Substack Attack: Sketchbook Tour, FUGLY Process, and Turbo Turtle Explained

So I finally hit Go Live on Substack… and spent the first few minutes doing what every dignified professional does: panic-clicking buttons and trying to figure out where the hell the controls are. I’m used to platforms that give you a cockpit. Substack Live feels more like, “Here’s the plane—good luck.”

Once I realized the stream was actually working (and that yes, there were probably three people watching), I did what I wanted to do all along: show the sketchbook and talk shop.

What I showed on the stream

This sketchbook is my “main project” book—the one where everything ends up: notes, layouts, test prints, character designs, and the chaos glue that holds the whole FWACATA universe together. I flipped through:

* A color print test for “Pachanga Part 3” (for FWACATA #4) because I’m that guy who has to see how colors behave before committing.

* The basic FUGLY template: six squares per page. Simple box. Simple limits. And weirdly—those limits make it more freeing.

* A peek at future FUGLY pages (Issue 2 deeper pages, plus the beginning of Issue 3) and how I outline each page with notes so I’m not just winging it and praying.

* My “PAD” streak system—where I try to do at least a panel a day / up to a page a day, marking off progress. I’m around day 43 in the transcript.

And then it spiraled (in a good way) into the usual studio multiverse: astronaut/Aztec-ish designs, luchador ideas, El Chuco (local mystical mask hero for El Paso), fantasy gravestones for Horlo’s Stand, ink experiments where I’m literally making my own gray markers by putting ink + water in water brushes, and a pile of “what if this becomes a shirt/sticker/book later?” sketches.

I also talked about the eternal Substack question: should I post sketchbook stuff daily, and does anyone even see Notes unless they’re living in the app? (I’m still figuring that out.)

The main event: Turbo Turtle

Then I decided to work on a character design and finally explain Turbo Turtle—because he’s going to matter more in FUGLY.

Turbo Turtle is not actually a turtle. He’s a guy with very short, stumpy legs—born different—who’s brilliant with mechanical design. So he builds a suit that makes him one of the fastest guys around, purely through technology.

The fun part is how “technologists” work in my world: mad science isn’t a job—it’s a sport. An exclusive club. If you’re capable, it’s almost your duty to build something insane and dangerous and then see what happens when it hits the street.

Since people mocked him and called him “Turtle,” he leaned into it: Fine. I’m Turbo Turtle. And he made himself a badass—big arms, forceps, a suit that functions like a Swiss Army knife, with tools and extensions for whatever he needs.

And because this is FUGLY’s world, Turbo Turtle doesn’t fund his projects by being a wholesome inventor. He becomes a collector / paperwork enforcer / bounty-hunter-adjacent—the guy who can actually serve papers to superheroes and supervillains and make debt stick. Because yeah: if Batman owes you money, how do you collect?

He’s got this unicycle / single-wheel morphology, and the suit can tuck down into a high-speed “shell” mode—one wheel, armored front, ripping down the highway. His tires are basically nanite-like: they change form depending on terrain—off-road, slicks, whatever.

And here’s the spoiler: he becomes FUGLY’s partner. For whatever reason, FUGLY likes him. Turbo Turtle is a good dude with a violent streak and a story behind it—raised by good parents, but something in him is wired different, and I’m saving that reveal for later.

What’s next (and how to catch it)

This was my first “Substack Attack,” and I want to do these every Monday—plus I mentioned I’ll be live on Instagram Tuesday 6–7PM.

If you’re here for:

* free comics

* process and sketchbook peeks

* FUGLY updates

* and watching me build this whole universe in real time

…subscribe at FWACATA.com, and you’ll catch the next one.