Monthly Archives: August 2010

Caption Contest 82 VOTE!

Thanks to everyone who entered Caption Contest 82, they were a hoot to read. I've picked the ones I thought were the funniest for you all to vote on; the top vote getter as of next Monday will receive his or her choice of either any item they like, or a portrait, to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 product.

Good luck everyone and congratulations on being a Finalist!

[polldaddy poll="3667069"]

META: Slowness

Sorry for the delays on posts, specifically the results from the last caption contest. I've been having very frustrating internet connection issues the last couple of days. I should have the results up in a bit, though, my apologies again for the slippage.

RP: So random it's nonsensical

(From "Rocketman" number 1, 1952. Seriously, wtf is going on here?)

Character Contest 42: Another Brick in the Wall

Last time out we took aim at the classic comic book Martial Artists, and this week we're doing the same with that venerable archetype we modern-day types call a "Brick".

The Brick on the team is the heavy hitter, the punishment-absorber, the living shield, the person who takes and dishes out most of the physical damage on tap for that day. Classic examples would include The Thing, The Hulk, Colossus, Juggernaut, and The Blob. Typically these characters have enormous strength and stamina, often expressed as gigantic bulging muscles and powerful, stocky frames.

Sometimes, though, the team Brick might be deceptively normal looking, like Ultra Boy, Mon-El, Wonder Woman, or even Namor. Whatever the physical appearance, though, the Brick's job is to deal out physical damage while absorbing the same, and staying active as long as possible.

Bricks get up close and personal to do their fighting (with the exception of the always-classic thrown vehicle or chunk of pavement), so even though a character might be physically tough, they wouldn't qualify if they mainly used ranged powers or weapons in combat.

Of course you could take this out of the realm of super-heroes completely, instead choosing to design a classic armored knight/paladin, or a big tough soldier, or even a character from ancient Greek myths like Hercules.

The rules are the same as always:

  • All entries must be submitted as a comment to this post;
  • Each entry must have a link to a publicly accessible web site (i.e. the UGO Forums, ImageShack, whatever) where the image of your character is posted;
    • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
    • If possible, please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
  • The contest ends next Monday, whereupon I will choose an overall winner, who receives his or her choice of either any item they like, or a portrait, to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 version.

Good luck, everyone!

RP: Career-limiting names, Plutonian edition

(From "Rocketman" number 1, 1952.)

RP: Now that's just wrong

(From "Stars and Stripes" number 5, 1941.)

RP: So much for the serarch for INTELLIGENT life

(From "Rocketman" number 1, 1952.)

HeroMachine 3 101, Part 3

Thanks again to Hammerknight for putting together this massive beginner's guide to HeroMachine 3! See also Part 1 and Part 2.

Continue reading

RP: If only we had helmets!

(From "Rocketman" number 1, 1952.)

Purpleto

I missed "Bad Costume Wednesday" yesterday, my apologies. Luckily the "X-Men" were on the job and managed to not only identify a bad costume for us, but to put the perp in chains as befits this violation of the fashion code:

The fact that they ruined the costume of one of the all-time great villains particularly galls me. Magneto is a bad-ass, but they turned him into a "good guy" by making him leader of the X-Men, and then slapped this Broadway-escapee bondage getup on him. Purple's a very risky color for anyone to wear, but particularly for villains who stake their reputations on being stone-cold killers. When you add in the super long gloves -- also purple -- and the silly pink "M" on his chest, it's just embarrassing.