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Page 4A • Wednesday, March 31,1999
Aggielife
T/flore thttn tram
He Battalion
The man behind the “Tube” reveals his humble beginti}
BY BOBBIE EFTEKHAR
The Battalion
cc
T
l ubularman,”
one of two new
comic strips in
The Battalion as of Janu
ary, is really not new at all.
“TUbularman” made its
first appearance in The
Battalion in May of 1990
and continued through
1994.
“TUbularman” was cre
ated by Boomer Cardinale,
who graduated from Texas
A&M University in 1994.
His first comic book,
“The Comic Book,” writ
ten in 1982, featured “Su
per Guy.”
“Super Guy” laid the
foundation, eventually de
veloping into "TUbular
man.”
“When I first applied
for The Battalion in 1989,1
originally submitted a set
of strips about some aliens
that get marooned [no pun
intended] on earth,” Car
dinale said. “Well, 1 didn’t
get hired, so I decided [af
ter meeting Matt Kowalski,
Greater of “Spade Philips,"
for the first time] to try
again in 1990 with a more
simple concept. I went
with superheroes.
“The superhero looked a lot
like the many different super
heroes that I’ve drawn over the
years since about age 5.
“The name TUbularman came
about while 1 racked my brain
thinking of any kind of name that
had not been used before. Super
man, Spiderman, etc. were all
used, so 1 went with one of the
words from growing up in the ’80s
— TUbular. As in ‘Totally tubular,
dude!’ 1 was hired by The Batt to
draw ‘Tubularman’ in April
1990.”
Cardinale said he bases TUbu-
larman on himself.
“TUbularman/Ross Wainright
is based a little on myself and my
own experiences,” he said. “The
rest of my inspiration for ‘Tubu-
a unidentified J
destroy Tubulrl
ECO-MAN J
t reduced inSe:|
1991 and hail
Tubularman's I
ever since.
Cardinale
“TUbularman
Kona mi, t_
the basic conn: B'o zombie
“The ‘TuErBkes place i
comic stripii' la te one n 'gl
about crime ::B e wrong tii
and partving. townspeoplc-
It’s about wliil c y ed aiou
pens when J: u l ' iecontr
tarnished protaH 11 -’ 1 dia ‘ 111 1
! lutH,larman/i#8 les in . ,lK ‘
deals with etiB 0VK '- dder
situations, ily P uzzles
against an ant* 1 )'
Duper villains,aB 1
nlend • U !' U L 'J' lhe
whole, etc.]. 'i sual desi 8 r
morous expene* y , 1
~ 1 , ffcund ot a ci
CardmjkfcWci.in ,,
ler, three ofc, lensi(ln
rLrUJmS " silen ' 111
eek High Hrk room n
1^ 8), a highest horror g
coming horn
(1993), the cop;
ture; and "Tjh
Lost Year” (195il
“TUbularman'ii
Mike FuentesAI
larman’ comes from the crazy
world of mass media and all-night
parties. ”
The setting of the comic strip is
in Space City, where TUbularman
is trying to make it as a big-league
superhero.
His alter-ego, Ross Wainright,
attends Space City University in
his spare time. Ross lives with his
roommate, Wade Poole.
Cardinale said he bases Wade
on every roommate he has ever
had.
TUbularman’s villains not only
consist of his many ex-girlfriends,
but also the Evil Dr. Van Brewski
and ECO-MAN the tree hugger.
Dr. Van Brewski was intro
duced into “TUbularman” in Jan
uary 1991 as a mad scientist re
siding in Austin who was paid by
in Hum ii in D%, Cuj
started a comparl
in Houston called Satelfcl
to distribute “TubuIartnA Bird si
now.papers across k& abk> g
' Satellite Studiosopmij WILLIAM;
like any other syndiMle,T* uted Fab '°
nale said. “The samesctofi®! 50 ^ 0 s Chai
are distributed at thesamiB' ent: ' Day
different papers allowdi*., But a bir ' :l
try." l de Th .
In 1998, Matt
Spade Phillips” joiiw.uV, cheeks g Se J
versilies run IlHjU, ^
aml/or S|i.nlc l>hill f ,fc* Fabi0 was
tahon is the only TexaJWWhdge of his
to run “Tuluil.iiinan. 1 ' ftal.
Satellite Studios’ custo:| f “He’s fin
consist of college newspapffiBpokespersc
Cardinale hopes to expar; don’t know a
newspapers as well. 1 She said 1
It was an act
tStrickl
upcomi
LOS ANGELE
Suddenly St
tember Dav
3 st week.
The episo
jom will bet
April 12, with
yet to be del
er Warner Bn
Productioi
Ifter Stricklai
vered Mart
as motel rot
rew decide
take the ep
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