dyed fox coat, and had a long cigarette holder. At some point, I decided to draw her without the weird granny-esque glasses I'd given her, and started drawing her eyes like the rest of my characters. I think the 1960s influence is still present in her more stripped down designs, as made apparent by the jumpsuit-like dress.

I never envisioned her as having to show cleavage, although some iterations of her costume do. In fact, I think it's fitting to have her wear a turtleneck underneath her dress. She still has hints of Cruella's design in that she wears fur and uses cigarette holders, but I don't want her to be just a clone of the character anymore. Neither visually or personality-wise.

Here's a more comprehensive biography:

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Name: A. S. Phyxia

Real Name: Ashley Suzan Phyxia

Height: 6'4" (including the hair)

Weight: 127 lbs.

Age: 32

IQ: 147

Hair: None (from a technical standpoint)

Eyes: Sky blue

Nationality: British

Birthplace: Ogdenfjord, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Family: Irma Phyxia (Mother, deceased), Glyn Llewynn Phyxia (Father, deceased)

Noticeable Traits: Has cigarette ashes instead of hair, which constantly exude smoke

Allegiances: OHFACE, Stomp, Loan Shark, Loretta Naysmith

Enemies: M.O.A.N., The Chessmaster, Stunt Flyer, Disturbia, "Gooper" (true identity unknown)

Powers: Capnokinesis (Smoke Manipulation)

Weapons: None

Despite her upbringing in one of the UK's wealthiest families, Ashley Eleanor Suzan Elizabeth Gwynn Phyxia, as staggeringly long as that name appears on her birth certificate, was not content with being "just another rich girl". From an early age, she developed an interest (and aptitude) for science. Her parents thoroughly encouraged and supported her throughout her academic path. However, when she was 20, tragedy hit. As she was smoking a cigarette after class outside of the applied chemical studies department building and laboratory at Rutherford University, she and a colleague were startled when they heard the sound of glass shattering. With luck forsaking her, the young lass was quickly covered in an unidentified goop just seconds after the explosion. Without missing a beat, she went inside, straight for the decontamination showers. It was after she was thoroughly decontaminated and examined by professors on the premise that she was told what had just transpired - A freshman had remained in the labs to conduct unsanctioned experiments, thinking it would net him "extracurricular credits" (it actually netted him an immediate expulsion from Rutherford University for endangering the lives of his fellow students). They never mentioned the student's name, but to everyone's relief, it seemed as though he hadn't caused any serious damage besides the shattered window and lab equipment. Though they couldn't assess the nature of the chemical Ashley had been covered by (due to her rapid decontamination after the facts), the Rutherford professors assured her she didn't have anything to worry about. She didn't show any signs of radiation poisoning or any such life-threatening conditions. Or any, in fact - she looked as prim and proper as she usually did.

It wasn't until the next morning though that she realized there was, in fact, a slight hiccup. Indeed, Ashley was awoken by the strong scent of cigarette smoke. Thinking she'd gone to bed without extinguishing her last smoke, she got up... but it was morning. Clearly, a cigarette couldn't have burned the entire night through. Even stranger, the smell of smoke seemed to get more and more intense with each passing moment, as if it was following her. Young miss Phyxia was certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she couldn't have been careless enough to keep a lit cigarette somewhere before going to bed. To be sure though, she checked every room in her loft. Nothing in the bedroom. Nothing in the living room. Kitchen? Nothing. Laundry room? Nada. Bathroom?

...Her eyes widened as she passed in front of the mirror. She gasped in utter shock. Her hair was... gone! In its stead, a long, straight cylinder of cigarette ashes... THIS was the cause of the smoke smell... This was the cause of the smoke...

For weeks after that fateful morn, no one saw much of Ashley. She had groceries delivered to her home, didn't answer her friends' calls, and used the intercom to turn away any who would attempt to see what was wrong with her. Cooped up in her loft, she cursed at everyone from God to the nameless "Gooper", the kid who took away her chance at a normal life in the field of chemistry. Who was going to share a lab with a toxic freak like her?! Not only that, but she'd be the target for science extremist who might want to perform unthinkable experiments on her to understand "what" she was. With all those thoughts swirling in her mind, she eventually got to a breaking point. She officially canceled her enrolment at Rutherford, and spent months planning a move to Glenmetropolis, in Canada. The city of strange freaks passing as "superheroes and supervillains". There, she would build an experimental lab of her own, and use her late mother's credentials in the fashion business to create a designer studio as a front for it.

The move to the city was done in as much privacy as she could afford. Private jet, personal limousine, the works. But as she stepped into Glenmetropolis for the first time, she was surprised to see barely anyone, except maybe those who walked directly downwind from her, payed heed to her. This mild indifference towards her condition would become the the stepping stone for her success in the city, both in legitimate ventures, but also, in her newfound interest in the criminal underworld. The integration wasn't an easy one, but learning that she could manipulate the smoke she generates into tangible objects and shapes sure helped defend herself as she learned the ropes. Quickly, she became one of the spearhead figures for both fashion, and unbeknownst to the public, crime, in the city.

Throughout the twelve years she's spent in Glenmetropolis, A. S. Phyxia had a number of tribulations, most notably, her trial for allegedly attempt to "poison and ruin the merriment of guests" at a high end, strictly nonsmoking restaurant. Not only did she win her case, but her condition was ruled as a handicap. Therefore, she couldn't be discriminated against for it. A rather powerful victory, but one that inspired disenfranchised and ostracized youths, as well as handicapped people. One such young woman was at-the-time paraplegic Sandra Trenaway...

Fate would unite Trenaway and Phyxia a few years later, after the former was afforded the use of her legs back, thanks to a very elective surgery paid for by her father and adopted brother. An aspiring supercriminal, Sandra, under the moniker Stomp, was recruited by miss Phyxia, seeing the potential in the young woman. Sandra is one of the few people whom Ashley trusted with knowledge of her criminal ties right away. She sensed the young brunette was sincere. Both sharing a past filled with fear of others' judgment, the two villainesses quickly bond, which most certainly will lead for great things in both of their "careers"...

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Man, that was a bitch to write! But I think it was worth it. Now, for a description of the image above. A. S. Phyxia is talking on the phone, walking around the Phyxia Corporation offices, paying no heed to the employees who struggle for air behind her. Even smokers like head of marketing Sasheer Gordon have a hard time staying around her for too long. This is the picture that, to me, best illustrates the character of A. S. Phyxia - sympathetic to those she cares for (namely whoever's on the phone with her), but indifferent to how her "condition" might affect non-key members of her life. After all, any employee knows that anyone and everyone is replaceable...

Ashley Suzan Phyxia (and any other aforementioned incarnation thereof), Sandra Trenaway a.k.a. Stomp, Loan Shark, Loretta Naysmith, The Chessmaster, Stunt Flyer, Disturbia, Sasheer Gordon, OHFACE, M.O.A.N. ©

Image size

4099x4663px 7.06 MB

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