Monthly Archives: May 2012

Captain Obese back in print!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Comments Off on Captain Obese back in print!

Legendary comics creator Don Lomax was kind enough to drop me a line earlier today in response to a "Captain Obese" panel I posted a while back. If it wasn't clear in my original (and it wasn't), I thoroughly enjoyed the book and considered it one of the gems of my "Random Bag of Ten Comics from Half Price Books" period. The art and writing were both stellar, taking what should have been an obvious parody and doing something both fun and "serious" with it. The pages simmered with active, engaging details and really pulled me in.

It turns out the complete "Captain Obese" series is currently being posted on the CO2 comics website and I highly encourage you to check it out. Mr. Lomax and CO2 Comics are also planning on releasing the original series as a graphic novel this summer, so keep an eye out for that.

Unlike some others I could name (cough-Liefeld-cough), Mr. Lomax is one of the truly gifted creators in the field and I'm glad to be able to report he's still putting out high quality product. If you get the chance, spend a few hours looking through the site and catching up with his creations, you'll be glad you did.

I'm also delighted to be able to share (with Mr. Lomax' permission) the back cover to the upcoming graphic novel:

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Posted in Retroviews

Character Contest 90: Fifth Anniversary Random Edition

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Comments Off on Character Contest 90: Fifth Anniversary Random Edition

This was the most random thing I could find on the Internet. That was safe for work.

We haven't done a "random name" character contest in half a year, so I think it's about time we revisited this always-fun concept.

It's pretty straightforward and a great way to stretch your creative muscles.

Whoever comes up with the best character based on a random name generated by Seventh Sanctum Superhero/Villain Name Generator will win a) his or her choice of either any item they like to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 version; b) a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 version, or c) a "sketch of the day" style custom drawing where you pick the theme and I do the drawing however I like. The rules are fairly simple:

The person with the winning entry as selected by our expert panel (i.e. me) will win their choice of a) a portrait to go in HeroMachine 3, b) an item to go in HeroMachine 3, or c) a custom black and white "Sketch of the Day" style drawing (also by me). The rules otherwise are the same as always:

  • Go to the Seventh Sanctum Superhero/Villain Name Generator and choose "10" from the number of names to generate. Leave the other selection boxes at their default and hit "Generate". Your character(s) must be based on one of these generated names. Try your best to limit yourself to one spin of the wheel instead of generating names over and over till you get one you like!
  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
  • All entries must be in by next Monday, when I'll choose a winner.

No limit on entries this week, so knock yourselves out. Just make them good!

(Image via.)

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Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges

SODWA Honorable Mentions, Round One

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Comments Off on SODWA Honorable Mentions, Round One

Judge Woody from "Super Omega Deathbattle Warzone Apocalypse" has announced his first round of Honorable Mentions today on the game's Facebook page. He'll be doing that all week, leading up to the nine winners on Friday. Your best bet is to "like" their page, as everything will be announced there first.

Ladies and gentlemen, your first batch of Honorable Mentions, along with Woody's comments. Congratulations to these folks on jobs well done!

Continue reading →

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Posted in Challenge Favorites

Caption Contest 121 Winners!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Comments Off on Caption Contest 121 Winners!

Your last challenge was to come up with the best replacement caption for this comics panel:

The funniest suggestions in my opinion were:

  • alphaalpharomeo: And then Batman punched his way of a stomach!
  • BenK22: The first time Peter saw Claire in a bikini.
  • Mr.MikeK: The real Napoleon Dynamite discovered!
  • Kaito94: “And then God said: Let there be Michael Bay!”
  • Xavierking5: The alien probe proved to have… complications.
  • E350: …he launches into an EXTREME HUG.

As you can see, we had some gems. But for me it wasn't really close, as I almost BLOOFed myself when reading the entry of ... Bael!

I'm such a sucker for that movie.

Well done, Bael, let me know what you'd like for your prize!

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Posted in Challenge Favorites

SODWA Contest Closed

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Comments Off on SODWA Contest Closed

Many thanks to everyone who entered the Super Omega Deathbattle Warzone Apocalypse Contest! The deadline has now passed, so no more entries will be accepted. Both Woody and I were astounded by the quality and quantity of submissions; you all did me proud. Your creativity truly amazes me.

Woody asked me to pass along this statement:

Alright, guys, I just want to congratulate all of our participants for submitting some of the coolest character designs I’ve ever seen. You completely blew me away and did things with Hero Machine that I didn’t even know were possible! We had almost 400 submissions, and attempting to narrow it down to only 9 was one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to do. It’s important to remember that I had to not only look at how good each design was, but I had to choose the 9 designs that would work well together when put into the final promo piece. That meant that I had to leave out more than a few of my favorite submissions in favor of designs that better served the overall color scheme or better represented a specific category of character. The Honorable Mentions are all of my favorite designs that I was unable to include in the promo piece due to these technicalities, and I will attempt to show off as many of them as possible during our Kickstarter campaign.

Later today, Woody will start announcing the Honorable Mentions on the project's Facebook page, five per day, with the nine overall winners introduced there on Friday. So if you want to be the first to know the fate of the submissions, be sure to like the SODWA page on Facebook.

For those of you who do not have or do not want a Facebook account, I'll follow up each announcement with a post here at the end of the day.

Many thanks again to everyone who entered, and good luck!

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Posted in Challenges

Bruce Wayne was a piker compared to this guy

Posted on May 7, 2012 by | Comments Off on Bruce Wayne was a piker compared to this guy

(From "Target Comics" number 11, 1940.)

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Posted in Daily Random Panel

Pop Quiz 8 Winners!

Posted on May 6, 2012 by | Comments Off on Pop Quiz 8 Winners!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in Pop Quiz 8, from our first-timers (welcome!) to old friends returning after a long absence (hi Solander!).

Since everyone only gets one entry with these single-day affairs, I like to show them all. So without further ado, your entries!

Continue reading →

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Posted in Challenge Favorites

Final Contest Deadline TODAY!

Posted on May 6, 2012 by | Comments Off on Final Contest Deadline TODAY!

This is your last day to get your submissions for the Super Omega Deathbattle Warzone Apocalypse Contest! The winners will get their characters painted in full color in a promotional piece for this new awesome game by professional artist Livio Ramondelli of “Transformers: Autocracy” and “DC Universe Online” fame.

Again, a perfectly valid strategy here is to pick out the nine most outstanding characters you've ever designed with HeroMachine and send them in as your entry. You're not limited to new characters only, folks, so go with your best. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

And as Woody the Judge says, you don't need crazy backgrounds or super amazing manipulations, all they are looking for is the character design itself.

Finally, remember to peruse the official rules before committing.

PS: If you sent yours in, you should have gotten an email back from me acknowledging their receipt. If you didn't get that reply but you sent yours in, please email me (afdstudios@gmail.com) ASAP.

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Posted in Meta

Pop Quiz: Headgear

Posted on May 5, 2012 by | Comments Off on Pop Quiz: Headgear

Get ready for your pop quiz, kids! Your one-day quick-fire challenge is:

Make an awesome headgear piece in HM3!

Whether it be Viking inspired horned battle helms or modern European flower hats or futuristic space goggles, be creative, mix several different pieces together, and come up with something neat and original.

You only get one entry -- that's right, just one! So make it your best.

Most of the other rules are the same as for a regular contest, but instead of a whole week I'll announce the winner either tonight or first thing in the morning.

  • All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, whatever);
  • Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
  • Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
  • Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.

The winner will receive their choice of either one item or one portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 release, or one Sketch of the Day style drawing where you pick the subject and I draw it how I like.

Good luck!

(Image via.)

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Posted in Challenges, Pop Quiz

Insert "seaman" joke here

Posted on May 5, 2012 by | Comments Off on Insert "seaman" joke here

(From "Target Comics" number 11, 1940. Can I just say what a gold mine Target Comics has been? Every issue chock full of funny panels!)

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Posted in Daily Random Panel