It’s funny how I can nail the look of a complicated piece of machinery like the Preegan gun in just a  couple sketches, but then something like a beetle can take so many different attempts. Ugh. Anyway, the root beetles first appear on The Big Snow Job #1, Page 7 and it took a little while to settle on something I thought looked believably alien.

Most of the early sketch attempts looked a bit too similar to insects that actually exist in real life. Given the sheer wackiness of Mother Nature, I’m sure the beetle I finally settled on resembles something in real life too, but as of now, I’m not aware of it. It will probably be discovered in the depths of the Amazon some day. Or tomorrow in my pantry, at which point I’ll go hoarse from all the shrieking.

Note to self: the final beetle design would also look pretty cool as a space ship…