OK– today I’ve got several sketches to show you. The first couple are of the new character SALAMANDRA that was introduced in the FRIGHTFUL FOUR story arc that just finished. Karl described her as an arrogant, vain and dangerous woman– so I thought giving her a flamboyant overcoat with a fur collar would make a nice touch. Karl opted not to include that. So the second sketch is a pared down version of my first attempt– but with the addition of some sharp “Spock” or elven ears at Karl’s suggestion. Since SALAMANDRA is a shape changing dragon, he thought it might add something exotic and indicative of that ability. After seeing it, he immediately changed his mind… (heh). So I’ve got those two sketches, as well as a sketch of SAL in her dragon form…..

The last sketch is a splash page layout/sketch from FF #68– early in the “UNTHINKABLE” story line. Mark (Waid) was asking for an establishing splash of MEDUSA and CRYSTAL standing with FRANKLIN and VAL on the balcony of their palace in the INHUMANS city on the moon. This original sketch was “shot” pretty close in– and I had done another (which ended up as the actual page in the book), but I was unsure of which to use. I really liked the figures and expressions in this shot, but it didn’t leave much room to show the wonders of ATTILAN. I asked Mark his opinion, and he told me to go with the one that was ultimately published. I’ll do this from time to time because Mark’s got a great sense of what LOOKS GOOD in a comic, as well as what READS WELL. As usual, he made the right call.

That’s it for today.

Mike

Today’s sketch is the design for HYDRO MAN. Still with the leather– still trying to make the character modern, dark and dangerous. This story arc was supposed to introduce a leaner, meaner FRIGHTFUL FOUR– one that was truly scary and… well, FRIGHTFUL. The reviews were mixed.

Anyway– here’s the sketch….

And for a little something extra, so this post doesn’t seem so “wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am”… here’s another rejected sketch for the cover I did for J.Torres and Takeshi Miyazawa’s SIDEKICKS comic.

OK– “FRIGHTFUL” finishes up tomorrow…

Mike

Today’s sketch is the design for the WINGLESS WIZARD I did for the last FF story arc. This is where the “leather look” really comes in. At least, that’s what I intended it to be– in the actual comic, it looked less so.

And I came across another design that I did initially for NOIR. Karl Kesel (who co-wrote the arc) wanted something that looked less like a “costume”, so this one was rejected. Frankly, I like this one better.

Tomorrow– HYDRO MAN.

Mike

For some reason, BLOGGER was more like BLOCKER most of today. I finally was able to get into my account– I’ve been frozen out until just now. But at least it didn’t last all day– so here I am.

The latest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR came out yesterday (#517)– my first issue back after a three issue fill-in arc drawn by Paco Medina. It featured the villains THE FRIGHTFUL FOUR, and I was asked to redesign the costumes for THE WINGLESS WIZARD and HYDRO MAN– and to design two new characters for the story. The overall consensus from most reviewers about the costume designs was that they were relatively uninteresting. I was sort of trying to keep a Grant Morrison NEW X-MEN design sense in mind when working them out– so maybe that was a mistake. I’ll post them here over the next few days– and I start with NOIR (I BELIEVE that’s her name).

OK– that’s it today. The WINGLESS WIZARD design tomorrow.

Mike

I don’t have a whole lot to say today…. I guess I’m kind of “typed out” from the past couple of posts. That, and nothing of much significance has happened to me in the last couple of days. I’m just keeping my head down and trying to get my latest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR done in a reasonable amount of time. I’ll just post today’s warm up sketch and leave it at that.

More tomorrow.

Mike