Sideshow: Goofball (Patreon)

Next Sideshow character serves as the circus's resident clown and the superhero team's main ballistic weapon- it's Goofball the Clown!

ORIGIN

One the first to actively seek out the Alvyn Showman upon hearing of his coming superhero circus was Diego Roberto Lopez. An aspiring comedian who worked as a party clown for kids birthday parties, Diego had gotten his unusual powers of self-inflation when he inhaled experimental gas he used for his balloon animal tricks, originally thinking what he had received in purchase as helium. The experimental gases granted him the ability to inflate all or parts of his body while increasing his skin’s durability, which with enough practice and control he discovered he could bounce, ricochet and rebound himself off surfaces at superhuman speeds like a living cannonball. He initially had used these abilities both to enhances his party tricks as a clown and a comedian, but when he heard about Alvyn’s superhero circus, he immediately saw an opportunity to use his powers for a greater purpose, joining up as the Circus’s resident clown under the callsign “Goofball.”

Like all clowns, Diego’s smile and fool-hearted good nature hid a lifetime of sadness and pain. His father had abandoned his family when his mother had contracted cancer, and as he had been naturally round and clumsy all his life he initially only took up jokes and comedy as a means to cheer his mother up before her passing, ultimately deciding to pursue a life as a comedian full time at her encouragement. Making people laugh, even if it meant they were laughing at him and not with him, was Diego’s way of finding joy in his rather depressing life. Gaining his powers, despite how useful they made comedy, make him feel like a freak, but joining the Sideshow to become a superhero finally gave him the purpose he longed for in his life to be more than a clown people saw him as.

Powers/Abilities

Goofball has the ability to inflate parts or all of his body, gaining high elasticity and density that allows him to bounce, ricochet and rebound surfaces at high speeds and agility as a ballistic weapon.

Fun story- when coming up with ideas to combine rolls of circus acts with superhero types, utilizing clowns was one of the last concepts I came up with. In fact, originally I had thought instead to utilizing clowns more for a villain concept for the team to face in their adventures (Spoiler alert: I still plan to, even though I realized that evil clown villains were a dime a dozen). But I realize that you can't have a circus without clowns, it's such an iconic entertainment long associated with circuses that it seemed just wrong not to have a clown as a major part of the team. The tough part was conceptualizing it into a character that could be laughable but also a serious, credible threat to villains. In the end, I ended up finding inspiration with one of DC's superhero team, the Legion of Superheroes (you can probably guess who).

So Goofball is your classic team comedic relief character, although in his case it's going to be played more in good nature like Aang of Avatar instead of chaotic and jerk-ass like Deadpool. Beneath Goofball's funny persona however lives a very tormented and saddened individual who is truly the one who needs cheering up in his life, and I plan to explore this further in the comics. So again like Aang, you'll see a lot of hidden turmoil coming to light in his journey to becoming the hero Goofball wants to be. Luckily, he's found a home and family amongst others like him with the Sideshow, acting as the heart of the team.

Big shoutout to our artists Gaston and Danilo for their incredible design work on Goofball! Let us know what you guys think with a comment below!

The Sideshow: The Greatest Superheroes on Earth © NRG Comics

Design by https://www.deviantart.com/sirhocuspocusfocus

Art by Danilo Cassonato