March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026 #5

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's the next submission featuring that Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing:
MARCH M.O.D.O.K. MADNESS!

This time, it's just a bit of digital doodling on a canvas in Rebelle 8 Pro and this came out.  Looks like non-idle hands are also the Devil's Workshop!  Although, in my Mind's Eye, it was going to remain a bit more "painterly" and impressionistic.  Maybe next time!  Or, one of the times coming up, anyways...

Visit the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog early and often to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing and tell 'em John sent ya!

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STEP ONE:  I just did some doodling in Rebelle 8 Pro and had done on a 1,875px x 2,600px canvas.  This time, I remembered to do a half-way point of the digital painting, rather than realize when I'm 80% of the way finished to think "Oh, crud, I should have done this an hour ago..." 

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STEP TWO:  Here's the finished digital painting

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Done digitally in Rebelle 8 Pro.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026 #4

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's the next submission featuring that Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing:
MARCH M.O.D.O.K. MADNESS!

It's Pi Day, and what better way to celebrate than a M.O.D.O.K. cartoon (click the "Pi Day" Link/Label on the side bar for more examples)?  I will admit, I'm not much when it comes to Math (or Maths, for those of you across The Pond), but Pi Day amuses me.  Although, Mario Day (Mar10) also amuses me, as well, but I always forget about it until it is the day of, otherwise I would probably post something in honor of that day, too.  Next year, I guess...

Visit the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog early and often to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing and tell 'em John sent ya!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here are digital inks along with the Lettering.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the added colors, done on several layers under the Digital Inks.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026 #3

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's the next submission featuring that Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing:
MARCH M.O.D.O.K. MADNESS!

This time I kept it relatively simple with a parody of Dr. Seuss's Hop on Pop.  Although, M.O.D.O.K. maybe looks a little too much like Bart Simpson...  Hmmm, perhaps I'll do that one next week if it hasn't been done to Death already.  Well, a cursory search or two didn't show anything much like I had in mind, so maybe.  We shall see...

Visit the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog early and often to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing and tell 'em John sent ya!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here are digital inks along with the Lettering.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the added colors, done on several layers under the Digital Inks.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026 #2

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's the next submission featuring that Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing:
MARCH M.O.D.O.K. MADNESS!

This time doing a parody of the classic "Akira" poster by Otomo, with M.O.D.O.K. doing the classic walk toward his Kirby-Powered Mecho-Chair.  This is one of those images I've had in my mind for quite some time, but it feels so familiar.  I tried to do a check on The Googles and such to make sure this hasn't been done before and didn't see an example.  Perhaps it has been on my mind for so long that I gave myself deja vu.

As for the Kanji for M.O.D.O.K., as I neither read or write Japanese (heck, many argue I barely read and write in my native tongue, English), I will have to put my blind faith in the Internet that the English to Kanji translator I used is correct. What could possibly go wrong?  Anyhoo, I traced over the Kanji to go over the M.O.D.O.K. ala the "Akira" poster, just to be as accurate as possible and to minimize the odds of my accidentally writing some unintentional.

Visit the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog early and often to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing and tell 'em John sent ya!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here are digital inks.  I didn't care for the penciled steps into the Mechano-Chair as the 1-point perspective made it look a little on the wonky side, so Ichanged it in the Inks to make them a bit more rounded and curved to follow the Mechano-Chair's form.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the added colors, done on several layers under the Digital Inks.  I debated exporting the Inks Layer as a .png and doing the colors in Rebelle, as it does a much better job with some of the paintings brushes and tools, but decided to just do it all in Clip Studio Paint.  I love Clip Studio Paint's Ink brushes, and Rebelle's color and digital paints.  If only they could be combined into some Frankenstein program!

Good enough to call DONE and go on the start the next one!

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026 #1

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2026
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's time again for everyone's favorite March-based bit of Madness and Mirth featuring that wacky, hyper-cephalic Jack Kirby creation Designed Only for Killing:
MARCH M.O.D.O.K. MADNESS!

For the first one, I had an image pop into my head of M.O.D.O.K. as the poster for the B-Movie classic, "Attack of the 50ft. Woman".  Oh, sorry, "Classic" should be in scare quotes--but I liked it when I saw it as a kid as part of a double-feature with "The Amazing Colossal Man"... or was it "War of the Colossal Beast"?... I watched all of them at one time or another on "T.J. and the A.N.T. (All Night Theater)".

Here is the original, classic "Attack of the 50ft. Woman" poster.  Classic Poster and awesome art by Sci-Fi Movie Poster painter, Reynold Brown.  He painted so many of the Classic Sci-Fi posters that fascinated me in my youth.  Give 'em a Google!

I'm hoping to get about 8-10 submissions done and sent to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog.  Visit the site to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing and tell 'em John sent ya!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here is the digital painting, done in Rebelle 8.  And, yeah, those cars are comically childish, but they were small and just in the background.

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Done digitally in Rebelle with an assist from Clip Studio Paint with the Lettering

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Unwanted Valentines: The Lord of the Rings (2001)

Unwanted Valentines:
The Lord of the Rings (2001)

Here's another Unwanted Valentine, this time featuring Sauron from "The Lord of the Rings" (2001).

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital blue pencils, done on a 2,000px x 2,800 @ 300dpi canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And the digital inks, done mostly with an 10pt and a 15pt brush.

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STEP THREE:  The colors were done on the layer below.

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Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint

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Unwanted Valentines: The Matrix (1999)

Unwanted Valentines:
The Matrix (1999)

It's another Unwanted Valentine, this time from "The Matrix" (1999), with an obvious Viagra joke.  Is that joke obvious?  Then you know I'm gonna make it!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital blue pencils, done on a 2,000px x 2,800 @ 300dpi canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And the digital inks, done mostly with an 10pt and a 15pt brush.

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STEP THREE:  The colors were done on the layer below.

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Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint

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Unwanted Valentines: Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)

Unwanted Valentines:
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)

It's time again for an Unwanted Valentine--Valentines so nerdy and built upon puns so terrible that no one would be pleased to receive them... especially a loved one!  This time we're starting with an obvious Pirate pun with "Pirates of the Caribbean" (2003).

Also, I decided with a PG-rated joke, rather than on that is rated... ARRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr!  After that terrible joke, I'll show myself out... 

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital blue pencils, done on a 2,000px x 2,800 @ 300dpi canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And the digital inks, done mostly with an 10pt and a 15pt brush.

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STEP THREE:  The colors were done on the layer below.

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Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint

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Batman-uary 2026 - Adam West of Zur-En-Arrh

BATMAN-UARY 2026:
Adam West of Zur-En-Arrh

Na-na-na-na-na-nah... Batman-uary!  And, yeah, it's the same line I used a couple weeks ago, but this time it is fitting.

I always meant to do something with the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, but between Grant Morrison's and Chip Zdarsky's use of the character, it seems a little bit overused of late (wait, what the--?  Grant Morrison's run was almost 20 years ago?  That can't be right...).  And, yeah, there was even a gesture toward the Adam West version in a Multiverse part of the storyline, but, what the heck, I wanted to do this anyways.  And here it is.  With his Bat-Radia and everything!

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Here is a panel from "Batman #133" featuring Tlano/Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the scrawled, digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi in Rebelle 8.

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STEP TWO: And here is the finished digital work, using mostly digital Watercolor/Gouache brushes and a digital Airbrush.

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Done digitally in Rebelle.

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Batman-uary 2026 - Batman #113 (1940) Cover Recreation

 BATMAN-UARY 2026:
Batman #113 (1940)

Batman-uary Returns!  This time it's a cover recreation of "Batman" #113 (1940)--a peculiarly significant issue in that it introduced the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh and his Bat-Radia.  It's a fun story with a goofy charm (the best charm there is, IMHO!).  Batman is compelled to go out on for a midnight fly in his Bat-Plane, only to be teleported by Tlano, the Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh.  On Zur-En-Arrh, Batman (our Earth Batman, that is) discovers he has the power of Superman on the alien world and uses them to help Tlano fight off an alien invasion and their giant robots.

I sorta wanted to do more with both Batman and the aliens on the cover, as they looked fun (and the fireballs from their lasers have an almost flower-like look to them which was intriguing) but, to be honest, the whole thing turned out better in my head than on the page.  Ah, well, that's the way it always goes, I'm sure.  Still, it wasn't a complete failure and is marginally OK.  Onward to the next one!

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Here is the original cover to "Batman" #113 (1940).

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STEP ONE:  Here's the briefly scribbled digital pencils, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dip canvas in Clip Studio Paint.

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STEP TWO:  And the digital inks.

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STEP THREE: For the colors, the were mostly flat colors and for the building I used the Noise Filter to add some texture and the airbrush tool to add some shadows on a separate layer.  While it was modestly improved, I was mostly not too satisfied with the effect.  However, when I changed the shadow's Layer Property to "Hue", it resulted in an interesting, almost alien, color scheme that I wouldn't have chosen, but seemed fitting, methinks.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Batman-uary 2026 - Luminous Uniform

BATMAN-UARY 2026:
Luminous Uniform

Na-na-na-na-na-nah... Batman-uary!  It's the Luminous Unoform, mentioned on the cover and one panel in "Detective Comics" #165 while fighting, um, I think it was Dr. Radium?  Anyhoo, I figured I'd do it up as a parody/pastiche for Alex Ross's cover to "Batman" #676, which seemed to lend itself to a glowing Batman costume.

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Here is the original cover to "Detective Comics" #165.

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And it was done as a parody/homage to Alex Ross's cover to "Batman 676"

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And here's the Batman-uary Logo.  Feel free to use it as you please...

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STEP ONE:  Here's a brief peek behind the curtain: I did up some quickly scrawled thumbnails done in Rebelle 8.  It was a choice of the Alex Ross cover, the Norm Breyfogle cover to "Detective Comics" #587, or a general looking Batman standing in front of the Moon while glowing.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the scrawled, digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi in Rebelle 8.

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STEP THREE: And here is the finished digital work, using mostly digital Watercolor brushes and a digital Airbrush.  There was some digital trickery involving a couple Overlay layers to give that glow on the Bat symbol.

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Done digitally in Rebelle.

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Happy New Year - Supergirl-uary

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Supergirl-uary

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

What's this, a Happy New Year Post on the actual New Year's Day?  Who'da thunk it?

Just to carry on with last year's New Year's post, this time it's Supergirl instead of Superman.  I will admit, being a huge fan of "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" (a book I've gifted to my daughters), I am looking forward to the movie set to be released later this year.  I'm also hardly the first to point out that it is a super-hero version of "True Grit", and the Charles Portis book and Coen Bros. movie in 2010 are also both great.  And, yeah, Supergirl-uary is a deliberately, comically a terrible name.

I want to give a sincere "Thank You" to all of you who have stopped by to gawk and rubberneck at my modest Blog.  As I mentioned in my previous End of Year post, there has been a 10x to 20x increase in traffic to this Blog (although, it may just be bots and AI scrapers trying to steal art and whatnot.  Again, suck it Tech-Overlords and Oligarch Dickheads trying to force AI Slop on everyone and everything).  The Blog also crossed a half-million Views, so that's something, I guess.  A mind blowing, humbling statistic to me.

Last year I was hoping to do some larger projects for the Blog.  Well, it was a resolution that sorta was half-done.  I did have several larger projects in 2025, but they fell outside the scope of this Blog, alas, although I did do the most posts on this Blog last year (69 posts--Nice!).

This year, aside from a trying to break last year's number of posts, I have a few comic-based projects specifically that I am hoping to do for my own amusement.  We'll see how that goes with this New Year's Delusions... er, I mean New Year's Resolutions!  So, stay tuned and check back often!  Well, not too often, of course, we don't wanna be weird about it...  Y'know, casual often.

The next post should be back to our regularly scheduled silliness, Batman-uary style!

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Done digitally in Rebelle 8, with as assist in Photoshop for the lettering.

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Moss Piglet (December 2025): Inventions

Moss Piglet (December 2025):
Invention

Hey, hey, it's another cartoon/comic strip-based post about a submission I made a little bit ago to "Moss Piglet", a small art magazine out of Kenosha, Wisconsin I've been contributing to the past few years.  They use a monthly theme for it's publication and this time it was "Invention", and what better Invention than a Time Machine?

I figured, since I had this cartoon taking place on December 31, 2025, it would be a good one to use for the last day of the year.  Also, if I was visited by my future self, it would probably happen in about that way.

Since it is the end of the 2025, I do want to take a few moments to sincerely thank everyone who has stopped by to gawk and rubber-neck at my modest Blog.  It is much appreciated!

I'm not sure what happened this year, but the numbers on my Blog really took off by a factor of 10x-20x.  Not that anything else seems to have changed--just a case of "Line go up" on a graph--but it is still interesting and somewhat flattering, if real.  Although, for all I know, it's probably just AI Bots scraping all the Internetz for art to steal.  Who knows?  I'll be posting regardless and Generative AI can go to H-E-Double Hockeysticks, as can the rich dickheads trying to push it down our throats ala foie gras.

Speaking of posts, this year I've done the most posts--69 (Nice!).  And, for next year, hopefully there will be more.  I did sort of like running with a theme a couple times, and will probably do that again.

Anyhoo, THANK YOU to all my friends, enemies, and everyone else who has stopped by to gawk.  Out with the old year and in with the New Year!  Here's to hoping everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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For those of you interested, here's the link to the Homepage for "Moss Piglet": https://www.krazines.com/

You can also view previous issues online at: https://www.krazines.com/archives.html  If you're able, subscribe and tell 'em John D. sent you!  There isn't a discount with it or anything, but it will give the illusion that I have friends and know people and such. 😉 

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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