Author Archive: Beausephus

29 Spindo Sword Fist by Beausephus + Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Spindo Sword Fist

DATE OF CREATION:  November 2011

CONCEPT:  “Spindo is a robot with swords that he can use as swords and then put n his arms and make them spin around shoot off at stuff.  But he really likes to spin the swords around and scare bad guys.  His eyes glow.”

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My son came home from school with a small picture made by tracing geometric shapes that he turned into a robot super-hero character. He wanted me to draw it.  So I gave it a try and then he offered edits with such encouraging comments such as, “No, Daddy, you’re not good at this,”  and “That’s not good.  It’s supposed to look like this (insert sound effects made by a four year old imitating explosions and what he thinks sword spinning robots sound like).”

After many attempts, here is the final version of Spindo Sword Fist.  My son still wants me to change the eyes.

Thanks for checking out our stuff.

-Beausephus + Son

27 – Flashpoint by Beausephus

CHARACTER NAME:   Flashpoint

DATE OF CREATION: 1991-92

CONCEPT:  After discovering an ability to turn light energy in heat energy, Flashpoint is severely burned but dedicates himself to improving himself and mastering his abilities.  He becomes a member of a superhuman Military task force and finds the methodology to use his powers for the good of all… by putting on a costume that hides his hideously deformed face and downplays the severe damage his abilities are capable of.  He uses the reflective surface of his knives to focus his abilities making his trademark, knives blazing with fire.

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The original design of the Flashpoint character featured all the colors above but the “chainmail” armor was essentially a full on shirt of scales, with bright orange tatter tied to the limbs with matching yellow gloves and boots.  The character also featured the exact same mask as above.  While the backstory remains almost the same, I’m pretty sure I made him disfigured so that I would not have to draw a face, it being easier for my sixth grade self to draw full face masks.   The orignal design also featured a bandolier of knives.

So I tried to stay true to the basic orignal design of the character, and given that this post was a bit rushed, I only altered a few design aspects.  I got rid fo the tattered ribbon as a character who uses fire might not want flammable materials whipping about in the wind all around him.  Instead of full on knives I made him some stylized throwing knives.

Thanks for checking out my stuff,

Beausephus

26 – Cutter by Beausephus + Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Cutter

DATE OF CREATION:  Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  “Cutter is a super hero with swords that he is super fast with.  He can cut and throw his swords, and sometimes has tricks in his swords like forcefields or a sword that can shoot stuff out of it.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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For a while my kid would put Wolverine style maks on every character he came up with…and there were only so many re-imagined versions of that Hawkeye/Wolverine winged mask that I could come up with.  CUTTER is the sword-guy on my son’s super team… well, the good sword guy, there’s a suspect member of the team called NIGHT NINJA…   CUTTER is essentially responsible for keeping NIGHT NINJA in check…many sword fights that end in draws and mutual respect all around.

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This post contains two versions of the character.  The first is in my usual “style” which is just an amalgamation of all of my influences that developed as doodle during High School and College with no real honed practice or attempt at skill…nothing is really different  or has dramatically changed over the past decade since then.  There’s aspects of this style that I like, but I am really unsatisfied with the hesitancy of my lines.  Lots of small , rounded details, overly rendered in my too big for small detailed style…lots of unnecessary layer work…  It looks okay, but it is hesitant.

The second version is an attempt to capture the simple line work in the vein of Kirby, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Oeming, and Mignola.  I was aiming for flatter, and cleaner with an attention to the simplicity of the lines and the throwback style costume rendering.  I’ve been really captivated for the last few months with Kirby’s ornamentation and the way he drew “tech” and equipment.  A Kirby sword looks like a Kirby sword.  The odd details of his machinery and almost Incan intricacy of his armor designs (Thor, New Gods, Eternals) are really speaking to me and for the first time in a lon time I am actively working on improving and shifting my aesthetic to what speaks to me now, rather than the habits I developed aping the style of 1990s.

Thanks for checking out my drawings and reading my ramblings…

-Beausephus

25 – Bastion by Beausephus

CHARACTER NAME:  Bastion

DATE OF CREATION:  Early 1990s

CONCEPT:  A take on the shield wielding superhero, Bastions reflective armor pieces and shield absorb various forms of electromagnetic and solar radiation that he can refocus as short bursts of offensive energy blasts or blinding light energy.

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Every character who carries a shield will be compared to my favorite comic character of all-time, Captain America.  The circular shield is almost off-limits in terms of character design because the shape is so iconically linked to Capt. America.  If a new character carries a shield how long until that shield becomes an offensive tool and the creator is torn down by using the only weapon the character has – throwing a shield is as linked to Cap as the Bat-Signal is to Batman.

So what if a character who carried a shield could not throw it as a usual behavior?  What if the shield was too linked to the power structure, or the design of the shield was too bulky to be an aerodynamic weapon of choice?   So here’s Bastion, a shield bearing superhero whose reflective armor absorbs solar and various other energies that he refocuses as energy blasts of blinding light attacks.  His shield, also is a huge conduit for this absorption and so losing the shield means losing a huge reflective surface for his powers.  Als, his shield is thick and bears three large, halfed spheres in relief on the shield’s surface…collection modules for the energy…whatever justifies their presence best.

Bastion’s shield is a bludgeon and not a dynamic piece of engineering slicing through the air or through enemies.  He can charge the shield with his collected energies and use it as a battering ram, but the shield needs to be i contact with the character for the maneuver to work.  Bastion is  term that calls to mind defense and steadfast loyalty/protection.  Visually the character is thick and not acrobatic.  Bastion rooted and immovable and his power set allows him to physically get in between those he is defending and those he is attacking, being a physical defense as well as a physical threat.

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So, I’ve been going through an artistic realization during this 30-Day challenge, and with this submission I’m really feeling the lack of practice over the past decade come through in my drawing.  I’ll post moe on this after the whole challenge is complete, but I’m not very happy with how this drawing looks and I need to start being more active in honing my craft if I am going to continue posting my work to the public like this.

Again, more on this later and perhaps a few additional posts journaling this crisis of self criticism…

As always, thanks for checking out my stuff…

-Beausephus

23 – The Jack O’Lantern Kid by Beausephus + Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Jack O’Lantern Kid

DATE OF CREATION: Oct. 30, 2011

CONCEPT:  “A guy who is magic and appears like Batman out of smoke to scare bad guys who take kids’ candy.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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My son loves pumpkin carving for Halloween…or more precisely, he likes drawing faces that I in turn draw and he vote on which one goes on which of our multiple pumpkins.  This year he asked if someone could wear a Jack O’Lantern on their head like a mask.  I asked if that would be his costume this year and he then proceeded to invent The Jack O’Lantern Kid.

The Jack O’Lantern Kid is a “magic guy” who comes to life every halloween formed from the light and smoke of all the Jack O’Lanterns that people put out.  He is a “good guy who looks scary because e has to scare bad guys, but he always helps little kids.”  The Jack O’Lantern Kid is a benevolent ghost who takes this annual form to walk amongst the living making sure children are protected and safe from any malicious behavior during their trick or treating rounds.  “He has fire in his head and can shoot it out of his mouth like a dragon and can make smoke do stuff.”

Thank for checking out our stuff.

Beausephus + Son

21 – Wild Bengal by Beausephus

CHARACTER NAME:  Wild Bengal

DATE OF CREATION:  1992 or 1993, the 92-93 era thereabouts…

CONCEPT:  A master thief builds himself a suit of armor, but then is killed by an assassin hired by his rival.  The assassin takes the exoskeleton and uses it to enhance his natural skills.  He takes the name WILD BENGAL and acts as contract assassin with a heart of gold who only takes on targets that fit within his personal moral code.

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Objectively, dressing in colors in the orange range might not be the best garb for an assassin.  Nevertheless, the character Wild Bengal went through various permutations and origins before falling strictly into the criminal/anti-hero role.

Since the armor the character wears was developed by a thief for thievery, it is lightweight and absorbs shock/impact/energy.  The costume is highly flexible, perfect for a trained assassin in either covert activity or hand to hand combat.  Wild Bengal modified the suit with claws and stylized equipment more in fitting with his name.

Looking at the character now, I like the concept but would take the character in a direction akin to the Pierce Brosnan assassin movie, THE MATADOR, a hired killer reexamining his hallow life and searching for meaning by developing standards and morals…except with more spandex clad super characters and hi-tech espionage.

Thanks for checking out my stuff…

-Beausephus

20 – Shadowhawk by Beausephus

CHARACTER NAME:  Shadowhawk

DATE OF CREATION: Late 1980’s.

CONCEPT:  A fusion of Batman and Snake Eyes from GI JOE this silent character patrols the rooftops and hidden alleyways prowling for trouble and then descends to dispense street level justice with efficiency and high tech flair.

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Shadowhawk was a character that starred in many small comic strips and hand stapled pamphlets.  In the original design, the costume was very basic – a boulbus helmet, metallic bracelets covered in mini-missles, and a bandolier of weaponry resembling Batman’s utility belt in an act of overt swiping.  Shadowhaek, if I remember correctly, was a cop by day (complete with full on 1980s moustache) and vigilante by night.  In his numerous adventures he fought character in scenarios inspired by GI JOE cartoons and “KRAVENS LAST HUNT.”

In the reinterpretation of my elementary school design, I kept the color scheme (toning down the bright teal a bit) and the characters giant “wings” that run the sides of his torso and allow him to glide along.  I’ve removed the missle launcher bracelets and stylized the helmet a bit to make it less like 1950s Sci-Fi pace helmet and a bit more predatory to in some way refer to the Shadowhawk name.

The best thing about this character was in the early 1990s when IMAGE comics first formed.  Founding Image Creator, Jim Valentino, had been writing one of my favorite serie, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, for MARVEL and had just relased his own creator owned IMAGE property, Shadowhawk.  At a regional comic convention I brought him some color copies of the Shadowhawk character and comics I had made years earlier.  He was very gracious and really liked my childhood zeal for superheroes comparing the work to that of his son who was close to the age I had been when I drew my first Shadowhawk comics.  Whether he was just being a pro or really appreciated my attempt to share my fanboy appreciation for his work, I’ll never know, but his friendliness made a big impression on me as to what it means to apprecaite positive compliments and how to act when someone is being genuine even when there is a line growing behind them.  Mr. Valentino made a life-long fan of me that day, and no matter wht I always buy a comic with his name on it to in some small way show my appreciation for his five minutes of time when I was a kid.

Thanks for checking out my stuff.

-Beausephus

18 – Koku of the Ninja Bros. by Beausephus+Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Koku, of the Ninja Brothers

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  ”Koku si the big brother ninja and he looks after his family and protects them from the evil ninjas.  he’s really good with his swords and can do really scary ninja tricks.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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THE NINJA BROTHERS is a story that my son started to tell me one night before bedtime.  Perhaps in an attempt to put off the impending lights-out, the story of three long-lost brothers became almost epic in its proportions spreading out over a few evenings and interweaving all of his interests  – superheroes, spies, ninjas, and magic.

KOKU is the eldest of the three NINJA BROTHERS.  He takes his role as the self-perceived head of the family very seriously.  “He’s like Cyclops [of the X-Men] who is always mad at people because he is the boss.”  Koku is very focused- to the point of disconnect with reality and at times, the family and townspeople he has sworn to protect.  When he and his younger brother BIRQ began to train in the mystic arts of the ninja, he never doubted for a second that they would be able to rescue STINGUT, their baby brother, from the clutches of the evil ninja master who controlled almost every aspect of the lives of the people in the town they lived in.  Koku is loyal and determined.  There is no doubt that he is a master swordsman and an imposing physical and mystic threat for one so young, but his driving ambition often blinds him to the simple pleasures of a life he is so determined to protect that he almost doesn’t realize what he is fighting for.

Koku, like Birq and Stingut, is highly skilled at hand to hand combat and mystic ninja magic.  He is renowned as a swordsman and his homemade weapons are rumored to be enchanted.  Like all of his brothers, he carries a magic short sword in addition to the rest of his well-honed bladed arsenal.

Thanks for checking out our stuff, my son is very excited to share his ideas with everyone here.

17 – Birq of the Ninja Bros. by Beausephus+Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Birq, of the Ninja Brothers

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  ”Birq is a ninja who uses guns and lasers because sometimes a sword isn’t going to work, so he has to use a blaster to blast the bad guys.  He also has a magic little sword like all of his brothers in the Ninja Bros.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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THE NINJA BROTHERS is a story that my son started to tell me one night before bedtime.  Perhaps in an attempt to put off the impending lights-out, the story of three long-lost brothers became almost epic in its proportions spreading out over a few evenings and interweaving all of his interests  – superheroes, spies, ninjas, and magic.

BIRQ is the middle brother of the three siblings who make up the NINJA BROTHERS.  Like his elder brother, KOKU, BiRQ trained in the martial arts for years in the hope of getting to be strong enough to take on the evil ninja master that kidnapped their youngest brother, STINGUT, as a baby.

When the brothers are ready, BIRQ and KOKU infiltrate the evil ninja master’s fortress, rescue their youngest sibling, and dedicate their lives to battling the evil ninja master.

BIRQ, for all intents and purposes, is the tech guy in the trio.  While he trained in martial arts and ninja magic, he prefers technology that he can rott around in , rewire, and rebuild.  he makes high-tech devices to use in tandem with his brothers’ more mystic tricks and tactics.  Like all of his brothers, BIRQ is  master at hand to hand combat, and “super old, magic ninja tricks.”  He carries a small magic sword that is identical to weapons his brothers carry.

Thanks for checking out our stuff, my son is very excited to share his ideas with everyone here.

-Beausephus

16 – Stingut of the Ninja Bros. by Beausephus+Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Stingut of the Ninja Brothers

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  “Stingut is a little kid who is captured and has to be a ninja and then his brothers come and rescue him and they are all ninjas together.  He uses ropes and lassos and has a little sword.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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THE NINJA BROTHERS is a story that my son started to tell me one night before bedtime.  Perhaps in an attempt to put off the impending lights-out, the story of three long-lost brothers became almost epic in its proportions spreading out over a few evenings and interweaving all of his interests  – superheroes, spies, ninjas, and magic.

STINGUT is a boy who was kidnapped by an evil ninja master at a very young age.  The ninja master trains Stingut in various marial arts and escape tricks.  One day two ninjas infiltrate the ninja master’s fortress and take Stingut away.  The two ninjas, BIRQ and KOKU, are actually Stingut’s brothers who have been training for years as ninjas so they could finally be able to rescue their long-lost little brother.

Together, the Ninja Brothers, start waging a guerilla style war against the evil ninja master who also controls the country they live in.

STINGUT, although young, is exceptionally skilled “at leaping around and disappearing like Batman and Robin.”  He also carries a special arsenal created for him by the evil ninja master.  His tolls include lock picks, and “little darts and sharp sticks to throw at bad guys because he is little so he has to use little stuff.”  STINGUT can also do “really cool rope tricks and magic tricks with rope so he can get out of traps or tie up evil ninjas.”  Alo, STINGUT carries a small magic short sword that each of his brothers have an identical copy of.

Thanks for checking out our stuff.

-Beausephus

15 – Dr. Pinkbot by Beausephs+Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Dr. Pinkbot

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  ”Dr. Pinkbot is a bad robot who was made into a good guy.  He makes swords and stuff like Green Lantern.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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DR. PINKBOT is another member of my kid’s superhero team- The Amazing Justice Squad of Superheroes.   The good doctor is actually an evil robot that was turned good by the heroes and ow he serves them as the “guy who fixes them up and makes their stuff for them.”  Dr. Pinkbot (whose credentials seem spotty at best given his title) also creates energy constructs a la Green lantern, but instead uses pink energy that he projects from his hands and eyes.  My son indicates that it was because his powers are pink that he was easy for the superheroes to beat and turn into a good guy.  My son is clearly going through the “pink is icky” stage, and yet, he likes Dr. Pinkbot more and more everytime he spins a superteam tale.

Thanks for checking out our stuff.  My son is really enjoying seeing his ideas on the computer.

-Beausephus

12 – Night Ninja by Beausephus+Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Night Ninja

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  “He’s a ninja who uses swords.  He’s the best sword guy in the world.  Sometimes he uses a laser sword, but he likes his magic swords better.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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NIGHT NINJA is another member of my kid’s superhero team- The Amazing Justice Squad of Superheroes.   Like all little boys, my son loves to play “sword-fighting” with me.  Somewhere in between watching the Last Airbender cartoon and re-runs of Silverhawks, he discovered ninjas…or as he calls them, “‘injas”.

I think in his mind a ninja is like a spy who uses swords and somehow has magic.  So essentially that’s what NIGHT NINJA is, a spy with swords.  Later designs of “spy” type characters have similar color schemes and costume patterns.  There’s another character coming later called “CUTTER” who is on the super-team with NIGHT NINJA.  As my kid puts it, “They get into sword fights, but when bad guys come in the house, they fight the bad guys and call them names.”  It’s like a toddler version of Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes.

Thanks for checking out my stuff.  I just showed my kid that his characters are on the computer and he was really excited.

-Beausephus

11- Atlas by Beausephus

CHARACTER NAME: Atlas

DATE OF CREATION : 1987-ish…

CONCEPT: A normal joe gains superhuman strength and invulnerability.  he struggles to adapt to normal life with his newfound abilities and decides throwing on a light blue spandex outfit to fight crime is the best way to experiement with his abilities, do good, get some recognition so maybe someone can help him discover the origin of his powers and if they have nefarious side-effects…

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ATLAS was the pure escapist creation of an elementary school mind.  He was the giant bruiser who just wanted to do good but really had no idea what he was doing.  At one time ATLAS, in his pre-powered days, wanted to become a cop and do what he saw as good, and now, newly empowered he dons a costume and tries to figure out how to fight crime based on his limited exposure to just what that entails.  He meets up with other super-folks who he regularly teams up with and they open his eyes to the network of alliances and dastardly intentions that criss cross the superhero scene.  Essentially, ATLAS is a first person avatar to explore a new superhero environment without having to disguise exposition.  Of course, the limitations of my emerging writing ability didn’t fully comprehend this concept, I just liked the fact that whenever ATLAS met new characters they could go into an origin story of their own.

ATLAS starred in two or three photocopied and hand colored issues of a comic book bearing his name.  In his adventures he tried to stop a nasty fellow wearing a green unitard and packing as many uzis as my young self could fit on the character.  This fellow was had numerous clones and an evil corportation bankrolled a mad scientist to create the whole thing.  ATLAS wound up teaming up with a rogue green unitard clone who fought alongside him to take down the evil organiztion, which, as it turns out might have had a hand in ATLAS’s powers…. cue melodramatic reveal music.  I don’t remember much else about the stories.  I know there was a guy who had a helmet that looked like a giant eyeball that shot lasers out of the pupil, but that’s it.

I do remember the cringeworthy costume and design of the character.  Blond mullet.  Bright blue costume with matching headband and a plunging neckline and flared collar that was more disco that superhero.  I tried to stay close to the original design but toned down the huge collar, and lost the mullet.  The basic blue bracelets that covered his forearms were anime-d up to give some more shape and design to the very basic original costume design.

Not an overtly amazing character but one that I cared about very much in my youth, but looking back, I’m pretty sure I liked drawing and coming up with new characters for him to meet more than ATLAS, himself.

Thanks for checking out my stuff.

Beausephus

10 – Hook by Beausephus+Son

CHARACTER NAME: Hook

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT: “He throws hooks at bad guys and hangs them up so the police guys can put them in jail.  He also has goggles that let him see far and into space.”

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

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My son loves my carabiners, and is really interested in the climbing gear he sees the teachers at our school use and loves the climbing gear section at REI.  He also loves the very concept of grappling hooks.  When he wanted to use hooks in a character design, I misinterpreted and started small…a hook handed pirate character in goggles.  My son was not amused.  He wanted bigger and better hooks, and ropes, and a bear skin cape.  Where he got that last idea, I have no idea.  So HOOK was eventually a character who is tricked out with hooks and ropes of various styles and sizes…  And he uses them as stated above, to hang bad guys up from light posts like Spider-Man and Batman.  That’s pretty much it.

I like this character mainly for the ridiculous amount of hooks and rope, but really the bear skin cape puts HOOK over.  Full disclosure – I did not re-draw this character and I am posting an older sketch.  Time is tight this week.  I will draw a revamped version this weekend and add it below this post.

Thanks for checking my stuff out.

-Beausephus

08 – Captain Arrow by Beausephus+Son

CHARACTER NAME:  Captain Arrow

DATE OF CREATION: Summer 2011

CONCEPT:  He shoots arrows at bad guys.

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So when the mood strikes my son (and that is quite often) and he wants to make up “superguys”, “superdudes”, “supermans”… I pull out a bunch of templates I made for him and he picks out everything from the style of boots to the color scheme of the various costume options presented before him.  I then draw quick sketch, and he edits, adds, etc…  I then draw up the character and he hangs them in his room…if they meet his ultimate judgement.  Then I make him come up with a story for each character.

CAPTAIN ARROW is the leader of a superhero team called The Amazing Justice Squad of Superheroes.  “He shoots bad guys with arrows that he makes in his secret treehouse”.  He has a partner who doesn’t have a name, but is “like Robin, but not a leader like Robin”.

CAPTAIN ARROW shows my son’s absolute and fervent devotion to any character who shoots arrows.  He loves Hawkeye and Green Arrow, and even admits to liking Artemis from the Young Justice cartoon, but as he is quick to point out, “Robin is still better”.

I added some tweaks to this published version.  The scale armor up the left arm is new, but everything else is directly  from my son’s imagination.

#02 – Crossbone by Beausephus

CHARACTER NAME:  Crossbone

ORIGINALLY CREATED : 1991-92

BASIC CONCEPT : A mercenary inherits mystical metal that allows him to create amazing weapons from the “mystic metal armor” that also imbues him with the abilities of those who controlled the magic metal before him.

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So, it was the early 1990s and everybody drew like Liefeld or Jim Lee.  This representation of the character “CROSSBONE” stays true to the original design of the character from 20 years ago.  Look at the twin katana hanging improbably off his back, the tatters/ribbons defying gravity and basic physics… nothing surprising.

However, this character will always have a special place in my creative history.  All of the artists/comic creators in my Middle School started making up company names and imprint titles for their various creations.  Some of the more memorable names include “Assassin-Nation” and “Uptown Tribe”.  My “company” was “Crossbone Productions” and under this imaginary banner I created sketchbooks full of interconnected superheroes and even drafted a 7 page origin of the imaginary universe all of these characters inhabited.  At the center was the character Dark Skull, who would eventually be renamed “Crossbone”.  This interconnected universe traversed the centuries and even incorporated the Age of Exploration and the Cold War… I thought it was groundbreaking stuff when I was 12.

The character Crossbone shows the visual style of the 1990s but contains clear inspiration from Hawkman and the various “grim n’ gritty” mercenary-with-a-heart-of-gold characters that littered the comic landscape.  The metal that Crossbone inherits is essentially a nod to Hawkman’s Nth Metal.  Because I wanted to create a hertiage character a la the Justice Society and Infinity, Inc. I thought it would be cool if there were centuries of warriors all using this mystic metal (I forget the exact name I came up with) and passing it down to a successor.  (Green Lantern, etc…) The twist was that even though the metal gave its bearer abilities it forced the bearer to live a century but slowly the metal  stole their soul/drained their life force.  The metal absorbed the abilities of all who used it and imbued the current possessor with all of the abilities of the centuries of “heroes” who wielded it previously.  So after centuries the current “Crossbone” had superhuman physical abilities and combat knowledge.

In retrospect, there was not much to the character beyond the history, but I thought I was crafting pure gold.  It did however, lend itself to multiple story lines all over the entirety of the interconnected superhero universe, even resulting in villains spurned/rejected by the “mystic metal.”

It’s interesting that these themes – generational heroes, titles passed down through the centuries – are all the rage with characters rebooted in modern continuity (The Immortal Iron Fist series, the current Bendis Moon Knight relaunch, Spawn…the list goes on).

“Crossbone” was the lynchpin of my adolescent comic book creations and looking back at even the flaws and shortcomings of the character I think the 12-year-old me had some pretty damn good ideas.