EARTH-SHAKER

I'VE ALWAYS LIKED RICTOR, A 3rd TIER MARVEL COMICS SUPER-HERO, FOR SOME REASON. RICTOR (REAL NAME JULIO ESTEBAN "RIC" RICHTER) IS A MUTANT WHO CAN CAUSE EARTHQUAKES AND CONTROL SEISMIC ENERGY.  FOR SUCH A MINOR MUTANT HERO, RICTOR HAS SURE BEEN ON A LOT OF HERO TEAMS: NEW MUTANTS, X-TERMINATORS, X-FORCE, X-FACTOR AND THE X-CORPORATION. HE'S ALSO MARVELS 2nd MOST VISIBLE GAY SUPER-HERO (NORTHSTAR IS THE 1st, OVBS). AFTER SEEING RICTOR'S 90's ACTION FIGURE IN A BARGAIN BIN AT THE COMIC STORE, I CAME HOME AND WORKED UP THIS PIECE. MAYBE I'LL DO HIS BOYFRIEND SHATTERSTAR OR MAYBE NORTHSTAR NEXT.

FEELIN' BLUE

THE REAL STAND OUT VILLAIN OF GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY FOR ME WAS BLUE SKINNED BAD ASS NEBULA. (A LOT OF THE BAD GUYS IN THIS FILM SEEM TO HAVE BLUE SKIN.
HMMMM . . .)

KAREN GILLIAN DID A GREAT JOB PLAYING HER AS BOTH CUNNING AND UNHINGED. HER PROMINENCE IN THE FILM NOW MAKES THIS 3rd RATE MARVEL COMICS BADDIE A MAJOR NAME IS THE ARCH NEMESIS ARENA.

I'VE INCLUDED AN INKED BLACK & WHITE PIC OF HER HEAD BELOW, JUST 'CUZ I THINK IT TURNED OUT NICE.

SPACE PIRATE

YONDU WAS THE ONLY ORIGINAL ("O.G.") GUARDIAN TO MAKE IT INTO THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY FILM. THOUGH HE WASN'T A TEAM MEMBER THIS GO-ROUND, HE DID SERVE AS STAR LORD'S ADOPTIVE FATHER.

IT KIND'A BUGGED ME THAT MANY OF THE MEN IN HIS BAND OF SPACE PIRATES WERE NORMAL SKINNED PEOPLE, AS OPPOSED TO BLUE SKINS, LIKE HIMSELF. I GUESS MAYBE THEY WERE ALL KIDNAPPED FROM EARTH AS WELL? ANYWAYS, I'M INTO HIS WEIRD METAL CYBER MOHAWK HEAD IMPLANT THINGIE!

COLLECT 'EM ALL!

THE COLLECTOR, PLAYED BY BENICO DEL TORO IN THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY MOVIE, IS ONE OF THOSE SECONDARY CHARACTERS WHERE IT WAS HARD TO FIND A GOOD PICTURE OF HIS WHOLE OUTFIT. THROUGH A FEW GOOGLE SEARCHES, I PIECED HIS LOOK TOGETHER AND FAKED THE REST. IN THE END, I'D DAY I DID A GOOD JOB W/ IT. I ESPECIALLY LIKE HIS ALIEN ANIMAL SKIN CAPE (SHEARLING LINED, FOR THE WINTER MONTHS IN SPACE, OF COURSE)
I WONDER IF HE'LL SHOW UP IN FUTURE MARVEL MOVIES?

SPICE FORCE 5

FINALLY, MY 6th SET OF SPICE GIRLS PAPER DOLLS: THE SPICE FORCE 5! THE FAB FIVE WORE THESE SILVER LAME' COSTUMES WHILE PLAYING A FAUX SUPER-HERO TEAM IN THE SPICE WORLD MOVIE, IN 1997. 

THIS SET HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING, BUT I'VE BEEN REALLY BUSY. I'VE GOT A FEW MORE SERIES SKETCHED OUT, SO HOPEFULLY IT WON'T BE TOO LONG A WAIT BEFORE I HAVE ANOTHER SET FOR YA'LL. 

AND NO, I DIDN'T FORGET TO PUT THE ROUND TEAM PATCH ON GERI. SHE HAS TWO TEAM PATCHES ON HER BUTT!

ROCKET RACOON TO THE RESCUE

AND FINALLY WE HAVE THE REAL STAR OF THE SHOW, ROCKET RACCOON! THE FACT THAT MARVEL AND THE POWERS THAT BE SAW FIT TO PUT THE WORLD'S MOST BAD-ASS RACCOON CREATURE THING IN A BLOCKBUSTER SUMMER MOVIE IS MAYBE THE BEST PART OF THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY FILM. AT FIRST I THOUGHT HAVING HIM VOICED BY BRADLY COOPER WAS A MISTAKE, BUT WHEN I SAW THE FILM I THOUGHT HE DID A GREAT JOB. I REALLY DON'T HAVE MANY, IF ANY, COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE FILM, WHICH IS SHOCKING FOR ME! haha

I CHANGED THE DRAWING FROM A BIT FROM THE SKETCH. I FIXED UP HIS GUN, WHICH WAS LOOKING A BIT SAD. I ALSO TWEAKED HIS OUTFIT AND FACE. I THINK THE" KIRBY DOTS" AROUND THE GUN TURNED OUT WELL.

MEAN AND GREEN

HERE'S MY CARTOON-ISH TAKE ON DRAX THE DESTROYER FROM MARVEL'S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY FILM. DRAX IS MY LEAST FAVORITE OF THE 5 GUARDIANS, BUT HE WAS STILL GREAT IN THE FILM. I GUESS I JUST TEND TO LEAN TOWARDS VAMPY GIRLS, CARTOON ANIMALS AND TREE PEOPLE.

I'VE INCLUDED MY INITIAL SKETCH BELOW. AS YOU CAN SEE, I DIDN'T BOTHER TO DRAW ON DRAX'S SIGNATURE TATTOOS AT FIRST. AFTER I  
INKED THE DRAWING, I WENT BACK AND USED THE LIGHT BOX TO DRAW HIS TATTOOS ON A DIFFERENT PAPER, THEN LAYERED THEM IN LATER ON.

OMBRE IN SPACE

GAMORA IS THE GREEN SKINNED LETHAL FEMME FATALE OF THE MARVEL COMIC'S SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. I WAS UNSURE ABOUT ZOE SALDANA PLAYING HER AT FIRST. IN THE COMIC SHE IS TRADITIONALLY MORE VAMP-ISH AND VOLUPTUOUS IN APPEARANCE. BUT I THINK SHE PULLED IT OFF WELL IN THE FILM AND SHE FIT IN NICELY. I', HOPING IN THE NEXT GUARDIANS FILM WE CAN DELVE INTO ADAM WARLOCK AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GAMORA, IT WOULD THROW A NICE WRENCH IN THE BUDDING ATTRACTION BETWEEN HER AND STAR LORD.

I'VE INCLUDED THE ORIGINAL SKETCH AT THE BOTTOM SO YOU CAN SEE HOW I
MADE CHANGES FROM THE ORIGINAL TO THE FINAL PIECE. 

STAR LORD!

JUST SAW THE NEW MARVEL MOVIE 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY' AND LOVED IT! I SKETCHED UP LIL' CARTOONISH VERSIONS OF THE TEAM AND NOW I'M TRYING TO FIND TIME TO INK & COLOR THEM. 1st UP IN STAR LORD, THE SNARKY SPACE THIEF PLAYED BY CHRIS PRATT.  FOR ME, HE WAS THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE (and not just when he was shirtless!)
HOPEFULLY IN THE NEXT MOVIE THE GUARDIANS WILL MEET ADAM WARLOCK OR CAPTAIN MARVEL.

P.S. I'VE INCLUDED THE ORIGINAL SKETCH BELOW. I CHANGED A THING OR TWO, BUT MOSTLY KEPT IT EXACTLY AS I FIRST DREW IT.

TURNING JAPANESE

PICTURED ABOVE ARE MY DESIGNS FOR THE FLOWER TEEN KILL SQUAD, A SERIES OF ANIMATED SHORTS ON THE COMEDY CENTRAL SHOW TRIP TANK. THE FLOWER TEENS ARE 4 JAPANESE SCHOOL GIRL NINJAS WHO ARE SENT TO AMERICA TO TAKE OUT COMPETING ORGANIZED CRIME. I DESIGNED MICHIKO, NARI, SADA AND RIN IN SUMMER 2013 AND THE SHOW FINALLY CAME OUT IN SPRING 2014. THAT'S A LONG WAIT TO SEE MY GIRLS DEBUT ON TV! HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE A SECOND BATCH OF SHOWS MADE AND WE CAN SEE THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE KILL SQUAD.

WHO'S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?

                       

 VERTIGO COMICS' 'FABLES' IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS TO READ. 'FABLES' TELLS THE STORIES OF FAMOUS CHARACTERS FROM LITERATURE EXILED TO OUR MODERN WORLD. EACH ISSUE HAS MORE ODD TWISTS AND TURNS THEN THE FAIRY TALES THEY WERE ORIGINALLY BASED ON.  THE CHARACTER WITH THE MOST COMPLEX STORY IS DE-FACTO LEADER OF THE CREW, SNOW WHITE. 

I WAS INSPIRED TO DO A PAPER DOLL SET OF SOME OF SNOW'S IMPORTANT LOOKS FROM THE COMIC. WE HAVE SNOW'S CLASSIC PRINCESS LOOK. Miss WHITE IN HER BUSINESS SUIT, SNOW AS SHE APPEARED IN THE '1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL' STORY,  HER SAFARI SUIT AND FINALLY MOMMY SNOW WITH HER SIX WOLF CUB KIDS. THE MAIN DOLL SHOWS SNOW AT HER PIN-UP BEST. 

NOW, PRINT, CUT OUT THE DOLLS (INCLUDING THEIR FACE HOLES!) HAVE FUN WHILE YOU WAIT FOR PRINCE CHARMING TO SHOW UP.

ALONG CAME A SPIDER . . .

THIS WEEKEND I GOT ALL CAUGHT UP IN THE WEB OF MY NEWEST HIPSTER-HERO, HIPSTER SPIDER-MAN. IT TOOK ME 12 HOURS TO FINISH THIS PIECE ON A SUNNY SATURDAY. I'VE INCLUDED THE ORIGINAL SKETCH AND A PIC OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AT MY DESK WHEN I'M WORKING ON A NEW ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE (if i do say so myself! Ha!) I THINK THIS TURNED OUT GREAT! I CAN'T WAIT TO MAKE ANOTHER HIPSTER-HERO. MAYBE ONE WITH A THUNDEROUS TEMPER . . . hehehe

IN CASE YOU MISSED MY 1st  HIPSTER HERO, HERE'S MY HIP CAPTAIN AMERICA
( ----> CLICK! )

PARTY IN THE USA

IF THERE'S 3 THINGS I LIKE, IT'S COMICS, FASHION & HUNKS. THOSE 3 FINE TOPICS LED ME TO DOODLING THIS HIPSTER HUNK VERSION OF CAPTAIN AMERICA. I SAT DOWN AND COMPLETED THE WHOLE PIECE, FROM 1st SKETCH TO FINAL, ALL IN 1 DAY.  I MAY POSSIBLY DO MORE MARVEL HIPSTER HUNKS NOW. MAYBE THOR? IRON MAN? WOLVERINE? SPIDER-MAN? OR, WAIT, ISN'T SPIDER-MAN ALREADY A HIPSTER HUNK???

P.S. - THE FINAL SKETCH (I DID A FEW) OF HIPSTER CAP USA IS INCLUDED ON THE RIGHT.

UPDATE: THE FINE FOLKS OVER AT COMICALLIANCE.COM  HAVE INCLUDED THIS PIECE IN THEIR WEEKLY "BEST ART EVER THIS WEEK" COLOMN. CLICK OVER AND TAKE A LOOK!
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2013/01/04/best-art-ever-this-week-01-04-13/

LADY SIF: MARVELOUS MAIDEN OF MIGHT!!!

ANYONE WHO KNOWS ME KNOWS I LOOOOOVE COMIC BOOKS, AND OF COURSE THE FEMALE SUPER-HEROS ARE MY FAVORITE. MARVEL COMICS HAS REALLY BEEN KNOCKING IT OUTTA THE PARK LATELY WITH ALL OF THEIR FEATURE FILMS. 'IRON MAN', 'CAPTAIN AMERICA', 'THE AVENGERS' AND, OF COURSE, THE MIGHTY 'THOR'!

THOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE OF MARVEL'S "BIG THREE" HEROES (Iron Man is my least fav). I ESPECIALLY LIKE THOR'S TWO FEMALE FOILS; THE ALLURINGLY EVIL ENCHANTRESS AND THE STOIC SHIELD MAIDEN LADY SIF. I THOUGHT ACTRESS JAIMIE ALEXANDER DID A GREAT JOB PLAYING SIF IN THE 'THOR' FILM. IT WAS ACTUALLY REALLY HARD FOR ME TO FIND ANY CLEAR IMAGES OF HER FULL COSTUME. SO I SENT OUT TO HOBBLE TOGETHER AN IMAGE OF HER LOOK. MUCH OF MY COSTUME RESEARCH CAME VIA PICTURES OF HER MOVIE ACTION FIGURE. I ALSO GOT SOME NICE SHOTS OF HER FROM A 7-ELEVEN CUP BARING HER IMAGE.

 I DID A SKETCH OF HER (shown below) A WEEK OR SO AFTER I SAW THE FILM, BUT IT'S TAKEN UNTIL NOW TO FIND TIME TO FINISH IT. I USED SEVERAL TEXTURED OVERLAYS IN PHOTOSHOP TO GET THE FEELING OF CHAIN-MAIL ON HER COSTUME. I THEN USED A SCAN OF ASGARD FROM "THE MAKING OF THOR" BOOK FOR THE IMAGE IN THE BACK GROUND. I'M NOT SO GREAT AT DRAWING WEAPONS LIKE SWORDS AND SHIELDS, ETC., SO I USED THE WEAPON SIF'S ACTION FIGURE CAME WITH AS A MODEL FOR MY FINAL PIECE.

I'D REALLY LIKE TO FIND TIME TO DO MORE OF THE MARVEL MOVIE LADIES, LIKE PEGGY CARTER FROM "CAPTAIN AMERICA" OR SCARLET JOHANSSON'S BLACK WIDOW. WITH MY SCHEDULE, CHECK BACK IN A YEAR AND MAYBE I'LL HAVE THEM FINISHED.

 *p.s. movie makers: ENCHANTRESS HAD BETTER BE THE VILLAIN IN THOR 2!!!! 

THE BAD SEED(s)

EVER SINCE I WAS TURNED ON TO THE VERTIGO COMICS SERIES 'FABLES', I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH! I'VE READ EVERY ISSUE AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT STRANGE TURN THE STORY TAKES NEXT. THE SERIES DETAILS THE LIVES OF A COMMUNITY OF CHARACTERS FROM THROUGHOUT FAMOUS LITERATURE AS THEY LIVE AND LOVE IN MODERN DAY NYC.

ONE OF THE MORE MYSTERIOUS CHARACTERS IS THE AGELESS CHILD SORCERESS OZMA, WHO HAILS FROM THE LAND OF OZ. SHE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE SCHEMING AND PLOTTING WITH HER MAGICAL CAT FRIEND MADDY TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE FABLES COMMUNITY. I'M A HUGE FAN OF THE OZ BOOK SERIES EVER SINCE I WAS A KID, SO IT'S FUN FOR ME TO SEE A FRESH, DIFFERENT TAKE ON A CHARACTER I GREW UP WITH.

DON'T MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE

NO ONE ROCKS A GIGANTIC HAIR BARRETT LIKE MARVEL COMICS' VERY OWN INHUMAN PRINCESS, CRYSTAL. MAKING HER 4-COLOR DEBUT IN FANTASTIC FOUR COMICS #45 IN 1965, CRYSTAL IS A SWEET YOUNG GIRL FROM THE HIDDEN CITY OF ATTILAN, A METROPOLIS FILLED WITH SUPER-POWERED FREAKS AND WEIRDOS! CRYSTAL IS ABLE TO CONTROL THE FOUR ELEMENTS: FIRE, WATER, AIR AND EARTH. THAT ABILITY MAKES HER FIT RIGHT IN WITH HER BUDDIES THE FANTASTIC FOUR.

HERE I'VE DONE A RE-DESIGN OF HER COSTUME. I'VE CHANGED HER COLOR SCHEME FROM YELLOW AND BLACK TO BROWNS AND ORANGES, EARTH TONES, TO SHOW HER TIES TO NATURE. I ALSO ADDED THE CIRCLES MOTIFS AS A SORT OF 'CIRCLE OF LIFE' REPRESENTATION. PLUS I JUST LIKED THE WAY IT ALL LOOKED!

NOW IF ONLY PROJECTROOFTOP.COM WOULD PUT IT UP ON THEIR SITE I'D BE A HAPPY MAN!!!

BACK TALK

CHICA #3 IN MY SERIES OF DC COMICS GIRLS IN FULL, GLORIOUS COLOR: ZATANNA, MISTRESS OF MAGIC!!! ZATANNA ZATARRA (WHATTA NAME!) HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE FEMALE SUPER-HERO SO I HAD TO MAKE SURE SHE GOT INTO MY DC LADIES SERIES ASAP.

ZATANNA IS A FEMALE STAGE MAGICIAN AND FREEDOM FIGHTER WHO WEARS A TOP HAT, FISHNETS, HIGH HEELS AND A TAIL COAT TO FIGHT CRIME. ZEE'S MAGICAL POWERS WORK BY SPEAKING HER SPELLS BACKWARDS. ANYTHING SHE CAN SAY BACKWARDS, SHE CAN MAKE HAPPEN (EXCEPT RAISE THE DEAD, THAT'S A MAGICAL NO NO!). WHO THINKS THIS STUFF UP?

SO, AS ZATANNA WOULD SAY "EPOH UOY EKIL TI!!!"

PLATINUM ON BLACK

PRESENTING, THE HARDEST LADY IS DC COMICS, PLATINUM!!! I FINALLY MANAGED TO MAKE THE 2nd IN MY FULL COLOR 'WOMEN OF DC COMICS' SERIES. THE 1st, BLACK CANARY, CAN BE FOUND HERE ---> (http://bryanhollingsworth.blogspot.com/2010/04/siren-song.html).

NOW, I'VE NEVER REALLY BEEN A READER OF THE 'METAL MEN' COMIC (OF WHICH PLATINUM IS THE SOLE FEMALE MEMBER) BUT I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED THE IDEA AND VISUAL OF A TEAM OF SUPER POWERED ROBOTS, EACH NAMED AFTER AND MADE OUT OF A DIFFERENT METAL ALLOY. PLATINUM IS UPBEAT AND PERKY AND A HOPELESS ROMANTIC. I GUESS IF SHE EVER FINDS A MAN WILLING TO MARRY HER SHE CAN BE HER OWN WEDDING BAND!!!

SIREN SONG

I TOOK A SHORT BREAK FROM WORKING ON MY (NEVER-ENDING!) SERIES OF BLACKandWHITE DRAWINGS OF THE AWESOME SUPER-WOMEN FROM MARVEL AND DC COMICS* TO MAKE A LARGER SCALE, COLOR PORTRAIT OF DC COMICS' SULTRY SIREN, BLACK CANARY. THIS PIECE STARTED OUT AS A DOODLE OF A COSTUME RE-DESIGN FOR CANARY, BUT I WOUND UP WANTING TO DO MORE OF A CLASSIC TAKE ON HER. BLACK CANARY'S FISHNETS ARE AN ICONIC PART OF HER COSTUME, THOUGH I NEVER HAVE FIGURED OUT WHY A CRIME FIGHTER WOULD PUT ON FISHNET STOCKINGS BEFORE SHE LEFT THE HOUSE. TO GO UNDERCOVER AS A SLUTTY SHOWGIRL??

IN ANY CASE, I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS AND PLAN ON DOING MORE LARGER COLOR SUPER-LADIES IN THE FUTURE. THE MAGICAL ZATANNA IS PROBABLY UP NEXT!

* IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE MY SUPER-WOMEN COLLECTION, CHECK OUT MY WEB PAGE FULL O' THEM AT http://beeboynyc.deviantart.com

WHO YAH GONNA CALL???

LET'S FACE IT, THERE JUST AREN'T THAT MANY GREAT FASHION DESIGNERS WHO HAVE A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR AND ARE ABLE TO USE IT. THE ITALIAN DESIGNER ELSA SCHIAPARELLI TOOK UP THE CAUSE OF TOUNGE-IN-CHEEK COMEDY IN CLOTHING, BUT FEW HAVE CARRIED ON THE TORCH. IN AMERICA WE HAVE JEREMY SCOTT AND BETSEY JOHNSON. IN EUROPE THERE IS MOSCHINO AND, OF COURSE, JC de CASTELBAJAC. Mr. JC CAN THROW AROUND A POP CULTURE REFERENCE LIKE NO BODY'S BUSINESS! HE SEEMS TO ESPECIALLY LIKE PLAYING AROUND WITH THE POPULAR CARTOON AND COMIC BOOK ICONS. WHO CAN FORGET HIS OVER SIZED CARTOON CHARACTER SWEATERS FROM THE 80's? OR HIS CHEEKY KERMIT THE FROG JACKET WORN BY LADY GAGA. AND LET'S NOT FORGET HIS STUFFED TEDDY BEAR PANTS WORN BY THE FLEA OF THE RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS.

THE SEQUINED 'SUPERGIRL' MINI DRESS SHOWN HERE WAS FROM HIS S/S '09 COLLECTION. THE DRESS HAD MATCHING GLOVES AND SHOES AND GLASSES, BUT, SADLY, THE MATCHING GIANT ROTARY PHONE WAS NOT MADE AVAILABLE. TSK TSK