Avengers!

Well, Thursday night/Friday morning next week I'm going to watch, for the first time, the movie that I'll be rewatching and quoting for years  to come. The new Lord of the Rings, the new Star Wars, is coming out next week. And, as such, my priorities on pics has kind of limited itself. Next pic up is going to be an Avengers picture. I haven't started it yet, I'm not one hundred percent sure what it'll be, but it will be drawn. And it will be great. And it will probably be yet another background pic. It does make the most sense for a group shot...

Okay, as I'm writing this it's coming together. A week and two days!

Magik Battle

Well, Avengers vs X-men 2 came out last week and I'd just like to say, no matter how obvious, I totally furking called this. Can't wait for the fight itself to be fleshed out in their VS title. If nothing else it should be a visual treat.

I tried doing two new colouring styles here, but the second one (the one I'd have to do on a tablet) didn't really pan out. First one was only a marginal improvement, I think, but it did teach me a few things.

Illyana Rasputin, on the right, is the sister of Colossus of the X-men, the big metal man if you're just familiar with the films. He's considerably more amazing in the comics. I'm not honestly sure what her mutant ability is, all I know is she's a magician, she was raised by one of many Marvel devils, Belaasco, who was the first Marvel devil I ever saw (New X-men, Pixie shivved him, Skottie Young drew it). Well, she's since taken over as ruler of Limbo, put the universe in danger to restore her soul (Her recent time on New Mutants was amazing), owns a soul sword (kills magic), and is currently residing in a prison on Utopia as a threat, only being utilized when Cyclops's Extinction Team needs to be deployed, mostly to control the destructive force that is her brother now that he's taken on the power of the Juggernaught.

Dr. Strange was once the Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe, which basically meant he protected it from the worst of the worst demons and mystical mumbo jumbo. He used to be one of the most powerful beings there were, until he abused the power and his title got revoked. Now he's just someone with the accumulated knowledge of the Sorcerer Supreme, and as such is still one of the more powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, and he's currently serving on the New Avengers line up. He had one story arc to focus on him, which was amazing, and has used the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak pretty much every time he's appeared to restrain whoever the furk showed up, which are the red things surrounding him shown above. He's also currently serving on the Defenders, which really needs a solid story arc in it's corner moving forward as opposed to a bad one and some character specific stories.

Gamers and Video Game Violence Claims

I learned of a man in Norway the other night. Bombed a government building and went on a killing spree, murdering children, the body count eventually ending at 77, I think. He did all this for an organization he claims to be in called the Knights Templar. I'm sure the Illuminati will be watching the trials closely. The man's name is Anders Behring Breivik, and he seems to have an issue with Muslims. Look him up if you want to, I read two articles and skimmed a third to get the gist of it and it made me angry. The man's insane.

I learned this from IGN. Breivik mentioned in a long-ass manifesto that he used Modern Warfare to train and played WoW while planning, and IGN was trying to do what most gamers do, myself included. They were trying saying how the media vilifies the games when the man's clearly insane. I went from there and read an official article on the incident, even put video game in my search to find something hostile towards the games. Modern Warfare and WoW were mentioned at the beginning then ignored while the facts were laid out.

Now, there are a few storied about Captain America after he was defrosted in the modern age that have him fighting because he's used to the fight. Assassin's Creed Revelations has this theme to a certain extent. It's a fairly common story thread, and while I read this article I realized just what has happened to gamers. We're so used to fighting that we go through the motions automatically. We don't know that the fight's ending.

I'm not trying to say this as fact. I read two articles and skimmed a third. But this is going to be a serious issue coming up. We're going to need to know when to back down, so when we have an actual reason to fight we have the energy and effect we want.

Like I said, the fight is ending. Video Games have been accepted as an art form, at least so far as movies, with only a few people saying nay. I think the fact that it's few is being lost because those few are loud, but we've got to look forward here. The fight is calming down, more people are coming into power who have played games most of their lives or have children who play video games. This is a fight we can't lose, but we're so used to fighting it that we can't stop.

I'm not saying ignore these fights. I'm saying don't be so quick to react. Gamers have a negative image, one of a bunch of temperamental children. Reacting immediately to news that might be construed as negative wont help that. If we can find a real argument against gaming and then throw our voices against it, that will help. A lone psychopath who's attracted to violence isn't an argument against gaming.

My condolences to the families of the victims and the family of the murderer.

Next Pic

A new issue of Avengers vs X-men came out today, and it was much more enjoyable than the last. Though I do believe that Cyclops is being more batshit insane than he's got any right to be. And I'm pretty damn sure Jean Grey's going to come back to life, what with them hyping up the whole "rebirth" side of the Phoenix. I'm also starting to think John Romita Jr. might not have been the best choice of artist for this particular title, at least not yet. I absolutely adore the man when he's doing big epic pieces, like the opening arc of the current Avengers book, but so far it's just been a skirmish. That being said, the art still looks amazing, and I did love Enemy of the State and it's interiors, so I'm over it.

Anyways, the reason I'm posting today is to say that a fight happened in the book that, while it was inevitable, I totally furking called. It's the next picture I'm putting out. For anyone who's interested, there's a little hint.

Dickin' around

I'm playing with a new colouring style. Basically I'll be expanding on the gradiant tool to make things look a little nicer, have a few smoother lines and blend better. After this I'll try and use my tablet to colour, play around with the brushes, and see what I can horribly mangle.

Also, Avengers in two weeks. I'm gonna have to get started on a picture.

Art In Storytelling, One Jackass's Opinion

Okay, so I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog the other day. This video/show/movie thing is fantastic. It is a musical, but don't let that turn you off of it. Niel Patric Harris is the protagonist, Nathan Fillion is the antagonist, and the woman from that one viral video (Do You Want to Date My Avatar) that's brought up every time she's mentioned in a separate project is a major supporting cast member. For anyone who hasn't watched it yet, go do that. Now. Then come back, if you're interested.

This video (It's a short film, but video is faster) is very clearly a parody of standard super hero cliches, as told through the super villain's perspective. What's great about it is the fact that Dr. Horrible is a well thought out character with real motives and a great character arc. His motivation for being a super villain is pretty much every argument I try and fight, that "human kind has gone insane", that the system is fundamentally flawed and only a complete overhaul will do (Agree with the flaw, disagree with the complete overhaul), and the way he sees Captain Hammer is just... amazing. There are no other words for this video.

What I love about this particular story is the way it's presented. It is comedic. This is a parody. But it doesn't fall in to what a lot of other parodies stumble on. While it makes jokes at it's own expense it's never directly making fun of itself. The closest thing to an over the top stupid thing that the audience is supposed to find stupid along with the main character is Captain Hammer, but I'm fairly certain he's just cast in that light because Dr. Horrible is the protagonist. It's his view of the man.

This story is done in such a way that you know Dr. Horrible is an evil man. You empathize with that evil man. The ending was heart wrenching, and, again, a lot of reality was twisted in favour of proving Dr. Horrible's point of view, his origin, and his rise. He's a comedic character, but his origin (that's what this video is at the end of the day) is just incredible. No stops were pulled in cinematography, story telling, or script. At the end of the day this was a story about a man breaking over a long period of time. If told by the perspective of Captain Hammer this would be Spider-man fighting Doc Ock (Ock views Spidey as a buffoon who wont stop joking and keeps ruining his master schemes, the more I think about this the more similar they seem...).

Pixar has been doing this for years. The Toy Story films are great representations of mortality. The Incredibles is the story of a man's midlife crisis. Ratatouille is the story of societal pressures. And with each of these everything is, again, amazing. Every shot is beautiful in every way imaginable. The sights, the sounds, the words, the ambiance, all perfect. And not a single story is so serious that a superhuman morphing baby can't have his moment.

Here's why I bring this up. To me, no matter what I'm reading/watching/playing character is the most important damn thing about it. I'm still working my way through Mass Effect 3 because I don't like the blank slate character. I love the story, love the supporting cast, but the blank slate irritates me. Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles is quite possibly my second favourite character in literature, right behind Tyrion Lannister. I love comics because all that history people complain about guarantees that these characters are incredibly well fleshed out, because even a flop has to be dealt with and fixed by someone soon. My favourite live action character outside of comic movies is Malcolm Reynolds.

What I like about these characters, these stories, is that they're never all doom and gloom. Never. Life is never all doom and gloom. Even when you're dealing with nothing but the shit of life you find time to laugh. Soldiers occasionally hop on X-box Live. The ghetto child has friends. A part of the human experience is joy, and it's a rather large part of the human experience. It doesn't detract from the drama of life, it gives the drama meaning. I hate, truly hate, these modern dark and gritty takes on things, or shows, or games where no one can twitch a corner of their mouth upwards. If that's a single character, I can deal with that. But that only works on individual characters.

What I dislike is this idea that the only way to have a deep and meaningful theme/story/message is to make the characters down and broody. The Hulk is a monster fueled on previously repressed rage from his abusive father. And he has Rick Jones, the comedic sidekick. Betty Ross. The Avengers, on those times he's in control. Spider-man is a happy go lucky character who swings around cracking jokes while he fights these colourful animal themed super villains. One of which snapped the true love of his life's neck. Who's origin started with his uncle's murder.

One doesn't have to be afraid of a smile to sell a point. One doesn't need to have the Gears of War film filter on in order to make something look realistic. The issues brought up in these "classic" films that star a ghetto child who was raped or a person who's dealing with debt or gang violence or whatever else, they're all serious. But it's hard to empathize with a character whose entire life is doom and gloom when everyone's life seems to be doom and gloom, when everything in life is lackluster at best.

Dr. Horrible's life isn't very good. But Penny and Captain Hammer are both pretty happy characters. Dr. Horrible believes that people are flawed, and those two characters do their damnedest to make the world a better place every day. The fact that there is good in this world helps emphasize Dr. Horrible's flawed logic and downward spiral. It helps give the bad meaning.

And I just pulled all of that from a parody.

Psylocke walks into a bar...

The actual bar they were supposed to be in has changed so damn many times, I figured I'd just keep it at a club bar. Mostly because I didn't want to draw the shelves in the background. I'm noticing the ongoing theme of "I stop caring after the figures are drawn".

Sabertooth has been dead the vast majority of the time I've been reading comics and came back to life a few months ago. I've seen him for a single story arc in Wolverine, which was batshit insane, and one issue in Wolverine and the X-men in what I'm going to continue calling the best damn thing with a price tag. It also brought up a fight that should have struck me as a lot more obvious a while back that I'll have to do some time soon. Beast vs Sabertooth! Also, Sabertooth's lil speech at the beginning was great.

Psylocke I've read quite a bit about and know very little of. She's the sister of Captain Britain, and has spent a great deal of time protecting, for lack of the actual term used in Marvel, the multiverse. She's an English woman who's now in an Asian body, and I think it's the third Asian body she's been in. Now she might be in her original body again, I'll have to wait until the next X-Force to know. She's had an on-and-off relationship with one Warren Worthington, Angel/Archangel of the X-men. She seems to be victimized quite a bit, if the few things I've read are any indication. She's also a complete badass psychic ninja.

Also, from what I've heard, these two have a less than friendly history together. As in Sabertooth nearly killed Psylocke.

Ninja Turtles

I guess I'd better throw my two cents in for this whole Ninja Turtle business.

For those not in the know, if there are any of you, Michael Bay is producing a new Ninja Turtles movie. Well, the first Ninja Turtles movie, because the others were called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This one, on the other hand, will have no Teenage Mutant in it. It could have mutants, but that seems like it would just be a kick in the teeth for the fans. And I'm pretty sure the Turtles are still teenagers, but who knows.

What the movie's going to do is make the Turtles aliens, instead of mutants. I've heard a lot of arguments for and against this. The "for" are all well reasoned and well thought out, all stating the obvious fact that the Turtles that most of you know aren't the original Turtles. That the original turtles were a dark and gritty Daredevil parody. From what I've heard they were essentially Splinter's hit men. And as such the Turtles we know and love were, in fact, someone butchering the original concept for a toy line.

The "against" tends to be whining about Michael Bay ruining (or another "r" word) peoples childhoods. Since the arguments seem to be leaning towards the side I disagree with I figured I'd try and make a rational argument against the Ninja Turtles being anything but Teenage Mutants.

What is the point of making them alien? I can honestly see no reason for it. While it's true that it might help introduce the alien threats of the Ninja Turtle universe I disagree that it's necessary and it seems like they're sweeping away inconvenient story elements in order to make their job slightly easier. What I'm seeing here is that they don't believe the mutant aspect of the Turtles is believable and they're trying to simplify it as something that popular media is going crazy for these days. Aliens.

If I honestly thought that their being aliens was an actual change to the franchise to look at it through another lens, if I thought it was a creative tweak in a direction that they believed would improve the story, I would be all behind this. But turning the Mutants into Aliens doesn't strike me as any form of creative genius, it strikes me as them simplifying something to make it easier. At the end of the day all it serves is to make me wait a few days before going to see it, to see what the people think of the movie.

Of course, there's also the quite high probability that they only did it to give the movie some press before release. It's working. Good job gentlemen!

X-23 Swingin' Around

This was a lot of tests rolled into one. First off, I was trying to find a simpler way to do buildings. I wont lie, I do not enjoy doing backgrounds. Second, I wanted to do an acrobatic picture, mostly a running on a wall picture, and I had a Spider-Man picture planned already (though it didn't pan out). Third, extreme lighting. This is the first time I'd tried it. I'm still not the best at it, but I did learn a lot from this picture.

X-23 was the first comic I ever picked up. The original X-23 mini-series, not NYX or Target X. I recognized her from the cartoon, and I remember liking the cartoon version. And so begun a hobby that would drain money from me that I never knew I had. I regret nothing. One of the creators is writing a book for Marvel called Scarlet Spider now. Dear god I love that comic. There's something about that man and psychotic clones. Or maybe it's me.

Strongest There Is

One day I hope to write the Runaways. This is one of the first things I'll do. This is the fight I've been salivating over since I first started reading the Runaways.

Weather Goddess VS Force of Nature

This is a pretty recent addition to my list. Had a lot of fun figuring out how to do everything with this picture. Originally I was going to have the Hulk wrecking a little more stuff, practice my terrain. Then I penciled the characters and wound up too happy with them to really care about the terrain.


About the heels. I am one of those people who thinks that women in comics need to update their wardrobes to incorporate pants. I'm one of the few people who believed that the addition of pants to Wonder Woman's attire was a great idea simply because no woman would have her ass out there like that without some sort of excuse (a la Lulu Lemon). I understand the bright colours, brand recognition is important in the real world (Every one of you knows the McDonalds colours). I understand the tights, fictional figures have a certain musculature in all eras and cultures, and both artists and viewers like seeing the human body, and the argument that nobody wears tights can be thrown out the window (again, Lulu Lemon). I even understand amping up characters sexuality, I think people tend to only look at half the picture on that subject. The Hulk is wearing less clothing than Storm up there. All of this I understand and I think that people tend to blow them out of proportion. All of it has to make sense to the individual character, though.

Heels fit Storm. To me, anyways. Storm is very regal, she's very strong, very self assured. She has a very attractive way about her, and I believe that heels help with that.

Also, she flies and throws lightning. No tripping hazard.

Rogue the Mechanic

This is my most recently completed piece. I wanted to draw Rogue. I wanted to draw a wrecked Sentinel. Here's Rogue and a small wrecked Sentinel.

I have an odd relationship with Sentinels. I very rarely see them, but they're such a massive part of X-men lore. They're the ultimate image of hate in the mutant community, a machine designed solely to kill mutants. Wolverine, during his civil war crossover, compared it to a burning cross. The evil Sentinel from the future Nimrod (I laughed too) fighting the New X-men was one of the first comic arcs I'd read, but I never really connected Nimrod to the classic Sentinel because they look so different. And at the same time those kids were being watched over and protected by Sentinels for reasons I never really looked in to.

And then there's Rogue who, as far as my personal experience goes, has gone from being a complete wreck to an amazing teacher. I don't know terribly much about her, but I like who she is now. X-men Legacy is definitely a book to watch.

His Acrobatics, My Ballet

This brings me back. This was the first for many things. The first time I digitally inked something, the first time I properly and fully digitally coloured a project, the first time I doodled out a proper building, and the first thing I posted on my DA account.

I drew this shortly after the recent issue of Batgirl where Nightwing shows up. It's unfortunate that Batgirl's first story arc seems to be the hero's best, but she's still a fun character, and I wont miss her book unless I have to. Of course, I'm also waiting to find out how many Batgirls there have been over the years.

For those of you that don't know, Barbara Gordon up there got shot in the spine by the Joker a while back (3 years in current continuity), and in that time there have been at least two Batgirls. And they haven't been mentioned in this New 52 continuity yet. Though I'm pretty sure the upcoming Batman Inc. will answer a few of those questions, if Batgirl doesn't.

A Night with Dr. Beast.

Hello. This seems like a good place to start. This is Dr. Hank McCoy, one of the coolest Mutants at the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning. This is probably the first hour he's had of rest since the school was started all those months ago. It's really been one fight after the next.

Heads up, I'm planning on drawing a picture of him vs Sabertooth sometime soon. I'm not sure why that idea didn't click earlier, but this month's Wolverine and the X-men made it perfectly clear that that needs to be done.

Hello everybody!

Hello everybody, and welcome to my blog. Here I'll be discussing whatever tickles my fancy at any given moment. That will usually just come as some form of rage at nerd news, and these will come moderately few and far between. I'll also be talking about comic books a lot. This is called Dylan's Heroes and that means super heroes! This'll probably happen once a week, assuming something I love comes out (Wolverine and the X-men, Scarlet Spider, Daredevil, Batman, anything with Rick Remender).

Most importantly (for me) is art work. I'll be leaving up quite a bit of that. Most of it will be fan art of whatever tickles my fancy. Again, this will mostly be comic book related, though I doubt I'll be able to stop myself from doing live action and video game work. I'll try to do this on a week by week basis, but every now and then I'll hit a dry patch. If anyone has something in particular they'd like to see I'm more than happy to work on commissions. Nothing dirty.

Welcome!