Archive for November, 2011
#24 Caldera
Volcano Nymph from way back in the Roman Empire.
She’s a real hothead. Amirite?
—-
Sorry. The one character I don’t really have much in the way of back story of, & quite frankly, I would bullshit one but I’d rather just keep moving. My jump off list had ‘Roman Volcano Goddess’ & I just thought it’d be interesting to draw. The idea of course is that the back of her head is a constant eruption, but I think I spazzed on that some so it’s a bit of a crummy interpretation. If colored, her skintone would be a maroonish, pumice-y gray, & the cracks by the ridges in her head & the corner of her eyes would be bright magma orange. Man I wish I had the time to color it. It’d help sell it so much more.
#23 Mynah
Her parents, firm believers in specialized education, proudly enrolled their daughter in the Starling Academy. The top school in the arts of assassination & espionage they really hoped their daughter would follow in their footsteps. They had high hopes for her, but even they were pleasantly surprised to see how well she was excelling. Only one other student in the school’s storied history has shown as much overall promise & potential. But at present, there’s no better student enrolled than the one designated Mynah.
Her specialty is disguise & mimicry. With enough time & planning, there’s nowhere she wouldn’t be able to infiltrate. And she’s still got two years until graduation, meaning she can only improve.
—-
A character I’m shoehorning into an old story idea, because I saw a neat coat I couldn’t replicate in the drawing. Basically it’s about this girl who got shipped off to an all-girls’ assassin school. She excelled & pissed off a lot of students & faculty, only to go off & live a quiet life of medical administration in the big city. Scorned, the classmates & teachers occasionally show up to try & seek their revenge. When the protagionist finally gets fed up, she goes back to shut down the school so people will just leave her the hell alone. The cheesy gimmick was that all of the girls were given bird species code names (Goldfinch, Cardinal, Ptarmigan, etc), & the staff had legendary bird names (Phoenix, Roc, Ziz, Etc). The main character was the only person who found it extremely cheesy too, with the other characters way into it.
While I don’t have much intention of ever going back to this story, I saw a girl wearing a coat with ridiculous feathers on it. She looked non-descript otherwise, but the coat was a bit over the top. Anyway, it made me think of this story & I decided to try & wedge another character into it. I started rushing & the coat turned out pretty crappy though. Anyway, in the context of the story, it only seemed to make sense that if you’re trying to shut down a school, there would be some star student somehow involved in the fray. The whole premise is very manga to me so I marked it as such even if it’s not overtly so.
#30 Alexandria “Lexi” Reade
OK, i cheated. Â Lexi, is the “future” or transitioned “version” of the main character in my web comic Beautiful Tragedy. Â Xander Reade is an independent comic book artist and writer, who confronts his “demons” and realizes he has Gender Disphoria, and ultimately comes to the conclusion to transition to become the woman he was meant to be. Â Sort of autobiographical.
On a side note… I DID IT!! 30 for 30! Â Thanks Tyler for doing this! See you next year!
#11 Storm Crow.
******
Remember The Shattered Queen? Here is her sister, Storm Crow. (Characters created by Jaym Gates.)
“The Storm Crow. Whether she brings the war or is merely excellent at knowing where war is about to happen is not known, but if she is seen, war is not far behind. It is said that any who welcome her offer of aid will win, but to turn her away is to lose every battle you will ever fight, no matter how small”
Thank you Jaym!
30 – Monarch Mayhem
… continued from Character #29, Amazinaut…
… MONARCH MAYHEM!
In the chaos of Queen Qobra’s attack on Washington and the ensuing Danaian invasion the public’s attention was focused on survival. Korvus Kain’s attention, on the other hand, was focused on amassing power.
Immune to Danaian control, most likely due to his undead nature, he began stalking groups of people hiding from Danaian patrols of Many-Who-Are-One beasts and Neotitans. Once an urban legend, Kain became a boogey man attached to stories of an unstoppable Danaian assassin. Kain accumulated more life force than he ever had before, becoming more powerful than he ever imagined.
Seeking more power he drained his personal army of Murder Men and turned his attention on extranormals. Specifically those injured and interred by the Danaian invasion forces. He broke into their holding facility and found the cells containing the sedated superhumans and drained them one at a time. Kain’s mass increased and he found that he could levitate by expelling some of his pent up power. Kain’s break in and murder spree did not go unnoticed. A squadron of Neotitans was called in to deal with the facility intruder.
The amped up Kain stood toe-to-toe with the metal colossi, toppling them in his escape beneath the waves of the ocean adjacent to the prison. Finding refuge on a small, uninhabited Atlantic island, Kain bided his time, powers dwindling, until a freighter full of supplies destined for Europe in the wake of the defeat of the Danaians. In Europe, Kain began his killing spree anew, trying to recapture the power he once possessed.
In Paris he caught word of a secret DGSE facility housing captured extranormals and extraterrestrials. Making his way to the remote warehouse under the cover of darkness, Kain killed the ten men guarding the facility and entered hoping to quench his thirst. In the first room he came to he found a single woman asleep in a locked room. As Kain moved in for the kill, he was stopped in his tracks.
Reine de Chance rose from her feigned sleep armed with otherworldly technology. Angered at a recent string of murders Kain committed that upset her business plans, Reine de Chance had a device cobbled together by a Donarrian, under much duress, to defeat the undead monster prowling her city. When warned by the Donarrian, in the last moments of his life, that the device would as likely kill her as it would Kain, Reine de Chance replied “what is life without risks?â€
While the device did kill Kain and not Reine de Chance, it did not leave her unmarked. The powerful curse that once plagued Korvus Kain had found a new home. The queen of chance’s empire includes stocks of synthetic Danaian virus, one used to empower Queen Qobra’s Soldiers of the Serpent, which ensure that this monarch has a steady stream of extranormal victims.
The evil that Reine de Chance once wrought will only pale in comparison to the destruction that is sure to follow Monarch Mayhem!
29 – The Amazinaut
… continued from Character #28, Imperial Kaleidoscopic Conqueror…
… THE AMAZINAUT!
The quartet of remaining heroes on the moon (The Man of the Moon, Red Giant, the Awesomist and Atomic-Ra) watched in horror as the planetary satellite they were standing on was being devoured by the Forbiddenaut’s released black hole beast. All attacks on the growing monster were shrugged off or went unnoticed. They continued their ineffective attacks while the beast ate the moon until the Awesomist tried his trademarked Awesome Vision. The beast stopped.
No one moved as the tentacled terror writhed and turned its attention on the Awesomist, eyes still glowing from his energized blast. The beast wanted the mysterious energy emitting from the telegenic hero. Turning in terror the Awesomist pushed of the ground with his Awesome Strength sailing away from the beast in the moon’s lower gravity. His escape was short lived as the black hole beast sped over the lunar landscape reaching out for the fleeing hero. With surprising speed, a tentacle grabbed the Awesomist’s foot and dragged him into its enormous mass.
There was a pause and then a small flash of light from within the beast. The light pulsed again and again, brighter and brighter. The bursts of energy grew in intensity until the beast, to the tips of its innumerable tentacles was bursting with light. Then, with a powerful wind the beast imploded.
The beast folded in on itself at an astonishing rate until it was pulled into the abdomen of the energy bursting Awesomist, the new home of the beast. Where the Forbiddenaut, through means unknown, imprisoned the beast, the Awesomist provided the beast with some desired substance from his apparently limitless energy source.
This symbiotic pairing of the Awesomist and the black hole beast created a new entity, the AMAZINAUT! The Amazinaut is in complete control over his powers and, seemingly, the beast that hides within allowing him to consume all forms of matter and energy. After a brief trip back to Earth to aid the Secret Soldiers in cleaning up the last of the Danaians and their Neotitans, the Amazinaut returned to the moon in the company of the Man of the Moon as he was deemed to dangerous to remain on the world.
With the immediate threat of the Danaians circumvented, the world began to rebuild. The public support of all things extra-normal replaced with distrust and paranoia caused all superhuman activities to go covert. The Secret Soldiers initiative continues to keep watch over the world, with the aid of the Man of the Moon, for threats extraterrestrial in origin and those more homegrown. Threats like…
28 – Imperial Kaleidoscopic Conqueror
(Click to enlarge!)
… continued from Character #27, Atomic Ra…
… the IMPERIAL KALEIDOSCOPIC CONQUEROR!
The Man of the Moon, accompanied by the Forbiddenaut, Red Giant, the Awesomist and Atomic-Ra, arrived on the moon as the Danaian Overlord Plexipus’s Imperial Kaleidoscopic Conqueror, carrying himself and several million Danaians bound for the colonization of Earth, destroyed much of the lunar outpost, operated by men of the moon for millennia, as the gargantuan craft landed.
Powered by a “civilization engineâ€, akin to, but more advanced than, that used by William Walker’s consciousness to control Mantropolis, the Conqueror presented an insurmountable threat. While the collected might of the small contingency of Earthly heroes was impressive, the mechanized Conqueror was the size of a small nation. The group of champions could barely scratch the craft’s dense metal hull. Acting as an extension of Overlord Plexipus’s will, and that of a crew of engineers, pilots and strategist, the Kaleidoscopic Conqueror lumbered past the quintet setting its sights on Earth.
When all hope seemed lost, the Forbiddenaut began to spasm and expand with energy. From within the man-sized suit an impossibly large being, writhing with energy crackling tentacles emerged, the black hole beast had been unleashed!
Starting at the base of one of the Imperial Kaleidoscopic Conquerors rear legs the beast began to feed. The heroes stared in awe at the spectacle, while the Danaian invaders aboard the massive ship watched in horror, as the black hole beast slowly consumed the vessel.
Explosions aside, the Danaian warship was destroyed and Earth was spared. Or so it seemed. The black hole beast was not yet sated.
The heroes grabbed the shed body of Robert Spassky, which had housed the beast for years, and attempted to recapture the growing monstrosity. The effort was in vain as the black hole beast consumed Spassky’s remains and began to consume the moon itself.
The fast thinking of the Awesomist, of all people, saved the moon but created…
Final Thoughts
Well, considering I am not an artist and I was basically learning to draw all over again as I did this, I had a blast. It was a great way to get the creative juices flowing. I would make characters and then see connections that I didn’t before. Originally, my Super Steel Warriors were four characters completely independent of one another. However, when I looked at them on the list (because I wrote the ideas out in my notebook), I thought they’d work well together. I like that aspect of this challenge. It can get the juices flowing and give ideas you didn’t even know you were thinking about.
I’m planning on using some of these characters later on (some sooner than others), but I hope to get use out of all of them. The last two I made just came to me as I was sitting at school (which has the name Samurai in it). I was joking with the music teacher and was sketching and started out with a disembodied head. Then it turned into a ghost. Then next to her was a guy. Then he became a werewolf. Then he became a samurai werewolf. I was really excited by that. I had been wracking my brain for the last characters and it just came from nothing. Magical.
I really enjoyed doing this and seeing all of the amazing, unique ideas people brought to the table. I’m looking forward to next November when I can try again.
Later Days
27 – Atomic-Ra
… continued from Character #26, Mechaman…
… ATOMIC-RA!
Relatively unfamiliar stateside, the mysterious hero known as Atomic-Ra made a name for himself in Europe, Africa and throughout the Middle East. He became active in the mid-1990s gaining fame for saving the Sphinx and several pyramids in Egypt from Donarrian weapon seekers scouring the Saharan sands. He was offered and accepted a post with the newly global Constellation agency.
Atomic-Ra boasts solar powers in the form of energy claws capable of slicing through nearly anything, including the armored plating of Danaian Neotitans, and devastating solar blasts. The blasts leave him weakened as he recharges in our sunlight. It appears that Atomic-Ra’s full body armor also serves as a solar collector constantly recharging the hero. His powers let him take to the skies to watch over the areas in his charge, as dictated by his superiors in the Constellations.
Atomic-Ra’s armored mythological appearance hides his true nature as an extraterrestrial of the Heliopteryx race, who exist as sentient, bird-shaped fields of raw solar energy. He was sent to Earth, after word from an outpost on the edge of our solar system that Danaians had visited the planet, by the mighty Horu-Sol, undying fire emperor of the Heliopteryx peoples. Atom-Ra, as he is known in his own language, was commanded to observe the fledgling human population for signs of Danaian subterfuge.
Atom-Ra’s trans-spatial warp craft was hit by a Danaian light-minuteman sniper sending it hurtling to the Earth. Atom-Ra was thrown and made landfall in the middle of the Sahara while his ship exploded, scattering its remains across the Atlantic and into the U.S. One of the ship’s micro-sun capacitors burrowed into the ground in the wilds of the Great Smoky Mountains only to emerge with meteoric force in an Iowan field where it was found by Alden Barron, the Red Giant!
His presence immediately sensed by the Many-Who-Are-One mounts of the Danaian combat controllers, Atomic-Ra was immediately captured by a contingency of African Neotitans and imprisoned. In captivity, the solar-powered hero learned of the impending arrival of Overlord Plexipus, the appointed ruler of Earth, and a population of Danaians to colonize Earth as part of their intergalactic empire.
Upon rescue by the Man of the Moon, Atomic-Ra revealed the plans of the invaders. Looking into the night sky with inhuman sight, the Man of the Moon grimaced and, with a contingency of Secret Soldiers, took to the air and rocketed to the moon. The group of heroes arrived just in time to meet the lunar landing of…
26 – Mechaman
… continued from Character #25, Neotitans…
… the MECHAMAN!
Born of cutting-edge robotics and acquired extraterrestrial technology, including the Danaian disc of universal knowledge that empowered General Rocky Johnson, Mechaman is the most advanced artificial intelligence on the planet. A nuclear-powered battle field wonder, Mechaman’s brain patterns were modeled after top tier-military strategists, leading scientist in multiple disciplines and medical professionals of numerous specialties. Mechaman’s AI system also incorporates many levels of “compassion software†that give the automated soldier a personality, though a gruff and focused one. The innumerable plates of his body can shift to create a number of weapons, many of which are alien in nature, and reveal a multitude of compartments filled with battle field gear.
The Mechaman project was spearheaded by military leaders in the wake of the Constellation program becoming international under the direction of the United Nations out of fear of the superhumans being turned on the U.S. This black ops venture remained a secret weapon of last resort due to its effectiveness in taking down rogue extranormals in clandestine operations. The Danaian Neotitans were the perfect target for this newly unveiled warrior.
Fighting alongside the Secret Soldiers from their mobile base in Mantropolis, Mechaman was crucial in the first successful takedown of one of the transformed superhuman Neotitans in St. Louis beneath the crumbling Gateway Arch. Finding a chink in the armor of these metal monsters allowed the Secret Soldier to begin effectively fighting back against their insectile oppressors giving hope to the subjugated masses.
The Combat Controllers realized the flaw in their designs and turned their attention on the destruction of the mechanical man responsible for the toppling of their titans.
Mechaman fought valiantly, but the onslaught of Neotitans and Many-Who-Are-One beasts that cornered the automaton were too great a force to handle and the mechanical hero fired his last rounds of ammunition covering his Secret Soldier comrades before he was crushed. He had the last say in the battle, however, as his nuclear heart was ruptured and the ensuing explosion came with a heavy price for the Danaian attackers.
Mechaman’s death was not without reward, as the Danaian focused their wrath on the mechanical marvel the Man of the Moon and his companion, the Forbiddenaut were able to free, from Danaian imprisonment, the legendary…
Shane Smith – 19 characters in 30 days
You may have noticed that my post is actually 19 characters in 30 days, so yeah, I guess I failed the challenge. With an influx of work and family interuptions, all the determination in the world couldn’t magically make the time I would have needed to keep up. Despite the fact I’m eleven characters short, I really enjoyed taking part and am happy with what I achieved which is why I decided to post anyway.
One of my aims was to create a stylistically consistent range of characters, so I guess I shot myself in the foot by choosing a style that was quite time consuming! I could have done some quick doodles or dug out some old sketches but I’d rather do it properly or not at all.
Thanks to everyone for the great comments and encouragement, sorry I didn’t get to reply to all of them (all my spare time went on drawing!).
I’d be interested to know which of my characters you think is the strongest, which is the weakest and why if you have the time.
All the best, and see you next year (unless you stop by my blog that is!)
Shane Smith
25 – Neotitans
… continued from Character #24, Combat Controllers…
… NEOTITANS!
Around the world, all of the genuflecting, virus-infected extranormals entranced by the Combat Controllers’ control devices all levitated into the air as one rotating to face away from their alien directors, eyes pulsating with golden energy. The relatively small time villain Maximilian Mote was lifted into the air and twisted into unusual contortions as his size altering powers were drawn from his body and turned onto the collected superhumans in the thrall of the Controllers.
Letting out a collecting scream of pain, that haunts all who heard it to this day, these superhumans once again transformed. Drawing energy and materials from their surrounds to their beings, these heroes and villains all began to grow. When the process was completed and the already battle-damaged capital city was even further emaciated, the extranormals who once served and preyed on humanity were transformed into metallic behemoths collectively known as NEOTITANS!
This transformation went largely unopposed. A blast from Blue Bazooka’s namesake weapon knocked her Secret Soldier teammate, the Azure Aviator, from the sky. It remains unclear whether this blue beam or the meteor fragments beneath his skin prevented the airborne avenger’s subjugation as a Danaian puppet soldier. The now President Day watched helplessly as his wife was transformed into an inhuman metallic colossus almost in mockery of his own appearance, as his Elixir-born golden shell seemingly protected him from the controller’s calling. This bestowed protection was shared by the equally metallic Ms. Mercury. From the shadows of an undisclosed location, Korvus Kain watched these proceeding unmoved and untransformed.
Serving as the invading Danaians as a forward force, the Neotitans, under the direction of their Controllers, began to prepare Earth for occupation by its new masters. These indestructible juggernauts leveled cities and militaries the world over imposing martial law and crushing all who opposed the Danaian warlords.
America, like the rest of the world, was in shambles, ruled by extraterrestrial invaders and their homegrown human weapons. The remaining, free superhumans continue to fight a resistance to their alien oppressors, hoping to stop the approaching full scale occupation of their planet. To aid in their fight, the Enforcer’s Secret Soldier initiative produced…
24 – Combat Controllers
(Click to enlarge!)
… continued from Character #23, Queen Qobra…
… DANAIAN COMBAT CONTROLLERS!
Mounted on beasts of the species to which the infamous The-Many-Who-Are-One belonged, Danaians in battle armor left their vessels and entered the war torn city of Washington with strange devices held high, pulsating with golden lights. It was later revealed that the original Many-Who-Are-One monster was sent to Earth as a test to see how far along the Danaian-born virus has changed humanity. These warriors spread out among the frozen masses, thousands of eyes following the pulsating lights held aloft.
The Man of the Moon hovered impassive over the scene as memories flooded back to him. He remembered keeping his lonely vigil over the Earth, looking away from his home world out towards the universe. It happened fast, there was a flash out in the void, like a distant supernova, and then the lunar guardian was not alone. A pair of heavily armored lepidopteran soldiers stood before him flanking a large metallic container with something big thrashing about inside, a black hole beast. While one Danaian invader shot the Man of the Moon, the other released their captive predator. The Man of the Moon fought the beast with all his might to a standstill, leaving the beast buried beneath the surface of the moon and him unconscious at the bottom of crater of his own making. This battle cleared the way for contingency of Danaian “first contact scouts†to visit Earth.
When all alien soldiers were positioned throughout the city, and other cities around the globe, they all began to chant, in unison, in their insectile native tongue. All extranormal individuals, heroic and villainous, empowered by the alien virus, real and synthetic, released on first Danaian visitation, found themselves enthralled and moving toward these mounted Danaians, the Combat Controllers!
The gathered extranormals dropped to their knees as one before the alien warriors, all eyes glowing and pulsing with their control rods. Government agents and Secret Soldiers alike braced for the inevitable attack from the Danaians. They were unprepared for the simultaneous transformation of all virus infected individuals into…
23 – Queen Qobra
… continued from Character #22, The Awesomist…
… QUEEN QOBRA!
Trent Day’s inauguration as President of the United States of America just after the turn of the millenia would go down in history as one of the most tumultuous eras in the history of the world. The popularity of extranormals was at an all time high. As the founder of the now global Constellations and trusted intermediary to all things super-powered, Day won his election bid in a landside victory. Spending all his time in his gilded form as the Gold Gladiator as it slowed his aging, allowing him to live out his life with his seemingly immortal wife, Wardove, Day’s swearing in as Commander in Chief was a momentous and picturesque occasion. The celebration was short lived, however.
As Day uttered the final words, cementing his place in U.S. history, chaos reigned from the sky onto the Capitol steps. While the attending Secret Service agents, Constellation heroes and hidden Secret Soldiers were ready for any number of terrorist strikes, they were not prepared for the sheer number of enemy combatants that fell from the sky led by ex-Constellation Serpens, now operating under the guise of QUEEN QOBRA!
Nadia Septemus, under the codename Serpens, was a standout operative in the U.N. Constellation program whose cunning in combat was legendary in the organization. Due to operational parameters and standards, a mission in the jungles of Central America resulted in the destruction of a small village and its population. Angered that her organization was responsible for these unnecessary casualties, Serpens left the Constellations and went underground. She founded the Soldiers of the Serpent as first a mercenary group and then as an underground movement to wrest control of the world from those, in her eyes, responsible for the turmoil it is constantly suffering.
Discreetly funded by the notorious Reine de Chance, Soldiers of the Serpent are armed with cutting edge armaments and empowered by a synthetic derivative of the extraterrestrial virus that gives many of the world’s heroes their extraordinary abilities. The virus grants the soldiers invulnerability and super strength.
Finally ready to make their presence publicly known, Queen Qobra chose the Gold Gladiator’s momentous inauguration as her stage. The hundreds of serpentine soldiers descended on the crowds were met by the numerous government agents and extranormal operatives in the crowd. The newly sworn in President and First Lady led the charge meeting the Queen in a battle that engulfed the capital city.
While battle raged outside and national monuments crumbled under superhuman might, a light began to blink in a small room adjacent to the Oval Office. In the dimly lit space a crimson light pulsated and a low hum emitted from a golden beacon given to, of all people, Trent Day by a trio of extraterrestrial visitors in a remote Michigan forest a quarter of a century ago. The Danaians were returning. The thundering conflict in Washington, D.C. was stilled by the appearance of numerous ships slowly falling to Earth from the void beyond. Heroes and villains alike watched wide-eyed as the ships landed, their portal doors opened revealing…
Day 30: the road trip
So going out of this challenge in style, had trouble keeping up nut did it in the end. so hope you all enjoyed seeing my entries as much as I enjoyed Making them.
#2?: Pigamajig
Pigamajig- he’s not a pig, just a cool dude who lookas a bit like one.
Various attempt at getting him right shown. Curiously, the one bottom left is, I think, the best one.
Lives in a lighthouse, though he also has a very nice, home-made, wooden space rocket that he waxes every Sunday.
# 24 Ms. Mabe
Martha is a math teacher from New Brunswick. Every child who gets below a 70, she will torture and murder and will feed the remains to her cats.
# 23 Monsour Creapotoski
Monsour Creapotoski is a vampire in Southern France. He hates it that in zombie movies no one ever calls zombies zombies, but in vampire and werewolf movies they will always say vampires and werewolf. Oh and he is the one who assassinated Arch Duke Ferdinand.
# 21 Thomas the Tight Rope Walker
When Thomas started he found it difficult to make money in the business. Until he started making bets. Here we can see him hamming it up for the crowd, walking over a volcano in Hawaii.
#30Characters Chatter…