Arkadyne, the Keenan collection
If you looked closely at the credits page for Arkadyne #1, you may have noticed a fella by the name of Woodie Keenan listed as “contributing mechanical designer.” This collection shows you what he contributed to earn that credit.
I met Woodie in the pages of an APA called Animanga back in the late 80s. (Quick reminder, an APA was the paper version of social media before the world went online.) It was a place for members to share various projects with each other. I shared my early Arkadyne material there, and Woodie expressed an interesting in helping me with the visual development.
He threw a ton of stuff at me that got me thinking in new ways. It was important for this world to have its own look, different from things I’d done before. I didn’t use everything he gave me, but his approach and creativity pushed me in directions I wouldn’t have taken on my own. For that reason, he helped make Arkadyne a better story.
I haven’t been in touch with Woodie Keenan since the early 90s. If he’s still out there, I hope he finds this and adds a word or two in the comments below.
Hi Tim, it’s Woodie. I cannot *believe* this page exists. I’ve followed your career over the years. I spotted your name on Spider-Man and Young Justice, tracked down Grease Monkey, and yes I recognized your art on the Votoms DVDs. Every few years I would look to see if you had an online presence during Web 1.0 and 2.0. Can you imagine my complete shock and utter happiness to finally find your site and see that a) you held on to these drawings, b) you still remember me, and c) those are positive memories.
As I checked out the 38-year old drawings and correspondence, my first thought was “Oh my god, I was such a pissant.” How did I ever get the nerve to lecture you as if I were the wizened professional schooling the new recruit? I actually suspect that I was able to take this tone exactly *because* you were such a skilled artist and so much better than me. It’s hard to be insulted by someone who isn’t even in the same league. It was that amazing period as a kid when I was discovering anime and spending hours poring over Gundam, Macross, Votoms, and Layzner artbooks, trying to understand what it took to make these incredible designs. I was a kid with a head full of mecha lineart, and you published your early concept art for Arkadyne in Animanga APA at just the moment I was (clearly) feeling my oats. Boy howdy, I sure was fulla piss and vinegar…
I also remember the absolutely fabulous way it felt to have a real artist take me seriously. It was one of the most wonderful gestures anyone’s ever made. Rather than brush me aside (which you were completely within your right to do, given my ridiculous tone…), you invited me to collaborate. And when I saw how you genuinely adopted some of my ideas and how awesome those ideas looked with your clean, elegant inking, it was just the best. Now including me on your website is incredibly kind. You were and still are a really thoughtful dude. I can’t say thank you enough.
All the best,
Woodie
Aw, thanks for checking in, buddy! As I wrote these articles, part of the fun was rediscovering all the side-artifacts that tumbled in along the way and remembering the joy of turning ideas into images for the first time. That’s always been the fuel in my tank, and I’m grateful for anyone who added their own fuel to mine.