FrozenDeath

Mogo's Parting Gift


"You mean it's all taken care of...all gone?" Patti Cullen leaned stiffly against the frame of the doorway as she looked at him, a mix of emotions filtering through her facial expression.

"Oh come on now sit." Mogo gestured towards the chair and she grunted, sinking into it. "Yes the thing that threatened Tommy is gone. It's been wiped out of existence." Tommy raised his fists in victory.

"Yes! See mom? I told you he'd do it. I knew you could do it Mr. Mogo!" He danced around the room excitedly. His mother seemed less pleased. She was trying to put on a good show, but something was obviously bothering her.

"So no more worry about break-ins and..." She glanced around the walls of the shabby apartment distractedly. "And people coming after Tommy.."

"Well...certainly not from the thing he saw in the window. He's clear of that. But, you know, there's always..you always have to be on your guard. You know it's just life in general." He looked at Tommy. "Isn't that right Tommy? Be prepared right? Just like the boy scouts say."

"Yes sir Mr. Mogo." Patti leaned forward in her chair.
"Umm Mr. Mogo...Thank you so much for saving Tommy and getting rid of that thing. I know you did a great job..a wonderful thing for this neighborhood. My neighbors have told me how much things have changed already. But I was wondering...can the golem stay with us? I just feel so much safer with something around to watch over us.."

Mogo sat down on a footrest and slid the tophat off his head as he ran the fingers of his free hand through his wavy black hair. "I'm sorry ma'am that's not really possible."

"Well...I'm sorry to...could you come by and check us Mr. Mogo. It would mean so much to us..especially Tommy." Tommy's eyes were wide with anticipation. Mogo smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Tommy...Patti...I'm sorry. I'm really sorry but I can't so that. You see, I'm not going to be around here any more myself." He winced as he saw their sadness. Their disappointment. Tommy ran over and grasped the sleeve of his coat.

"Why Mr. Mogo?! Are you going away? Are you going somewhere for good?!?"
Mogo nodded wanly. "In a way Tommy. I'm giving up the gig. I'm ...you know I'm kind of tired of doing magic. I'm going to go into business." The Cullens gaped at each other in disbelief.

"You're giving up magic?!?! But who's going to protect people? Who's going to help people like me and my mom?"
"You really want to know?"
"Yes sir!"
"You are Tommy." Mogo stood up. He tossed the hat in the air and it started spinning and glowing like little points of light. Like fireflies spinning around in a globe of light. He took his jacket off and fed it into the ball as well. It was sucked in and converted to glowing embers that merged with the rest.

"Take it Tommy."
"But I can't do magic. I don't know how to do magic."
"It's only magic for me son. It will be something else for you."

Tommy looked at his mother. She was rubbing her face. Pale. Overwhelmed by this turn of events.
"Mom can I?"
"Baby, nobody has ever given you much of anything in your life. If you want it, go ahead and take it."

Tommy licked his lips and reached up into the ball of energy. As his hands touched the edges it began to shrink and coalesce into a shape. The light faded. It turned grey. Metallic. It became an object just a bit larger than his head. He turned it around in his hands.

"It's a helmet!"
"Put it on Tommy."

The boy slid the helmet over his head.

[PRIMARY SYSTEMS ENGAGE. FORTIFICATION MODE ACTIVATED.]

Chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-

Mogo and Mrs. Cullen watched as armored plates began to expand and lock into place over the surface of Tommy's body. The helmet became more ornate, articulated like a robotic version of a human face, the eyes glowing with blue energy. Motors whirring, energy surging as the boy lifted his arms, looking at the oversized armored gauntlets and all the glowing lights and strange devices built into the surface of the metal skin. His voice was deep and robotic as he spoke.

"OH MY GOD AWESOOOOOOMMEEEE!!!!"

Mogo laughed and touched the helmet right in the middle of the forehead.

"Power down mode." Suddenly the helmet and all the plates and devices shrinked and folded up, disappearing until the only thing remaining was a thin metal bracelet circling Tommy's right wrist.

"AWWWWWWWWWWW!"
"It's ok Tommy. This is power down mode. This is how you do it when you're at school or eating dinner ar at any time you're not using the power--which should be most of the time. When you want the armor to come back you just command it in your head."
"Oh ok Mr. Mogo."
"There are some things you need to know ok?"
"Yes sir."
"To use this armor, you have to do good. You have to do good in school. You have to help and take care of your mother. If you aren't behaving well, the armor won't help you. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
"The armor is very powerful. It will train you. It will help you and advise you when it can, just like how Mr. Fibbs helped me and gave me good advice. You need to listen to it. As you get better and get more skill, it will share more power with you. But in the beginning it will only give you what it thinks you can handle."
"Ok Mr. Mogo. Can i go look at it in the mirror?"
"Hahaha yeah Tommy. Go ahead."

The boy ran off. They could hear the armor activating down the hallway. Mogo smiled and got up to leave.

"So will we see you again Mr. Mogo?"
"I don't know ma'am. Maybe. I hope so but I can't promise anything. But if you'll excuse me I have an appointment downtown. I'm in a bit of a rush."
"Oh ok..well thank you so much.."

He smiled and shook her hand. Then he nodded and slipped into the hallway. She heard him hurry to the door and exit, slamming it shut behind him. Patti started to move stiffly after Tommy to see what he was doing with this new...toy? Tool? Superpower? It had all happened so quickly. She hadn't really thought about what really just happened. Her little boy had just left the ranks of the mere mortal. Was he better? Or worse off. She kicked something as she started down the hall.

A little dark disk. "Oh my.." It was Mogo's golem, shrunken back down to it's original size. Grunting, she managed to scoop it up off the floor and she shambled to the front door.

"Mr. Mogo! Wait!"

She opened the door and stepped out on the porch. Mogo wasn't there, but there was a man standing out front on the sidewalk. She recoiled a bit. Just some guy. Smoking. He was wearing a sweatjacket with the hood pulled up over his head. Jeans and faded tennis shoes. She thought of the crazy men that had come to her house. But she steeled her nerves and pushed the fear aside. She couldn't live in fear like that. It wasn't good for her or Tommy.

"Hey. Hey there, did you happen to see a guy leave this apartment just now?" The man turned to look at her. Salt and pepper hair. Glasses. Looking at her sharply with squinty eyes, maybe even a bit bloodshot. He took a drag, and smiled as he exhaled.

"Was he a tall, good looking fancy guy. Dressed kind of like a magician or somethin?"
"Yeah that's him." The guy took another drag.
"You wouldn't believe me...."
"Try me. I've seen a lot of weird stuff in this neighborhood." The guy gestured in the air with the hand holding the cigarette.

"Well, this guy came out of the house. He ran into the middle of the street and this horse came out of the sky. It's hooves were on fire and it had big angel wings. He hopped on and the thing flew back up into the clouds."
"Oh..I see.."

He took another drag, then tapped ashes on to the sidewalk. "Weird huh?"
"Yes..well...yes." She looked up and down the street then started to turn to go back into the apartment. "Thanks."

The man smiled and bowed slightly. "Au revoir mademoiselle." He flicked the cigarette butt into the street and started off down the sidewalk. Head bowed slightly in the hood and hands in his pockets.

Happy Birthday!

Me, Deebs, and TA...all Taurus, lol. What does that say about Taurus?

I think you have strong compositional skills and it's reflected in your work. The sketch you post above is very nice in the way it breaks up the space--the large dark geometric form of the gas station with the luminous sign between it and the arachnos ship. That and the highlights on the arachnos ship push it forward, and then you have the longbow ship in front with the contrasting value--with the shadow below to fix it in space and push it forward. It's a nice layout of forms on diagonal angles with an alternating pattern of light and dark.

My only qualm about it with respect to the challenge is that the idea of envy has to be communicated through the figures, which are a relatively small part of the composition. Don't get me wrong, I can still pick up on the idea looking at it and thinking about the elements you're presenting. But if I saw this sketch without reading anything about the theme, I would assume that it was concept art about the 2 spaceship designs, with a little bit of narrative thrown in to give it some human flavor. And given the female figure will be so small, it's possible that someone could look at the warden figure and assume that he's looking up at the price of gas.

There were little gems of wisdom shining through the sordid tales of human debauchery!

What good names are left that haven't already been used? I'm always surprised that they can even come up with new comic characters given all the names that have been taken.

Here's the latest for the book:



Hyperborean Wraith. Larger size image on my DA page.

You know, you're absolutely right. Let's just forget I ever said anything.

..

Hi guys,

I'm doing a Livestream tonight at 10:15 est.
www.livestream.com/bwbabble

..

No, it's not over. And I think you'll like the where the next story picks up.

Ok do you have it posted somewhere? Or do you want to send it to me?

Any requests for my livestream tomorrow night?

Aftermath


Mogo circled through the courtyard one last time, then sat down on a bench and placed Fibbs on his knee.

"Well, this place is completely changed." He looked at a some dour, middle aged women walking along the wall on the other side. Just gawking at things. Touching the brick to make sure it was real. Everything smelled like smoke. You would think that the block was burning, but there was only a couple charred sections of pavement that showed any sign of fire damage. Fibbs chattered a bit before he spoke.

"The place has been cleared and purified. This is how it was back in the beginning." Mogo watched the locals filter in and out.

"No sign of crazies."
"It appears your enemy has kept his word."

Mogo watched the locals come and go. They were mystified by the change.

"Weird these people....they knew something was going on here the whole time. But they did nothing about it. We heard nothing till the body parts started showing up. And the incident with Tommy."
"Who would they tell? And what would they say?"
"Yeah I guess."
"The universe is vast and beyond the comprehension of mortals. Faced with mysteries beyond their life circumstances humans generally shut down. They refuse to acknowledge the things that don't make sense."
"Well..at least they seem happy to have things back the way they were."
"Yes."

Mogo shifted a bit and looked up into the sky. Dark, cloudy, a hint of red in the distance from the factories in the industrial park. He removed his tophat and set it on the bench next to him.

"Well I guess it's time we talked about it."
"Yes, it's time."
"I guess I broke the guidelines you gave me...back when I became Mogo.
"Yes."
"So I will lose my powers. The ones I was given when I accepted the role."
"Yes."

Mogo rubbed his face. He grunted a bit. He was tired. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was until that moment.

"Well I'm sorry old chum. I never meant to let you down." Fibbs laughed and chattered his teeth.
"You didn't let us down."
"I broke the rules. I didn't uphold the moral pledge. I can't be Mogo anymore because of it...I don't understand..."

Fibbs turned his wooden head to face him.
"This moment was foretold. We knew this would happen before we even gave you the powers. I lied to you. We aren't taking the gifts back because you broke our rules. We are taking them because you've outgrown them. We just needed a defining point to make the transition. We gave you the rules so that you would break them at this point in time and it would be the signal that it's the moment to move on."

"Move on? From being Mogo? Why do I need to stop?"
"No. You are Mogo. We didn't make you Mogo, you did. We just set your foot on the path. It's now time for you to go out in the world and be Mogo on your own terms."

Mogo laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "But I have no powers."
"Your powers are out there. Waiting for you to claim them. They will come to you--maybe sooner then you will wish."
"And what happens to all of this? You. The cards. The hat, the rabbits, everything?"

"You mean you haven't already figured that out?

Happy BDay Deebs!

Well you asked me about my point of view as an artist, so I'm going to say some stuff and it might be useful or it might not, lol. If someone approaches me about a commission, I have two general mindsets about it.

1. Commercial artist. If I'm designing a flier or doing a 3d render of somebody's product, I don't invest myself in the work. I'm not going to take risks with it or try to think of some creative treatment that's going to transcend the source material. You're getting paid to render some pre-existing idea faithfully, for a competitive price on schedule, and at a level of quality consistent with how you present your work to the public.

If somebody comes to me with a really detailed explanation of exactly what they want--then I'll typical treat it as commercial work. Meaning I do what I can to satisfy their stated goals and make them happy. Down the road will I look at that as something representative of my art? Probably not.

2. Willy Wonka. That's right Willy Wonka. "We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dreams." The creative fine art side of me wants to take somebody's character and use it as a theme to explore something. It wants to break that character open and see what's inside, play around with it, and throw out something that's distinct to how I view the character. The challenge is to keep the character recognizable--but I've been fortunate enough to have people come to me who like my art and are willing to let me just take the ball and run with it.

If you're looking at artists for a commission, that might be something to consider. Do you want them to basically voice your ideas faithfully within the constraints of their style and ability? Or do you want to give them authority to do something unexpected. Often times I end up doing both. I start out as Willy Wonka, but get reined in and by the end of the project I'm a commercial artist.

I'm closing in on 20k pageviews on my DA page. Any suggestions on how I should commemorate that landmark?

Well this discussion seems to have wound down, so I thought I'd throw in a few more examples as an endnote. I took some photos.

First is my collection of artbooks/comic books/anatomical reference/etc. above my workspace. I don't want people thinking I'm anti-looking at other people's work. I think it's really important to be inspired by other artists for many reasons. For me looking at this stuff, it's a reminder of how far I have to go, what has already been done, and why I want to do art in the first place. I actually think this shelf is pretty puny for a collection, but these days I download a lot of stuff online. And there are two more stacks of books out of sight--on top of my computer and underneath my tablet on the desk.

That small space with action figures in it is the superhero graveyard. A place for cool action figures when my kids have lost interest in them:



In the last year I started buying little statuettes to use as ref. For example, this Phantom Lady:



I use this as a ref for pinup work. Not so much to draw and use in a composition, but as an example of an idealized female body. When I'm doing a curvy female pinup sometimes I'll look at this as a baseline. It also is helpful if I need to do a character in a similar pose which isn't uncommon.



The Adam Hughes design Catwoman statue actually isn't that great for my use as reference because the proportions are very long and there isn't actually that much definition in the musculature. What it's really good for, though, is reference for how to render shiny materials like latex. I can hold it up and turn it around and get a quick approximation of how a femal body might look clothed that way (ie. where to put the highlights).



I picked up this green lantern today at free comic book day. The pose and the definition of the musculature I think will be really helpful doing male characters. Also the arms are in two different, common pose positions.

In contrast:



This superman action figure was relatively inexpensive, but has pretty insane detail in the muscle definition. It's much more stylized and distorted, but still somewhat useful because everthing is there.

And then the best possible situation, where you want to draw some hottie and have an actual hottie dressed as the character:



The picture distorts things for some reason. She was actually 6'8" tall in that costume. She towered over me. Note the pre-hormonal fixation with the paper mache axe on the part of the two thugs.

Ah yep. Forgot she had written that. Well thanks for playing Tartyr.

I thought Happy-Dan got disqualified, so Tartyr lives to fight another day.

I think all the times a new artist showed up and TA would say something like "great work hon!" and then it would turn out to be a dude.

I wasn't drawing at all when I started visiting these forums, so I have people like Kat, TA, Deebs, all the people that commissioned me early on, etc. to thank for getting me focusing on art again.

Sorry people, I don't want to bum you out. The events of this story are a prelude to another I've already thought out. So regardless of what happens to the character in this installment, it doesn't ultimately mean the end of Mogo.