Poll Position: Barbarian vs Drow

I realize I will get hammered for the undisguised pandering of this question, but I don't feel well and Myro will yell at me if I don't get my post of the day done, so here it is:

{democracy:188}

First of all, let's make clear that we're talking about Conan from the great Robert E. Howard novels, not the gap-toothed philanderer of the Hollywood version. And we're definitely not talking about Conan O'Brien, who aside from the momentary stun of the hair-whip would be largely defenseless against Drizzt's teddy bear, much less the Drow himself. The main points for me are:

  • Drizzt has access to Drow magic, yes, but Conan is used to dealing with magic-users -- he has them over for lunch. As the main course.
  • Drizzt has a magical panther, but Conan has killed too many magical constructs to count.
  • Drizzt is a cultured, albeit outcast, citizen of an advanced if depraved civilization. To Conan, being civilized means giving the other guy a chance to see your sword before you bury it in his guts.
  • Drizzt is lithe and athletic, a ninja to Conan's bruiser.

Which means this is a toss-up for me. Who would you pick?

Quick, to the Bat Clapper!

(From "Big 3" number 4, 1941.)

Caption Contest 101

With hearty thanks once again to Glenn3's "Say What? Pictures", your challenge this week is to come up with the best replacement dialog for this comics panel:

The best entry (as judged by yours truly) wins the author's choice of either any item they like or any portrait to be included in HeroMachine 3′s final release, or a custom black and white “Sketch of the Day” style illustration (you pick the subject, I draw it however I like).

All entries must be left as a comment (or comments) to this post. Keep ‘em clean (appropriate for a late-night broadcast TV show), but most importantly, keep ‘em funny! That might be a challenge given the nature of this week's panel, but I'm sure you can pull it off. So to speak.

This week we have a cap of no more than five (5) entries per person, so make 'em your best!

Character Contest 66 Winners!

We had a huge response to Character Contest 66: Cyborg -- thank you all so much for sharing your creativity! As a result of the larger than usual number of entries, I also have a larger than usual number of Finalists. There were just too many quality submissions to limit it to the usual 20 or so.

I hope you enjoy browsing through this creme-de-la-creme as much as I have. Without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you (in alphabetical order) the following Finalists.

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And I can’t believe he ASKED for a spanking!

(From "Big 3" number 1, 1940.)

DOOM has done it! At last, the DOUBLE espresso!

(From "Big 3" number 1, 1940.)

Power User Profile: MartianBlue

In addition to winning two character design contests, he has created an amazing number of importable custom items for use in HeroMachine 3. I thought it would be fun to learn more about this innovative creator, so it gives me great pleasure to present the latest Power User, MartianBlue!

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The dressing room … of DOOM!

(From "Big 3" number 1, 1940.)

Open Critique Day #20

It's time once again 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 rules:

  • 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.

Life as the Wal-Mart icon takes a toll

(From "Mystery Comics" number 4, 1944.)