The Evolution of a Character

The "Adventures of Jimmy Argus" stories and novels are actually a synthesis of many influences dating all the way back to my earliest childhood.  To those in the know, it is a combination of elements from Star Trek, Space 1999, Star Wars, Star Blazers, The Micronauts and a huge dose of Lego.  Over time, I began to integrate many of my toys and models into one cohesive universe.  The story of that universe evolved, giving life to mere figments of my imagination.

The central figure of this universe is Commander James (Jimmy) Neil Argus.  To put it in simplest terms, Jimmy is me.  Well, actually a very idealized version of myself living almost five hundred years in the future.  He's taller (6 feet), thinner (about 180 lbs) and can actually grow a mustache (one of the great disappointments of my life.)

To start with, there is the name.  When I first set out to put the story on paper, I used my own name.  I literally got a bit embarrassed about this after a while, so I set out to create a fictional name for him.  He retained my first name, since I don't use it anyway and was called Jimmy, after my uncle.  My middle name, Nelson was changed to Neil (the root name) and I started casting about for a new last name.  Now here is one of the funny parts.  I wanted something interesting, but short and simple.  I picked Argus right off the back of a poster (in particular, one of Garfield the Cat wielding a chainsaw, about to take his frustrations out on an early computer.)

 

The very first figure I made to represent Jimmy (or Nelson back in the beginning) was a Micronauts "Pharoid" figure with a repainted head.  The Micronaut figures came with chrome plated plastic heads, but the chrome had a bad tendency to rub off.  Instead or rechroming (I had no access to that then) I simply painted the heads as realistically as I could.  Originally, I used the basic head as shown on the figure, with the hair painted brown and a mustache added, despite the fact the side-parted hair conflicted with my physical description of Jimmy and the pictures I drew.

Later, I used "Squadron Green Putty" to create his correct hairstyle on a "Time Traveler" head.  Not long after that, I discarded the notion that he would have bright orange armor (despite the Star Wars flight suits and the Space 1999 EVA suits) and painted the whole figure olive green as it appears today.

The advent of the 4 inch GIjOE figures made it possible to make an even more realistic figure, especially when it came to physical proportions.  I've long forgotten the actual figures that the individual parts came from, and the boots got reused on a later figure.  The "Valkyrie Squadron" emblem was hand painted on the body armor panel.  The color scheme is still around as the "Ultra-Rangers" uniform.
This was the final incarnation of the 4 inch Jimmy Argus figures.  Once again, I don't recall the figures I used, but the body armor was somewhat better looking and the black and gray was a welcome departure from modern military olive and tan.  When I set out to construct my 12 inch Jimmy, I kept this color scheme in mind, though I did have to make a couple compromises as well as discovering new changes like even more sensible body armor (that doesn't leave the abdomen unprotected) and things like flight helmets and dramatically superior weapons.