Fantastic Swords! or "how I spent my Saturday mornings as a kid"

I have a little book that I keep all kinds of crazy ideas in that spill out of my head at random moments during the day. One such idea that I had was to create these giant paintings based on comic covers, panels, and characters in general. I've done a couple already and I'm really happy with how they turned out. That then led me to think, "Why should they all be real comics? Why not fake comics that have all the elements I want in them! I am, after all, the one holding the paintbrush! I'll be making the rules around here, you defenseless canvas!"

So for this upcoming batch of paintings, I wanted one of them to be a totally original creation of my favorite 80's cartoon swordsmen. The result is above. Could you imagine this being a real team!?! Seriously, who would have the slightest chance against He-Man, Lion-O, Leonardo, and Snake Eyes? The answer is no one. I don't care if you bring in Apocalypse, Darkseid, or Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet. Heck, bring in Galactus if you want.

He-Man would lift Galactus up by his big toe throwing him off balance while Leo and S-E ninja jump all over the toppling soon-t0-be-corpse slicing and dicing just as Lion-O throws a powered-up Sword of Omens straight through big G's chestplate. The body never even hits the ground, but rather it rains down in the form of fresh sushi rolls. Game over. They have a hearty lunch, share a round of high-fives, and have an after party at Castle Greyskull.

That's how the Fantastic Swords roll.

I'll post pics of the painting (and the other bunch o' paintings) when I finish. I did this entirely on the computer start to finish, using Painter, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Inspired by the great John Buscema and Marvel comic covers of the 70's (beautiful pieces of art).

I've been mugged...Mighty Muggs!

Lately I've been totally obsessed with these Hasbro Mighty Muggs. Have you seen them? Lately Hasbro has been doing all kinds of universe crossovers which I consider to be a genius idea and grand thief of my time and money.

The latest universe mash-up is the nerd-hit Mighty Muggs. Currently the line carries characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and Indiana Jones. However very soon, G.I. Joe and Transformers will join them on the shelf.

I'm already trying to save some cash for Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Destro. I'm too much of a sucker for this kind of stuff. So much of a sucker that I've joined in on the huge nerdy custom scene that includes an entourage of artists and wannabes repainting and modifying existing Muggs into characters from He-Man to Bruce Willis to Ninja Turtles.

Not one to be left out, I've created the following concept pieces based on the Muggs form and if I ever get the money and time, I'll actually be buying some blank Muggs and painting these babies! Take a look and drop a line if you think there is some classic character that is just begging to be a Mugg that I need to turn my attention to.

There are so many that I want to do, I'll be adding more as I get time. There are some Street Fighters that will hunt me down and perfect K.O. me if I don't let them out of my head. I think I'll start with Sagat and Ryu.

If you would like to repost any of these images in your own blog or whatever, feel free to! Please just give me a link back or shout out or something (and as always, I'll take cold hard cash if you want.)

Nerds Unite!

Mumm-Ra Mighty Mugg
Zartan Mighty Mugg

He-Man & Battle Cat Mighty Mugg

Man-At-Arms Mighty Mugg

Lion-O Mighty Mugg