Monthly Archives: March 2010

How to make jester hats

Many thanks again to Hammerknight for putting together (by request, mind you, how's that for customer service!) this nifty tutorial on how to make custom jester hats with HeroMachine 3. Click on the image to see it at the original, larger, more legible size.

RP: The coach of the Involuntary Eunuch Brigade, maybe

major-victory-3-1945-headbut

(From "Major Victory" number 3, 1945.)

Lightstar is VERY excited to meet you

For those of you lucky enough to have missed out on 1990's-era super-hero propaganda, I can now sum up the entire experience with this following image from a free comic book promoting an exciting Saturday morning cartoon* and toy tie-in on CBS featuring a super-powered children's super-hero character with gigantic metal spikes for nipples that stick out of a skull's eye sockets:

skeleton-warriors-landmark-entertainment-group-1994-lightstar

And people wonder what's wrong with my generation.

(Image and character ©1994, Landmark Entertainment Group.)

*Back In The Day we only got cartoons for about four hours on Saturday mornings, so suck it, children of today!

SOD.076 – Flashette?

Why a female Flash? Because I said so, that's why!

I have to say, this turned out to be one of my favorite illustrations I've done, except for her left arm which is bugging me beyond all measure. It's just kind of lumpy and shapeless. Other than that, though, I think it's pretty decent. One note, the use of a more vibrant yellow in the hair for the line color came from messing around with a HeroMachine character I was building to test out some stuff. I liked the effect and want to explore its use more as I continue trying to figure out this whole coloring thing.

RP: Worst. Sidekick gig. Ever.

punch-comics-14-desperado

(From "Punch Comics" number 14.)

SOD.075 – Grown Newsboy

075

This is using the "new" (well, new to me anyway) Photoshop coloring tricks from MelissaClifton.com. I'll put the black and white lineart after the jump for the curious.

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Poll Position: The proportionate strength of …

People have been bitten by all sorts of crazy things over the years and gained super-powers as a result. Spider-Man, of course, is the classic example, but even Back In The Day you had The Whizzer getting bitten by a mongoose and for whatever reason gaining super-speed and a hat like a goose. Or eagle, chicken, whatever, when you've got mongoose blood coursing through your veins, the last thing you're worried about is fashion coherence!

So the question is:

{democracy:125}

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RP: Fancy pants … ?

master-comics-58-1945-fancypants

(From "Master Comics" number 58, 1945.)

Caption Contest 72

Come up with the funniest -- while still being clean, that's important this week, as you'll see -- replacement dialog for the balloon in this panel and you'll win the chance to include any item you like, or a portrait of yourself, in HeroMachine 3!

action-comics-1-banana

The rules are simple:

  • No more than three entries per person;
  • All entries must be left as a comment (all in one comment or separate ones, doesn't matter) to this post;
  • Must be relatively clean, appropriate for broadcast on late-night network TV, for instance.

That's it! Good luck everyone, we'll post the Finalists for voting next Monday.

(Image from "Action Comics" number 1, © DC Comics, Inc. Yes, this is the one with Superman in it, so you can see why he'd be afraid of magic for the rest of his career.)

Character Contest 29 – Armorium Winners

Many thanks to all the great entries for Character Contest 29 - Armorium! I've picked a handful of illustrations I thought were exceptionally good to serve as Honorable Mentions and whet your appetite before getting to the big winner.

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