2021-10-23 - Out of the Shadows

[Cyber Burn]

With Photobucket now charging a fortune, I went with http://imgur.com/.  So far, no issues to speak of.

[doctorchallenger]

TAKE TWO (Thanks to folks who posted alternative image posting suggestions):

Lately I've been inspired to work on a set of characters that operate in and/or work for a what I call the Centauri Protectorate.  The Protectorate is the current government ruling over a distant, multi-racial, multi-species, galactic empire. Like many comic book galactic empires, the Protectorate is an authoritarian government with fascistic tendencies.  Also like many comic book galactic empires, the Protectorate has created a special team of superhuman to assist in the law enforcement process. My team is called the Order Battalion. One metatextual aspect to this galactic empires is that the humans who rule it subscribe to Jack Kirby-esque aesthetic; imagine if you will, the characters in the background scenery in the Inhumans' city of Attlin, or in Supertown of New Genesis. Therefore, I have tried to create all of the skins with an eye to making them seem like a character Jack Kirby might design as best as I can.

The above character is Countdown, an early member of the Order Battalion, retired in the present in my universe.  The character is inspired by one of the earliest superheroes in the history of the genre, the Clock.

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Clock

As you can see, my character bears little resemblance to the original Clock.  Metatextually, I am giving the Clock a makeover inspired by Kirby's redesign of DC's Golden Age Sandman, another hero which began with a suit, tie, and full face mask.  The shield, inspired by Kirby creations Captain America and Guardian, is designed to represent the type of clock used in the empire, which divides the day into twenty "hours", and the yellow and purple bands represent the periods of daylight and evening.

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, DarkJered, and Zed for bases. Grenadier for the mesh and Tommyboy, and Grenadier for the pieces.

Within my universe Countdown began as a heroic character on a popular program presented on state-sponsored media (imagine Storm Saxon, the show within a show from V for Vendetta).  Bran Obrin is the actor-stuntman who played the role of Countdown. In later seasons, Obrin's son Hocrin, takes on the role of Countdown's teen-aged assistant, Buzz (as in the sound a digital alarm clock makes). It is around this time that the Protectorate first organized the Order Battalion.  In response to mail from young fans of the show, the Ministry of Propaganda insisted on making the duo members of the team.  Though the appointment was met by existing members with skepticism at first, Obrin worked had to earn their respect.  Doing so, however, required the duo give up being media figures, a move that caused considerable frustration with Buzz, who enjoyed his fame within the empire.  The pair had a falling out, and when Countdown retired due age, Hocrin created a new identity for himself (to be shown later).

His catch phrase is: "Time's up."

One last thing to point out is the emblem on the belt buckle.  This is the emblem of the Centauri Party which rules the Protectorate. It is inspired by the emblem that Ming's followers, most notably Klytus, wore in the classic Flash Gordon film of the 1980s.

While it shouldn't be too hard to figure out, the order Battalion are inspired by three separate superhero teams, one from a major publisher, the other two from smaller independent publishers. Any guesses?

Comments and feedback welcome.

[doctorchallenger]

Mighty Man:

Based on public domain character Mighty Man:

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Mighty_Man

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, DarkJered, and Zed for bases. Texas Jack for the mesh and Beyonder and Texas Jack for the pieces.

A non-com in the the Protectorate military, Oscir Jerek was wounded in the line of duty, and submitted to an experimental treatment for regenerating damaged tissue. While most of the subjects died as a result of the process, and the few that survived only experience mild accelerated healing at the expense of tremendous pain, Jerek garnered the superhuman ability to manipulate his body mass, so that he could grow to great heights, shrink to miniature size, or stretch his limbs significant lengths.  As of yet, Protectorate Bio-scientists have not been able to duplicate the results in anyone other that Jereck's brother Plymo.  Due to his military training, Oscir was picked to serve on the current iteration of the Order Battalion, while Plymo is on the Battalion's reserve roster, much to his chagrin.

While not exactly based on Kirby's design sense, the costume is modeled on my favorite iteration of Hank Pym, his Goliath phase, which was in use during Kirby's Silver Age tenure at Marvel. It is worth noting that the boots and gloves are holdovers from Kirby's Ant-Man design.

Comments and feedback welcome.

[doctorchallenger]

Plymo:

Based on public domain character Plymo the Rubber Man:

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Plymo_the_Rubber_Man

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, DarkJered, and Zed for bases. Texas Jack for the mesh

Plymo is Mighty Man's Ne'er-do-well brother.  While in the Protectorate's Apartheid-like caste system, the Jerek family could possibly be considered among the most privileged of humans which controlled the Empire. However, the Jerek family were among those that could not maintain the economic security to allow their sons to aspire to the fullest of privilege. The Jerek boys' father was a hustler and a gambler, constantly placing the family's meager holdings at risk in get-rich-quick schemes and fly-by-night business opportunities. As such the boys were forced to grow up at the furthest margins of the Empire's "polite society" often living in close proximity with various sub-citizens, human or otherwise.  Oscir went into the military to support his family after his father died, serving honorably, but not distinguishing himself particularly before his injuries.  Plymo, on the other hand, took after his father, hustling on the edges of the legal economy, and often crossing the line. Luckily, Plymo managed to avoid any serious criminal charges, but had acquired enough of a record that the government could force him to undergo the same experimental procedure that gave his brother superhuman powers.  Plymo, like Mighty Man, garnered control over his body mass, but his newfound powers put him in service of the state, and in the shadow of his goody-two-shoes brother.

Comments and feedback welcome.

[Cyber Burn]

These are all really nice, and I like the fact that Malibu Characters (Well, one anyway), are getting some love.

[daglob]

Hey, I've done those characters. These are a nice adaptation.

[doctorchallenger]

These are all really nice, and I like the fact that Malibu Characters (Well, one anyway), are getting some love.

Cyber has got one of the team inspirations (or is hinting at it anyway).

Thanks for the kind words.



Airman

Based on public domain character Airman:

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Airman

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases. Vertex for the mesh and Vertex/Bobby69, Grenadier, Ink, Unfluffy Bunny, and 3dMaster for the pieces.

Engineer Dracon Schtevon wanted to revitalize the airborne division of the Imperial military, which in times past was a distinguished branch of the armed services, in which Schtevon's ancestors served, but with advanced technology had become little more that standard combat forces with a colorful history. Schtevon, therefore, developed the Airman flying combat suit.  The suit is designed to provide close quarters air support for small units of ground forces, as well as a low profile alternative to HALO infiltration forces, allowing for insertion, attack, and extraction to be handled by one system.  The body armor provides significant protection from small arms fire, particularly energy weapons, as it has an energy dampener system to channel such force into the suit's power system. Offensively it has compact energy blasters and anti-personnel projectiles attached to the gauntlets, and anti-vehicle munitions launched from the flight pack.  Schtevon petitioned to join the Order Battalion as a means to field test his design, and to demonstrate its effectiveness, to the Government in real-world scenarios.

Like the above designs, this is still somewhat in progress.  Many of the extras are currently kitbashed.  Like Mighty Man and Plymo, the design is not obviously Kirby-esque, given that the Classic Iron Man design on which it is modeled is not Kirby's work, but Ditko's. The Shoulder pads, and the stripes on the chest were my effort to give it a more Kirby-like look. I may tweak the gauntlets to as more of a Kirby touch to the look.

One thing I neglected to say about Might Man and Plymo: Thanks to Courtnal6 for his excellent Goliath (Blue) skin, as I cribbed all the line work, right down to the goggles on Plymo, for the line work on both skins.

[daglob]

If you borrow, borrow from one of the best.

[BentonGrey]

Some great designs here, man!  I LOVE that Airman design!  That's great work, and a really cool looking character.  I'm a sucker for the winged heroes anyway, but this is a particularly nice take.  I definitely see some Kirby influence with the design.

[Cyber Burn]

Some really cool concepts here. Plus, I'm a sucker for the Protectors. Will you be filling out the whole team?

[doctorchallenger]

Some really cool concepts here. Plus, I'm a sucker for the Protectors. Will you be filling out the whole team?

Sort of.  The bulk of the Protectors (Malibu's team) was re-imagined versions of characters in the Public domain, originally published by Centaur Comics in the Golden Age. Hence, Centuri Protectorate, as the name of the galactic empire.  But Malibu added a few original characters to the mix, notably Aura and Arc, because Centaur produce only a couple of female heroes.  I won't be doing those characters.

Next up: THE EYE.

Based on public domain character the Eye (AKA: the Detective Eye:

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Eye_(Centaur)

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases. Texas Jack for the mesh and Valander and Tommyboy for the pieces.




The Eye is on the Order Battalion Reserve, and has been since its creation,  The Eye's origin goes back to the origins of the Protectorate.  Before the defeat of the Empire in the First Great Imperial War, The Eye was a common solider, drafted into service.  He and two of his comrades were separated from their unit, and found themselves trapped in a vast, ancient outpost of a technologically advance alien civilization.  The experience gave each different superhuman abilities. The Eye can transform into a being of what appears to be flaming eye surrounded by swirling energy. In this form, the Eye can manifest various forms of energy (heat, electricity,
electromagnetic force), for a variety of effects. He prefers to maintain his energy form nearly all the time.  He does not crave action, content to remain behind the scenes as much of the time, keeping an eye on people and groups for in the interest of the ruling party, as well as for his own amusement.

The Image is a bit different, as I am using a couple screencaps from Nifskope, because the concept is FX intensive.  When in combate the Eye appears as a floting flaming eyeball; I used an image of the Eye of Sauron for the skin. the character on appears in human form when he is incapacitated. Nifskope allows you to see the FX in action, whereas the character viewer only allows you to see FX when they are against the backdrop of another mesh part.  The image at the top right was taken from the character viewer. You can just see a hint of the FX.

Keeping with the Kirby aesthetic I want for the broader concept, the Eye's human form is based on Kirby's design for Kanto of the New Gods.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

[spydermann93]

All of these skopes and skins are wonderfully done, Doc! Your designs of these various character are amazing!

[Cyber Burn]

You are definitely on a hot streak here. I'm really impressed with these re-designed/re-imagined versions of such old school Characters. I'm really hoping to see versions of the Ferret and Gravestone (I think they were considered open domain).

[BentonGrey]

Agreed, these continue to be great!  I love the design on this guy as well, and you bring it to wonderful life.  Great work on the skope as well!

[doctorchallenger]

Thanks for the kudos.

Based on public domain character: Solarman:

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Solarman

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Grenadier for the mesh and Grenadier and Renegade for the pieces.



Solarman is not a member of the Centuri Protectorate Order Battalion, but a refugee from the Protectorate because of his cultural background and sexual orientation. Zolar Min was a semi-practicing member of the Solarian religion, a group which I created to be the Centuri Protectorate analog to Jewish folk during the Nazi regime.   
Solar Man is a character inspired as an homage to Doc Savage and to Marvel's early iteration of Mar-vell (Captain Marvel).  After coming to Earth, Solar man essential operates in a Doc Savage type mode. In the 1940s, he becomes more of costumed hero, as he is able to build for himself a wrist mounted multi-beam blaster (crude by Centuri standards), and areo-shoes for flying.  The costume is modeled on KJack Kirby's Ikaras, but also inspire from Doc Savage's Golden Age comic book appearences as "The Invincible" where he had super powers bestowed upon him by a mystic hood (see: http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/d/docsav2.htm)  The Jacket/hood design is also supposed to be a form of clothing commonly warn by males of the Solarian religion as part of their ritual clothing.  In this regard, I am undecided, does it work better  with the black leggings ans sleeves - essentially a fancy long-tailed vest - or as a jacket with blue sleeves. Both are pictured. What do people think?

Comments and feedback welcome.

[daglob]

That version of Doc Savage was one of the silliest, but that skin is excellent.

[style]

Im seeing alot of kool stuff here!!!!

[doctorchallenger]

Work in Progress. Still from the Centuri Protectorate concept.  Any guesses?

[daglob]

My guess is Amazing Man.

[Cyber Burn]

I'll go with that as well. 

[doctorchallenger]

Based on public domain character: Amazing Man

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Amazing_Man

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Renegade for the mesh and Grenadier, Gini and Tommyboy for the pieces.

Priest of the Night Watch, an original character existing in the Centauri Protectorate:

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Unfluffy Bunny for the mesh and Grenadier and Tommyboy for the pieces.



Clearly the costume is inspired by Kang the Conqueror, keeping with the Kirby style of the Centauri Protectorate. Have to say I am particularly happy with the collar and the face.  The face is modeled on Kang, but if you look closely, it is supposed to look like make up, with skin tones along the edges of the colors. That touch was inspired by the Joker makeup from The Dark Knight film.


Curiosity: like my 50th attempt at my design inspired by M.F. Enterprise's Captain Marvel.

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Texas Jack for the mesh and Johnny Patches for the pieces.



Also really happy with this one, as I was going for the colors flowing into one another, like a lava lamp, swirling.

I will fill in the character backgrounds in follow up posts

Comments and feedback welcome.

[BentonGrey]

Hey, great work, Doc!  These are really interesting designs an some nice skins!  I REALLY like the Kang-esq guy!

[Cyber Burn]

Great job on all 3 Doc, but I really like that Amazing Man. Really interesting concept there.

[daglob]

Excellent work!

[doctorchallenger]

Any guesses as to which public domain character I am interpreting here?



Background on Curiosity:



The Curiosity is a hero on earth during the Silver Age era, a member of the New Frontiersmen.  Curiosity is the reluctant hero of the group, in that fire fighter Carmine Giordano had his consciousness trapped in an artificial life form.  The being is made of a material termed "metaplasm" a transitional state of matter between solid mass and energy.  To compare to standard chemical states of matter, if energy is likened to gas, and solid to solid, metaplasm is similar to liquid.  Due to this Curiosity can change his form, stretching, growing, shrinking.  He can also separate into multiple parts.  When this occurs, the entity tends to make smaller replicants of himself, due to some pre-existing programming. This disturbs Giordano somewhat, so he tries to not do this type of of action. If he thinks about it, he launches a body part, most commonly a fist.  He is hoping that the scientists on his team can figure out how to restore his consciousness to his body, so he can live a normal life. Until then, he sees acting as the Curiosity as being useful.

Thanks (again) to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Texas Jack for the mesh and Johnny Patches for the pieces.

[Cyber Burn]

Going by the theme you've been on, I'll say:

Spoiler

Zardi the Eternal Man

.

[daglob]

While I don't know, it's been fun to see how you update the characters and try to keep them tied to the originals. Kind of like the Silver or Bronze Age versions.

[doctorchallenger]

Going by the theme you've been on, I'll say:

Spoiler

Zardi the Eternal Man

.

Not a bad guess.  That character is in progress.  But this is not a Centaur charcter.

While I don't know, it's been fun to see how you update the characters and try to keep them tied to the originals. Kind of like the Silver or Bronze Age versions.

I take this as high praise, because it is exactly the notion which I am using to design my characters.



Based on public domain character: Stardust

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Stardust_the_Super_Wizard

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Vertex for the mesh and Grenadier, and Tommyboy for the pieces.

Stardust was a nearly omnipotent Golden Age character drawn by Fletcher Hanks for Fox.  Hanks also created Fantomah.  As far as I know, only Vigilante has skinned the original character (http://originalvigilante2.tripod.com/skins5.htm), and I based my skins flesh tone on that skin, as Vigiante made the costume a grey-brown, rather than a blue grey.

Though Stardust is not "exclusive" to the centauri Protectorate concept, I was using Kirby as inspiration for the redesign.  Essentially, my thinking was: "How would Kirby make this character look if he were asked to revitalized the character in the 1970s?"  This led my to create a design that wasbasically half way between Darksied and Dr. Manhattan.  I used Vertex's vx Male_muscled_heels, because thad body has such an exaggerated chest, that I thought it reminded me of Hank's equally exaggerated style.

Background:  stardust is a member of the god-like species called the Kirbians, a race that existed before the Big Bang, and has played a major role in shaping how life developed in the current universe.  The Kirbians collected samples form all the species from various planets that showed signs of sentience, creating a number of systems where these species would live in close proximiaty to one another, and therefore compete for dominance.  Humans were one of the Species collected, though it is unclear as to whether or not Earth was the original planet from which they came or a habitate created as a contol in the Kirbians' grand experiment.  All of the great galactic multi-racial entities, such as the Centauri Protectorate developed as a result of the Kirbians's experimentation, and humans dominate at least 2, perhaps more.
Among the Kirbians, there is division and conflict.  One sect are the Purists, who seek to allow the experiment to continue without any further contact from the Kirbians, so that they may see how the experiment will play out as the universe goes through its life cycle.  They are in conflict with the Corrupters, who see themselves as gods, with the right to subjugate inferior species as they wish.  The Corrupters have actually set themselves up as gods in several of the systems, both on the control planets, and in the experimental areas.  The Purists response has been to destroy the corrupted systems completely. Stardust had been a Purist, but has in recent centuries come to question the validity of such an uncompromising stances. In the last Century, stardust has joined the smallest segment, the Moralists who seek to limit Kirbian contamination, but allow contaminated communities to continue to exist.

Stardust is a foundational character in my universe.  The Kirbians are an homage to the Eternals/Deviants from Marvel, but also the Arisians and Eddorians from E.E. Smith's Lensmen series, which inspired the Silver Age Green Lantern.  The Kirbians are also a nod to the chariot of the Gods, of course.  Most of the superpowered characters, particularly on Earth are, as I envision it, descended from a Kirbian Corrupter when he/she were playing god on that planet.  They also serve as an explanation as to why humans are found in places besides Earth.

[doctorchallenger]

Based on public domain character: Zardi the Eternal Man

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Zardi_the_Eternal_Man

Thanks to Murs, Gryphon, Tomato, Courtnal6, DarkJered, and Zed for bases, Renegade for the mesh and Renegade, Vandalar and Tommyboy for the pieces.

Background to Zardi the Eternal: Zardi the Eternal's origin goes back to the origins of the Protectorate.  Before the defeat of the Empire in the First Great Imperial War, Zardi Zandipore was a common solider, who volunteered for service.  He and two of his comrades were separated from their unit, and found themselves trapped in a vast, ancient outpost of a technologically advanced alien civilization, the Kirbians.  The experience gave each different superhuman abilities, though all became essentially immortal.  While one of Zardi's companions became able to transform into a being of energy (known as the Eye), and the other, Amin Jin, became super-humanly strong, fast and intelligent (taking on the code name Amazing Man), Zardi became endowed with psychic powers. Zardi is a powerful telepath, and has limited telekinetic abilities, though using those abilities taxes his energy.  Zardi used his powers to catapult himself to the leadership of a Fascist-like movement, that rose up after the First Great Imperial War, the Guardians of the People.  Through the use of his powers, his cunning and the profound sense of alienation in the Centauri empire after the war, Zardi was able to manuver himself into a position of leadership, ultimately dictator of the Empire, a position that he has had for over a century.

Keeping with the Kirby aesthetic I want for the broader concept, Zardi's outfit is based on Kirby's design for Virmin Vundabar of the New Gods.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

[spydermann93]

You've been doing a great job on these characters, Dr Challenger!

They all looks so interesting and I can definitely tell that you've been putting a lot of work into them.

Props, man!