Hand placement

Hammerknight has put together a great quick guide to how to properly place hands on your illustrations. HeroMachine 2 didn't let you change anything from the default spots so it wasn't an issue, but with HM3 you can rotate and move and flip the arms and hands however you like, and sometimes that can cause problems. Even we professional illustrators sometimes have to break out a mirror and check out how things are supposed to go, so I am sure you'll find this wonderful guide very handy. Thanks HK!

SOD.049 – Things and stuff

049

RP: Awkward moments in hero-villain beat-downs

agc-7-1943-beatmedaddy

(From "America's Greatest Comics" number 7, 1943.)

Count Crapula

Having a bad costume foisted on you is demeaning enough, but a far sadder spectacle is a bad costume the recipient actually likes:

dracula-mirror

This revamp (get it, re-"vamp"?! I just slay myself!) is from the Golden Age of comics, when an intrepid publisher tried to cash in on the whole super-hero fad by combining spandex and Dracula. It must be frustrating to have all the supernatural power of the night and still no fashion sense, but he's really pulled it off here. From the Daredevil like horns and spandex mask to the gigantic bat buckle holding up his underwear, you'd think at least he'd be granted the mercy of not being able to see his own reflection in a mirror like a real vampire, but no. Even that is forbidden him, and he is forced to endure his own sartorial horror for all eternity.

Now that's a curse you can believe in.

Update: As several commenters pointed out, this is actually from a Dell comic in the 1960's. That's important because they had to make him non-scary due to the pernicious Comics Code. Remember kids, censorship leads to bad art, that's key.

SOD.048 – Nick Furry

0481

RP: Then I’ll need some Doritos!

agc-7-1943-commandoyank-jonesing

(From "America's Greatest Comics" number 7, 1943.)

Poll Position: A brave new world

I like thinking about what the real world would be like if some of the genre conventions we all love about comics were to be introduced here. So that's our weekly conundrum:

{democracy:121}

Discussion after the jump!

Continue reading

SOD.047 – Crocalien

047-final

Alternate version after the jump.

Continue reading

RP: Because sometimes Clark needs a little pocket change

agc-7-1943-advertising

(From "America's Greatest Comics" number 7, 1943.)

Caption Contest 70

Come up with the funniest -- while still being clean, that's important this week, as you'll see -- replacement dialog for the balloon in this panel and you'll win the chance to include any item you like, or a portrait of yourself, in HeroMachine 3!

cc70-casper

The rules are simple:

  • No more than three entries per person;
  • All entries must be left as a comment (all in one comment or separate ones, doesn't matter) to this post;
  • Must be relatively clean, appropriate for broadcast on late-night network TV, for instance.

That's it! Good luck everyone, we'll post the Finalists for voting next Monday.