Thursday 14 January 2010

It's A Miracle, Mister!

Other than the involvement of DeMatteis (if I've ever read anything by Winick, it's left no impression either way) and Maguire, Hughes or Sprouse, I've just realised two key players were left out of the list of characters to feature in the new JLI biweekly. The pic above proves why Guy Gardner and Mr Miracle also need including...

...and if I'm gonna be greedy, Wally, L-Ron, Elongated Man and Power Girl would be welcome too...

Tuesday 12 January 2010

JLI-AyeAye!!!

With DC's new found venturing into brighter fare, look who's back:

Keith Giffen (though no JMDM)

Booster Gold
Blue Beetle (EEEp!!! Look at that Ted Kord-shaped shape in the centre, a post Blackest Night resurrection?)
Fire
Ice
Captain Atom
Rocket Red
G'Nort (maybe)


Saturday 9 January 2010

Mine's A Stella


Blimey, feels like ages since I've done any "proper" comic art but I've done a few bits today. The cover to the upcoming Pjang #4 will be a celeb mag parody and so I've drawn a few elements and illos, which Mr David Metcalfe esq will (using his graphic design experience) combine into a blurb-laden final cover. Above is the central image, based on Chris Askham's strip for the issue, a great look at something that almost all relationships have to deal with (well, to a point...you'll see when you read "Stella"!)

This was drawn on A4 but doesn't take the whole page and I'm relatively happy with it...I used my Copis markers to grayshade the pic before adding pretty flat colours in Photoshop, but my second grey tone marker ran out, making it harder for me to get a satisfying blend or gradation effect. Still, when coloured, it's not too bad hopefully...
Hmm, seem to have probs opening the top pic, despite reattaching it: here's a link to it on Facebook instead: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96430&id=522921153&saved#/photo.php?pid=5053798&id=522921153

Thursday 7 January 2010

Just Wrong


If "Draw me as a can of Coke" wasn't weird enough, after considerable deliberation, I was asked to "Draw my face in a lollipop!" Now these items aren't as random as they may seem, but still...this was just a bizarre request. Drawing a female face into a lollipop makes them look bald so I worked in some hair but not enough to make it look like a head stuck on a stick. The results are just...weird looking. Next time, I'm gonna draw a fairy princess no matter what I'm asked...


Sunday 3 January 2010

Top Ten Favourite Superhero Costumes

While compiling the list of top ten comic characters, I realised alot of my interest in a character simply stemmed from liking their costume. This gave me the idea of separating the outfits out and compiling this list. I'm not claiming these are the best designs ever (though I would hold that assertion for a few entries) but they are favourites. I notice that alot of my attraction to these designs stems from my childhood so nostalgia obviously plays a large part in the following list:

10. Wonder Man. While my adult self prefers the black spandex outfit Wondy's been running around in (more or less) since the mid-80s, I'm increasingly becoming fond of his original outfit, which I loved as a kid. I have a weakness for goggled designs (e.g. Cyclops, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, etc) and it's primarily the mask design that I still like here.

9. Namor the Sub-Mariner. Running around in his pants, Namor hardly scores high in the fashion league but this sleek, black early 70s design, complete with gold underarm wings gives the character a much stronger, dangerous appearance. He's currently running around in a slightly refined version of this outfit but the original remains the best.

8. Hank Pym. While I still like Pym's original Ant-Man design, it's a bit clunky and simplistic. The simple blue and yellow version of his Goliath outfit is much more appealing but still lags behind the 70s/80s (i.e. goggled!) Yellowjacket design. Great clash of light and dark elements, cool cowl and those funky wings, what's not to like?
7. Atom. Another character I like purely because of his costume, the Atom's simple, sleek two-colour design is nevertheless an interesting and effective outfit.

6. Wonder Girl. There are lots of heroines with great costumes but there's an undefinable quality to Wonder Girl's classic costume that just shouts grace to me. Maybe it's something to do with the way she was characterised in the New Teen Titans (becoming a beloved character to many), but whatever this still stands as the best outfit sported by either Donna Troy or Cassie Sandsmark and would actually be a more practical outfit then the iconic Wonder Woman costume.
5. Captain Marvel. Despite also still having a fondness for the original 60s design, it's the more famous red and black Captain Marvel design that I love. The black and red works well (I nearly put the similarly-coloured Tarantula in this list but his bandanna mask and silly boots lost him a place) and while the pants may not work as well to modern eyes as Genis-Vell's redesigned version, Mar-Vell's open-faced mask allows more of the hero underneath to show through. Another great example of mixing simple colours.

4. Dr Fate. While the yellow and blue colour balance works well, it's that beautiful helmet design that makes Dr Fate such a favourite for me. There's nothing else quite like it but it's another sleek and simple creation that just looks great (the short lived 1940s truncated version showing Kent Nelson's lower face lost all the elegance from the ensemble).

3. Nova. Another example of a cool light/dark colour combination, topped off with a sleek helmet adorned with a star design to add interest. The 90s saw a slightly streamlined version introduced, one that remains the character's best design.

2. Captain Marvel/Marvel Family. Improving on the fairly bland Superman template, the original Captain Marvel's costume is a perfect example of superhero iconography. A simple but elegant primary-coloured outfit topped off with a powerful chest emblem and accentuating (white indicating purity) cape. Although perhaps less obviously heroic due to it's darker blue and red palette, Captain Marvel Jr's outfit is still probably nevertheless a slight improvement over his originator's costume due to it's cooler colour scheme---and if it inspired Elvis' look, how can it be that wrong?

1. The Flash Family. I have a hard time deciding who has the best outfit, the Flash, Kid Flash or the Reverse Flash, so I'm lumping them all together. Like the Atom, they are all sleekly designed with a simple dual primary coloured palette that makes the characters pop well. Any one of these three designs could easily stand as a contender for greatest superhero design ever.