Many thanks to everyone who took on the admittedly difficult challenge posed by Character Contest 34 - Adventure, which called on you to design the look of a proposed character named "Cavalier". I've picked the ones I thought hit the mark exceptionally well, and then at the end the one I thought was the overall winner.
First, a quick word about how I chose these. I tried to look at the entries from the point of view of an editor, who's trying to put together the most effective possible book. He's already got the basic story, but he needs to make sure the artist's version meshes well with it. So some people submitted really neat illustrations, but that didn't really fit the overall concept terribly well, or that wouldn't have wide appeal.
Having said that, here are the ones I thought were both good drawings and that fit the book's concept particularly well!
ChrisN's version features a nifty blue and yellow color scheme and a very effective repetition of circles in the outfit itself. I could see this kind of look coming from a culture that watched a lot of "Dr. Who" movies, or the more science-fictional adventure films.
DannyBeaty took a more humorous and fun tack with his design, and I like it very much. My original concept of the character was actually as a goofy, fun-loving, anything-goes guy just out to have the best time possible while crushing evil doers, and I think out of all the Finalists, this one comes closest to that conception. This one has a very "Errol Flynn" kind of vibe to it, very Zorro with some flash thrown in.
If the home dimension got multiple copies of "Demolition Man" I could definitely see Fyzza's take. It's very French Foreign Legion by way of the Space Cadets.
I like Gargoyle323's more tech-y angle as well, particularly the following eyebots to make sure every move gets documented. The spider one in particular is kind of cool looking.
Matt had two versions of his attempt, and they're both pretty neat.
The "First Runner Up", the one I was really close to choosing as the winner before going with a different one, is from BNE. I like how this mixes the more traditional idea of a cavalier with more up to date styling, while retaining a devil-may-care sensibility about the expression and overall character.
Which leaves us with this week's winner, from a guy who really dedicates himself to getting all the details right. I fell in love with the simple but highly effective background, and ultimately the almost perfect synthesis of all those Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger action film leads. I could totally see this guy blowing in from the portal, looking for hot action movie violence, and getting blank looks from the mall kiosk attendants. So congratulations to this week's winner, MartianBlue!
Thanks again not only to these outstanding Finalists, but to everyone who entered.
Erm, Jeff… You chose the first version of my character. The one with about 3 more mistakes more than the others. Then again, thanks for the honourable mention. 🙂 Congrats to MB for winning!
Sorry Fyzza. It looks great to me, I don’t see any mistakes, and when picking just chose the first one on the list.
It’s okay, they were really only minor changes, and I’d say You’d have to have extremely sharp eyes, or be pre-informed to see them. I had a lot of fun making him, so thanks again for the hm. I’m really looking forward to the next character contest!
Speaking of the next contest, usually this would be Caption Contest Week, but I have already packed away all my comics, as I realized when I sat down to find one.
So if anyone has an idea for another Character Design Contest, fire away here in the comments, I need some good ideas!
How about best alien?
Congrats MB! I think your Cavalier was my favorite,simple but really captured the action look. Also congrats to all other finalists. Good job by all!
Congrats, MB – that is an awesome piece of work.
@Jeff: what about a Mad-Max inspired contest: design a ‘road warrior’?
Thanks Jeff, Fyzza, and Gargoyle323
I would like to congratulate everyone, some very nice entries. Each one has that something unique about them.
So it’s time to choose an item? I already have one in mind, that I’m in need of, but let me think on it for a bit.
And thans Imp and all others.
Some really good entries there. Congrats for winning MB, that’s a really cool character!
Oh and Jeff; how about a Mythology character contest. Make your own god, deity, divine… something…?
Oh gee… wait. We had one of those. How about a contest where you have to create the best action scene?
Gangsters? Animal-Human hybrids?
Congratulations MartianBlue and the honourable mention,great entries!
@Jeff:Best Superhero and sidekick contest ,but rather than judging them as a team ,judging them by how the sidekick’s costume accents the superhero’s.Or maybe a best illustrated superpower.
I love your background MB, scrap that, I love everything about your pic, and thanks for the Honourable mention Jeff.
Congrats MB! Awesome background portal!
@Jeff How about a space theme, doesn’t have to be all about aliens but I like the way you were thinking ,Jake(5)
Or denizens of Sherwood Forest?
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I ended up going with Imp’s “Road Warrior”, post-apocalyptic idea. A lot of the ideas were good, but had already been done before, and while I’m not 100% against recycling ideas I’d like to put that off as long as possible.
Again, had much fun with the contest. Nice entries all.
Found the criteria rather restricting, but I liked it in a sense that “If you wanna make money doing this, you do what they pay you to do.” I’m no artist but that’s business reality.
@MartianBlue: The background is really cool. Should put it on a shirt or album cover.
@BNE: The Three Musketeer-look works well.
@Matt: Love the device on Cavalier’s right arm and the dimensional-shift picture. Very Dr. Who of you.
@Fyzza: The “Legionnaire” Cavalier is trés chic. 😉
@ChrisN: Overall design and color scheme is great.
Almost forgot!
@Gargoyle: The Eyes Have It!
@Jeff: I’ve been playing Red Dead redemption obsessively since it first came out. What about a Western/Cowboy character contest?
Congrats MartianBlue!
Well, I got the first honorable mention at least. lol
You don’t need actual comics to find a caption-contest panel, you just need the internet!
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/Glenn3/Say%20What/
Yes, my gf does spend inordinate amounts of time blanking the dialogue of comic panels with no actual purpose in mind. No, you can’t have her. 😉
x-stacy, words cannot possibly express how much I love your girlfriend. That is an awesome site.
The one of Flash holding that head by the hair is… disturbing. On several levels.
That one IS disturbing, Imp, good word for it. The one that caught my eye particularly, though, was the guy with the big extensible boxing glove flying out of his crotch and whacking the other guy in the head. I mean, WTF?
Heh, no love for Iron Man? It’s the body shaking and hand position that get me….
I guess I’ve seen Tony drunk enough that it didn’t bother me too much.
Although now that you bring that character up, my wife thinks the way he flies in the movies is very silly. She would laugh every time he’d put his hands out as stabilizers, and she’s right, it is kind of loopy looking.
Wow 1st runner up on my 1st go! :O Thanks… even if you got my name wrong lol. Might use that for future contests… BNE… rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?
Sorry about that Ben! I figured it was initials or something, I must have written it down wrong when saving out all the entries. I’ll do better next time!
Thats OK, seriously think I’ll keep it 😀