Hellboy and BPRD

Hellboy is one of the best comics I've ever read.  Mike Mignola has taken a relatively simple character (with an equally ridiculous name), and turned him into a complex, ass-kicking everyman.  Hellboy is me.  He's you.  He's the normal guy surrounded by abnormal things, like talking robot apes, floating heads in jars, giant caterpillar things, ghouls, Nazis, and mythical figures.  Mignola has taken all the things that he loves (horror, mythology, Jack Kirby, Lovecraft, etc.), and put them into one creation.  That, I think, is what all creators should aspire to.  We should take the best of what we love, incorporate it into the stories we want to tell, and make it our own.  That's what Mike Mignola did, and it worked out pretty well for him.   Plus, his artwork is outstanding.  And I can't emphasize that enough.  It is absolutely gorgeous.

Well, enough rambling from me.  Enjoy!

Done for Omega Sketch http://omegasketch.blogspot.com/

Reign of The Supermen

As cheesy as the story-line was, "The Death and Return of Superman" was a lot of fun.  And some enduring characters rose from its ashes.  It was the beginning of Hal Jordan's fall from grace.  The debut of Steel, Superboy, and the Cyborg Superman, and one of the most embarrassing haircuts in comic book history.  That's right, Superman's Super- Mullet (which I've decided to omit from ANY Superman I might draw).  All in all, it was an important time in my life as far as comics are concerned.  This was when I started getting an idea that making these thing was how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.