Monthly Archives: June 2012

Pop Quiz: Ted!

Happy Saturday, folks! In honor of the release of the movie "Ted", your one-day quick-fire challenge is:

Make an image using this cute little guy!

You can dress him up, put him in someone else's hand, or make him a giant Godzilla like destroyer, but this item (from ItemRight-Miscellaneous, page 6, second row) has to be somewhere in the image. One tip, you can manually type in a percentage in the Scale box that's larger than 200 to resize it much larger.

You only get one entry -- that's right, just one! So make it your best. Most of the other rules are the same as for a regular contest, but instead of a whole week I'll announce the winner either tonight or tomorrow morning. Elaborate backgrounds aren't necessary, though if you've got one it's fine.

  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the HeroMachine Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • 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.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). Here's a quick-start guide on how to do that for various image hosting services.

The winner will receive their choice of either one item or one portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 release, or one Sketch of the Day style drawing where you pick the subject and I draw it how I like.

Good luck!

Those Dartmouth boys know how to party!

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.

Open Critique Day #42

My full-time (non-HeroMachine) job might keep me from actually getting to these before this evening, but it's time for another Open Critique Day!

If you have a HeroMachine illustration or another piece of artwork you've done that you'd like some help with, post a link to it in comments along with your thoughts on it -- what you think is working, what you're struggling with, etc. I will post my critique of the piece, hopefully giving some tips on how to improve it.

Of course everyone is welcome to post their critiques as well, keeping in mind the following guidelines:

  • Make sure your criticism is constructive. Just saying "This sucks" is both rude and unhelpful without giving specific reasons why you think it sucks and, ideally, some advice on how to make it better.
  • Each person should only post one illustration for critique to make sure everyone who wants feedback has a chance.
  • I will not critique characters entered in any currently running contest, as that doesn't seem fair to the other entrants. You can still post it if you like for the other visitors to critique, but I will not do so.

That's it! Hopefully we can get some good interaction going here and help everyone (me included!) learn a little bit today.

(You can buy the shirt at Zazzle!)

Apparently knowledge is painful

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.)

Warehouse? There! There house!

When last we left our Cosmic Guardian, we were considering which of two targets to take, a warehouse with five life forms or a yacht in the harbor with just one. Feeling muy macho, we opted for the warehouse, hoping it's five henchmen and not the Legion of Doom.

So, yeah, about that ...

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Life after the Jackson Five broke up was not easy

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.)

That's gonna sting

No character in comics history has had as many distinctive costumes as Wasp from The Avengers. The fashion-forward Janet Van Dyne likes to look good when she walks (or flies) out the door, so you're as likely to see her in the latest haute couture creation from Milan as a powered suit of shrinking armor via Tony Stark. In fact, you can see all of them at this amazing site, comprising page after page of her clothing choices.

But one character design in particular jumps out as just awful. Apparently she was brought back from the dead somehow (comics, everyone!), only as a result she got transformed into ... well, this:

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Isn't that redundant?

Batman vs. Batman

Every time Batman is an option in a poll, he wins no matter how freakish the odds. I can't blame you for going that way since DC Comics apparently agrees, having had the Caped Crusader destroy the likes of Superman and Darkseid in the past. We're basically left with a situation like this, though, with Bats playing the part of "rock":

That's right, nothing beats Batman. That's just how it is. So instead, I bring you the ultimate matchup:

Irresistible force meets unmovable object! Suck on that, Bat-fans!

The two worlds of these alternate Batmen are fairly similar -- dark, dangerous, and as realistic as their genres allow. I mean, this isn't "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" level of Bat-badness. Both characters are smart, ruthless, and effective.

I can't wait to see your reasoning as to who would win here! I just hope the internal conflict isn't so massive that it causes a rift in the space-time geek continuum.

[polldaddy poll="6344124"]

Your weekly comics weather forecast

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.)