We're still in the murky depths of the pre-Fort Paradox universe here, but we're getting closer to the actual start point.  Here goes Fort Paradox Backstage: The Bit Where We Start Infringing Each Other's Copyrights (With Each Other's Permission), and Some Alien-Species Concept Art Sees the Light of Day.

Sorry about the long-winded title there.  Sort of doing two smaller items in one post here.

I think the first time one of us borrowed a character off another was sometime in 2008, when Tim made a couple of cardboard statuettes of the eponymous protagonists of Cylinder and Miserable.  Then he asked me if I'd mind if he wrote a short spin-off, which of course I didn't, and the result was the aptly-titled C&M: The Fan Strip.

Sometime in early-mid 2010, things went the other way around: after I'd seen the first few dozen episodes of Brothers in Shells, I picked up a pencil and started doing the odd sketch of George Darlan.  When I showed my first drawing of him to Tim in July, he ended up using a spare bit of the page to show me approximately what the Namanc had looked like in his earliest concept art - which was quite different to the finished article.

And then, along with Sarah, we finally decided that a cross-continuity webcomic was a good idea, so we started making a list of which characters should be in it first - on the same bit of paper again.  So I thought I'd show you that bit of paper:

This was the first-ever bit of paper with Fort Paradox-related stuff on it.  Srsly.

Darlan's apparent moment of megalomania in this drawing is a bit out of character, really (or is he just quoting Jeremy Clarkson?), but the dubiousness of his gadget and the horror it seems to have inspired in Harry Forsen are much more typical.

And as an addendum to the history lesson: Tim rediscovered that very first Namanc concept drawing while clearing out his desk a couple of weeks back, and sent me a scan of it.  Which I shall now reproduce for you:

Apparently this was Darlan's conceptual grandfather.

I must admit I'm very glad that the plan got revised, as the Darlan we all know and... love? dread?... looks much better.  You know, without the eyestalks, one-claw 'hands' and multiple navels.  But then again, I can't talk, as I've done some really bad first-draft concept art in my time... e.g. when I tried designing some species for Universe XGT this last Sunday afternoon, and at least one of them was a complete disaster...

So, anyway, that's where Darlan came from.  Next week, if you're lucky, you might get to see the beginnings of FP proper.