Queen of Stars

Alright, I'll close out "Early Super-Hero creations with another undated yet apparently very early piece (note the use of felt tip markers).  Most likely from 1982. I actually really like the design of the boots. I'm pretty sure she was inspired by Raven from the New Teen Titans. May have been from aroudn the time I lived next to a kid named Norman Naramore. We'd trade comics, but he would never let go of those Micronauts! This is also around the time I woudl save my lunch money and buy comics from the corner store ( I think it was Stop n Go back then) on the way to school. I had a teacher who actually tore up my Teen Titans #11 because I was reading it in class.

Ninjack

This one is not dated, nor complete, but it probably 1984 judging by the fact that I was still swiping John Byrne yet I was using India ink rather than markers. The outline looks like I was using a speedball lettering nib as I had no idea what tools were use in professional comics. The brush lines are most likely added after my short stint at the Kubert school. I believe I also added the name Ninjack after the fact as I recall just calling him Ninja. My version ov Wolverine most likely inspired by the Wolverine min series which introduced me to Ninjas.

Odyssey

Not sure why there was a gap in character creations between the previous character and this one. If I recall this is actually an older character revisited. Again with brush and india ink. It appears to have some Bill Willingham influence in the drawing and possibly Sam DeLarosa and/ or Bill Anderson in the inking.

 Alright, i found the scan of my original design for Odyssey (mispelled Oddysey). A rare non Byrne swipe, instead opting for a Michael Godlen pose. The characters name and probably the lightning bolt on the forehead was inspired by KISS: Music from the Elder.

The Drummer

1986, two years between this and the last piece. during that time I spent nearly a year at the Kubert school and it is starting to show. While the idea for this character is trite ( The Drummer- despite having boomerang like symbols on his outer thighs), I have begun utilizing a brush and (it appears) constructing my own figures rather than swiping.

Mr. Clean.....

Yep, gotta laugh at this one.....and... another Byrne swipe. At least I was using real india ink at this point, and who knows what type of nib (addendum: Probably a speedball lettering nib. I probably thought that was how Terry Austin inked). This is why is was so aggravating to me when ya ask a pro, "Hey, what tools do you use" and they'd reply, it doesn't matter, use whatever tools you want. Obviously, your only as good as the tools you use.

Kinetic Man

Okay, anyone tired of the John Byrne swipes yet? Well, they ain't over yet. Nothing notable I can recall about this character other than I later used a revised version of it for an assignment at the Kubert school.
Addendum: I found the scan of another version, although still not the one I did at the Kubert School. Experimenting with brush. I see traces of my influence from Josef Rubinstein here, particularly the the chunky hatch lines. Reminds of his work on Wolverine with Frank Miller.

Dragonfly

Alright, this is my cross between Nightcrawler and Bug from Micronauts. I always liked the shading on Nightcrawler's face and Bug had a very cool helmet. A pretty plain costume and another John Byrne pose swipe.

Blockbuster

Every Team needs a powerhouse, this one was mine. The mask I am sure is influenced by wrestling masks. Another John Byrne pose rip off, although people told me the head was to small on this figure, it's actually the height that is off proportionally. The guy was supposed to be really wide like Charlie-13 from GoG.

Bantam

Ok, so really sucky name; but, at least I was starting to use the dictionary to find synonyms for small. I am sure that I thought this would be less derivative....Still swiping Byrne but looks like I was expanding to India ink; which obviously smeared when apply marker color. Man I wish they made India ink that black nowadays

Phosphorus

Not sure if this was his actual name, but I recall that the almost neon color of these marks make me think it was something like Phosphoro, or phosphorus man. I think I was confusing phosphorus with lichen which grows in cave and gives off light. I don't recall the inspiration for this character but it appears that I just loved to swipe John Byrne, well not really swiping as it wasn't published, so more like trying to learn how to draw in his style. It also appears that I wanted to see how these particular colors from the "Design" markers would look together.

Suplex

Wow, only 2 days and I'm back. Had some time off work and have a note to Blog on my Sticky Notes desktop app. This guys name was Suplex just cause I liked the name. I am sure I heard about watching wrestling. 1983 when I was still signing in cursive like Shultz but now I was adding the year in some type of style that I don't recall what I was trying to achieve. BTW all of there's are inked with a felt tip emulating Terry Austin (at least the way his stuff printed, softer than the originals look) and colored with those old "Design" markers that had a very strong odor. Purple and gold I suppose because I was just discovering or had learned about complimentary colors.

Lord Tarsk

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It's no wonder I was never successful as a comic book artist, I never have to seem to have time to complete anything. Of course as a child we have all the time in the world. Well here we are with another childhood swipe of a John Byrne pose. This nearly sums up everything I loved about his art. Just look at that right thigh and leg! I do not, and probably never will, recall the impetus for this character. Something in it reminds me of Dr Doom, but I have no idea why. Cheerio!

Sandstorm

Well, hard to believe it's been almost a year since I last posted. Probably why I never finish half the artworks I create. I get bored. easily. This next character I remember almost nothing about except that I swiped the pose from a Sandy Plunkett entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and that I use to have a sweater with this same color scheme.

Suplex

Alright, back to it 2 months later. This character is apparently a synthesis of Dr Fate (half helmet, which I actually hate now; preferring the full helm look) and a well known wrestling move. Most likely it reminded me of some type of stretching like power (despite my inability to illustrate such).  1983, still utilizing the "Ace Frehley" lightning bolt after my signature with the "z" and "check mark" type "3" in "'83".

Gadget Man

Alright, I'm back. It has been a busy few years working and finishing up my baccalaureate in nursing but I am bound to get all of these posted for posterity :D This one is not dated but based on the signature (still in cursive, last name only, lightning bolt at the end) I assume it is from around 1982 (the three hole punch on the left is a clue as I was still working on plain old copy paper). I am not sure if this character (Gadget Man) was based on inspector gadget or not as this cartoon premiered around the same time and I was an avid cartoon watcher. I can't help but think of parachute pants with those zippers on the leggings; however I am not sure when I first learned of parachute pants (attributed to 80's fashion, but no year denoted), but I am sure my thought was at the time he needed pockets for all his "gadgets".

Electrolyte.

 Showcasing my complete misunderstanding of chemistry (at 15 years old), this character pose was obviously swiped from Frank Millers Bullseye entry in the  The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. It's (my bible) , but has decidedly John Byrne (esque) legs. "Electro" meant energy to me at that time and I have long forgotten the details of this characters origins and powers, but suffice to say, while studying Nursing, I realized how inappropriate this moniker actually was. Still love those "design"markers, despite their habit of "bleeding".

Image Master

Trying to get these all posted in the order I did them; at least by year, going by my "signature" at the time where dates are not notated. My Signature at this time is a cursive inspired by Charles Schultz of whom I was a huge fan of the time, particularly the older strips with the more floppy eared Snoopy.