Angar the Screamer

Posted on December 15, 2007 by | 2 comments

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a rock singer dressed like a hippie became endowed with the power to scream people into horrifying visions and occasional amnesia, then go to a White Snake concert. I kid! Seriously, if you’ve ever wondered that, then the odds are fairly good that you have at least one thing in common with said hippies, and I’m not talking about wearing a peace symbol.

Regardless, Marvel Comics has beaten you to the punch, my brownie-munching friend, because Daredevil #100 brought us the sonic aweseomeness that is …

ANGAR THE SCREAMER!

Angar the Screamer

The description of Angar (get it? Angar=Anger!) accompanying this image in “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1” says he was a rock singer, but come on, clearly this is a hippie. I live in Austin, Stoner Capital of the South; I know me some hippies, and Angar the Screamer would be right at home on Sixth Street.

And if there’s one thing hippies don’t do, it’s scream. At least, not in angar. Anger. Whatever. If he were named “Melloe the Crooner” I could buy that, because this guy seems more likely to be sitting in the middle of the street, staring at his hand saying “Dude, the colors are so intense“. As for leading a life of crime and trying to duke it out with Daredevil, I don’t think so. I could see him trying to crash on Daredevil’s couch and making a move on his “old lady” after an all-nighter with a peace pipe and “The Doors” playing on the wi-fi, but not all-out fisticuffs.

Still, Daredevil’s about the only super-hero in the Marvel universe I could see lasting more than a page with Angar, because a hero who wasn’t literally blind would immediately know he’s just a lonely hippie, bring him to a head shop, and be done with it. But then, Daredevil always has had Angar management issues …

(Image and character © Marvel Comics, from “Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1”, 1983.)

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Posted in Bad Super Costumes

Tutorial: The Power of Layers

Posted on December 14, 2007 by | 3 comments

You don’t have to know how to draw to create characters with the HeroMachine, but there’s still nothing like making your very own custom illustrations. So from time to time, I’ll be posting suggestions on how you can use your computer to do just that.

Before I start, I wanted to say a brief word about the tools you’ll need. At a basic minimum you’ll need a computer (duh) and some software to draw in. I use Flash because I like its organic feel, plus the fact that it outputs vector art means I can give my client an image at literally any size they want, from a small web graphic to a giant mural, and it’ll always look sharp. I also use a Wacom Graphire 4″x5″ pen tablet for the actual drawing. It lets me vary the thickness of the line just like I was inking with a brush, but you can just use your mouse if that’s what you have. For software, I’ll be using Flash MX throughout this tutorial.

And now, on to our first lesson — layers!

Continue reading →

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Posted in Digital Illustration Lessons, Tips & Tricks

Bad Reference

Posted on December 11, 2007 by | 1 comment

If you’re going to use an existing photo as reference for an illustration, you better choose the original subject carefully. For instance, the “Legends of Steel” character sketch of Talena I posted about a while back used this lovely young lady’s photo for the face:

(Image removed due to copyright issues.)

But sometimes using reference can go terribly, horribly wrong.

For example, I’ve been re-reading the “Honor Harrington” series (excellent military sci-fi by David Weber) lately, and while I can understand the cover artist for “Field of Dishonor” wanted to use reference for the female protagonist, I can’t figure out why he went with Michael Jackson:

Michael Jackson IS Honor Harrington

And why does he — er, she — have Man-Hands? I feel lucky the uniform color covers up the Adam’s apple, although now that I think about it I bet Michael Jackson had his surgically removed anyway.

(Cover painting by Gary Ruddell, book ©1994 by David Weber, published by Baen Books.)

1 Comment

Posted in Fantasy & Sci-fi

Getting your face eaten

Posted on December 10, 2007 by | 5 comments

Apparently being consumed by your costume causes your toes to melt. If you’re a Marvel super-villain, that is. Exhibit A is Man-Ape:

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Bad Super Costumes

Bug Reports

Posted on December 8, 2007 by | 30 comments

Consider this an open thread for bug reports in any HeroMachine version. Please note which version it is you’re seeing the bug in when you post. Thanks!

Here’s a list regarding HM2.5’s latest expansion pack release from one of the extremely kind folks on the HM Yahoo Group:

Continue reading →

30 Comments

Posted in Bug Reports & Fixes

New Expansion Items are LIVE!

Posted on December 8, 2007 by | 4 comments

I am happy to announce that the new expansion items from Mark Shute are now LIVE in the first and second male, and first female, body templates! This update includes most of what you see in Mark’s preview, for a rough new item count of 300 or so. All are located in the Expansion1 set of each component, usually at the end. We’ve got dozens of new guns, new shields, beard styles, gloves, you name it, so check it out today!

And as always, thanks to the nice people at UGO, these new Expansion items are yours absolutely free.

(01-21-08, edited to add)

The expansion items will be available for free download in the Desktop Edition once all of the items are available for all six bodies. Until then, there’s no point in putting up a new 45+MB package that people are going to have to download over and over with each tweak. At this point the expansion is still in “beta”; once it’s completely done, it’ll be put into a downloadable format.

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Posted in News & Updates

Bad Costumes: Demolition Team

Posted on December 7, 2007 by | 2 comments

I love Dave Gibbons’ art and Len Wein’s writing, and I actually think the Demolition Team’s costumes are perfect for what they are, but this particular illustration made me stop and wonder:

Demolition Team Beer Hat

Has any other villain in history worn a beer hat into combat? Granted, a cold beverage might be just the ticket when things heat up, and I bet her backpack functions as a refrigerator, but still, don’t drink and rivet, you know what I mean?

(Demolition Team image © 1984, DC Comics, Green Lantern #174)

2 Comments

Posted in Bad Super Costumes

Custom Illustrations: Talena

Posted on December 6, 2007 by | 1 comment

A friend of mine, “EvilDM” Jeff Mejia, created a role-playing game called “Legends of Steel” and asked me to do some character sketches for him. One of the characters was a pirate thief named Talena, and to show me what he wanted he sent me this HeroMachine image:

Talena, HeroMachine version

I took that and redrew it to look like this:

Talena-Color

This is the kind of thing I’d like to do in the upcoming “Custom Character Portrait” contest, or whatever we end up calling it (suggestions more than welcome!). I think the original HM version is nice, and could even be used for a camera-ready, print-quality production if he wanted, but there’s just nothing like an actual illustration done by a pro.

1 Comment

Posted in Cool Characters, Fantasy & Sci-fi

Expansion Load Character String

Posted on December 5, 2007 by | Comments Off on Expansion Load Character String

I thought it might be handy to have a ready-to-go character string you can just paste into the “Load” box to load up all of the Expansion genres at once instead of having to hunt and peck for them.

2.5*m1*ExpansionSet*Hair:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,23,
Eyebrows:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,21,Eyes:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,20,Nose:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,27,Mouth:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,18,Beard:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,26,
Ears:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,19,Skin:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,6,Mask:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,22,Headgear:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,29,Undershirt:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,7,
Overshirt:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,8,Coat:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,25,RightGlove:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,17,LeftGlove:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,
16,Insignia:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,9,
Neckwear:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,24,Belt:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,15,Leggings:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,10,Overleggings:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,11,Pants:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,14,
RightFoot:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,13,
LeftFoot:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,12,Back:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,3,Wings:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,4,Tail:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,5,
Aura:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,2,Companion:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,31,Background:Expansion1,fraBlank,
FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,1,RightHand:,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,30,LeftHand:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,28,#

To use it:

  1. Copy the text string above (starting with 2 and ending with #);
  2. Open HeroMachine 2 Online Edition;
  3. Click on the “Load” button (the one that looks like a folder);
  4. Right-Click in the big white window, and choose “Paste” from the flyout menu;
  5. Click “Load” at the bottom of that window.

The first male body should load, then all of the Expansion genres, and you’ll be good to go. If you want to load the first (athletic) female body with all the expansion items, change the 2.1*m1* at the beginning of the string to 2.1*f1*. For the second (dwarf) male figure with all expansion items, change 2.1*m1* to 2.1*m2*.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks

Bad Costumes: Blackout's Mask

Posted on December 5, 2007 by | 2 comments

Bad super-hero costuming isn’t limited just to complete outfits. It’s entirely possible to have a pretty decent uniform that contains one or more ridiculous components, as I think this panel featuring Marvel bad guy “Blackout” can attest:

bad-blackout.jpg

Apparently Blackout goes to the same haberdasher as “Electro”. A steep discount in off-the-rack super-villain accouterments is the only explanation I can come up with for this mask/headdress; I imagine the conversation went like this:

Electro’s MaskElectro: Dammit, I told you I only wanted FIVE lightning bolts on this mask, not SIX!
Haberdasher: Right away, sir, my apologies. snip snip There, all better!
(Several weeks later, Blackout walks into the shop.)
Blackout: Haberdasher, I need a mask! Something with lightning!
Haberdasher: Certainly, I’d be happy to make one up for you, only $1,000.
Blackout: Crap, I only have fifty on me.
Haberdasher, thinking: Hm, I can give you a one-bolt mask out of a remainder for that.
Blackout: Sold!

I bet that thing gets caught on the top of the car door frame every single time. On the plus side, if his electrical powers should ever fail him, he can always lower his head and charge like Rhino, so there’s that.

(All images copyright Marvel Comics)

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Posted in Bad Super Costumes