The Man Without Fear by Eric Schuster

Daredevil's an interesting character, and a lot of great creative teams have worked on the title.  It's cool that his power comes at the expense of something else.  I always liked that kung-fu movie logic applied to superpowers.  The first Daredevil stuff I ever read was in the daily newspaper comic when he teamed up with Spiderman.  I thought he was a villain at first because heroes aren't called "devil," are they...?

Christy Hemme by Rob Ayotte

So this is idea received more votes among the gremlins in my head. I need to stop listening to them!

Jesse Ventura vs. Michele bachmann by Josh Purple

If only Michele had gone into pro wrestling :) .  I was trying to think of something that might represent Minnesota, with a good silly twist.  Jesse's quote is one of his famous quotes, and if Michele has not already said that, I'm sure she will :D .

Full-sized version

Macho Man Randy Savage by Adam Rosenlund

Went with a different approach this week and did an homage to this classic Japanese woodcut print using Macho Man. Wrestling is pretty much just kabuki theater anyways. A lot of the facial expressions are the same.

Money Inc. ("Million-Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster "IRS") by Justin Zyduck

Link to black 'n' white version

I loved WWF as a kid, just like every other boy in my elementary school in the early 90s. My first thought, initially, was to draw either IRS or the Million-Dollar Man, because I think both those concepts are really funny for bad-guy wrestlers ("What if an accountant was a wrestler?" and "What if Donald Trump stripped to the waist and got in the ring?", respectively), but I couldn't decide which one would be more fun to draw. Then I did some Wikipedia research and found out they at one point had formed a tag team called "Money Inc." PROBLEM SOLVED.

Playing around with some rudimentary coloring. Just flats, with a bit of cel-like shading. I think I was reasonably able to capture DiBiase's Jonathan Frakes-like arrogant pout-and-raised-eyebrow, and I love the way IRS's giant Popeye arms and fists turned out (he was actually a huge dude), but the likeness looks less like than IRS and more like...Kurt Russell in glasses?

Sumo Wrestler by Beth Davis

It's Saturday AGAIN?!

In this week's installment, a hungry Sumo wrestler stalks a delicious bowl of noodles. Oiiiiishiiiii!!!!!!!

I have only seen WWF wrestling by flipping channels...and then I continue to flip. I guess I am not the target demographic. But given my thorough love of Japanese culture this seemed appropriate.

Honky Tonk Man by Rich Flood

Heres a picture of me standing next to the original

Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher by Eric Schuster

IWA Mid-South is a small time hardcore wrestling fed (hardcore in wrestling terminology meaning more emphasis on hitting with foreign objects and taking the taking the match all over the venue, less on the headlocks and flying elbow drops.)  In 2005 they had one of the most fascinating and disgusting brawls I've ever seen in wrestling.

Necro Butcher is one of the contemporary dudes when it comes to creative violence.  If you've seen The Wrestler, he's the guy that staple guns Mickey Rourke in the face.  Necro Butcher beat up on a few students of another federation, Ring of Honor (also featured in The Wrestler.)  Ring of Honor's top dog, Samoa Joe, took exception to Necro Butcher's actions and challenged him to a match.  Joe then proceeded to beat Necro Butcher silly in a beautiful trainwreck of a match.  Lots of blood, folding chairs getting thrown at people, people getting thrown onto folding chairs, etc.  The arena looked like a tornado had gone through it.  Joe won by kicking Necro in the head so hard he couldn't stand to meet the 10 count.

I now realize this is the second blood-soaked drawing I've uploaded here.

Let's Rassle! Andre n' Hulk

OK, so haven't watched any wrestling in well over a decade maybe even two. But growing up I remember Hulk Hogan. I know for a fact I never watched it but I've read stories about how Hulk first got his title. It was "given" to him from Andre The Giant and in the match Andre told him to body slam him, a pretty big task considering their size difference. So here ya go, the Hulk body slamming the Giant.

Let's RASSLE!: RIP Macho by Josh Lynch

I don't know much about professional wrestling. But this I do know; if you don't like Macho Man you probably have a small brain.

Macho Man Randy Savage by Mike McMahon

I never really watched wrestling when I was a kid, but I do remember all the Macho Man "Snap into a Slim Jim!" commercials and always thought they were fun...so this is an homage to that. I'd like to think this might've been used as a print ad in some comics back in the day.

King Adam by Rich Flood

Explodar by Adam Rosenlund

Sorry for the delay. My gallery show opened this weekend, so I've been mega busy playing catch up from that. Anyways, here's a bio i whipped up for this dork:

"Explodar is an extradimensional being of pure energy. Using an ancient manuscript from the library of Eldar, Skeletor summoned Explodar to Eternia to do his evil bidding. Unbeknownst to him, Explodar was a benevolent being and had no interest in helping Skeletor wage war against the Masters of the Universe. Cast out by Skeletor using a spell from the same manuscript that brought him, Eldar floated across the dark plains, struggling to maintain his form, forever cut off from his home dimension. He was detected by Man-at-Arms, who was able to pick up communication from Explodar via the radio on the wind raider. Returning with him to the castle, Man-at-Arms fashioned a containment suit for Explodar, allowing him to channel his fantastic energy powers in the service of good."

I haven't nailed all the physical details down on this guy yet, but I think I may enter him in the contest. He uses some of the normal parts, like the loincloth, some of Man-at-Arms' armor pieces, as well as Roboto's gloves and lower legs. He has a custom head and torso, which show some Kirby dot energy action going on, probably in some kind of lenticular sticker.

Create Your Own Master: Orkathor by Josh Purple

Orko, Megator, and Panthor were hanging out getting wide on catnip and cannabis, when Orko lost it and starting casting out of control Polymorph spells (everyone lost their saving throws).  Orkathor is a good guy, doofus (goofy smile), rasta, who likes to mark his territory in the traditional cat-like way.


... I don't think I'll enter this in the contest :) , but it was fun to do (and I got my damn shadow wrong..).

photo of original pencil

Create Your Own Master: Ant King and Hypnos by Justin Zyduck

A couple rough sketches of what I came up with for the contest. I always enjoy the challenge of having a set of rules and then having to work within them. In this case, the contest's official rules say to minimize new sculpts and re-use standard torsos/legs/etc. wherever possible. I also gave both my villains the famous "He-Man crouch" until I realized that the new MoTU figures have articulated knees and elbows (!!!)

I don't have a better name for this guy than the Ant King. I came up with him because a surefire formula for a MoTU villain is "animal head with humanoid body" and I thought he filled a void in He-Man's list of adversaries -- an underground-dweller. The gimmick here is I thought he could have pose-able antennae like those bendy toys they used to make. The sword is weird, but I think I had an action figure with a sword like that. Maybe it was a Ninja Turtle? Anyway, you could tell the kids it's good for digging underground tunnels to break into Castle Greyskull.

This is Hypnos, Skeletor's psychic interrogator. I came up with the gimmick first of having armor that contains one of those spinny hypno-wheels. I came up with the helmet after my first drawing of him just looked like Hugo Strange in a funny outfit. The helmet is clunky and crude and seemed to fit perfectly with the original MoTU aesthetic.

The Conchistador by Beth Davis

Sorry to be late. This week has been nuts, so all I've got is a sketch.

I never really was into He-Man, I was watching Care Bears, and My Little Pony. It may not have even been on TV by that time. But my husband grew up with it and is a big fan, so he was able to help me think up a few ideas.

He pointed out that Merman is more of his own villain than a Skeletor lackey, and that he has no direct opposite "good guy", and suggested an Aquatic hero. The idea behind him is a mixture of old-school diving gear and Aquaman. The headgear is some sort of saltwater purification device to make it easier to breathe, and he has armor made from shells.

Create Your Own Master: Bugzor by Eric Schuster

My cousin had a lot of He-Man stuff.  I was a little bit younger than him and kind of missed the He-Man boat...Ninja Turtles, Mario, and Ghostbusters were my favorite shows with big toy lines attached.  It was kinda fun playing around with the contest rules and swapping out stock parts trying to create something new.  This guy is BUGZOR which I think is an appropriate MOTU name.  He's got Buzz-Off's wings and feet, Beast-Man's hands, Mer-Man's chest plate, Keldor's gauntlets, Maegator's weapon, and the standard loin cloth.  New head and shoulder plates.  I imagine him to be villainous.

Create Your Own Master: Sawbones by Mike McMahon

Time was also my enemy this week, but I present to you Sawbones - Skeletor's evil mad doctor. I tried to make it look like the image might've been printed in the 80's. Keyword there is "try".

Create Your Own Master: Tech-Nubis by Josh Lynch

Pretty crunched for time this week.  Sorry.  But here is my MOTU character.  I think I followed the guidelines.  He uses the normal body, Trap Jaw's arm, Ratlor's legs, and a new head, armour, and a slight twist on the typical serpent staff.  Looking forward to everyone else's.

Captain Lobo Of the U.S.S. Enterprise

Sorry to be posting a day late, as well as a piece I don't really consider complete. This was due to both work and some personal issues. But on to the fun! I really don't know much of anything about Lobo, except that he thinks he can kick everyone's butts. After some discussions about comics and tons of other random pop culture items Star Trek came up as well as the weeks drawings. And since I have started to watch Next Generation on netflix... being that I never grew up watching it. So in the face of trying to draw something that I know nothing about watching something I've never watched this is what happens. Enjoy.

Lobo the Hobo by Justin Zyduck

So all I had time for this week was this rather rough cartoon, but I didn't want to miss out on Lobo (and the wordplay that his name makes just so easy) entirely. Being short on time, I didn't have time for extensive research or reference, so let me just ask...does Lobo have black fingernails and toenails? Just an assumption on my part.

Loblow by Rob Ayotte

Hope you guys dig it.

Lobo the Ultimate Bastich, by josh purple

This was a tough decision for me, but I went with a Lobo by Bisley .  Bisley is one of my absolute favorite artists, and his Lobo works are (I think) possibly the best :) .  I selected this Lobo_Bisley work, since it's (again) one of my favorite Lobo's (I don't think it's a cover though?  <--it might be? )

This is not the complete work, I plan on doing the complete work, -I was just getting nervous about time & wanted to make sure I put up what I have so far.  Very FUN to do, since I decided to go with one pencil (Cretacolor Nero 350, #2) on 8.5"x11" paper, attempting to draw as much detail as possible (not erase anything, just doodling/drawing away).  Feels like it's been forever since I've done this (probably shows :D ).  At this point it is two pieces of paper, and I'm guessing it will take ~ 6 pieces?

Full Size version

The Ultimate Bastich: Lobo by Josh Lynch

Original Sketch

Lobo and the Princess of Mars by Mike McMahon

Lobo decided to take John Carter's place

The Loboat by Adam Rosenlund

AAAAAALLL ABOARD.

Lobo by Beth Davis

I've noticed my best work is when I sit on the porch at night. Some other things I was thinking about while drawing:

• Gene Simmons
• Bungle in the Jungle by Jethro Tull (stuck in my head)
• Troll Hair

Thank you for giving me another outlet to draw dramatic eyebrow (supraorbital) ridges. Whee, facial anatomy!

The Ultimate Bastich: Lobo Hates You by Eric Schuster

I haven't read any Lobo comics, but I remember him pissing off Superman in the Superman animated series, and I'm familiar with his status as a parody/tribute to 90's superheroes.  Kind of like DC's answer to Deadpool.  Also, the fight he had with Wolverine took the cake at the biggest cop out in that big "Marvel vs. DC" miniseries, and that's saying a lot because I remember almost every fight in that book being a cop out.

Batman Villains: Scarecrow by Rich Flood

Scarecrows keen on fear, which I suppose is why he got deputized in Blackest Night. I, like many people, have a very common phobia relating to six-legged alligator horses with four eyes and baby doll centipedes, which inspired me to draw this.

Harley Quinn by Josh Purple

It was between Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn for me.  And Thank You Beth for being very kind & offering encouragement on doing Catwoman after your awesome Catwoman work :)  (not to forget, Spiderman -for a bit- kicked Superman's butt, so Catwoman could arguably do the same :D ).  I was guessing that Catwoman and Harley Quinn both have a similar type of build, and I thought it might be fitting for Harley Quinn doing the 'silly hands/ears' on the Bat signal, so I went with Harley Quinn.

( and the insanely huge original sized version )

*it's ~ 5 MB file size :) 

Killer Croc by Adam Rosenlund

I was going to do Professor Pyg, but since Rick already did one, I decided to hash out some beef I have with the way Killer Croc is portrayed in the comics. I really dislike him being portrayed as a gigantic lizard. Tail, long jaw, plated scales, et al. It's stupid. I like the character better as a big dude with a really bad genetic disorder, like hyperkeratosis. So I drew him like that. If everyone else at DC could please just follow that example when making style guides for the relaunch version of Croc instead of going the T-Rex in a trenchcoat route, I'd appreciate it. They can even put him in a V-collar shirt and segmented armor like the rest of the redesigned characters since that seems to be their thing now.

Joker by Rob Ayotte

I considered other batman villains like Killer Croc. He could be fun but I know if I didn't do the Joker I'd be wishing I had. The Joker is a sincere favorite of mine. I've been wanting to do a nice pic of him for a while, so I thank Mike for the opportunity.

Catwoman by Beth Davis

Ladies in the house-represent!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Batman, favorite character hands down, can beat the shit out of Superman anytime he wants with the kryptonite ring and he is mortal, baby. No superpowers.

It was a decision between Harley Quinn and Catwoman. I love them both equally but I had more fun with the Catwoman sketches. Plus, she is an interesting "villain". She starts out bad but tries to be good. She really is her own worst enemy-more than Batmans'.

Tried something new here. Arm was feeling wobbly and didn't feel like going through 3-4 versions of inked drawings (which I tend to do, perfectionist to a fault. Plus, I was really digging the linework), so I drew it in reverse and inverted the colors in Photoshop rather than colored in everything with graphite. There are a few spots (face, illuminated arm) where I left them alone to pull some light in. The light source is supposed to be the reflected light off the pedestal so hitting her in the face and radiating outward. The forearm is in front of it, so it is silhouetted, but that back arm seems like she's got her sleeve rolled up. Couldn't figure out what to do with it-wasn't sure how it would turn out. I think I should play with this idea more, make it work for me.

My, I'm chatty tonight! Going away now.

Scarecrow by Mark Hurst

Ok, so no real reason for me picking the Scarecrow, other then this concept popped in my head right away for some reason. I've always found the Scarecrow interesting because it always seemed like the only thing he wanted to do was drive people crazy. Most of my exposure to the Scarecrow was from the animated series, although I think I read a couple of comics with him in it. Sadly, I haven't watched the animated series in a very long time though. I tried a couple different things with this and got to a point where it wasn't working the more I did to it so I figured stop while I was ahead.

Batman Villains: Professor Pyg by Eric Schuster

Professor Pyg is a newcomer to the rouge's gallery, and was the first villain that Dick Grayson battled when he took over the role of Batman.  His name is a play on Pygmalion, which is a Greek myth about a sculptor who fell in love with one of his own statues.  Pyg grafts a fucked up mask onto his victims, pumps them full of drugs, and possibly performs some kind of sex change (Morrison left the specifics out of the story, all you really get to see is the bloody aftermath) to turn them into his zombie Doll-o-Tron minions.

He is a gross, terrible character that Morrison manages to make as interesting as any other Batman villain in the span of three issues.

Batman Villains: The Red Hood by Mike McMahon

After being brought back to life through a series of very bizarre events, Jason Todd decided to take his anger out on Batman by being a vigilante that'll cross the line by killing and controlling the gangs, believing that he can do the job better than Batman has failed to do.

That's the Red Hood in a nutshell but there's been some pretty good stories over the last couple years involving him and thought he'd be fun to draw.

Batman Villains: Prometheus by Justin Zyduck

Technically a Justice League villain, but I think he's been in a few solo Batman comics as well, and moreover, Prometheus was designed to be the Anti-Batman. I didn't do the whole Jim Mahfood thick black outline thing I usually do in the inks because I feel like the thinner, scratchier, trembling lines get across the nerviness in his character that makes Prometheus one of my favorite villains ever.

I was a Marvel Comics kid all the way until about late middle school when two comics introduced to the modern DC Universe: Mark Waid's The Flash (WALLY WEST 4-EVA, BARRY ALLEN NEV-A) and Grant Morrison's JLA. The first issue of JLA I got was #10, the first part of "Rock of Ages," and it seemed too fast and slight to me at the time -- I wasn't quite certain what I'd just been hit with. But then, on a friend's recommendation, I picked up the Prometheus storyline. When Prometheus first meets Batman, Prometheus goes on this whole kick about how he has the thirty greatest martial artists in the world on a disc, and how he can use his helmet to download their fighting styles into his central nervous system. Batman, as you'd expect, indicates that he is not intimidated. Prometheus' response? "What if I told you that one of those thirty...is you, Batman?"

That is exactly what I wanted out of a superhero comic book at the time, and truth be told, it is still what I want out of one. And so began a love affair with Morrison's work.

Batman Villains: Batzarro by Josh Lynch

I love the concept of Bizarro and how on Bizarro world you would have Bizarro everyone.  A Bizarro Batman has appeared in comics before, but the most recent (Jeph Loeb) version made no sense.  I agree he should be "the world's worst detective", but visually his design made no sense.  Batman hides in the shadows and is dark.  He never smiles.  So Batzarro should be silly and brightly colored, unable to hide or lurk, and always having a grin on his face.  Anyways, here is my Batzarro.

You can see the original sketch here
I also did a Batmite and a Mr.Freeze if you're so inclined