Q-Basic Gorillas (webcomic)

''The following is about a Dozerfleet Comics DSHW machinomic inspired by a classic game. For the original game, see Gorillas (video game).''

Q-Basic Gorillas is a machinomic and film pitch, first developed in September of 2003 and then scheduled to be made into a comic on November 22nd of 2014. It is based on the 1991 game Gorilla.BAS for Microsoft QuickBasic, as developed by IBM. The story revolves around an office intern named Stacey Mirafuentes, who finds herself thrust into the violent secret world of Queen Qilanta's Gorillas and their arch-nemeses: the evil Ice Chimps; all while trying to recover the missing Gorilla leader Col. Flix. It is structured in the spirit of Transformers and Battleship, with just a hint of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Plot
See also: Detailed plot analysis for the Q-Basic Gorillas webcomic

In 1996, the Topaz Division of Qilanta's forces moves to North America. Princess Qilmara, a descendent of the ancient Queen Qilanta that founded Qilantan Gorilla society in ancient times following the creation of their kind after the Bokomar were transformed by the destruction of the Ape Transmogrin, makes her way towards the Topaz base in South Africa to oversee transfer operations. However, Qilmara and her guards are quickly ambushed and overwhelmed by the assault of a cannibal fugitive Gorilla named Brassandra. Brassandra vows to finish off Qilmara before the latter has any hopes of being coronated as the next queen, for sadistic purposes. However, a young Gorilla named Flix arrives, demonstrating his skills with the guan dao. Flix and Brassandra battle, and Flix comes out the victor. However, an Ice Chimp in the bushes is revealed to have been spying on everyone. Flix gets the Chimp to confess that the Felinus Transmogrin has been found and stolen, but not any clear plans on what the Chimps intend on doing with it. When the Chimp makes an attempt on Qilmara's life, Flix has him executed. As the Chimp is dying, his thoughts turn to the large, young new leader of their faction: Lord Quirini. Flix suspects that in time, the Chimps will want the Omni Transmogrin as well. Again, he is unable to deduce why. Qilmara has Flix rewarded by recruiting him to Topaz Division. A sequence of screens being viewed by Jaac shows him admiring the progress of Flix's history with Topaz from that point onward, as the guan-dao-wielding hero soon rose up the ranks in Topaz until he was selected to be the new Topaz Colonel.

In the present day, a young office intern named Stacey Mirafuentes debates with her boss Fred Regale about getting time off from work, while Fred shows an inappropriate hint of romantic interest in Stacey's mother, Anna Mirafuentes. As Stacey flexes out early from work on that Friday, Anna alerts her by cell phone that they have a friend's funeral to attend at church. Stacey says she will go; but notices what appears to be a blue chimpanzee in a cryogenic suit hopping off of the coffee shop's roof and disappearing around a corner. She hangs up and goes inside to check the news and eventually get some hot chocolate, disturbed by the realization that a blue monkey is running loose. Meanwhile, the National Guard base in Wyoming, MI comes under attack from the Ice Chimps. Aqhat and others use the Felinus Transmogrin to turn most of the troops into cats, and then they blow up the base. Captain Reggie Warrin manages to survive the onslaught, following the Chimps in a Jeep to the Lansing area to avenge his fallen teammates.

An hour goes by, and Stacey calls her boyfriend, Rob Calisome, while finishing her hot chocolate. He complains that he too recalls seeing a blue chimpanzee. However, their conversation is interrupted by Aqhat turning Rob into a cat. Stacey panics, leaving the coffee shop and driving home to her mother's house in a hurry. However, she begins speeding when she observes that she is being stalked by Pighat. This draws the attention of a cop, who pulls Stacey over. As Stacey tries to explain the situation, the officer grows increasingly unwilling to believe her story. He has Stacey get out of the car, ready to arrest her; but Pighat arrives and blows up the officer's car with a banana bomb. The officer fights Pighat in vain, allowing Stacey time to get back in her car and escape. Pighat kills the officer, and calls Aqhat. He urges her to continue pursuit.

Stacey gets home to find a note left by Anna, saying Anna has already left for church to help the ladies prepare. She discovers a box left on her doorstep, sent to her from her uncle George Mirafuentes all the way from South Africa. She pulls out the disc and watches it, as it documents the artifact she finds inside the box as well. A flashback reveals that as George and his assistant Tom Torrin were recording the video and alerting Stacey to keep the relic protected, Niqmad was spying on them. Niqmad warns the other Ice Chimps that he believes he may have discovered the intended destination of the Omni Transmogrin.

In the present, Pighat and Niqmad break into the Mirafuentes family house and attempt to shake Stacey down for the Omni. But learning of its significance via her uncle's DVD, she refuses to give it up. The two Chimps are about to have her executed, but a sticky banana bomb attaches itself to Pighat and kills her. Burrpatch arrives and stops Niqmad from killing Stacey. However, he is unable to stop Niqmad from escaping with the Omni. Warrin and Burrpatch are soon introduced to each other. Warrin agrees to contact the National Guard for reinforcements, whilst allowing Burrpatch to take Stacey into protective custody.

Burrpatch uses a cell phone to contact teammates Screechie and BB, telling them to meet up with him at the church on a hunch that Niqmad has sent the Ice Chimps to target Stacey's family. A battle ensues, but the Gorillas are still unable to gain much headway amidst the massive swarms of Chimps and no adequate reinforcements. BB cracks Aqhat's visor, forcing him to retreat. Anna is turned into a cat along with many others. Police arrive on the scene, and are quickly subdued by banana bomb assault. Nearby homes also come under siege, as the Felinus Transmogrin is left in the hands of the Ice Chimp Aliyan. Aliyan steals a police megaphone, ordering the police to stand down and vowing that "the Era of Ice Chimps has begun." He immediately retreats with his prize, while the Gorillas retreat to Topaz Headquarters with a very angry Stacey vowing to avenge her mother and her boyfriend.

Warrin seeks out additional National Guard personnel, informing them of the Gorillas. He is alerted that this could result in him being interrogated by Homeland Security; and he promises to cooperate and tell them everything he knows about the Gorillas. Stacey is introduced to Abelina, Jaac, Akilina, Pawel, and Jenica, whilst several other Gorillas move about and do their thing. Pawel checks Stacey for injuries, but doesn't immediately notice the strange device attached to her left thigh. She is given a lengthy introduction to the origins of Qilantan society. They decide to call it a night while other Gorilla patrols check to see if anything happens while the main crew sleeps. Stacey does her best to get comfortable surrounded by all the Gorillas. As the Gorillas head to bed, Screechie discusses with Jaac and Burrpatch his concerns over the fact that Col. Flix is still missing. The Ice Chimps being so massive in number - and going public - has all of them concerned they may be overwhelmed. But their leadership model quickly would fall apart in the field without a colonel to lead them. Elsewhere, Aliyan delivers the Omni to Quirini, the latter towering above all the other Ice Chimps. It is revealed that the Chimps were able to capture George Mirafuentes and Tom Torrin using intel from Niqmad. After Tom is murdered, Quirini has George tortured until he learns that the Omni will only work in the vicinity of the one to whom it was entrusted - in this case, Stacey. Quirini decides to move most of his forces to Lansing and begin the invasion immediately. Stacey wakes up the following morning and complains of an itching sensation on her leg, only for the Gorillas to realize that it's an Ice Chimp tracking bug. She's rushed out of the base and into town quickly, as Jaac tries to remove it from her leg and destroy it. However, Aliyan and Aqhat descend with an army, all of them bent on capturing Stacey. The Gorillas fight valiantly, but are defeated. A few unnamed Gorilla troops are found dead, with BB mourning them. Burrpatch realizes that Stacey has been captured, and demands that as many Gorillas deploy as possible. Quirini ponders what to do with Stacey, but George reminds Quirini that the Omni will reject them all if Stacey dies - preventing Quirini from using it to boost the Felinus Transmogrin's power and turn all of Lansing's residents into cats.

As Gorilla reinforcements arrive, a few of Warrin's National Guard reinforcements do too. The Ice Chimps move quickly in response, attacking City Hall. Quirini flies to the top of Lansing Community College's Arts and Sciences building, carrying the Omni and Stacey the whole way up there. The tide of battle begins turning constantly between favoring the Gorillas and Chimps, and a massive body count ensues. Just as Burrpatch and Screechie are about to be executed by a swarm of Chimps, Col. Flix makes his triumphant return with some of his own reinforcements.

He quickly explains the situation to them in Russia, then helps the Gorillas gain the upperhand in battle. Abelina is killed, and Akilina manages to finish off Aqhat once and for all. A panicked Quirini begins engaging Flix in combat directly, being one of few Transmogrinned primates that seems to be able to hold his own in battle against Flix. However, as Flix proves unable to defeat Quirini on his own, Stacey uses the Omni to turn herself into an eagle. This distracts Flix long enough to detonate an experimental new banana bomb type, destroying the building top that Quirini was on and killing him with it. Without their leader, the Ice Chimps retreat and vow to return when they have a new plan. Stacey changes herself back into a young woman, then destroys the Omni to turn all the transmogrinned cats back into human beings. Stacey awakes at Topaz Headquarters, with Rob and the Gorillas surrounding her bed. They recount that Abelina had died; but are all grateful to Stacey for her quick thinking and courage. Stacey and Anna exchange an embrace also. Flix recounts with Homeland Security personnel that Aliyan and the Ice Chimps still have the Felinus Transmogrin, and will likely try again in another city. With the Omni lost, the Gorillas' hopes of being human again are quite possibly lost forever. Flix vows that the ancient Queen Qilanta did not die in vain; that the other relics will be either recovered or destroyed before the Ice Chimps can succeed at their goals.

Q-Base-symbol.png Gorillas
The Gorillas primarily have Greco-Roman names, or names that sound African. Some of them have names that are derived from English words, however.


 * Col. Flix: Leader of the Topaz Division of Qilantans, Col. Flix is a skilled fighter. However, he has a strong affinity for working in his lab and tends to be shy.  While not appearing in public often, he shows up when the situation calls for it.  He is feared and loathed by the other Wandering Ones' leaders; as he is one of the only Gorillas that can stand toe-to-toe with them in battle.  As such, he is the only Gorilla that Ice Chimp Lord Quirini truly fears.  He was promoted to a private by Princess Qilmara, and quickly rose to the rank of colonel.


 * Pvt. Burrpatch: One of the most loyal of all of Flix's men, Burrpatch is approaching a rise in rank quickly. He often patrols with BB and Screechie, and acts as a default captain for them when Flix is unable to lead.  He is shorter and bulkier than Flix, and is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.  He has basic skills with banana bombs also; but is most known for his love of uzis and his driving skills.


 * Pvt. "BB" (Banana Breath): A playful Gorilla who is the shortest and skinniest of the bunch. He is, like Burrpatch, good at hand-to-hand combat.  However, he has significantly less skill with banana bombs and trajectories.  He is reasonably adequate with knives and daggers, but is strongest in negotiations with human encounters.


 * Pvt. Screechie: The most acrobatic Gorilla short of Flix himself, he is slightly taller and only slightly thicker than BB. He is known for being able to dodge banana bombs better than anyone else, and has in some cases successfully thrown the banana bombs directly back at the Ice Chimps who threw said bombs at him - landing on them the damage intended for him.  He is the most-skilled jet pilot for the team, and is fond of sonic cannons.  His weapon of choice is the screaming flash grenade, which he often shapes to look like a banana bomb.  He is also the vehicle expert, doing maintenance on the Gorillas' land-bound vehicles.


 * Lt. Abelina: In charge of base security for the Topaz Division, Abelina likes to remain in the base with Jaac. She has feelings for Flix, but fears that Flix cares only about the next mission.  She has been known in the field to be good at using RPG launchers to great effect.


 * Lt. Jaac: Flix's current right-hand ape. Jaac is the most skilled scientist of them all; growing frustrated when Flix takes off without him and goes off the radar during a mission with another division.  Jaac will sometimes fight, but feels reluctant to go onto the front lines as he's not very physical.  His skills in the control room, however, are unquestionable.  His remote van operations are likewise so.


 * Pvt. Akilina: An athletic Gorilla, Akilina is as excited as the boys to go out in the field and get things done. She is often playing basketball at the base; but is really good with gathering intel and hacking machines.  She is as excited and full of life as BB.


 * Pvt. Jenica: Her strength lies in cooking, and she is sort of a grandmother figure to most of the team. However, she will do field work if necessary.  She is renowned for being the only female Gorilla besides Akilina that can throw two banana bombs simultaneously and hit her mark with both.  Being one of the oldest, she remembers Princess Qilmara even further back than Flix does.


 * Pvt. Pawel: The group medic, Pawel is also a silent figure who delights in shuriken as opposed to banana bombs. His ninjitsu training comes in handy when aiding Akilina in gathering intel.  When not wielding shuriken or a medical kit, he will use a meat cleaver.

Deceased Gorillas

 * Queen Qilanta: Founder of the Q-Base, Qilanta made it the Gorillas' sacred mission to defend the Transmogrins from the Wandering Ones of every tribe - especially the Ice Chimps. Quite the fighter herself, she ruled the Gorillas with wisdom and foresight.


 * Princess Qilmara: Eventually killed by Aliyan, Qilmara was the princess descended from Qilanta's line that saw with her own eyes that Flix deserved to be an honored member of the Topaz Division. It was Qilmara, indirectly, that made him Col. Flix.  She was replaced in power by Princess Mazicha, who would not officially become queen until the events in Civil War.


 * Brassandra: A sadistic child eater who is executed by Flix for her crimes.

IceChimp-symbol.png Ice Chimps
Given their Amalekite heritage, most of the Ice Chimps have Canaanite names. Lord Quirini is an exception, naming himself after the Syrian governor Quirinius.


 * Lord Quirini: Lord Incendimore of the Pyrangutans and Col. Flix of the Qilantan Gorillas are the only two adversaries that are capable of striking genuine fear in the heart of Lord Quirini. Being suave in his speech patterns, he is otherwise ruthless on the battlefield.  He towers over all the other Ice Chimps, and even dwarfs Flix himself!  Easily able to hold his own, he is nevertheless subject to the same weakness as all the other Ice Chimps - needing to be kept in a suit that regulates his body temperature to stay at near-freezing temperatures.  He longs for the Omni Transmogrin, which he can use to set all the Ice Chimps free form their need for their suits and become regular humanoid chimps.  However, he intends to use the Omni Transmogrin as a secondary Felinus Transmogrin first; as he feels he must turn all humanity into cats for his plan to succeed.


 * Aqhat: Lower in rank than Aliyan, Aqhat is every bit as big a show-off. He delights in messing with his victims.  However, he has a habit of getting beat up almost as much as the second-tier foot soldiers do.  That he survives as long as he does is a testament to how lucky he is overall.


 * Niqmad: The top spy and communications officer of the Ice Chimps. In the realm of hacking, he can hold his own quite well against Akilina.  He seldom says much, but makes his words count.


 * Mishtam: A short brute of an Ice Chimp, Mistam is bigger-boned and heavier-set than the other Ice Chimps. He can easily hold his own against Burrpatch in hand-to-hand combat.  However, he is easily distracted when fighting BB.


 * Pighat: A female Ice Chimp. She works as something of a scout for the Ice Chimps, and delights in the suffering of humans.  She is determined to help Quirini secure the Omni Transmogrin; but is not above imagining for herself what she would do with it if she had it.


 * Aliyan: Quirini's loyal right-hand chimp. Growling cliche villain lines is not Quirini's forte, so Aliyan often does it for him.  His desperation to prove a point sometimes makes him even more dangerous than his boss.  While he refused an offer to knowingly betray his boss; he is not afraid to step up to the role of leader in Quirini's absence.


 * Various unnamed foot soldiers: The thankless grunt work is done by these Ice Chimps, who seldom speak and are not named. All the same, they work hard to bring about the downfall of humanity and serve Lord Quirini.

Humans

 * Stacey Mirafuentes: An office intern. Stacey dreams of marrying her chilhood best friend Rob.  Her world is turned upside-down in a matter of hours after the Ice Chimps begin chasing her for reasons she doesn't know.  Discovery of the reason shatters her world even faster.


 * George Mirafuentes: Stacey's uncle, a world-touring archeologist. He has been uncovering the ancient world of Queen Qilanta and her Q-Bases.  He sends the Omni Transmogrin to Stacey for safekeeping, not realizing that Niqmad was eavesdropping on him to lead the Ice Chimps straight to her door.


 * Tom Torrin: George's protege, Tom is spirited and a good videographer. He is defiant to his last breath of Quirini and his wishes, and pays for it with a horrifying death.  He aids George in sending the Omni Transmogrin to Stacey, unaware that the Ice Chimps are on to him.


 * Rob Calisome: Stacey's boyfriend, who is among the first humans to be turned into a cat.


 * Anna Mirafuentes: Stacey's mother. She volunteers heavily at her church, and is always emphasizing that Stacey make time for spiritual things.


 * Captain Reggie Warrin: A National Guard captain from the Wyoming, MI base. He is unsure at first whether or not to trust the Gorillas, but is convinced after learning of the Ice Chimps and what they can do.


 * Fred Regale: Stacey's boss. He is generally friendly toward her, if not too friendly.  He appears to be interested in Anna.

Development
The concept was first thought up whilst in a chat room. The Dozerfleet founder advertised the idea while using the username "QBscGrllas," and repeatedly asked users: "Where's Col. Flix?" From there, it was envisioned that the Gorillas were a once-human and now humanoid group under a spell making them look like ordinary gorillas. However, they're a paramilitary group all over the world. They battle the Ice Chimps, who want to turn humanity into cats and take over the world. The concept, for many years, was not thought through much deeper than that.

As of 2009, there was some renewed interest in the idea. This was because of two Transformers films that had come out in theaters, showing that a very similar premise could actually be done. The summer of 2011 was the first time that an actual effort was first made to visually depict Col. Flix or an Ice Chimp. An actual logo for the adaptation was developed in May of 2012 using Illustrator and Photoshop. It is stylized to resemble the logos for Transformers, Battleship, and Transmorphers. A banana bomb was added to the logo as a tribute to the original Gorillas game. The "Q" started out normal, but was later stylized to look like Qilanta's pyramid-esque Q-Base.

Initially pursued in the BLUSH format, it was later reworked for PDF and forum linear in 2017, but was canceled due to issues with The Sims 3 not performing well on the host PC.

Music
In June of 2012, a suggestion soundtrack was first explored. The main theme song for the story was decided to be "Sound of Madness" by Shinedown. At 9:07 PM EDT on June 19th of 2012, the 12 songs first assembled into one group for coming up with a sound for all three projects surfaced. That 12-song compilation became Q-Basic Gorillas: The Album.

On November 24th of 2014, "Connection" by Brian Boyko was selected to be the DSHW's front page music loop.

Reception
The concept has been met with mixed reaction ever since it was first proposed. According to one Facebook critic: "The weirdness of it, especially its character tics, are what make it so charming and fun. It may not be made by a major studio; but is definitely something minor independent studios should look into." It was hailed as "weird but brilliant" by other Facebook users. Chat room users have not yielded as useful of poll data; but opinions on the idea there ranged from "uninteresting" on TinyChat to "trippy" by users of TeenChat. EZBoard users have declared it "bloody bizarre," and efforts to generate interest have been slow.

On Saturday, November 22nd of 2014, the Mod The Sims user "Heaven" demonstrated interest via a private message in seeing the Gorillas' first story adapted into a Sims 3 machinomic. The film concept was quickly reworked into a webcomic production, with DSHW 2.6-M and BBCode as the planned formats. Scripting first took priority, so as to expedite production and avoid the long schedule that was required for Ciem.

Canceled sequels
On May 29th of 2012, the Dozerfleet founder came up with the idea for two sequels: Orangutans of Fire and Beneath the Golden Dome. Later on, Civil War and Obliteration were also inceived. But when the original's production was ceased, the sequels also stopped development. With the exception of Col. Relish in the Sims 3 story pack (link below), nothing else has survived of the latter two sequels. That same story pack contains some characters from Orangutans of Fire and Beneath the Golden Dome.

Legal issues
Given there is some possibility of confusion as to who owns what trademarks:


 * The term "QBASIC," and the original Gorillas video game, are trademarks and copyrights of Microsoft and IBM.
 * The characters Col. Flix, Lord Quirini, Burrpatch, BB, Akilina, Mishtam, Aqhat, Pighat, Indendimore, Roto, Veyour, etc. are Dozerfleet Comics trademarks.
 * QBASIC Gorillas is a trademark of Microsoft and IBM. However, the Queen Qilanta symbol: Q-Base-symbol.png is a trademark of Dozerfleet Comics.  Same thing for the Ice Chimp, Pyrangutan, and Ethermang faction symbols.
 * The Omni, Felinus, Anti, Ape, and all other Transmogrins are trademarks of Dozerfleet. Banana bombs are not owned by either party exclusively, but the mechanical banana bomb design depicted in fanfic art is Dozerfleet-owned.
 * The original Gorilla.BAS file is copyrighted to Microsoft and IBM. The fanfic's artwork depictions are Dozerfleet-copyrighted; but are created as derivative works made with The Sims 2, which is owned by EA Games.