Superman: Superman Lives with Nicolas Cage

SUPERMAN:
Nicolas Cage

Hey, it's turning into Superman Week here at the Blog, why not?  This time, let's go off script and go with something completely wacky: Nicolas Cage as the Superman that almost happened but never was collaboration with Tim Burton.  I will admit, that I was not vibing with this when it was announced, so wasn't too disappointed when it wasn't made (although, the movie 'The Death of 'Superman Lives'" did make me wonder...).  Sure, I would have gone to see it, but there were so many things which gave me pause, primarily the casting.  Then again, I may have been wrong and it could have been up my alley.  Heath Leger's Joker gave me pause before I actually saw it in the theaters and it was perfectly done; Nicolas Cage's Superman could have done the same, who knows?  (But, odds weren't favorable, if I had to guess.)

Cage did sort of get his chance to finally fight that giant spider at the end of "Flash" (2023) movie, which was not a very good movie, either.  Side Note: The Speed Force and running effects were just terrible after seeing them done right with Quicksilver in the "X-Men" movies (ironically, not very well done in the Marvel "Avengers: Rise of Ultron" (2015) movie).

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STEP ONE:  Here are the really quick, first pass with digital paint, done on a 2,000px x 3,000px @ 300dpi fine Gesso canvas in Rebelle 7.  This time, I used the Oil Palette Knife brush, rather than the Oil Filbert Brush for those of you who are curious.

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STEP TWO:  Here is the digital painting a little further on and doing what I can to correct initial errors when doing the general layout.

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STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting.  I did color correct it, as there was a green color to the screen grab from the "Flash" movie.

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Done digitally in Rebelle 7

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Stardust the Super Wizard

 Stardust the Super Wizard

Quite a while back, I read the book "I Shall Destroy All Civilized Planets!", which was a biography and collection of some of Fletcher Hanks' comic book creations, the most famous (infamous?) of which are Stardust and Fantomah.  There is a certain goofy, Ed Wood-esque charm to both the stories and the art.  I always intended to do something with the character--a panel or page recreation for "Repaneled" back when that was a Blog I contributed to on the regular before it lamentably closed, or something along those lines.

Stardust the Super Wizard would discover bad guys, show up, and mete out some sort of vaguely ironic and appropriately horrifying justice, end of story.  Sort of like DC Comics did in the mid-1970's with "The Spectre" by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo, where Spectre would show up, turn crooks into wood, and then run them through a table saw, etc. 

And another example of Fletcher Hanks' art style and Stardust's version of "Justice"...

I find something compelling about his work.  His art is strangely competent, but there is an underlying weirdness and crude simplicity.  If you'll forgive the anachronism, it reminds me of a strange cross between modern(ish) comic book artists Kevin O'Neil ("Marshal Law" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") and Frank Quitely ("We3" and "All-Star Superman").  I am a fan of both O'Neil and Quitely, but Fletcher Hanks style is a weird mixture.  I mean, I like hot dogs and I like ice cream, but a hot dog sundae... I dunno. 

(Heh, while looking for a couple images of Stardust for the Blog post, it looks like Kevin O'Neil had done a couple drawings of Stardust in the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen".  After I saw the images, I vaguely remembered the panels in question... "Oh, yeah!" (I have all issues/books of "LoEG".)  However, I think the reason I was reminded of Kevin O'Neil's art has more to do with some of O'Neil's grotesque anatomical distortions, rather than these particular panels.)

Hey, Kids, Kevin O'Neill's version of Stardust the Super Wizard!

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Image Comics also did a "Next Issue Project" in 2008, which picked up where "Fantastic Comics" left off back in in the 40's.  I was intrigued and got the issue when it came out, which had a Stardust story written by Joe Keatinge with art by Mike Allred.  So, that was a fun surprise for me.

From everything I've read, Fletcher Hanks was a rather terrible human being: an abusive alcoholic who's wife and kids all disowned him and were glad when he left the family behind.  He died frozen on a Manhattan park bench and was basically homeless  Given all the abuse he had apparently heaped on his family, I'm not sure if that would be a Stardust type of justice or not.  (Hmmm, this got darker than I intended.)

While looking into Stardust again after a long while, it looks like the character may be in the Public Domain?  I noticed a few people doing projects with the character.  Hmmm, makes me think it may be fun to do something with the character, too, if he actually is in the Public Domain, that is...

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STEP ONE:  I created a document in Painter 2020 and did the digital pencils.  Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and it was a 1,000px x 1,400px @ 300dpi.  I should have created it a bit larger, methinks, and then shrunk it down for the Blog.  Oh, well.  

Also, I choose the costume from the first appearance, rather than later ones which had a square-shaped collar.  Speaking of the costume, it always reminded me of Marvelman/Miracle Man.  So, that's cool.  

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STEP TWO:  I mostly digitally painted this in Painter 2020, but then saved it as a .PSD and then imported it into Clip Studio Paint.  I'm just too used to using certain brushes within Clip Studio Paint.

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STEP THREE:  Here's the finished image.  I threw on some digital airbrushing to give more of a glow.  I mean, he's named "Stardust the Super Wizard", after all.  Oh, and some shadow, as well.

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Done digitally in Painter 2020 and Clip Studio Paint.

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Stan Lee Remembered

Stan Lee Remembered

Stan Lee was one of the main pillars of comic books, alongside Jack Kirby, and helped to create almost all the major characters that built Marvel Comics: Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, The Avengers, Iron Man, Black Panther, X-Men, Thor, Daredevil, Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, and more than I could easily list.

His writing was a bombastic, less than subtle, and corny as H-E-Double Hockey sticks.  However, it also worked in a weird way.  There was an alchemy when he worked with Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Buscema, and other giants of the industry.  A synthesis that was missing when they went on to do other works, or their own projects.

He did have a problematic side when it came to claiming the lion's share of credit for creation of characters (after all, every Marvel Comic started with "Stan Lee Presents...").  And, while I am a greater fan of Jack Kirby, Stan Lee's importance was nearly as great.  He was avuncular and humorous in interviews, as well as a huckster of sorts, but a huckster for comic books.  He was probably one of the only comic book creators people could recognize--the literal face of comics, if you will.  Without his ceaseless promotion of comic books, I have to wonder what the state of comic books would be today.

He always had dreams of writing the great American novel, but perhaps he accidentally wrote something even more important.  His influence on world culture cannot be under-estimated.  He helped to shape a modern mythology, and in one-thousand years I'm sure people will still be quoting "With great power comes great responsibility", not realizing it was born in the pages of a comic book.

Excelsior, Stan!

'Nuff said.

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STEP ONE:  I used a chalk brush in Painter 2018 to rough out the portrait of Stan Lee.

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STEP TWO:  Here is the finished digital painting.  I mostly used the chalk/charcoal brushes, and some airbrush and blending brushes.

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STEP THREE:  I thought the painting looked a little "cut-out" and thought I should engage some lost edges.  By smearing out the shirt edges with a palette knife brush, it pushed more focus on the face.  Which, depending on if you think it was a successful painting, may or may not be a good thing.  :-D

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This was done digitally with Painter 2018

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Digital Painting: Shuri

Digital Painting: Shuri

I meant to do a digital painting from "Black Panther" for a long time, back when "Black Panther" was out in theaters, but was distracted with other things, alas.  This was done noodling around with Painter 2018, trying to get adjusted to the program, mostly using Chunky Oil Pastel brush.

The movie was really fun, and it in my personal Top Five of the many, many Marvel Movies, up there with "Captain America: Winter Soldier", "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Iron Man 3" (yeah, I'm probably one of the few that praises "Iron Man 3" that much).  The order changes depending on my mood, but those are my general Top Five.

In "Black Panther", Shuri was probably my favorite character, being Wakanda's "Q" from the James Bond movies and is a joyfully fun character, as well.

As I did most of the painting on and same layer, I forgot to keep separate pictures of the work in progress.  Ah, well.

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Done digitally with Painter 2018.

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