I was wondering if there would be interest out there in making your own actual HeroMachine items, which would be Flash objects just like everything else — colorable, selectable, and usable on any of the six bodies. The idea is that I would release the Flash source files (like m1-RightHand-Expansion1.fla for instance) and write up some instructions for how to create your own items. People would draw their own items and send me their versions of the source files, and I’d compile them up into further expansion pack releases for others to use.

The source file for the main engine, heromachine.fla, would not be released.

The thing is, you’d have to own Flash and know how to use it. The code on the item files is very simple, all you have to do basically is change the name of the item in three places and you’re good to go. What I don’t know is how many people would be interested in something like that, and then how many would follow through and actually do something.

Thoughts?

Sometimes a good idea, a good costume design, and a good logo can all combine in an unexpected way to make something that is, if not exactly “bad”, at least worthy of junior high jokes about boobies. Case in point, DC Comics’ “Night Girl” from the “Legion of Super-Heroes”:

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Sometimes when inspiration strikes from your immediate surroundings, it strikes you upside the head and knocks you silly. This is particularly dangerous for comic book creators, who work in a fairly silly field already and whose immediate environment is pretty much their desk:

Yes, you’re reading that right — this is “The Calculator” and “Calendar Man”, deliciously featured on the same DC “Who’s Who” page. I anxiously await the introduction of “Blotter”, “The Stapler”, and the ever-intrepid “The Mouse”, usually found in his secret hideout, named (inevitably ) “The Mouse Pad”.

(All images and characters ©DC Comics, Inc., from “Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe” #4, 1985.)

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a rock singer dressed like a hippie became endowed with the power to scream people into horrifying visions and occasional amnesia, then go to a White Snake concert. I kid! Seriously, if you’ve ever wondered that, then the odds are fairly good that you have at least one thing in common with said hippies, and I’m not talking about wearing a peace symbol.

Regardless, Marvel Comics has beaten you to the punch, my brownie-munching friend, because Daredevil #100 brought us the sonic aweseomeness that is …

ANGAR THE SCREAMER!

The description of Angar (get it? Angar=Anger!) accompanying this image in “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1″ says he was a rock singer, but come on, clearly this is a hippie. I live in Austin, Stoner Capital of the South; I know me some hippies, and Angar the Screamer would be right at home on Sixth Street.

And if there’s one thing hippies don’t do, it’s scream. At least, not in angar. Anger. Whatever. If he were named “Melloe the Crooner” I could buy that, because this guy seems more likely to be sitting in the middle of the street, staring at his hand saying “Dude, the colors are so intense“. As for leading a life of crime and trying to duke it out with Daredevil, I don’t think so. I could see him trying to crash on Daredevil’s couch and making a move on his “old lady” after an all-nighter with a peace pipe and “The Doors” playing on the wi-fi, but not all-out fisticuffs.

Still, Daredevil’s about the only super-hero in the Marvel universe I could see lasting more than a page with Angar, because a hero who wasn’t literally blind would immediately know he’s just a lonely hippie, bring him to a head shop, and be done with it. But then, Daredevil always has had Angar management issues …

(Image and character © Marvel Comics, from “Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1″, 1983.)

You don’t have to know how to draw to create characters with the HeroMachine, but there’s still nothing like making your very own custom illustrations. So from time to time, I’ll be posting suggestions on how you can use your computer to do just that.

Before I start, I wanted to say a brief word about the tools you’ll need. At a basic minimum you’ll need a computer (duh) and some software to draw in. I use Flash because I like its organic feel, plus the fact that it outputs vector art means I can give my client an image at literally any size they want, from a small web graphic to a giant mural, and it’ll always look sharp. I also use a Wacom Graphire 4″x5″ pen tablet for the actual drawing. It lets me vary the thickness of the line just like I was inking with a brush, but you can just use your mouse if that’s what you have. For software, I’ll be using Flash MX throughout this tutorial.

And now, on to our first lesson — layers!

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