Author Archives: JR19759

What Were They Thinking: DC’s Transformation Obsession

It strikes me that, during my numerous times delving into comic book history and lore, DC comics seems to have an odd love for unusual transformations. Now we all know about characters like Beast Boy/ Changeling, but this also includes guys like Clayface and Swamp Thing. However the best ones are the properly weird times, usually between the late 50's to early 70's, when DC went transformation crazy. I promise, all of these are really true.

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Character Design Contest ♯39 Poll (Colour Coordination)

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Character Design Contest ♯38 Winner (It’s A Kind Of Magic)

The winner of this weeks poll was none other than headlessgeneral for Wicked The First. Congratulations hlg and great work from everyone, it was very hard to pick so few entries for the poll.

headlessgeneral-WickedtheFirst

Character Of The Week- 7th Sept

This week, I'm going to look at one of Trekkie's newest creations, Bolt.

9: 7 Trekkie- Bolt

 

The main reason I chose this is the colouring. It is simple but very effective, especially when combined with the shading. By combining the orange for the shading and the white for highlighting, Trekkie has achieved an unusual effect which half reminds me of highlighter colour. The best example of this on the mask, where it is accentuated by the excellent shading on the face, however the shading done on the black areas of the costume also illustrate this well (see the abdominal area).

Another great thing about this piece is the costume design. To start with we have the excellent detailing on the abdomen with the two yellow areas, made, I believe (but Trekkie will have to confirm this) with insignias and on the lower one, possibly, a piece of leg wear (but this is only a guess, judging by how I would do the same thing). We also have the boots and the dress item cape, which you get the impression links up to the back of the shoulder design of the costume.

The final part that makes this design work so well is the background. Firstly there is the contrast between the bright yellows and dark blacks on the costume against the duller purples of the background square and mid-range blues of the stars, which help the character stand out. Then you have the fact that the stars overlap the square, going onto the plain white default background, which breaks up the boarders and gives the viewer a more interesting visual than just a clean straight line.

Big Question ♯17

So, as we near the premier date of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's big step onto the small screen with Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D, I thought it would be a good time to ask, which comic book property would you like to see given a shot at a new TV series? It could be another addition to the MCU, a Marvel property with no connection to the Avengers or even a DC hero. But, I want you to think Live Action here, so no 'toons.

Personally, I'd like to see The Runaways given a chance. They're an interesting team, not one of Marvels big hitters, but they've got enough of a following for it to work. You've already got an age demographic set out in the age of the characters and you can deal with social subjects, connect with the audience.

So, what do you guys want to see?

Power User Profiles: RobM

This weeks Power User is the master of creating comic book covers on the 'machine. He also managed the silver medal at the last Friday Night Fights. So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome: RobM

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Character Design Contest ♯39- Colour Coordination

This week, I would like to see you come up with a hero, heroine or villain that is colour themed, like Red Tornado, Green Lantern or Blue Devil. They must include a colour in their name and that colour must be the most prevalent in their costume, though you may include other colours as well. Hopefully this will allow you to concentrate on really good costume design.

Please make sure you have read the rules before entering. As usual, no limit on entries, so have fun and good luck.

Rules for posts, contests, and challenges that I am hosting: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warnings. Only post characters that you have either created for this contest specifically or you know for certain have never been entered to a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.

Sci-Fi Corner: Pimp My Spaceship

There are many things that allow people to immediately define a story as Science Fiction; aliens, time travel, teleportation, futuristic gadgets such as laser guns/ swords, warp drives and humanoid robots. But there is only one staple of Science Fiction that is actually Science Fact: Space Travel in a Spaceship. Alright we might not be able to go very far in them and we haven't yet figured out interstellar travel, but its a start. So I thought we might as well celebrate the greatest spaceships in science fiction, because, you never know, one day they might just become science fact as well (providing their copyright is up by then).

I want to hear your opinions on this, what are your favourite spaceships? If you designed one how would you spec it? Would you trade off being able to do warp 9 for better defensive shields or greater fire power?

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Character Design Contest ♯38 Poll (It’s A Kind Of Magic)

[polldaddy poll="7362462"]

Character Design Contest ♯37 Results (Opposites Attract)

It turns out this weeks poll was a landslide, with the winner getting more than double the votes of the 2nd place and, in fact, more votes than the rest of the entries put together. And that winner is Kytana for the amazing Bornfree. Well done Kytana, and well done to everyone who entered, there were some brilliant entries to this contest.

37 Kytana-Bornfree