In which Our Heroes are faced with a curious sight.
FIRST APPEARANCE – Abato
It’s easy for me to date Scwonkey Dog characters up to a certain point. Do I remember thinking about them before we moved out of the trailer park? Okay, then they’re from the first half of third grade or before. That’s how I know I came up with ZapStar’s long-standing character design before Christmas 1989, and also how I know I came up with the series’s resident vampire, Abato, before then as well. (And until I Googled it just now, I didn’t know it’s actually a proper last name. Also, the word for “abbot” in Esperanto. Huh.) And yes, he’s a proper Dracula-style vampire, not one of these leather-clad angsty punk vampires we get these days. Never been terribly fond of any of these post-Anne Rice breeds of vampire. I mean, is it just me, or has every portrayal of a vampire since Anne Rice’s books been conceived as though it was written by the Vampire World Board of Tourism? “We’re not really monsters, we’re just misunderstood cool guys who like to drink blood. Wouldn’t you like to be a cool guy like us who drinks blood?” And the kids go, “Yeah! I’m misunderstood and angsty, too! And drinking blood is cool! Yeah!” Or something. I dunno. Kids today. Geez.
