So there I was, fresh from Customcon 4 (for more notes on what a "Customcon" is, please visit Joe Acevedo's website), with a blank for what I could do for the next event. I mean, there were those generic choices to attempt....another anime line, perhaps. But I don't like to repeat myself too often. Superheroes were out....way too many people attempting that genre. I played around with a few ideas when one day, the news reported that Douglas Adams has passed away. Rather saddening news; I've been a great fan of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (in 5 parts) since I first came across THE GUIDE in primary school. Many years later I was lucky enough to catch both the BBC TV series (urggh!) while the local library still had items of quality in stock (You wouldn't believe the amount of JUNK they now stock their shelves with) as well as the infamous radio plays that started it all. Many a time did I spend quoting bad Adams with friends in lousy British, Cockney and Scottish accents (Or would that be Liverpoolian?). Many years later still, the Guide still remains one of my favourite romps through Science Fiction, Sociology and Gynecology, and a good rereading or relistening of the book or radio play respectively still doesn't bore me one bit. (If anyone has leads to a good & cheap source for the TV series, do let me know...perferably on VideoCD. Digital watching is always a neat idea). Regardless, the Guide has a special place in my life, and it seemed only fitting that I should do a tribute. Customcon was, of course, the perfect excuse to go ahead with it.

   The main problem was, of course, that figures are a very visual medium, and the various incarnations of the Guide were mostly not. And in the cases where they were, such as the TV series and coffee-table picture book, they were wildly inaccurate from the descriptions Adams makes in his books. Then again, as fans of the series, or in fact anyone who has read the preface of the compilation, should already be aware of, every version of the Guide is radically different from the others, so non-coherence shouldn't be a surprise. Still, that doesn't mean it didn't pose a problem. In my opinion, the TV version was just too cheap-looking (And Trillian looked like a space prostitute), the picture book wasn't too bad, but a black Zaphod was unacceptable, and the comic book version was just a tad boring in terms of character designs.

   In the end I decided to wing it and "be inspired". Ironic, really. When I was 17 I actually did 4 full pages worth of big-head/small-bodied (Anime fans will recognise the term "Super Deformed") HHGG character designs, featuring every major character in the series, from Agrajag to Zaphod. So it's like coming full circle. Too bad I still haven't found that series of drawings, dammit, but if I do they'll be scanned in for this website.

   This is the end product. Drawing from a variety of source materials and inspirations, I tried to follow Adam's textual descriptions as close as I could, with some minor changes due to
                    a) Artistic License
                    b) Lack of time
                    c) Lack of skills & materials
I'm not saying it's any better than what came before, and I'm sure there will be others who disagree on some decisions, but this is, I think, how I see the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Please visit CustomCon 5 for the main event.

Once you're done, come back here, and click on any of the below to view the figures, along with explanations, design notes, sketches, etc.

Will there ever be another series of figures based on that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Find out, if you can...