Geraldo Gila
Creation History
When I was in fourth grade there was this project where we were supposed to make a drawing of an animal using an opaque projector and I chose the gila monster mostly because it seemed the hardest to draw since it had all these bumps and patterns. Around fifth grade or so Bloom County became my favorite comic strip and inspired by it I started to develop my own ripoff of it with a gila monster instead of penguin for my main character. The name was obviously lifted from Geraldo Rivera who was big at that time.
And the idea existed in my mind for the next several years. It wasn’t till a summer between my junior and senior year of high school that I actually started to draw the strip, which was called Despert-radoes, and did about 51 strips. I sent the best of the strips to various newspaper syndicates and they were rejected (probably because the drawings and lettering were awful).
Sometime in the late 1990s I attempted to do a minicomic, which would’ve had Max Ruetra and Geraldo Gila in it — but after doing like one page of art for it — I just gave up on it and gave up on ever really doing a comic well at least till 2007 when I made the Legion of Net.Heroes Webcomic. And it would take till 2013 for me to do anything with Geraldo again.
Character History
Geraldo Gila working for Pope Lizardsaurus checks Max Ruetra out from the Mental Institution he’s staying in. He then delivers Max to Webcomiclot and gives him a tour of the place. Geraldo’s role seems to be an assistant or a fixer of sorts for the Webcomiclot commune.
When Max due to being depressed that he can’t come up with any ideas for a webcomic refuses to get out of bed, Geraldo and Tanza Late try to think of ways to get him out of bed. Geraldo shows Tanza a room with another webcartoonist that refused to get out of bed and how that resulted in the creation of a creature called Rippy Offy who chained to the wall of that room, but only exists when the Webcartoonist that refused to get out of bed is asleep.
During a therapy session with Dr. Shrinky McShrink, he reveals to the doctor that he believes that Max is a fictional character he created back when he was in highschool.
Geraldo prevents Dr. Deadbeat from stopping Max (who is possessed by his bed at the time) from freeing the creature by turning him into a head without a body. Geraldo explains to Deadbeat how they’re all trapped in a webcomic and how maybe it would be good thing if Rippy Offy’s was freed from his chains. Perhaps that would free everyone in the webcomic. But while Rippy Offy does manage to escape by taking over Max’s body — the only change that happens is that Dr. Deadbeat returns back to normal and Geraldo appears to be on a piece of paper. Dr. Deadbeat crumples up the piece of paper that has Geraldo on it and tosses it into a trash bin.
Years later, after Dr. Deadbeat has become trapped within Rippy Offy’s former body (now commanded by Max’s Bed) he and a small little creature called Learny Chainsawrf find there way into the ‘It’s Phnne ot im Frdyy’ webcomic-verse, which seems to be controlled by a now god like Geraldo Gila. Geraldo explains to Dr. Deadbeat, Learny, and Cleeve Cleaver that Max who is now being controlled by the Mechanical Webcartoonist is planning on ending the Ripping Off King Arthur strip and that there is probably nothing they can do to stop this.
Personality
Seems to know more than he’s letting on.
Powers and Abilities
Possibly has the ability to poison people with his venom if he bites them. And in the dimension he currently inhabits he seems to have god like abilities.
Appearance
A cartoonish gila monster with black and pinkish scales. Never wears clothes.
Appearances
Despert-radoes Dailies 10-35, 41-46 Sundays 2-4
Ripping Off King Arthur #3-8, 13, 15, 17, 61, 71, 80, 83-85, 87-90, 116, 130-131, 136, 141, 144, 146, 151, 265-267, 280, 285, 287, 291-292, 296-299, 303, 313