HeroMachine is meant for people who can’t draw very well themselves, but I always encourage people to try! Having fun, quick little doodles you can knock out is a good way to improve your confidence and impress your friends. Well, maybe not your friends, because they probably know you too well to be impressed, but you get the idea. Like drawing Killroy or knowing how to make a barn-door farmhouse without picking up your pencil, this quick and simple Batman doodle should be something fun for you. As much as possible, I tried to make it so that anyone who can draw letters can draw the figure. Enjoy!

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A new year has dawned, and it’s a good time to reflect on what has passed, what may be yet to come, and to take a few precious moments to mock super-hero costumes that don’t know when they, too, should just let their theme slip quietly into that good night:

Clock King found a niche and by gum he’s going to fill it. I get the feeling he found clock-patterned spandex on sale at Wal-Mart and just couldn’t say no. This is the kind of guy who wallpapers his entire house with the exact same print, and then gets throw pillows to match. Other, lesser villains with a time theme might have stopped at just an hourglass insignia, or maybe some arrows on the gloves, but we’re talking about chronological royalty here!

I assume the glass faceplate is opaque on the outside and transparent from the inside so he can see, but what about when the time is 9:15 or 3:45 and the hands are covering his eyes? And don’t think for a minute that a guy with this kind of theme mania is going to have a non-functional clock on his kisser! I don’t even want to think about how he sets the time for the clock in his belt …

Image and character are ©1985, DC Comics, Inc., “Who’s Who”, Volume V.

I say, if you’re a man about to take on the world in a masterful plot of pure evil, why not put on a sexy red velvet, midriff-baring, slit-up-to-the-hips, wide-sleeved dress, with matching pointy slippers? And heck, while you’re at it, get yourself a nice, long-nailed manicure, because if you look good, you’ll defeat good.

Image and character © DC Comics, Inc., 1985, from “Who’s Who” volume VI.

Thanks to Pesky for this characer, posted on the UGO Forums:

I think he uses transparency well here, making the green part of the wings look translucent, for example, without going quite too far. I also like the use of the new Expansion hover-platform beneath the character to ground it a bit more, and the diamond background gives it all the feeling of a real character illustration.

Nice job, Pesky, keep up the good work!

Over on the UGO Forums, “thedoompixel” has a thread showing off some characters he’s made. One in particular jumped out at me and I thought you might enjoy seeing what he’s done:

One of the things I like about this character is the way he’s made the “skin” component completely transparent, allowing the clothing items to take the weight of giving the figure form. I also like the clean and simple color palette, with just the eyes in a bold red against black and white. This is a really innovative design, an excellent example of “less is more”. You don’t have to load your character down with an item from every single component, sometimes (usually!) it’s better to rely on a few simple choices to carry the narrative forward.

There are several other characters in that thread that are well worth your time, so head on over and take a gander when you get a chance.

Well done, thedoompixel!