*Cue Danny Elfman*

I sketched this up for Dustin last weekend during the Long Beach Comic Expo, inked it up when I got home, and colored it this week. And here I am posting in a reasonably timely manner, as promised:

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I did my best to channel Alex Toth, Bruce Timm, and Derek Fridolfs when I drew this (please go to Derek's DeviantArt page, look at his awesome black and white ink sketches, and give him some compliments--it makes him very uncomfortable). There are some other influences at work as well... the general leanness of form is from Neal Adams (whose influence I've discussed previously), and of course the crescent moon eyes are from Dick Sprang. I think there's a little Jeff Matsuda in there too.

This started out as a pretty static sketch, but I'm trying to be more dynamic these days, so I consciously tried to move away from that. The big experiment for me on this one was spotting blacks heavily. I usually do all my lighting in the coloring stage because I'm uncomfortable with my ability to execute heavy inks. I feel okay about the result though--you can tell because I was actually willing to show you what the original lineart looked like.

(For those who care about such things--of course he has the yellow oval on his chest.)

Ever dance with the (Dare-) Devil in the pale moonlight?

A late post, a multi-layered nerdy title, and another practice sketch from my iPad 2:

All is right in the universe. Or not, but what are ya gonna do?

Tough As Nails

Real quick like: For those who enjoyed the step-by-step walkthrough from the last post, I've compiled it into a single huge image file--you can get it on my DeviantArt account here.

But back to today's post...

I yammered on forever in the last blog, so I think I'll try to keep it brief today. It's Red Claw from Batman: The Animated Series:

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During a typically nerdy late night conversation, I was talking about B:TAS with Josh, and was reminded of this bad-ass villainess, so I decided to draw her. Sometimes it's just that simple!

The H-Word

I think I'm out of vague teasers for the moment, so let's see if I can get back to the regular nerdy fare for the moment, yes?

I wanted to do something quick, fun, and 100% digital, so here's a super deformed Hellboy done in less than two hours (my sloth-like idea of "quick"):

Please forgive any inaccuracies--I drew this without looking up any reference.

Pushing The Envelope

A quick doodle on an outgoing envelope that I decided to scan into Photoshop and slap some colors on.

Sleepy-bye time!

To Infinity and (Batman) Beyond!

AKA Terry McGinnis:

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Pencil, pen, and marker. You can kind of tell that I started this drawing at the top and lost momentum as I reached the bottom. Oh well, I'm still happy with how the head and neck turned out. I definitely need to do more drawings with heavily inked shadows.

Things That Should Not Be: Meow?

A few months ago, I finally saw the Watchmen movie on DVD, which was also the first time I had revisited the story in a number of years--the last time I read the comic was maybe... '98 or '99? Anyways, it occurred to me that it would be really funny if Bubastis somehow was able to reconstitute himself the way Doctor Manhattan had. Okay, I guess it's not really funny, but it was funny enough that I thought I should draw it.

I came up with the name Doctor Manxhattan, and Sherri suggested Doctor Mankattan. I decided optimal funny-badness would be achieved by combining the two names. Thus was Doctor Manxkattan born.

The idea really makes more sense (insofar as such an idea can make any sense at all) in the context of the movie, wherein Bubastis is colored similarly to Doctor Manhattan. However, research into the comic corrected and reminded me that Bubastis was actually magenta colored, not blue. Here, for your enjoyment, are both comic and movie versions of the good Doctor:

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The pose, composition, and colors are all executed in imitation of chapter IV, page 20, panel 1 of the Watchmen comic. HILARIOUS, right? Right? No? Okay, that's enough of that.

In case you missed my previous Watchmen goof, please check it out.

And here are some superior Watchmen goofs, from sources superior to me--enjoy:

Things That Should Not Be: Hurm.

I think today's post manages to top the dumbness and nerdiness of my previous record holder. Here's Rorschach of the Watchmen, resurrected as a Black Lantern, presumably planning to extract vengeance from Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias:

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This one turned out a little better than I expected. As I was drawing it, I had no idea how I was going to approach the coloring, but things ended up working out. Occasionally that happens. Occasionally.

For those who missed this particular detail--the ink blots on his mask are in the midst of forming the Black Lantern symbol--you can thank Josh for suggesting that! And the ring construct grapple gun is fairly accurately derived from Rorschach's device in Watchmen.

My apologies to Alan Moore. I love the man's work, but I can't resist the lure of stupidly awesome nerd crossovers! I've got another Watchmen-related post in the "Things That Should Not Be" category... I think I might have it ready for next week. Stay tuned, it'll be hi-larious!

MMO Tuesdays (Part 4 of 4)

Sorry for the interruption in the series. From City of Heroes, here's the Statesman's archenemy, Lord Recluse (named for the venomous brown recluse spider):

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I took a few liberties with the costume design on this one, but I think it worked out. Recluse's logo is normally only seen on his forehead, while a generic spider emblem is emblazoned on his breastplate. I think Recluse actually has a pretty cool looking logo, so I put that on his breastplate instead, and left his forehead blank.

C'mon, Recluse! Take a hint from Cobra Commander--if you've got a good logo, flaunt it!

MMO Tuesdays (Part 3 of 4)

As promised, here's an MMO villain--Doctor Destroyer from Champions Online:

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I have no idea why the good Doctor's character design so closely resembles that of Doctor Fate. You'll have to take that up with the creators of Champions. I also have no idea why my drawing turned out so meh and stiff. That is strictly my fault. I think the colors turned out decently though. Gold is shiny.

._.


OH HEY--don't forget to go to your local comic book store tomorrow and pick up the new JLA 80-page giant, which includes stories written by my pals Josh and Derek! Click on the pic below for details... DO EET!

MMO Tuesdays (Part 2 of 4)

Of course I would not have paid tribute to Champions Online without also acknowledging its predecessor, City of Heroes.

Here's Statesman, flagship hero of Paragon City:

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How about some MMO villains next? Tune in next Tuesday.

Sketchy Sidekick

Carrie Kelly, of Dark Knight Returns:

Pen sketch + color pencil + minor touch-up in Photoshop. Hmm... sometimes I draw something (like this) and immediately have zero enthusiasm for my own work. Oh well, recognizing mistakes and moving on...

MMO Tuesdays (Part 1 of 4)

"MMO Mondays" would have been a much catchier title, but oh well.

Here's Defender, from the recently launched Champions Online MMO (based on the Champions pencil & paper RPG):

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Erm... there are some problems with this drawing, but I enjoyed coloring the glowy parts at least. Tune in next Tuesday for more MMO heroics!

What? Seriously?

To The Powers That Be,

To the best of my ability, I have determined that Disney's Purchase of Marvel Comics is neither a hoax, nor a fever dream, but indeed a reality, true believer. To that end, I demand that you produce the Disney/Invaders ongoing series that fans have been clamoring for since the 40's. Also, I demand that you negotiate with Warner Brothers/DC Comics, so that we may also see the long awaited Disney/Invaders versus Looney Tunes/All-Star Squadron crossover.

I would be happy to write and draw these books for a nominal fee. Enclosed is a piece of sample art, proving my nerdish devotion to pointless, but awesome, crossovers.

Regards,

J.Ho

The pose is loosely based the standard Mickey Mouse images turned up by my internet research. This whole thing took me about three hours, which is fast for me. Yes, I'm painfully slooow.

What a strange world we live in.

DARKSEID IS.

Here's Darkseid, pretty much as seen in the final Justice League Unlimited episode, "Destroyer." The Omega insignia on his chin is a tip of the hat to JLA storyline Rock of Ages.

This one had been lying around half-colored on my computer for a long time (about 2.5 years), and I finally got around to finishing it up. Pretty basic, but I think it more or less works.

I'm away at Comic-Con, so this post was written in the distant past of earlier this week, and visits you, dear reader, thanks to the amazing macro-advancements in hyper-blogtronics provided by the super-intelligent mega-androids of the ever-flowing info-webs. We can only dream what I will come up with as a blog subject when I finally return from my epic Comic-Con odyssey in the far-flung future of just a few days from now.

Super Boring

More watercolor practice, inked over with a Sakura Micron 05, and a Faber Castell brush pen (much better than the Sakura brush pen):

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Um... yeah, this pose is a little very boring. And I messed up the eyes--so those were re-done in Photoshop. However, I am having fun figuring out how to mix the colors I want. Nothing further, your honor!

What the what?

Question 1: Is this the dumbest thing I've ever posted? Probably.

Question 2: Is this the nerdiest thing I've ever posted? Almost certainly, but I have every intention of trying to continually out-nerd myself.

Question 3: In spite of being both dumb and uber-nerdy, is this also the most awesome thing I've ever posted? I think so, yes.

For reasons unfathomable even to myself, here is Darth Vader, if he were an Alpha Lantern of the Sinestro Corps:

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If you're still reading, you're probably still asking yourself, why? Well, I've been enjoying Green Lantern since the Sinestro Corps War, and I really like the idea of the Sinestro Corps having high-profile members like Superboy Prime, Mongul II, and Hank Henshaw. So my naturally nerdy brain was scanning its archives for other characters capable of instilling great fear, and since I had already crossed over Star Wars with the Green Lantern mythos, once or twice--I came up with Darth Vader.

Before you protest--yes, I'm aware that this concept wouldn't really work in the continuity of either Star Wars or the DC Universe due to the fact that Darth Vader died a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... long before the Sinestro Corps had ever been formed. If I had to come up with an explanation, I would say that the ghost of Anakin Skywalker was psychically controlled/driven insane by Parallax, and had regressed into the psyche of Vader once more. With his spirit trapped in the hollow shell of his suit of armor, and powered by a yellow power battery, Darth Vader is now forced to serve the Sinestro Corps as perhaps their most powerful enforcer.

It had occurred to me that Vader could have made a good Red or Black Lantern. However, I'm not so into the Red Lanterns, and I'm not entirely sure how the mechanics of the Black Lanterns work. Overall, I find the fear-based Sinestro Corps to be more compelling.

The really scary thing is that these hyper-nerdy thought-processes basically all occur without conscious effort. I'm just walking around doing normal things, like drinking Vitamin Water and playing with Legos. Meanwhile my brain is running these dorky match-ups between continuities in the background, and I'm only aware of them in a vague semi-conscious manner. BAM, next thing I know, I'm drawing Darth Vader with a yellow lantern embedded in his chest. It's a blessing and a curse, people. A blessing and a curse.

Say it with me...

IT'S CLOBBERIN TIME!!! Here's the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, the Fantastic Four's cantankerous, yet endearing tank:

My year has so far been filled with plenty of travel (not bad) and illness (not good)--I'm feeling fine now (with no further travel on the horizon), but I'm still playing catch-up. So, tonight's post is a quick exercise in the rare (for me) traditional media. I sketched it in red and brown color pencil, colored it in marker, then went over the lines again with color pencil, and finally added some highlights with a white color pencil. Scanned it, managed to adjust it to match the original pretty closely, and here we are.

Any real understanding I have of color theory has been picked up while working in Photoshop, so it's a refreshing change of pace to apply what I know to traditional media. I think this piece needed more contrast to bring out the larger forms of the Thing's features, like his brow, nose, and cheek bones (cheek rocks?). Recently, I feel like I've been struggling with contrast... having trouble getting it right the first time, and making a lot of adjustments. My sense of color is a bit off too, again, something that I've been getting wrong on early tries and making many adjustments to.

My artistic senses might be dulled as a result of doing a lot of cheap blogs that don't require artistic brainpower, and also banking a lot of blogs ahead of time rather than working continuously. When it comes to drawing, taking moderate breaks can actually help me out--when I come back to it, I feel energized. I suspect coloring is something that I'm still drilling into my brain, and I need constant exposure to the act of coloring, or I start to regress.

Just thinking aloud here, carry on...

Boy Meets Monster

Johnny Monster #1 (written by Josh Williamson, art by J.C. Grande) came out last week! Click here to see the cover for issue #1, and click here to check out the upcoming covers.

Here's a little fan-art to celebrate their debut:

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Head to your local comic shop immediately and purchase a copy of Johnny Monster #1! DO EET!

Super-Obscure (Part 2 of 2)

In the late 80's, Taito produced a Superman arcade game. Last Friday's post depicted a female character who appeared in some unused sprites from said game--people speculate that she was intended to be a Player 2 sprite. The actual Player 2 sprite in the game was a red and grey palette swap of Superman.

Check out the original sprites in question here, and below is my own interpretation of Player 2:

This piece and the previous one were both drawn rather small, probably because they were done somewhat spontaneously. I interpreted the Player 2 Superman's grey and yellow colors as silver and gold--in my opinion this clashed a little less. I was somewhat at a loss when it came to rendering the hairstyle of the unused Wonder Woman-esque character, but I finally settled on a somewhat anachronistic feathered Farrah Fawcett-esque style.

Who are these characters? Do they hail from an alternate reality known as Earth-Taito? Or perhaps they're modified clones created from the DNA of Superman and Wonder Woman? Maybe they're descendents of the heroes we know so well?

I've mentioned it on this blog before, but it bears repeating--I really love obscure characters. Obscure + mysterious is a bonus. I also have a fascination for bootleg toys (hence the blog URL), and these two characters have such a charming bootleggy/knock-offish quality about them, I can just imagine discovering cheap action figures of them in Chinatown.