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(From "Wonder Comics" number 12, 1947.)
Comments Off on Random Panel: "Don't worry, I got 'em back but GOUDA!"
Posted in Daily Random Panel
I love Thor's winged helmet, and clearly, despite living in an alternate reality, so does DC's "Darkwing". Unfortunately he doesn't know the same high level of dwarven craftsman the God of Thunder does:
Somewhere a roll of flat sheet metal is missing two wing-shaped cut-outs. My favorite part of the homage, however, is the metal clamp holding the cut-outs onto his noggin. Because nothing says "Scary Super Villain" like headgear you attach with a screwdriver. Apparently Thor isn't too pleased either:
At a certain point, inspiration turns into desperation, and I think Mr. Darkwing passed it a long, long ways back. It's not just the pathetic flat Thor-wannabe helmet wings, or the doughy ill-fitting Superman underwear knocoffs, it's the fact that even though his foe is Hawkman, he stole Hawkman's logo!
Granted, he reversed it left-to-right, but come on, pal, it's like you're not even trying. If I were Hawman, I'd hit him again. Because as bad as a Thanagarian thief is, a Thanagarian fashion thief is even worse.
(Thor character and image ©Marvel Entertainment. Hawkman and Darkwing characters and images © DC Comics, Inc.)
Comments Off on I know Thor. I served with Thor. And you, sir …
Posted in Bad Super Costumes
I've just posted the Shoulder-Standard set of items to the HeroMachine 3 Alpha, with 59 mostly-new (including some from the Lordi version) illustrations including the following sample:
I tired to include a good cross-section of high-tech, fantasy, and modern items for your creative pleasure, hopefully they'll help make your characters closer to how you envision them in your mind.
Holler in the comments if you see that I've missed something egregious, or if there are any bugs that are getting in your way.
I believe -- and please, correct me if I am wrong here -- that this completes all the "Standard" items for the male figure. Which is pretty amazing when I sit back and think about it. It might not seem like it, but believe me, after two years of working through the Expansion for 2.5, and countless custom versions for Sales, and all the other stuff, once I got to sit down and actually work full-time on HeroMachine 3, it's come together at a rapid pace.
I posted "HeroMachine 3.0 Begins" on January 19 of this year. In just three and a half months, you have a functioning (if somewhat buggy) version in your hands with a full set of basic items. And as you have seen in the various "Cool Characters" posts, people are doing some amazing things already.
I want to be sure you understand how important everyone who has taken the time to comment on the program during this development period has been. Many of the items and features you see are directly attributable to input from someone in the community here, which I think is just fantastic. So thank you, very sincerely, for helping this application come to life at all, much less to be as awesome as it's turning out (he said humbly).
Not that we're done -- not by a long shot. I haven't done an actual count but I would guess there are probably three times as many more items just to convert from 2.x, not to mention any new stuff that gets added. That's a lot of drawing. Plus the female body template (which I've contracted out by the way) and the conversion of any gender-dependent items to fit on it. And all the feature enhancements and bug fixes.
In other words, we're a long ways from done. But not as long as we were three months ago, when this was just an idea.
Thank you for following along thus far, and I hope you'll be sticking around for the next few months as this thing eventually leaves alpha and goes to beta, and then to a full, formal "final release". It should be fun!
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Posted in HeroMachine 3, News & Updates
(From "Wonder Comics" number 12, 1947.)
Comments Off on Random Panel: "It's college, I feel curious, lighten up Sally!"
Posted in Daily Random Panel
Take a look at the following two creations by Hammerknight from the UGO Forums:
What do you notice about them? That's right -- THEY AIN'T PEOPLE!! I was really hoping someone would use the Companions as the basis for an illustration, and without prompting Hammerknight knocked it out of the park. Inspired by his innovation, that's your challenge for this week:
Create a "character" illustration using HeroMachine 3 without using any of the items in any of the Body or Head slots.
You can use Feet and Hands and anything else you like, but no Bodies or Heads. The idea is to do what Hammerknight did, creating a non-human character. It can be a super-hero, a villain, a pulp character, a sidekick, or just a plain old horrific monster, but no people. Because people are Soylen Green! Or something.
The deadline is one week from today, when I will pick a winner. To be eligible, you must post a link to an image of your character in the comments to this post. You can put the image wherever you like, but it must be visible without having to log in (except for the UGO Forums, that's still ok. I just don't want to have to make an ImageShack and Flickr and and and and account, you know?).
The winner will get to choose either a) any one item to be included in any one slot of HeroMachine 3 or b) a caricature of their face/head to be included in HeroMachine 3 to serve as the model for thousands of characters.
Good luck everyone!
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Posted in Challenges
I am happy to announce that the winner of Caption Contest 56 is ... Blue Blazer! I laugh every time I look at this:
The number of entries was down this week, I imagine as a result of the change in prizes, but although Blue Blazer doesn't win his own custom black and white illustration, he DOES get to choose either a) any one item in any one slot to be included in HeroMachine 3 or b) an illustration of his head and face to be included in HeroMachine 3 so he can serve as the basis for millions of super-heroes across the world!
There were still some really funny entries, though, including the following Honorable Mentions:
Many thanks to everyone who entered. Finally, I thought you might want to see what the original panel was as published in the actual 1945 "Golden Lad" comic:
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Posted in Challenge Favorites, Challenges
(From John Stanley's "Nancy" in Free Comics Day's "Drawn and Quarterly", with a hat tip to Chris Sims.)
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Posted in Daily Random Panel
I admit, this week's Poll Position seems to be a little weak, powered by a lascivious fascination with the female form, but bear with me my friends, for there is some food for thought in the following conundrum:
Discussion after the jump.
Comments Off on Poll Position: On being the Mister
Posted in Versus
I just wanted to give a quick status report as the new week begins. I am currently drawing Shoulder items, using the vast array of references submitted in the last post, for which I thank you all tremendously -- there are some pretty cool things going in already, and I've only drawn twelve of them! Here's a quick look at four samples:
These should be done and posted in the next couple of days.
Comments Off on HM3: Atlas twitched
Posted in HeroMachine 3, Previews
(From "Wonder Comics" number 12, 1947.)
Comments Off on Random Panel: Why science makes good heroes but bad banter
Posted in Daily Random Panel
Three middle-aged nerds (including yours truly!) review all of the MCU movies in chronological order. Short, funny, and full of good vibes, check it out and let us know what you think!
Nerdmudgeon.com