Comrade Hero

Congratulations Jophiel! Can't wait to see what artistic treat awaits.

Always amazes me the work that goes into making a 3D model. You're sculpting with a computer, and without being able to hold anything tangible.

Ouch. Wouldn't a ruler have been quicker?

*ducks*

Funny you should touch upon the costume. I was just discussing that over on Facebook.

"The boots and gloves, like the belt buckle were based on uniform pieces and images from old World War II and post World War II Soviet patterns. The actual tactical belt though was based on a modern US Law Enforcement pattern.

It's either leather, spandex, body conforming hard shell body armor, or swimsuit/lingerie ensembles in a lot of Comic Books.

I was watching one of future science shows on Discovery Channel (or was it History Channel?) and the show was discussing next generation soft body armor materials made from materials like carbon nanotubes.

Tactical combat shirts and vests keep getting stronger and more resilient, but at the same time more lightweight and flexible. So I started incorporating that into costume design and character images from 2010.

The big star on Comrade Hero's chest is like a bullseye to draw fire, and is accordingly the upper chest area is more armored. In one scene Comrade Hero bemoans the fact that everyone else is wearing uniforms are less colorful and are more discrete. Comrade Hero is basically told that given his degree of imperviousness to harm, it makes sense for him to walk point and take the first shots."


You're completely spot on and yes there's a reason for this version of Comrade Hero not having idealized comic book sized proportions.

Yamandú was given the physical dimensions and body reference shots of competition era Arnold Schwarzenegger - that was the limit of physique that I wanted Comrade Hero to have. The facial reference was based off Viggo Mortensen's turn in Eastern Promises. The other direction was that this Comrade Hero was in his late 30's - early 40's.

Not an athletic, younger hero like Nightwing, or an extremely muscular adult hero in the same physique build of DC's Superman and Captain Marvel. That's not saying that I don't like Comrade Hero being portrayed as such, I just wanted to go down the more 'realistic' route that Scott Turk started when he worked on the revised Comrade Hero uniform last year.

Christopher isn't wrong though about the general size of comic book heroes. They do tend to be larger than life in terms of height and physique.

That's a neat picture with the heads you did there Ironik, do you mind if I copy that and use it for a baseline sort of reference?

Actually that's great. If I get that sort of Snake Plissken reaction from Christopher ("I thought he'd be taller") about Comrade Hero being larger than life, then I'm on the right track in terms of making a memorable character.

Heh.... what exactly are you grabbing?


Although I wasn't checking out Comrade Hero's posterior, I'll assume that's usual for a man of his age?

Thanks for the feedback. I started moving away from traditional spandex and towards the whole layered soft body armor textures last year, and I really like how this was captured.

Funny you should mention the eyes. With Comrade Hero the eyes 'flare' depending on his mood and current course of action. When Comrade Hero is calm and relaxed the eyes tend have a dull smolder to them. When he's upset, angry or in combat they tend to blaze like tiny furnaces.

Thanks - Justin and Alonso did a fantastic job

That's some really tight line work there. Really nicely done

That's a classic. Now all you need to do is covert Airhead into a little animated sprite and have him running around in a panic trying to get rid of the bomb!

Agreed. No Man does Hero Man art quite like Juggertha. That's one brutal mongrel you got on your hands!

A Hopping Hottie through the ages - very nice

Thanks Airhead. There's quite a few comic book characters doing the flying with military jets theme - Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Ms. Marvel Carol Danvers are the two that immediately come to mind when I think of this.

Grim, gritty colors - I'll pass that onto David. That's a very good point.

Comrade Hero is supposed to be in his late 30's - early 40's. He's a latecomer to the hero game and while his physical aging is effectively retarded, he carries the scars, wrinkles, and other signs of aging from his mortal days as a Fighter Pilot, Test Pilot, and Cosmonaut.

That's been the hardest misconception to break. I think it's the Domino Face Mask. If you take a look at some of the images of Comrade Hero pre-2010 you'll notice a wider discrepancy between his physique and appearance. The artwork itself is great, but Comrade Hero tends to be portrayed as more streamlined in physique and more youthful in appearance.

Thanks LG - it's my duty to explode your eyeballs... I mean present pleasing works for your viewing pleasure.

That's the spirit... stay tuned for more... soon-ish.

I think the reference not only flew over my head, but it left me going huh?

(Me not too clever today).

Anyway, page 2 of Comrade Hero Sampler for promotional/application reference purposes by Danielle Alexis.

Wait no longer...

Comrade Hero and the Soviet Superwoman by the talented Justin Williams. Christmas/New Year commission gift. To be colored by Alsono Espinoza.

Thanks. Coloring and lettering to go. More script rewrites and expansions, and business plan revisions for 2011