Author Archives: AFDStudios

Character Contest 51: Alien Nation

Your character design challenge for this week is to create an alien. You could go all out and do examples of several different sub-species inhabiting a planet, or a super-hero with an alien background, or a fantasy alien invader (like the Mind Flayers), or a specific alien from literature (a named Green Martian from Burroughs, for example), or anything else you can think of that would qualify under the name “alien”.

  • 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 — we had an “Angels and Demons” contest and a “D&D Character” contest a while back, for instance, and I don’t want repeats of stuff you already did for those;
  • 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, who will receive his or her choice of any item or a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 program, or a “Sketch of the Week” style black and white illustration.

Caption Contest 87 VOTE!

We had some wickedly funny entries for Caption Contest 87, many thanks to everyone who took the time to enter and share your creativity with us. The challenge was to come up with the funniest replacement dialog for this blank caption panel which, along with all your children, are © Marvel Comics:

I couldn’t pick just one, so I am off-loading the job onto you. I selected the entries I thought were funniest overall, and now you get to vote for the ones you think are best. You can only vote one time between now and midnight Mountain Time, but in that one vote you can pick as many as you think are worthy.

Good luck to the Finalists! Winner announced in the morning.

[polldaddy poll=”4166920″]

RP: Suddenly the leather cowl makes sense

(Not sure what issue this is from, but it’s ©DC Comics anyway.)

Bad superhero names

With thanks to reader PCFDPGrey for passing it along, I thought you might enjoy this list of “Top 20 Worst Superhero Names“. A sample, which for my money HAS to be number 1:

It’s a pretty funny list, but I was curious if there were other options that would have been better. For instance, I think “The Human Torch” is actually a pretty cool name. So in no particular order, here are some other options to consider:

  • Paste-Pot Pete
  • Brother Power the Geek
  • Arm Fall Off Boy
  • The Whizzer

What would you put on the list, and if you feel particularly motivated, how would you rank the all-time worst names in comic book history?

RP: Phrases you never, ever want to hear

(From “Four Favorites” number 10, 1942.)

RP: See, men never know what women want

(From “Four Favorites” number 10, 1942.)

Friday Night Fights, Round 3!

It’s Final Four time in Friday Night Fights, and that’s a lot of “F”s, my friends. So without further ado, I present our matchups (click on an image to see it at a larger size):

[polldaddy poll=”4153242″] [polldaddy poll=”4153274″]

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FNF2 Round 2 RESULTS!

By doubling up his nearest competitor in terms of percentage of the vote, the winner of the Friday Night Fights 2 Round 2 Consolation Prize is … Alex! His Little John was judged the best by 27% of the votes cast; congratulations to him.

In the main bracket, the results were as follows:

  • DiCicatriz 117, Gargoyle323 40
  • Frevoli 82, VonMaclolm 77
  • Myro 109, JordanXord 37
  • Imp 114, Me Myself and I 44

That sets up a Final Four of Imp (9) vs. Myro (5), and Frevoli (10) vs. DiCicatriz:

Congratulations to all the winners, and good luck in the next round, which I’ll post in a couple of hours.

RP: Welcome to our new employee health plan

(From “Four Favorites” number 10, 1942.)

RP: That’s the last time we go over the hill to Grandma’s house

(From “Four Favorites” number 10, 1942.)