Category Archives: Challenges

Caption Contest 45: Group action

Who doesn't love a good group scene? I know I do! Thus your challenge for this week's caption contest is from the pages of Image Comics' "Brigade", issue 2:

brigade-2-groupshot

Come up with the funniest/best replacement dialog for the balloon and you'll receive a free black and white illustration of whatever you like from yours truly, so put on that thinking cap and get busy! Keep it to no more than three total entries per person, left in the comments to this post, and relatively clean and you’re home free.

Good luck everyone!

(P.S. I can't post this image without pointing out that the artist is Marat Mychaels, who can only be described as a Liefeld Wannabe. In other words, he is an even worse illustrator than Rob, and yet someday aspires to be just like him. You can certainly see that wordless longing in the way the figures all seem to have their feet (off-panel, naturally) at different levels. Seriously, they'd all have to be standing on different stages for this to make sense. And the giant in the background either has his feet crammed into his buttocks or he's standing in a well. Which of the two foreground figures, and which of the two flying figures, is in front of the other? Can you tell? I can't. Add in the horrible coloring, the amateurish inking, and the awful character design, and you have the only thing worse than a pure Rob Liefeld drawing -- someone who wishes they were Rob Liefeld but isn't as talented as he is! Oy.)

Caption Contest 44 Winner

I am happy to announce that the winner of Caption Contest 44 is ... Cory!

contest44-winner

Something about headless Conan enemies seems to bring out the best in people, so I thought something happy as the winner was appropriate. A number of other entries were also very funny, including the following Honorable Mentions:

  1. marx: Frankincense, Myrrh, Gold–those are traditional gifts from a wise man to a king. But this… this is just creepy.
  2. Frankie: “Yes, yes. (sigh) I’m indeed his ‘little friend’.
  3. Zorbas The Awesome: Before you say anything….yes I AM his One-Eyed-Willy
  4. Danny Beaty: Jenny Craig helped me lose over 170 lbs.!
  5. Malachi the great: *Never* agree to the magic trick.

Many thanks to everyone who entered. For coming up with the winning entry, Cory will win a custom black and white illustration of whatever he likes (within reason). Keep your eyes peeled to HeroMachine.com for your chance to win with the next Caption Contest!

Contest 41 Winner: Thunder

John D and I have finished his commission for winning Caption Contest 41, of his character "Thunder":

You can get your own custom black and white illustration of whatever you like by winning Caption Contest 44, going on right now!

Mustang Sally deconstructed

I thought you might like to see how an illustration is put together. After the jump I'll post an edited image I created while putting together Ian's prize for winning Caption Contest 42.

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Contest 42 Prize: Mustang Sally

Ian and I have completed work on his prize for winning Caption Contest 42, a character named "Mustang Sally" from his forthcoming novel:

mustangsally

Your chance to win your own custom black and white illustration of whatever you like is going on now, with Caption Contest 44, so head on over and try your luck!

Edited to add: Original HeroMachine version after the jump if you're interested.
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Caption Contest 44: Conan revisited

Jeff Rients did a great job guest-hosting the Caption Contest a few weeks ago, but there were some other panels from the same issue that I thought would have also made good caption-contest-fodder. So I'm going to use one of the alternates from that week to see what you can come up with:

conan-40c

As always, the winner will receive a free black and white illustration of whatever he or she likes from yours truly, so put on those thinking caps and get busy! Keep it to no more than three total entries per person, left in the comments to this post, and relatively clean and you're home free.

Good luck everyone!

Caption Contest 43 Winner

I am happy to announce that the winner of Caption Contest 43 and a custom black and white illustration of whatever he likes by yours truly is Rob Rogers!

contest43-winner

Rob deserves special credit for successfully using the word "Ampersand" in a sentence, which is not easy to do. I always thought that would be a good name for a super-hero... Anyway, I digress. Congratulations to Rob, and to the other Honorable Mentions from this week:

Runt82:
GL: The spider just caught a couple of flies. You know what that means?
Batman: Bring out The Gimp!

Pip:
GL: Did you remember to put out the crackers?
BM: Crap, I think I left them in my other utility belt.

Lyogi:
GL: I only agreed to meet your fan club if you would introduce me to the hottest members.
BL: …Those three are the hottest.

Dave:
Green Lantern: Batman why are you smiling?
Batman: Because I am about to beat you to within an inch of your life.

I can see why two-balloon panels don't work as well, I think they're a lot harder to make funny and pithy. I think I'll go back to the one-panel weird looking ones for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congratulations again to Rob.

Caption Contest 43: On being cordial

We haven't had a two-balloon contest in quite a while, so I thought I'd give it a go with this beauty from the pages of "Justice League International":

jle-40-batmangl

If you come up with the best dialog for these two costumed crusaders, you'll win your very own custom black and white illustration of whatever you like (within reason), just like these folks did! Just leave your entry (no more than three total, and try to keep them PG-13 or cleaner, please) in the comments to this post, like this:

Green Lantern: I never liked you.
Batman: Ditto. Also your ring just ran out of its 24 hour limit, and you've got an exploding Batarang in your shorts.

Good luck everyone! I'll select and announce the winner next Tuesday, so put on those Funny Caps and get busy!

Contest 42 Winner

The winner of the HeroMachine Caption Contest 42 is ... Ian!

contest42-winner

The whole thing tickles my brain in a weird way, from the nonsense of the actual sentence to the look on Thor's face. I imagine him being all "whaa-hunhn?!" Plus the combination of leather and lemon cookies is just perfect with the long flowing blond hair. Well done, Ian!

The other Honorable Mentions from this week in my humble opinion were:

  • Runt82: You know the Kama Sutra? They had to write an entirely new chapter because of me.
  • The Doomed Pixel: Wait…That’s not the Heimlich…
  • Ian: Mmmmm…you smell like leather and lemon cookies!
  • The Imp: Lemme show you why they call me ‘Mr. Fantastic’…
  • Ballin' Boy: Giddy up!
  • Neil Leslie: Hello there, Thor. Let me tell you about my stimulus package.

Neil Leslie's in particular was very timely, and now every time I watch the news and hear that phrase I'm going to get the willies. Thanks for that mental image, Neil.

Many thanks to everyone who entered! Ian and I will be talking about what he'd like for his prize, and we'll be sure to share it with you once we're done.

Contest 38 Prize: Scavenger

StacyX and I have finished the prize for Caption Contest 38, the pirate captain Scavenger:

You can win your own custom black and white illustration of whatever you like (within reason) via Caption Contest 42, going on right now!