Gold Digger (comics)

"Gold Digger" is a manga-style comic book series, written and drawn by Fred Perry, and published by Antarctic Press. Started in 1991, the comic tells the story of the extended Diggers family, who live in a fictional version of Atlanta, Georgia.

The idea of "Gold Digger" was created by Fred Perry during his tour of duty in the First Gulf War. A budding manga artist, Fred realised that his squadmates would pay money for pictures of beautiful women. He put this together with his love of Indiana Jones films to create Gina Diggers, an archeologist/scientist. When he got home, he created a bodyguard named Brittany, who was a werecheetah.

"Gold Digger" made its debut in Antarctic Press's "Mangazine," beginning with issue v. 2 #11 in 1991. A four-issue miniseries followed in 1992 and 1993, followed by a regular monthly black-and-white series. The comic gradually built up a strong and loyal following, eventually reaching fifty black-and-white issues and a number of crossovers and specials, before resuming as a color series that is now appraoching the 100-issue milestone, and is in the course of issuing its own multi-part character-index.

Summary

"Gold Digger" focuses on the adventures of Gina Babette Diggers, an archaeologist, treasure hunter, scientist, explorer, inventor, etc. and her bodyguard and adopted younger Werecheetah sister, Brittany "Cheetah" Diggers. While searching for both the ancient history of the world (as well as any valuable treasure to sell to museums) and in recent years other worlds as well, Gina, Brittany, and their friends have unwittingly become heroes several times over (though rarely by intention on the part of the Diggers sisters).

Major characters

While Gina and Brittany are the original stars of the book, the series has quite a large ensemble cast, including:

*Brianna Diggers - Created when a plan to trick a bad luck curse into focusing itself on a batch of bioelectric protaplasm infused with both Gina and Brittany's biological and ethereal essences morphed itself into a completely new being (complete with both sisters' memories up to the moment of her creation), Brianna originally was also afflicted by the curse's desire to kill both Gina and Brittany, calling herself Grave Digger. When the curse was dispersed from her by Theodore Diggers, she was adopted into the family as Gina and Brittany's sister.
*Theodore Diggers - Arch-mage, member of the Mage Council and one of the most powerful mages on Earth, Theodore adopted Brittany after he failed to stop the slaughter of the werecheetah clan by Brendan, former leader and traitor to the werewolf clan. While his attempts to teach his daughter Gina his own magic arts resulted in failure, he helped her start into her discovery of science and technology where she excelled. Since then, he has watched both his daughters grow up, though not without the occasional frightening the holy hell out of their potential boyfriends (A simple act when one can turn one's head into a flaming skull).
*Julia Diggers - The foremost martial artist on Earth, Armsmaster of Jade, and the girls' mother, Julia originally was under the side effect of a spell cast by the Lich King (the undead remains of Jonathan Diggers, Theo's father) which made her unable to visit Earth, or interact with her family, except for one day a year when the planets and stars aligned properly. Gina and Brianna eventually cured their mother of "the curse" (which turned out to be a sub-atomic phasing effect, and not the spell's true purpose), and since then she has re-earned her title of Armsmaster of Jade (stolen from her through treachery by the Dwarvish fighter, G'nolga) as well as becoming a master of the Shun-Leep style of martial arts, starting her own school on Earth. Though originally well into her fifties, Julia reversed her aging by 30 years when she tapped into a previously unknown aspect of the Shun-Leep holy technique, Renewing Breath.
*Stryyp'Gia (Stripe) - A member of the alien Krynn species who arrived alongside the Atlantians and the Amarans on Earth centuries ago, Stripe was the prince of the former city-ship turned lost city of gold, El Dorado. However, due to a misunderstanding, El Dorado and Atlantis had been locked in a war for centuries. An Atlantian sorcerer, Gyphon, turned the tables of the war when he captured El Dorado's ancient royal heirlooms, which contained considerable magical power which he used to enslave the inhabitants. With the help of Gina and Brittany, Stripe freed El Dorado from Gyphon and the group eventually defeated him when he tried to conquer Atlantis for himself. Since then, Stripe became Brittany's steady boyfriend, then eventually her husband (after El Dorado returned to the Krynn homeworld of Aebra, releasing Stripe from his responsibilities as prince-protector of the city). The two have welcomed their first daughter, Tiffany, into their family, while Stripe has recently joined Agency Zero, an undercover organization manned by former superheroes who now operate under a Men in Black-like method so as not to give supervillains a threat they would do anything to destroy.
*Seance Lei - Theodore's apprentice and one of Gina's common adventuring partners, Seance is an aura mage of quite some skill. One of his more distinctive abilities, however, is being able to see the daydreams and mental visualizations of others, though he has no control over this ability. Also, true to his name, Seance has inherited his family ability of sensing and communicating with the spirits of the dead, as well as using his aura mage abilities in some cases to manifest said spirits in physical form. Though he originally was interested in Gina (and the attraction was mutual), he's recently begun a relationship with Genn.
*Genn - A Rakshasa, Genn can mimic the form and abilities of anyone she has encountered, though the act draws on her reserves of ethereal energy, which she also uses for sustenance. Though she could originally take on masculine and neuter forms in addition to her female form, she lost the former in unexplained circumstances on Jade. Brianna's best friend and former lover, Genn originally was interested in Seance because magic users generally have a much higher concentration of ether than normal people. However, this soon developed into love, though for some time Seance's attraction was held at bay by his similar attraction with Gina. However, the pair recently admitted their feelings for each other during the events surrounding a confrontation with the Djinn Madrid, revealed to be Genn (or Gennadrid)'s mother.
*Garfield "Gar" Silvear - A werejaguar and Julia's most advanced student, Gar is also a member of the Northern Edge Guard, a peace-keeping force in Julia's native realm of Jade. While Julia initially tried to set Gar up with her daughter, Brittany, Gar only worked up the nerve to approach Brit after she had begun her relationship with Stripe. Realizing that Brittany truly loved Stripe, Gar abandoned his pursuit of her, though the attraction remained even after he began to fall in love with Luan, one of Julia's other students. Currently Gar is recuperating after nearly dying during an infiltration into the wererat capitol of Dark Home.
*Luan and Carla - War scouts (the Jade equivalent of ninja) and Julia's two other Shun-Leep students, Luan and Carla originally were viciously antagonistic towards Julia due to her apparent dishonoring of the Shun-Leep school thanks to G'nolga's treachery. When Master Leep corrected them on this matter, their attitudes rapidly reversed and Julia took them on as her new students after Master Leep conferred her master status upon her. Luan (an orphan due to the execution of her parents by the knight-spectre, Rook) is currently Julia's second-most advanced student, due in part to her desire to accompany Gar (whom she has a budding relationship with) on his adept's pilgrimage to the Proving Grounds. Carla, on the other hand, is currently testing her skills in Earth's Universal Fighter Federation (UFF) circuit alongside Ayane "Mistress" Anno, under the circuit alias of "Desire". She is also illiterate.
*Penny Pinser - Fellow archeologist and formerly Gina's bitter arch-rival in the field, Penny and Gina reconciled their differences when Penny generated a substantial amount of income to help Gina out of an advanced debt that had piled up due to the effects of the bad luck curse. Currently seeing Kevin "Ace" Koss, Penny's yet to get him to commit to something more serious. Recently she and Gina have agreed to follow up different leads on two races that influenced Earth in the past, with Gina taking the history of the Dragon race on Earth, while Penny investigates the ancient Amonians who ruled Earth and constructed the pyramids as a massive spaceport during the time of Ancient Egypt.
*Kevin "Ace" Koss - A brilliant pilot who knows just how good he is, Ace is generally Gina's usual provider of aerial transportation, as well as Penny's steady boyfriend. Though he does deeply care for Penny, any hints from her concerning marriage has him running for the hills. He is constantly fighting off the attempts of Night Flight leader Dark Bird to humiliate him in return for his constant showing up of her at every turn, as well as recently having to outfly Dark Bird's new ace pilot Skippy, whom Dark Bird has convinced Ace will only return her hapless crush if she proves she is his superior in the pilot's chair. He is adept at flying any kind of craft, from prop-driven antique planes, to highly advanced jet fighters and star cruisers.
*Charlotte - Originally a bioengineered weapon produced by the canine rulers of an alternate timeline, Charlotte was used by Alfred Peachbody in an attempt to dispose of Gina, Penny, and their escorts. However, a high-frequency sound similar to a dog-whistle severed the dog's empathic link with Charlotte, who was turned from bloodthirsty monster to a very young and confused harpy in an adult body. Penny adopted her to train as a bodyguard similar to Gina's sister Brittany, and the two have become best friends, with Penny eventually slipping into a surrogate mother role for Charlotte. Charlotte proved her worth later on when she figured out the malicious intent of the awakened Saurian Befadoc in the prehistoric city of Civ-Alpha, and a recent adventure revealed two alternate histories branching off from that event, with Charlotte's alternates helping to prevent the alternate Befadocs from both histories from wreaking havoc in the primary timeline. Currently Charlotte has progressed from being the equivalent of a ten year old child... to something more akin to a thirteen year old child. However, her abilities as a bodyguard are considerably more advanced due to her training under Brittany.
*The Vaultron Force - A group of leprechauns that pilot the combined form of five cybernetic shoes, Vaultron, the Vaultron Force is lead by McKeith and Princess O'Lura, who designed the robots. O'Lura further designed two other battlemechs, Plasma Ballerina (which combines with Vaultron to form Pretty Flame Soldier Vaultron) and Nemesis Shamrock (which combines with the latter to form Super King Kamehameha Vaultron Ex). However, the Vaultron Force has recently met a possible match in the rogue Ninja-Pirate Leprechauns, who not only include O'Lura's older sister and fellow Vaultron designer O'Mommah in their number, but also pilot the transforming galleon, Gaollion. In keeping with the theme of anime-based in-jokes and parodies, the Vaultron Force was distinctly designed to be a parody of Voltron (hence the name Vaultron Force), and the original anime from which one of the Voltrons was created, Golion. The Vaultron Force's code names are based upon the shapes seen in General Mills "Lucky Charms" cereal.
*The Mall Rats - A trio of young wererats raised as a tight-knit group of assassin-warriors ostensibly raised to eliminate the last werecheetah. Recent events in the Throne of Shadows special mini-series have shown that the real purpose was to train Lydia McKraken as heir to the clan leadership and provide her with a pair of loyal friends/lovers to add extra protection.

Plot influences

Thanks to Fred's wide-ranging interests, the stories have ranged to include fantasy, sci-fi, superheroes, and parodies of "Thundercats", "Voltron", and "G.I. Joe". Most of these parodies were pretty much tongue-in-cheek. Since then, plot elements that were previously unrelated have started to intertwine in the current storyline. Good examples of this was the recent revelation that the supervillain Array was one of the Draconic Heirlooms, which were given to them by the legendary Merlin (who was "human before there were humans"), and the Gaoblin, servant race to the Dynasty (the sole remaining family of Gardners, corrupted by their power), who have been revealed to have secretly slaughtered and replaced the races of the Krynn, Atlantians, and other 'cattle' races far in the past through genetically re-engineering their own bodies, despite the modern versions of those races being unaware of the fact and their true nature (which may be the true cause of the modern Krynn and Atlantians' loss of their ancient historical records).

External links

* [http://www.antarctic-press.com/ Antarctic Press] - Publisher of the "Gold Digger" series, collections and spinoffs
* [http://www.cheetaholics.net/ Cheetaholics] - Official "Gold Digger" website
* [http://www.fredperryfanclub.org/ Fred Perry Fan Club]
* [http://gd-tangent.tsunami-art.com/ GD Tangent] - A webcomic by Fred Perry featuring drawings of various Gold Digger characters, "Lvlup", set in Vana'diel (the world of Final Fantasy XI), and two Gold Digger subcomics, "Ayane", set on Earth, and "Northern Edge", set in the world of Jade.