Yearly Archives: 2012

Apparently knowledge is painful

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.)

Warehouse? There! There house!

When last we left our Cosmic Guardian, we were considering which of two targets to take, a warehouse with five life forms or a yacht in the harbor with just one. Feeling muy macho, we opted for the warehouse, hoping it's five henchmen and not the Legion of Doom.

So, yeah, about that ...

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Life after the Jackson Five broke up was not easy

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.)

That's gonna sting

No character in comics history has had as many distinctive costumes as Wasp from The Avengers. The fashion-forward Janet Van Dyne likes to look good when she walks (or flies) out the door, so you're as likely to see her in the latest haute couture creation from Milan as a powered suit of shrinking armor via Tony Stark. In fact, you can see all of them at this amazing site, comprising page after page of her clothing choices.

But one character design in particular jumps out as just awful. Apparently she was brought back from the dead somehow (comics, everyone!), only as a result she got transformed into ... well, this:

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Isn't that redundant?

Batman vs. Batman

Every time Batman is an option in a poll, he wins no matter how freakish the odds. I can't blame you for going that way since DC Comics apparently agrees, having had the Caped Crusader destroy the likes of Superman and Darkseid in the past. We're basically left with a situation like this, though, with Bats playing the part of "rock":

That's right, nothing beats Batman. That's just how it is. So instead, I bring you the ultimate matchup:

Irresistible force meets unmovable object! Suck on that, Bat-fans!

The two worlds of these alternate Batmen are fairly similar -- dark, dangerous, and as realistic as their genres allow. I mean, this isn't "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" level of Bat-badness. Both characters are smart, ruthless, and effective.

I can't wait to see your reasoning as to who would win here! I just hope the internal conflict isn't so massive that it causes a rift in the space-time geek continuum.

[polldaddy poll="6344124"]

Your weekly comics weather forecast

(From "Target Comics" volume 2, number 4, 1941.)

Vampyrist and Iscarioto Portraits

I've just added these two fine looking gentlemen to the Head-Winners set in HM3 as their contest prizes. Enjoy! As always, if you don't see the new items, clear your browser's cache (make sure you don't remove the Flash cookies though!) and check again.

Pop Quiz 13 Prize

As his prize for winning Pop Quiz 13, Jack asked me to do a Sketch of the Day featuring this character:


(Click to embiggen.)

So here's what I came up with. Hope you like it, Jack!

Character Contest 93: Alchemist

Your Character Design Challenge this week is to create the most awesome character illustration possible showing your interpretation of an alchemist! In actual history, alchemists were Medieval proto-chemists who undertook the trasmutation of one element into another, typified by the quest to turn lead into gold.

In fantasy fiction terms, alchemists are basically wizards who accomplish their magic by brewing potions and tinctures.

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:

  • 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] before you upload it. 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). See this post on how to get the direct link for most sites.
  • 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.)