I know, super-awesome title, right?
Getting back to my series of Street Fighter drawings–here’s the sumo wrestler E. Honda:
I have nothing further to impart on you, dear reader. Go forth and enjoy your weekend!
When you live within the greater Los Angeles area (as I do), any time there’s any kind of rain, every local news station assaults you with STORMWATCH 20xx!!! Literally, it could be an hour of light drizzling, and you have to listen to STORMWATCH 20xx!!! for a week. It’s basically retarded.
You see, Los Angeles is usually sunny and 70 degrees, so if it even rains a little, every moron out there freaks out, following the lead of our famously awful local news institutions. Car accidents skyrocket, even though the driving conditions aren’t significantly more dangerous, thus turning the streets and freeways into a gridlocked mess. Frankly, people are big, nervous babies about the whole affair. For the record, I enjoy the rain, and I do not lose my mind while driving in it (*knock on wood*).
Well, this past week we finally got an amount of rainfall that might actually qualify as a real storm–flooding, hail, the whole deal.
The rain has even given me a reason to wear a coat and a scarf. Unheard of! However, that is not the reason for today’s post. The real reason is that I have been metaphorically underwater with work (at the day job), and so a quick self-involved post is all that I have time for:
Post Script to my fellow California-ites: Apparently we’re in for more of this rain, possibly on an epic, legitimately dangerous scale? They call it… FRANKENSTORM!!! I wish I was joking.
Today’s post is for a re-design challenge at the He-Man.org fan-art forums. The thread is here, my post is here. The character is the villain Darkdream from the episode Eternal Darkness:
In Eternal Darkness, Darkdream cannot survive under sunlight, and is shown to have some kind of connection with Evil-lyn–she is his ally and it is implied that Darkdream has power over her magic wand.
My take on the character depicts Darkdream having returned after his most recent defeat/banishment. The elements that I added to his costume are colored to emphasise his connection to Evil-Lyn. Here’s just a bit of background info:
With the help of unseen forces of evil, DARKDREAM stalks Eternia once more! He maintains the ability to put his foes to sleep and control their dreams, but now he has manifested a powerful corporeal body as well, possessing strength to rival He-Man’s! Darkdream can no longer be banished by sunlight–though he is still weakened by it. The Master of Nightmares seeks revenge against He-Man, and against his niece Evil-Lyn, who deserted him during his final battle. It remains to be seen whether the Faceless One will choose to intervene in the conflict between his brother Darkdream and his daughter Evil-Lyn.
So there you go, I just decided that Darkdream is The Faceless One‘s brother. Makes sense, right?
Today I’ve got Laser Light Skeletor for you, re-imagined as (surprise) a new character. His weapon is a Havoc Staff topped with a humanoid skull as per one of the prototypes. I went with this weapon, and changed his cape from purple to black to distinguish him from Skeletor. His name comes from the Spanish version of Laser Light Skeletor, Ojos de Fuego:
In terms of color and design, Laser Light Skeletor seems like a mess, if you ask me. He’s got a great head sculpt, but his body has all kinds of noodly details that seem very un-Masters of the Universe to me. I streamlined the details, but did my best to keep the general flavor, so that he’s be recognizable. I’m pretty happy with the colors on this one… I think the warm oranges and reds play off nicely against the cold blues and blacks. But really, it’s the super nerdy background info that makes it all worthwhile…
PROFILE: His true name and identity lost to the ages, he is addressed only by his rank, SUPREME INQUISITOR, and spoken of in hushed tones by his official sobriquet, THE EYES OF FIRE, a name bequeathed to him by the High Priests of Infinita. Dispatched by the Elder High Priest, the Supreme Inquisitor seeks out and punishes the enemies of Infinita, burning them with arcane fire, and cursing them with ancient spells.
HISTORY: The Supreme Inquisitor gazed out from the observation deck of the Infinitan flagship. The glow of his red eyes was dull and smouldering. Trance-like, he seemed to peer deep into space, a vision drawing him in.
Many millenia ago, in the cold, empty halls of the Central Infinitan Temple, a man stands over two glass coffins. The coffins are the same size–one occupied by a woman, the other occupied by a mere child. The child looks peaceful, but so small in the full-sized coffin. The woman looks sad, but resigned. It is night, and the moons of Infinita shed cold white light into the temple halls, through towering windows and arches. The blue skin of the man, and the two bodies, almost looks silver under the moonlight. Who is this man, and who are these corpses, the Inquisitor wonders absently.
The man’s eyes are in a trance, emotionless. Looking at the two bodies, but somehow not seeing them–instead staring past them. He is wounded. His right arm and chest are badly burned and bandaged. He does not move; his heart barely beats beneath his bandaged, charred chest.
Footsteps echo through the halls. Another man, draped in a black hood and cape, approaches from behind. The Inquisitor does not know who this man is either. The wounded man speaks, as if to interupt the other, though the other is silent. “This was my fault.”
The hooded man’s chalk-white skeletal jaw and exposed teeth glint in the moonlight, his voice is tight with rage… or anticipation? “No. This is the fault of Eternian scum.”
The wounded man knows this is not true. But he does not care what is true anymore. “Will it make me strong?” He asks.
“Yes.”
“Will it make me forget?”
“Yes.”
The wounded man stares past the bodies. What is he seeing, the Inquisitor wonders idly.
The wounded man is tired. That’s the closest thing to an emotion that he has betrayed in days. “So be it.” Questions float through the Inquisitor’s consciousness. What will happen to the wounded man? What will happen to the bodies?
The hooded man walks away, his footsteps seem forceful… or gleeful?
The wounded man follows the hooded man down the hallway. It seems to stretch on endlessly. The Supreme Inquisitor now gazes absently not into the distant past, but at his own dark reflection in the glass, superimposed over black starlit space. In one hand he holds a Havoc staff, topped with a humanoid skull. A smaller humanoid skull is mounted on his belt buckle, flanked by black slabs of stone, carved with Infinitan runes. These artifacts have been with him for as long as he can remember, but he cannot remember where they came from. He touches his belt buckle lightly with his robotic right arm. He cannot remember where he came from.
Forceful footsteps in the observation deck. The Supreme Inquisitor does not move. Reflected in the glass, a hooded man draped in black appears behind the Inquisitor. His chalk white mandible catches the light. All else is darkness. The Inquisitor knows who this man is–his mortal master, the Elder High Priest of Infinita, second only to the God-King himself.
The clarity of the vision dissipates, and the Supreme Inquisitor finds himself swallowed up once more by the present, and by madness. He no longer wonders about the vision, not even idly–it is forgotten.
“What do the Eyes of Fire see?” Asks the hooded man.
“I see the future. I see war… I see Eternia burning.”
As should be apparent, I wanted to create very Vaderian mythos for this guy. Hopefully I pulled it off without being too obvious or too corny. A little obvious and corny is okay though.
Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums in my variants thread. The thread is here and my post is here.
(Posting early while the topic is still somewhat topical…)
I’m usually too slow and apathetic to take on internet memes or trends, but this time, it’s serious bidniz. That Conan O’Brien (AKA Cone-Zone AKA Cone Bone AKA CoCo AKA Conando) isn’t just funny, he’s also shrewd and classy.
Here’s some Pro-CoCo propaganda, please spread the word!
EDIT: I submitted this to Gawker.TV‘s Pro-Conan fan-art gallery, and they were kind enough to include it! Check it out HERE.
This past Sunday there was a documentary commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Simpsons, and Morgan Spurlock held up a comic with a cover drawn by yours truly. He doesn’t exactly say my name out loud, but I bet he was thinking it.
You can watch the whole documentary on Hulu, and here’s a clip of my fraction of a second of fame:
People don’t cut Lynn Minmei a lot of slack–I’ll admit she’s kind of an annoying character, but I think that’s because she’s (accurately) written as a person lacking life experience.
And now for your listening enjoyment (or displeasure), here are Minmei’s biggest hits:
Today I’ve got another He-Man variant, re-imagined. This one is based on a prototype for Laser Power He-Man. The prototype had a costume that was significantly different from the production version, so I thought it was worthy of yet another new character. Her name is based on the Spanish version of Laser Power He-Man, and I envision her as the cousin of Lazeros, the variant I drew based on the standard version of Laser Power He-Man. Here’s Luminosa:
Her sidekick, X-1060, is named after the product code for Laser Power He-Man, and his form is based loosely on the backpack of one of the prototype versions of that same figure. To answer your question–yes, it did just get nerdier in here.
And it’s about to get even nerdier… BACKGROUND INFO!!!
PROFILE: While a bit naieve and idealistic, and slightly reckless at times, LADY LUMINOSA is nevertheless a bright and determined young woman, with a keen sense of justice. She is somewhat sheltered and knows it–which makes her eager to seek out the world. Luminosa is close to her cousin, Prince Lazeros, who is both big-brother-figure and mentor to her. She has adventured in Etheria a few times, befriending young freedom fighters like Sorciela and Korujito, and finding strong female role-models in the older generation of freedom fighters.
In battle, Luminosa is armed with equipment similar to Lazeros–a synthetic Korodite-powered battle harness, and an energy sword. Her energy sword is actually a conduit that channels her innate powers into a blade of energy far more powerful than Lazeros’s. Between this device, and her incredible fencing abilities, Luminosa is very dangerous in melee combat. Though Lazeros is still her fencing instructor, he believes her swordfighting skills alone will one day overshadow his own, and once she learns to channel the full potential of her energy powers, she will be a truly unstoppable force. Luminosa’s battle harness is much more compact than Lazeros’s, but as a result does not provide as much enhanced strength, and provides no field of protection. This lack is compensated by X-1060, a lab droid modified by Lazeros to generate a portable forcefield and act as a protector for Luminosa. X-1060 is intellectual and fretful, constantly lamenting Luminosa’s willful nature and thrill-seeking.
HISTORY: Lady Luminosa was born to a noblewoman, and a low-born, but reknowned wizard. Around her thirteenth year, she began exhibiting the ability to manipulate light energy. Four years later, her ability was growing exponentially more powerful, but she could not control it. Her father failed to treat the problem with magic, and so they turned to science, and to Luminosa’s older cousin, Prince Lazeros. Lazeros became Luminosa’s temporary guardian, and began overseeing her education while studying her abilities. Using a modified version of his own battle harness, Luminosa’s powers have been contained so that she can gradually learn how to control them. However, when it became apparent that Luminosa also had an innate knack for science, Lazeros gladly recruited her as his research assistant. To Lazeros’s chagrin, Luminosa (athletic and adventurous, much like her cousin), was more interested in gallantry than science, and stowed away on several of his adventures. After Luminosa had proved herself useful on more than one occasion, Lazeros reluctantly decided that his strong-willed young cousin was enough of an adult to accompany him on his many quests.
Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums in my variants thread. The thread is here and my post is here.
In 2010 (wow, that sounds weirdly futuristic), I resolve to occasionally spare you, dear reader, from punny titles. See, today’s title is straight-forward and pun free!
My apologies to purists–while I do respect and enjoy Macross as the rightfully independent entity that it is (in fact Macross Plus is one of my favorite anime of all time), I still love Robotech, and it was a formative influence.
Here’s Claudia Grant, 2nd Officer of the SDF-1:
Robotech Tuesdays will occur at intervals of my choosing until I’m done drawing Robotech characters, tire of the exercise, or get distracted by a shiny object! So it is said, so it shall be done!
I apologize because I’m about to become to become a person who quotes his own twitter, but as I “tweeted” a few days ago:
I’ve had enough out of you 2009. When is your smarter, taller, better looking sibling 2010 getting here?
Well the new year is here at last. This had better be good! By the way, yes, I’m now “tweeting” semi-regularly. Super inane updates can be found at @jasonhohoho.
As has become a tradition around here, I celebrate the New Year and my Bloggiversary (in this case, my third Bloggiversary) by posting a sketch of Skeletor, He-Man, or some variation thereof. Here’s Laser Power He-Man, re-imagined as a new character:
His name is pronounced like Lazarus, but with an “-os” instead of an “-us.” What’s that, you’re dying for some super-nerdy background info on this character? HERE YOU GO:
PROFILE: An adventurer, inventor, and aristocrat, PRINCE LAZEROS is something of a hybrid between a Renaissance man and swashbuckler. He puts forth a devil-may-care attitude, though in reality he is a deeply motivated individual. Using his family fortune, Lazeros has developed an array of high-tech weaponry and armor. His battle harness (powered by synthetic green Korodite) mimics the principles of He-Man’s own battle harness, providing a personal protection field, and enhanced physical strength; his bionic arm-brace allows him full use of his crippled arm; and his energy sword is a formidable weapon, capable of cutting through metal and stone. In He-Man’s absence, Lazeros has become a friend and colleague to Man-At-Arms (the two have a friendly rivalry with respect to inventing), and a trusted ally of Team Grayskull. Lazeros has become somewhat smitten with Teela–this has brought him into occasional conflict with Savage (Team Grayskull’s other frequent ally) who is already his polar opposite in so many ways.
HISTORY: Once nothing more than a frivolous young aristocrat, Prince Lazeros’s life changed when he was caught in a terrorist attack while visiting the Eternian capital. The attack was perpetrated by none other than Skeletor and his henchmen. Inhaling a dangerous dose of nerve gas, Lazeros was lucky to escape with his life, though his right arm was left forever crippled. Had it not been for the intervention of He-Man, Lazeros and many others would have died. Inspired by He-Man’s heroism, Lazeros dedicated himself to bettering the world, and was able to use his financial resources to become an inventor and adventurer. In the years following He-Man’s disappearance, Lazeros is one of several young heroes who has stepped forward to fill the void. Dubbed the “Prince of Power” by the Eternian media, his exploits have won him much favor with the public.
Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums in my variants thread. The thread is here and my post is here.