CDC #455 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 12

Posted on March 16, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #455 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 12

The premise of this contest is that over the next number of weeks we will build a team of superheroes and a team of villains. Each week I will supply you with a role, name, or list of powers of one of the team members and you will use HM3 to create the character.

The winner each week will win a version of their character created on HM by yours truly.

This week we move onto the electrifying villain - Shock.

Real Name: Ryan Mitchell

Age:34

Planet of origin: Earth

Powers: Ryan originally teamed up with his twin brother while in his early twenties. Together they formed the crime fighting duo Shock and Awe. Unlike his twin brother (who can control light and create blinding displays) Shock can control and draw power from any electrical source and turn them into devastating impulse blasts. It is unknown what caused the rift between the two – although rumours abound – but what is certain is that Shock’s dedication to Invidia is intense and dangerous to anyone who attempts her harm.

Enter as often as you like!

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, Deviant Art or whatever);Do not use Photobucket.

  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • No copyrighted characters please – they will be deleted.
  • Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. 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).

This contest will close at 6pm Eastern on Monday, March 23rd.

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CDC #454 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 11 – Results

Posted on March 16, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #454 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 11 – Results

Honourable mentions this week go out to...

  ...AtomicPunk - great pose and facial expression - and...

...Worf - the body position  is really awesome - I just found the rainbow across the chest a bit confusing - just my opinion.

Runners up this week are...

 ...Kellkin - beautifully simple - love the hair -and...

...Thundersong - love the inclusion of the flag colours - an elegant creature.

And the win this week goes to...

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CDC #453 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 10 – Prize for NerdAndProud

Posted on March 14, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #453 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 10 – Prize for NerdAndProud

NAP's version of Sunspot...

My version based on his design...

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Posted in Challenge Prizes, Challenges, Character Design Challenges

CDC #453 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 10 – Results

Posted on March 10, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #453 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 10 – Results

Sorry for the late posting of last week's results, but he entries were all so good that I needed to sit and think a spell.

Honourable mention goes to Atomic Punk for the great back story that was submitted as part of the entry While brief I found it quite engaging, and the idea of a weakened Sunspot seeking out Invidia opens up so many story possibilities. Well done you!

Runner up this week goes to ForgivenMonster. Great pose (as usual) and a nice attempt at the molten quality of her skin.

And the win this week goes to ...

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CDC #454 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 11

Posted on March 9, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #454 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 11

The premise of this contest is that over the next number of weeks we will build a team of superheroes and a team of villains. Each week I will supply you with a role, name, or list of powers of one of the team members and you will use HM3 to create the character.

The winner each week will win a version of their character created on HM by yours truly.

This week we move onto the female known as Halo of the hero team.

Peal Name: Natalia Chong Tai

Age:24

Planet of origin: Mars – Natalia is a first generation martian, born mere minutes after her earthling parents touched down as part of long term scientific expedition.

Powers: Natalia’s grandmother gifted her a very precious item the day her parents left for Mars. As she kissed her daughter goodbye, she pressed the ancient Jamaican Moonstone pendant into her daughter’s hand and whispered gently “She will know”. The Moonstone not only powers  Natalia with flight but it also allows her to cast a halo of protection around herself or others

Enter as often as you like!

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, Deviant Art or whatever);Do not use Photobucket.

  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • No copyrighted characters please – they will be deleted.
  • Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. 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).

This contest will close at 6pm Eastern on Monday, March 16th.

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CDC #452 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 9 – Prize for Kellkin

Posted on March 7, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #452 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 9 – Prize for Kellkin

Kellkin's original WarpV...

My version inspired by his design...

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Posted in Challenge Prizes, Challenges, Character Design Challenges

CDC #453 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 10

Posted on March 2, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #453 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 10

The premise of this contest is that over the next number of weeks we will build a team of superheroes and a team of villains. Each week I will supply you with a role, name, or list of powers of one of the team members and you will use HM3 to create the character.

The winner each week will win a version of their character created on HM by yours truly.

This week we move onto the female known as Sunspot of the villain team.

Age: unknown

Planet of origin: Moltonia – a small planet which orbits a distant sun believed to be uninhabited

Appearance: Sunspot is best described as living lava. Her skin is mostly charred and black, but tiny cracks reveal a molten centre.

Powers: Can generate and propel balls of fire and lava; heat vision; fire breathing; flight.

Enter as often as you like!

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. Please keep all submissions PG13: full or partial nudity is prohibited. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warning. Only post characters that have been created solely using Hero Machine, and that you know for certain have never been entered in a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine :,ImageShack, Deviant Art or whatever);Do not use Photobucket.

  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • No copyrighted characters please – they will be deleted.
  • Please name your filesas [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. 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).

This contest will close at 6pm Eastern on Monday, March 9th.

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Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges, Uncategorized

CDC #452 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 9 – Results

Posted on March 2, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #452 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Part 9 – Results

Great work this week folks.

The win this week goes to...

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Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges

CDC #451 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Prizes for HerrD and ForgivenMonster

Posted on February 28, 2020 by | Comments Off on CDC #451 – Team Building – Volume 3 – Prizes for HerrD and ForgivenMonster

HerrD and ForgivenMonster's winning designs...

My versions of their original characters...

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Rewatching the Marvel Movies

Posted on February 25, 2020 by | Comments Off on Rewatching the Marvel Movies

I've been on a kick for the last few days of re-watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies in chronological order, as opposed to release order. And I. Am. LOVING IT!

Seriously, I haven't been this geeked up in a long, long time. I think I went through a period of super-hero fatigue towards the end of the last Marvel Phase -- just too many movies in a row, leading to a "resolve your problems by punching them" fatigue. But I signed up for Disney+ and thought this might be a fun way to experience the films now that the first decade is complete.

I hadn't seen "Captain Marvel" before. When it came out, I was turned off by negative reviews and, frankly, the burning mohawk.

But I watched it after "Captain America: First Avenger" and it held up really well! I thought it was basically the same movie as the first Cap installment, and I got a lot of pleasure out of seeing a young Nick Fury and Agent Coulson, particularly with the perspective of knowing what would eventually befall them.

In fact, that nostalgia, that foreknowledge of what was yet to come, has informed a lot of my enjoyment of the films so far. It adds an element of timelessness that was missing on the first go-around for those films I'd seen before.

I just finished "Iron Man 2" and so far, they're all still excellent movies that hold up well, even 10+ years later. Without getting too far into the weeds, here's how I'd rank them so far:

  1. Iron Man: An exceptional super-hero movie, head and shoulders above the rest. Pitch-perfect on every note, successful at everything it attempted. It's clear with the perspective of a decade of experience that this was indeed the affirmation Marvel needed that They. Could. Do. This.
  2. Incredible Hulk: Norton's performance is great and the overall production excellent. I found myself wondering how I'd react to the Ruffalo takeover, but setting that aside, the movie just hums. I remember being blown away by the "Origin story recapped in the opening credits" approach when I first saw it and that is very much reinforced on a later viewing. Non-stop awesome action and story from the get-go, an assertive and confident refutation of the turgid, overly-in-their-heads Ang Lee approach. This is Marvel Studios saying "This is what we're about and what we're about is unapologetic super-hero AWESOMENESS!"
  3. Captain America: First Avenger: I just love Steve Rogers. His spirit, his can-do American underdog-ism, everything about him. The movie dragged a little in the second act but I think maybe knowing how Cap 2 and 3 turn out influenced me to bump this one a little higher than I might have otherwise. Hugo Weaving is great, as always.
  4. Captain Marvel: As I said, I was disincentivized from seeing this the first time due to negative reviews from friends and the Internet. Also the aforementioned flaming space-mohawk. But I really enjoyed it! Brie Larson's performance was sometimes strangely disaffected, but I think that must have been at directorial instruction -- "Super-heroes are very serious, don't take this lightly." I think ultimately what bumped this down slightly below Cap's intro is that with Cap, we have a character who becomes more of what he already is when the movie starts, whereas Marvel is discovering who she was all along. It's also harder to do a movie where the main character is fighting against institutional oppression rather than, say, a guy with a big red skull for a face. Still, a thoroughly enjoyable and well-done movie.
  5. Iron Man 2: Fun, but ultimately it felt a little soulless. I think mostly it suffers from being a sequel -- it's hard to match the interest and drama from an origin movie. Though as we'll see from Ragnarok, not an impossible challenge! Still, just a little too much CGI slugfesty for me to match the appeal of the other offerings.

Next up is "Thor" and I have to say, I haven't been this excited to watch a movie I've already seen once in ... well, maybe ever. I liked the film quite a bit on first release and now, knowing what is to come for the character and the franchise, I look forward to experiencing it again.

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Posted in Movies and TV