Superman and Spirou's 80th Anniversary!

You've already seen the one I did for their 75th Anniversary, but as that one was completely done on tablet, I was determined to do better. This time, I did a pencil sketch as the base for this drawing, "inked" and colored on tablet in FireAlpaca. This looks much better. :)

A REKIRA Cover Variation!

Imagine if I had published Rekira the Super Monster in Japan in tankobon (trade paperback) form in the late 1960s!  It'd look something like the following illustration, which I started yesterday (July 14) and finished tonight (July 15) on tablet in FireAlpaca.  :)

Happy 85th Anniversary, Tintin & Popeye!

Done tonight (January 10) on tablet in Photoshop!  I wanted to do this, and almost missed out on doing this (because of a surprise visit from my brother Peter).  For their 85th Anniversary (a week apart), here's Elzie Crisler Segar's Popeye, holding Georges Prosper Remi ("Hergé")'s Tintin (who's trying to keep his balance on Popeye's palm while holding his dog Milou/Snowy).  :)

Paramount/Famous Studios Spirou (Happy 75th Anniversary!)

I couldn't help but imagine something like this!  Happy 75th Anniversary, Spirou.  :)

This was drawn today in Flash (over an animation project I did for fun), and signed in Photoshop.

Happy 75th Anniversary, Superman & Spirou!

Two of the most famous comic-book characters in the world, born just 3 days apart, and what better way to celebrate than have both appear together!  :)

Here is the first traditional American costumed superhero, Superman (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), carrying with him one of French Belgium's most beloved bande dessinée (French term for comic-book or comic-strip) characters, the adventurous bellboy Spirou (created by Robert "Rob-Vel" Velter)!  The characters debuted on Action Comics #1 (National Allied Publications, now DC Comics; April 18, 1938) and Le Journal de Spirou #1 (Dupuis Publishing; April 21, 1938), respectively.  I started on this on the evening of April 17, finished after midnight (April 18), just in time for Superman's Anniversary.  Done on tablet in Photoshop, and in a slightly higher resolution than what I've worked with lately!

BTW, I apologize if Superman looks disproportionate.  (It's difficult to draw from scratch with my Bamboo tablet!)  LOL!  Still, this is the first time in years that I drew the traditional Superman, and I like how it came out, in spite of the flaws.  (And this is the first time I actually drew Spirou!)

Franquin-style Lily - Part 2

Here are the sketches I promised I'd show in my previous post:

The first Franquin-style Lily experiment pencil sketch (Type A), done on March 4, 2012:

Another one done on the 14th (with the previous design added for good measure!):

And here's a second variation on the Franquin-style design (Type B), which resembles the previous Lily design I worked with, while also recalling Franquin's work on round-headed characters like Gaston Lagaffe and Modeste!  (It also looks sort of like Peyo's work as well, like the Smurfs or Pirlouit, which was sort of what I was looking for!)

And soon did a fully-inked & colored version on tablet in Photoshop!

I love both designs!  Type B is more like what I was looking for, but Type A looks like it could work.  :)

Franquin-style Lily!

Just to let you all know, the family is doing fine after Arianna's passing.  We're coping as best we can.  Friday of last week was the memorial service, and it went beautifully.

During the last week or so, I've been playing around with Lily Merriweather's design once more.  This particular new look is inspired by the style of another favorite comic category of mine, Franco-Belgian comics! Especially the likes of The Smurfs, Spirou & Fantasio, Modeste & Pompon, etc.  These titles have appealing, cartoony characters, and yet the stories they inhabit are not only funny, but very intriguing as well.

I've been doing pencil sketches, which I'll post next (once I finish a second batch), but here's my attempts on tablet in Photoshop.  This particular style for Lily is inspired by the works of veteran Franco-Belgian cartoonist, Andre Franquin, one of my favorites.  The first, fully colored, was done on March 6th.

And this prior one from February 29:

The New DC and Marvel Logos!

Yes, folks, I'm just as riled up about the unveiling of the new DC Comics logo.

The above image is from a related article on the new logo by the Bleeding Cool news blog.

The clever part of the logo is that it looks like a turning page of a comic.  That description was much better than DC Comics' own description, and it is honestly pretentious.

The article quotes Amit Desai, Senior Vice President of Franchise Management at DC, who we also revealed was behind the presentation to DC Comics internally, as saying “We didn’t want a static logo, but a living identity that could capture the power of our characters and storytelling. What is special about DC content is the notion of a dual identity. When you think about our DC Comics superheroes, there’s a secret identity. When you think about Vertigo, it’s this notion of good vs. evil in many of the stories. And so, in addition to flexibility, the new logo communicates this idea of dual identity: there’s more than meets the eye. You have to take a closer look to understand the richness of our characters and stories.”

So that's all it is.  A "dual identity."  It's gone far beyond its original description.  Even its original "bullet" logo (used from the late 70s to the early 2000s) is a lot more generic and universal, as it opens themselves up to other genres!  Kiddie comics, comedies, romance, etc.  Yeah, remember those?

So, I decided to offer myself a challenge.  Could I do any better?  I decided to take up the challenge.

I present to you my own version of the DC Comics logo, a mix of the "bullet" logo and my own unique touch!  This was done in less than an hour in Flash (and this presentation was assembled in Photoshop).  Since DC stands for "Detective Comics," I decided to use a magnifying glass for a bullet, much like what detectives use.

But, of course, you don't necessarily need a magnifying glass or the brain of Sherlock Holmes to enjoy the adventures of Superman, Batman (himself a detective!), Green Lantern, Sugar & Spike, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, etc.!

So I did you all one better; I did a new Marvel logo, too!

Have you ever noticed that Marvel doesn't have a unique logo of their own, in comparison to DC Comics?  That bothered me.  Even though I always loved that classic "Marvel Comics Group" banner, and the use of different Marvel characters over the logo in the 80s was a nice touch!  But they never went as far as to make their own unique logo.

How do you define "marvel?"  A "marvel" is something that evokes astonishment and wonder!  When looking at the current Marvel logo, it looks too cold.  Too plain.  Just a blocky font that looks like the text for a hard-edged action movie.  Too much grim, gritty macho stuff.  That's not how I'd define a "marvel."

So, I decided to do a logo that defines Marvel!  Something marvelous and flashy.  An M-shaped flash!  This was done in Flash (no pun intended!) in less than half an hour, with this presentation assembled in Photoshop (right after doing the DC logo).  The "With Detail" one could've been colored/arranged better, but it gives you the idea.  :)

Realistically, neither company would accept these logos, even if they liked them.  But you have to agree, they're quite unique!  They not only define the names, but capture the excitement of what comics are supposed to be.  Just like any entertainment company logo (20th Century Fox, Warner, Paramount, Universal, etc.)!

As for current reading content, that's a subject for another day.

REKIRA Comic Test 01

Here, for my 40th post on Blogspot, I present some more new Rekira pieces I did last night.  A couple of test pieces for the comic project.  Both are done on tablet in Photoshop.

Here's an illustrated color test, for a 50s-style cartoon-like design:

Here's a somewhat rough take of what a typical page would look like, with shading:

And here's the same one as above, tinted in blue.  I thought this looked beautiful.

Bessie Kills Giants

I recently read a really charming and poignant graphic novel story, called I Kill Giants, which was written by Joe Kelly (of Man of Action Studios) and drawn by J.M. Ken Niimura, and published by Image Comics.  The comic is about a young girl named Barbara Thorson, who's a troubled outsider (getting into trouble at school, bullies, etc.), and imagines herself as a slayer of monsters in a fantasy world, being a D&D freak and all.  (Somewhat similar to Pan's Labyrinth.)

I sort of thought or Barbara as a more badass version of The Mighty B!'s Bessie Higgenbottom, in that, despite their differences, they're both "nerdy" bespectacled characters!  And then, it finally dawned on me; "I should do a drawing of Bessie as Barbara!"  And here it is, drawn tonight on tablet in Photoshop.

I think my Bessie drawing skills are getting better!  :)

Happy 60th Anniversary, Snoopy!

Just 2 days ago, it was already the 60th Anniversary of the late, great Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip (October 2, 1950). Today is the 60th Anniversary of the very first appearance of that famous beagle Snoopy, in the third Peanuts strip published (October 4, 1950).

Snoopy is my favorite character of all time next to Godzilla.

The following drawing is something I quickly did to celebrate this occasion. I used Photoshop and my Bamboo Fun tablet to do this.

Happy 60th Anniversary, Snoopy!

In Development: MERRY WEATHER!

Here is a first look at my second comic project under development, Merry Weather!

This is my own attempt at one of my favorite genres, funny cartoon girls' adventures, mixed with the wild and wacky style of Famous Studios (one of my favorite animation studios) and Spümco. Although I had started on the project in early February, I had first drawn the main character as early as July of last year, however, when I was trying my hand at drawing retro-style cartoon kids.

Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking (one of my favorite characters) and the Nickelodeon series The Mighty B! (one of my favorite cartoons) are major influences behind this project. (The cancellation of the latter was what really drove me to basically do my own version.) I'm working on this series as I get Rekira ready.

Here is Lily Merriweather, the heroine of the story. (The title, Merry Weather, is a play on her last name.) Drawn in pencil on July 21, and colored in Photoshop with my Bamboo Fun Wacom tablet.
Likewise with this drawing of Lily's home, the Shoreflower, done on June 22. Even as a concept sketch, I was very proud of how this came out. This was partly inspired by the houses by our beachside timeshare in the Outer Banks.

Here is the very first color drawing I did of Lily, done completely in Photoshop with my Bamboo Fun tablet, on July 22, 2009. Based on a sketch I did on a very small piece of scrap paper in early July that year (which I'll post some other time).

I'll be posting more stuff as the project develops!

REKIRA - Production Art 01

To start with, here are some of the kaijuu appearing in the upcoming comic project, Rekira the Super-Monster!

All of these basic designs were done with my Bamboo Fun Wacom tablet. Dates included.

Starfish Monster ASTERIAS (Hitode Kaijuu ASUTERIASU):
Steam Monster ATMOS (Suijouki Kaijuu ATOMOSU):
Rock Monster BRACHOS (Ganseki Kaijuu BURAKOSU):
Electric Eel Monster CHELIOS (Den-Unagi Kaijuu KERIOSU):
Ghost Monster FANTOMOS (Yuurei Kaijuu FANTOMOSU):
Volcano Monster FLOGOS (Kazan Kaijuu FUROGOSU):
Cockroach Monster KATSARIDAS (Gokiburi Kaijuu KATOSARIDASU):
Jellyfish Monster MEDUSA (Kurage Kaijuu MEDOUSA):
Gorilla Monster PITHIKOS (Gorira Kaijuu PISHIKOSU):
And of course, the Big Guy himself...
Super-Monster REKIRA (Chouriki Kaijuu REKIRA):


More designs on the way! Stay tuned!

REKIRA, The Super-Monster - Introduction

Today is the 19th Anniversary of the creation of my own original Godzilla-inspired kaijuu (the Japanese term for "monster"), Rekira! He is the star of several projects, chiefly a webcomic project I'm working on. I had also done a Capstone student video short with the character at ITT Technical Institute as my "graduation" piece. (Above is the watercolor illustration used in the closing credits of the video.) In this post, I'll elaborate on the creation of this one character.

Some of the art here can be seen on my deviantART site, while some of the exclusive new art featured here will be crossposted to DA).

Rekira's origins went back to April 23, 1991, when he started life as a Godzilla fanfic, The Godzilla-Man. The work, inspired by both Ultraman and Gou Nagai's Devilman, resulted in a graphic novel, the first book finished on March 5, 1992 (a total of 10 1/2 to 11 months). Immediately after that, I worked on a second, shorter graphic novel, with a third unfinished. (The move from New York to Virginia may have affected this.)

After my move to Virginia, I did a complete reboot of The Godzilla-Man from June to November of 1994. Originally intended to be pitched to tokusatsu-specialized magazines featuring comic stories (including G-Fan and the short-lived Sentai), it was never picked up (but it did get praise, especially from JD Lees and Ben Dunn). A second issue was never completed, as I was looking for a new direction for the story.

Then, in 1997, my friend Marc Miyake convinced me to convert Godzilla-Man into a similar but original creation, not only because he thought I could have more creative-control, but I could own it personally. For a while, I was pretty devastated, and I thought, "He's right!" He put it to me without being as condescending as those who simply said, "Come on, man, do something original!" and expected me to do something more along the lines of the "dark, brooding" superhero of the day (ie. Batman, Wolverine, Spawn, etc.). Dammit, I'm trying to do a Japanese monster/superhero here! Think Godzilla, Ultraman, and Masked Rider rolled up into one! So, before Marc made his suggestion, I had considered a backup plan, and finally decided to get some mileage out of it; Godzilla-Man then became Tatsu-Man (inspired by the P-Production pilots Jaguarman and Hyouman). I spent a lot of time developing the idea, which I further played around with in about 2000, when he became The Draconian, and then Dracoman in 2001 or so. (I'm writing this from memory offhand.) In those versions, Rekira was called "Dracos." The design was the same as the following...

(ADDED: May 20, 2010)
On March 26, 2002, I wanted a fancy Godzilla-type name for my monster, so I renamed the character Dogira. (A name that was supposed to be a mix between Godzilla's Japanese name, "Gojira," and "dog.") I figured on the name while on my ride home from Lunacon that year. It was here that Rekira began to finally take his almost-fully dog-like appearance (although still strongly resembling an Eastern Dragon at its core, much like Falkor from The Neverending Story, a major inspiration for the character).

From August 31, 2002. This is the point where Rekira was truly inspired by an Eastern Dragon. I finally added fur to the torso, with added plates down the body. This was inspired by a dragon design by Leonardo DaVinci (which you can search for on the Internet).

Pencil sketch from February 5, 2003, basis for below design:

Drawn April 25, 2003. Colored in Flash.
Drawn June 28, 2003, colored in Flash.

While somewhat slimming down the physique, and shortening the neck and body, I kept the design and gave it a dazzling color scheme in this crude color outline I did in Flash on April 17, 2004.


All things considered, I thought that most kaijuu, especially Godzilla-inspired monsters, looked too much like Godzilla. In fact, I'd say that they were Godzilla in all but name. So I wanted to create a Godzilla-type monster that truly stood out. I also figured that since I love dogs, and always thought that Godzilla looked rather like a dog, I figured, why not create a dog monster? And best of all, give it superhero colors! The colors in the above design were inspired especially by the multicolored Godzilla toys, especially the ones by Marusan, Bullmark, and Marmit, that were colored red/blue, and even red/gold.


From February to New Year's Eve of 2004, I worked on the "Pilot" of Rekira, entitled Dogira. Of the actual completed comic projects I've ever completed, this is the one I am most proud of. In this project, I had the story in my head, but pretty much wrote it as I went along (even left in whatever ridiculous ideas I had.), and I can decide on what works and what doesn't work when I get to doing an actual comic. I may share the pilot comic with you on this blog sometime.

And it was on October 26, 2005, when the monster took his final name... Rekira!


As you can see below, Rekira went through many design changes, subtle and major.

Drawn December 23, 2005, with a mechanical pencil and a Staedtler Mars 780 drafting pencil. As I love doing pencil drawings, this is one of my most detailed Rekira drawings ever. Retained from the first drawing are the plated forelimbs (much like an eagle's or Red King's). (Note the slight error in the furigana; "tai" instead of "dai.")

Done on December 29, 2005, while I was on vacation in the Outer Banks. After being inspired by seeing river otters (which I basically thought were aquatic dogs) at the Outer Banks Aquarium, I gave Rekira an otter-like physique, while still maintaining the previous design. (EDIT: Note the alternate "Reki" kanji, which Marc told me is actually preferable over the one I've been using.)

Drawn January 19, 2006, this was the finalized version of the "Otter Rekira." Colored with Tombow brush markers (given to me by my friend Robert Wertz weeks before). The actual drawing, with crude text and all, can be seen on my deviantART site. Some of you may remember seeing this exclusive edition on the "Kaiju A Go-Go" Art Gallery on the US DVD release of the excellent short film, Negadon: The Monster from Mars!

From March 12, 2007. I drew this while sitting in a cafe at Barnes & Noble's. The body plates are gone, and here, I finally use a long body-stripe. Thus, the "tadpole formation" colors (all around the vertical center of Rekira) are born. Here, the stripe also converges into the stripes on his arms & legs (much like Ultraman). The plated forelimbs were somewhat simplified, and had yellow lightning stripes. And finally, this drawing was the genesis for the lightning-shaped horns (as opppsed to the moon-shaped Ghidorah-style horns I used previously) that Rekira would sport to this day.


Drawn on Easter Day (March 20) 2007, this is the final color rendering of the 2007 design. In this design, there were additional rib stripes emanating from the center stripe.

This redesign from January 11, 2008, is, admittedly, my favorite redesign. I was inspired by both Varan (Toho's movie monster) and Shoutarou Ishinomori's concept designs for Masked Rider Amazon, so I played around with a somewhat more humanoid version of Rekira. This really accentuated the "hero" image somewhat, and I love the dynamic poses.

The finalized color version, from February 15, 2008, scanned and colored in Photoshop. This is the design used for the video short the same year.

I played around with the 2008 design on New Year's Eve (December 31) 2008, while on vacation in the Outer Banks. Here, the design is the same, but I changed the blue forelimbs into furry paws, this time with blue webs (between the fingers/toes) and blue pawprints.

On June 17, 2009, I used my Bamboo Fun tablet to trace over the "Furry-Paw" Rekira. This time, the limb stripes are detached from the body stripe, and thus, the arms and legs have stripes of their own.

And finally, the latest Rekira drawing!

Here is the 2010 Rekira design. It's an amalgam of the 2008 and 2009 designs. Note I brought back the blue forelimbs (now simplified), as I actually liked those, and gave him a distinguished look. (I did, however, keep the webs and paw tips.) This was drawn completely in Photoshop with my Bamboo Fun tablet on April 22. (I was able to do construction in Photoshop before I began drawing proper.) This and the previous design have the same bilingual vector logo (done in Flash). This is my best Rekira tablet drawing yet!

In future posts, I'll get more into story details as I prepare my webcomic. You'll also see other drawings, character designs, and more!