Captain Extruder is back!
Machinery firm U.S. Extruders debuted the superhero last year in a digital comic story to promote its business. That story was created by marketing manager Eric Adair and professional artist Gavin Guidry.
This time around, Adair has taken over the artwork in a new story that's on the firm's website. Guidry, meanwhile, has moved on to Marvel Comics, where he's working on a Captain America graphic novel.
(I really hope Guidry's Captain Extruder story is what got him the Marvel gig. "Hey, you're the Captain Extruder guy!")
The new story features the good captain and several executives with Waverly, R.I.-based U.S. Extruders helping an extrusion firm buy a new extruder. U.S. Extruders execs depicted in the story are CEO Dan Schilke, president Bill Kramer, regional sales manager Doug Johnson and process technology director Kevin Slusarz.
Adair is a longtime comics fan who started college as an art major before switching to business. "I've always loved art and have been very active in it since a young kid," he told Plastics News. "I've never published any of my art other than graphic design work."
"I'm often sketching and drawing in my spare time, so when [Guidry] was unavailable, my wife encouraged me give it try," Adair added.
As for using real U.S. Extruders staff in the story, Adair said that the firm "often says that our people make the difference, so in this edition I wanted to show some of the real heroes that don't wear a cape."
U.S. Extruders recently was named to Plastics News' Best Places to Work list for the fourth consecutive year. The firm supplies extruders and screws and also does rebuild and retrofit work from a facility that covers almost 48,000 square feet.