The Flash Season 3, Episode 5: Monster

Wow, it's been a busy week here at Bob Canada's BlogWorld! I could have sworn I posted the latest Flash review several days ago. As I was scrolling through old posts, I realized I completely forgot it. Yikes! Time for a vacation.

This week's The Flash was a very odd episode. Plot-wise it felt a lot like a filler episode, as it introduced a "villain" of little or no consequence. Character-wise though, there was quite a bit of development and progress, as we got to see the newest iteration of Harrison Wells in action, and found out quite a bit about Caitlin's family life and her "delicate condition." As I said, an all-around odd episode.

Halfway through the show I was convinced that Hipster Harry, aka "HR," was somehow behind the giant monster. I'm betting the writers planned it that way. They also did their best to make him appear to be yet another sinister version of Wells, when the reality was far different, and more bizarre.

No doubt about it— Tom Felton was basically playing Draco Malfoy at the beginning of this episode. His Julian Albert character has been pretty similar to Malfoy since the season started, but it was particularly obvious this week. The two characters even have the same motivation! Julian had his panties in a bunch because his nemesis Barry Allen constantly flaunts the rules and gets away with it because he's "special" and everyone likes him— which is identical to Malfoy's beef with Harry Potter.

Any second I expected Lord Voldemort to appear and force Julian to kill Barry.

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
This week we see that Barry's moved out of Joe's house, and is living with Cisco until he finds a place of his own. Hipster Harrison Wells, aka "HR," is also crashing at there, much to Cisco's chagrin. He's beginning to regret inviting this version of Wells to our Earth. Caitlin visits the office of her mother, Dr. Tannhauser. She asks her for help with her newly developed ice powers. Their relationship is chilly (heh), and Tannhauser tells her daughter she's much to busy to see her. Caitlin slams her fist down on the desk, instantly freezing it. Tannhauser cancels all her meetings for the day. That's one way to get her attention!

Over at STAR Labs, HR is trying to fit in with the rest of the Gang. It doesn't go well. Barry suddenly remembers he has a real job as a CSI at the Central City Police Department, and heads to work. Captain Singh meets with Barry over allegations from his co-worker, Julian Albert. Singh gives Barry a simple slap on the wrist, which infuriates Julian, as he wanted him fired.

Barry receives a metahuman alert and races downtown. He sees a gigantic kaiju-type monster rampaging through the streets of Central City. Before he can figure out what to do, the monster disappears. Back at STAR Labs, Barry notes that an electrical transformer near the monster blew up, even though it never touched it. HR suggests they use carbon fiber ropes against the monster— somehow. HR retreats to an empty room and pulls out an odd looking Earth-19 recording device. He records an entry on it, saying, "Plan intact. No one knows why I'm here." Ominous!

At Dr. Tannhauser's lab, she and her assistant Nigel test Caitlin's powers. Back at the CCPD, Barry tells Julian he wants to start over and try to get along. Naturally Julian poo-poos the idea. Barry tries flattering him, asking if Julian can show him how to be awesome like him. Amazingly, this less-than-subtle ploy works.

The monster returns, and Barry and Julian hurry downtown to investigate. They notice the transformers exploding around the monster again. Suddenly a piece of debris falls toward Julian. Barry uses his speed to move him out of harm's way. Somehow Julian doesn't notice he was just saved by a speedster.

Caitlin decides she's had enough testing, and says she's returning to STAR Labs. Nigel says "Nope!" and locks her in the lab. Nigel's apparently a big crybaby who says he's tired of Dr. Tannhauser getting credit for all his work, and he's going to publish a paper on Caitlin's powers or something. He grabs Caitlin and threatens her, and she instinctively protects herself by freezing his arm. Dr. Tannhauser appears and tells Caitlin she'll deal with Nigel, and to leave.

Meanwhile, Barry asks Julian why he hates metahumans so much. He's apparently a big crybaby as well, basically saying he's jealous that he doesn't have superpowers and can't flaunt the rules like the Flash does. Really, that's it? That's his reason for hating metas? What is he, six years old? Barry says that being a metahuman probably isn't all that great, and comes with its own set of problems. This infuriates Julian for some reason, and he says the job shadow deal is off. Julian then figures out a way to predict where the monster will strike next, and informs Joe, who assembles a strike team.

At STAR Labs, Cisco and Barry discuss HR, who they realize has been absolutely no help whatsoever. They go through his things and find the recording device. They're listening to it just as HR walks in. He explains that in addition to being a scientist, he's also a writer, and he's recording notes for his novel. Barry and Cisco don't quite buy this explanation, but just then the monster returns.

Barry rushes to the scene with HR's carbon fiber rope. He tries to wrap it around the monster's legs and topple it like an AT-AT. He discovers the monster's really a harmless hologram. The CCPD's strike team doesn't know this though, and begin firing on the monster. Their bullets go right through it, heading toward innocent civilians. Barry manages to catch all the bullets in midair, and shouts for everyone to stop firing.

Meanwhile, Julian somehow figured out the hologram signal's coming from one of the nearby buildings, and confronts the person who's generating it. He orders the mystery person to surrender. When they don't, Julian stupidly fires on them. Luckily the Flash shows up and catches the bullet, saving the controller's life, and Julian's career as well. They then see the monster controller is just a fifteen year old boy.

Joe talks to the kid and asks why he did it. The kid's yet another crybaby, and says the usual— he was bullied at school, he wanted to feel powerful, he created a giant monster hologram, yadda yadda. Joe tells the kid he'll have to pay for what he did, but he can still turn all this around.

At STAR Labs, the Gang confronts HR, saying they know he's a fake. He confesses that he's not really a scientist, but an "Idea Man." Someone who comes up with great concepts, and lets others actually implement them. He says he was the face of STAR Labs back on Earth-19, but something went wrong and his life fell apart there. He wants to prove himself here and be their "muse." Cisco wants to boot him back to Earth-19 immediately, which sounds like a great idea to me, but Barry insists on giving him another chance. Sometimes Barry's an idiot.

Meanwhile Julian confesses to Barry that he almost killed a kid, but the Flash stopped him. He says maybe the Flash is alright after all. Barry invites Julian out for a drink. Awww... they're bonding!

Caitlin's mom sends her a video message, warning her that the more she uses her powers, the harder they'll be to reverse. Caitlin subconsciously freezes the computer. It seems inevitable at this point she's going to become the Earth-1 Killer Frost.

Thoughts:— 
• So in this episode we find out that Caitlin's mom is named Dr. Tannhauser. Looks like someone on the writing staff is a fan of Blade Runner!

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

• At the CCPD, Barry grumbles to Joe about Julian, and what a dick he is.

Barry: "He's unbelievable."

Joe: "You know what? I wish you two could be a little less oil and water and a little bit more oil and vinegar. You guys have been at each other's throats for a year now."

Barry: "That's just it. From my perspective, it's been two weeks." 

Joe: "So you're saying that before two weeks ago, you weren't Julian's enemy?"

Barry: "I'm saying before two weeks ago, Julian didn't even exist."

This seemingly innocent little exchange is filled with all sorts of mind-bending time travel implications. For one thing, everyone living in this new timeline has a past, or at least memories of a past. How can that be if it's only a couple of months old? 

In effect, when Barry's shenanigans created brand new versions of his friends and loved ones with simulated memories of their respective lives. Creepy! 

Joe even has memories of Barry fighting with Julian for the past year. This despite the fact that Barry never even met Julian until a month or so ago. That implies there was another version of Barry Allen in this timeline, and our Barry just... overwrote him. Like you'd write over a computer file on a disk. That's kind of... chilling and disturbing.

Of course the episode just blurs past all this, hoping the audience won't think about it too hard.

• Gosh, Caitlin's mom Dr. Tannhauser is so unemotional and distant. You might even say she's (place pinky next to mouth, ala Dr. Evil)... cold. Apparently the writers think we're all too stupid to figure this out for ourselves, so they actually have Caitlin come right out and state it.

• I honestly forgot Caitlin had been married until she brought it up. She was married to Ronnie Raymond, who was one half of Firestorm until actor Robbie Amell left the show to make a name for himself in movies, starring in classics like The Duff.

• This week we learn quite a bit about HR's home dimension of Earth-19:

There's an Alfred Hitchcock on Earth-19, and there he directed a film called Murder On The Titanic. Of course murdering someone during the Titanic disaster would be the most ridiculous crime possible, since pretty much everyone was already doomed to die. Or maybe it's the smartest— kill someone, hop on a lifeboat and the evidence sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

Earth-19 also has the movie Gladiator, although there it's called Sweaty Men. Wakka-wakka!

HR also mentions an event on Earth-19 called "World War M.: He says, "So then The Flash... my Flash, again, not your Flash... we hatched a plan to gather all the remaining meta-humans into one place for a final showdown. They called it “World War M.” It was glorious. Two forces on opposing sides of the stadium."

As near as I can tell there's no "World War M" anywhere in DC Comics, so I think this was just some random throwaway line, and not any sort of Easter eff or reference.

• OK, I get that the people of Central City were panicked and running scared, but you'd think after a while a couple of them would notice that the holographic monster isn't actually causing any real damage.

By the way, the monster looked pretty darned cool, and reminded me a bit of the one in Cloverfield. Well, strike that. It might have reminded me of the Cloverfield monster, if that movie had actually given us a good look at the goddamned thing.

• Cisco determines that the monster hologram is originating from the Hamilton building. 

The Flash writers just lovvve to name streets and buildings after DC comics writers and artists, so this is probably a reference to noted scifi author Edmond Hamilton. He occasionally worked for DC, and wrote quite a few titles. As far as I know he never wrote any Flash comics though.

• I'm usually not a fan of The Patented The CW Pep Talks that appear nearly every week on The Flash. That said, the one Joe gives to the kid who created the holographic monster was pretty good. Joe actually cared about the poor little schlub, and his speech seemed to give the kid a sliver of hope. Well done, writers!

• Welp, Julian's animosity toward Barry didn't last long, did it? We're only five episodes into the season and they're already "mates." 

The writers would love us to believe Julian will be invited into the STAR Labs Gang, but I think it's far more likely he'll be recruited by Doctor Alchemy, who'll tempt him with superpowers of his own

• Next week on The Flash: Well, there ain't no next week. Next Tuesday all the networks will be covering the end of the world the Presidential election. Thor help us all.

It Came From The Cineplex: I, Frankenstein

I, Frankenstein was directed by Stuart Beattie and written by Kevin Grevioux. Beattie is primarily a screen writer, having co-written the scripts for 30 Days Of Night and G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra. Grevioux created the concept for Underworld, and played the part of Raze in the first two films of the series. I, Frankenstein is based on Grevioux's graphic novel of the same name. 

By the way, Kevin Grevioux has a small part in the film, as Dekar, Naberius' head of security and right hand man, er, demon.

I, Frankenstein has a very similar look and feel to the Underworld films, which I guess is not surprising given Kevin Grevioux's involvement in both. Fortunately this new film is much more coherent. I was not a fan of the Underworld series as I couldn't make much sense of its muddled and impenetrable mythology.

The film has been almost universally pummeled by critics, which seems kind of like schoolyard bullies beating up the class nerd. It's a Frankenstein movie, for poop's sake. What were they expecting, Shakespeare? For the record, I liked the film quite a bit. Of course it's not high art, but it entertained me for an hour and a half, and in the end isn't that a movie's job?

Of course every time I enjoy a film it's automatically doomed it at the box office. Happens every time, and this is no exception. After two weeks in theaters the film's grossed an anemic $14 million against a $65 million budget. Sorry I liked your film, producers of I, Frankenstein!

FRANKENSPOILERS AHEAD!

The Plot:
The film opens two hundred years ago as Dr. Frankenstein dies in the Arctic while pursuing his monstrous creation. The Monster (Aaron Eckhart) carries Frankenstein's body back to his ancestral home for a proper burial. While there, he's attacked by Demons before easily defeating them. 

Two Gargoyles observe the altercation and are shocked, as it's the first time a human has ever killed a Demon. They invite the Monster to join their secret war against the Demons to ensure the safety of humanity. The Monster declines.

In the present day the Monster is still alive and kicking and still killing Demons whenever he can. During a fight with a Demon he accidentally causes a human's death. The Queen of the Gargoyles (Miranda Otto) summons the Monster to their headquarters. There she explains that the Gargoyles were created by the archangel Michael to protect humanity from the Demons. She names the Monster "Adam" and urges him to join their cause.

Once again Adam refuses. Adam then meets and is befriended by a human scientist named Terra. When Terra is captured and threatened by head Demon Naberius (Bill Nighy), Adam finally joins the Gargoyles. He then fights alongside them in order to defeat the Demons once and for all, save humanity and maybe even discover if he has a human soul.

Thoughts:
• Once again a film is allegedly based on a graphic novel I've never heard of. I've been both a fan and collector of comics for decades, so this puzzles me. The same thing happened with Men In Black, Cowboys And Aliens, Red, The Losers and R.I.P.D. Why have I never seen any of these comics? Where is this magical store that sells all these books?

• The Frankenstein Monster has generally been portrayed two ways in film. There's the "Beautiful Creature" version, in which the Monster is physically perfect with an angelic countenance, and then there's the "Hideous Abomination" version, in which his appearance repulses and terrifies people.

This film kind of straddles the line. The Monster's got a handsome face and is built like an underwear model, but his body's crisscrossed with a road map of horrific scars.

For the record, the "Hideous Abomination" model is the correct one, as described by Mary Shelley in the original novel:

Shelley described Frankenstein's monster as an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m), hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin pulled so taut over the body that it "barely disguised the workings of the arteries and muscles underneath"; watery, glowing eyes, flowing black hair, black lips, and prominent white teeth. 

• I'll say this for actor Aaron Eckhart-- he's not afraid to ugly up his pretty-boy looks for a role. First Two-Face, and now the Frankenstein Monster.

• The film has a well thought out internal mythology that's cool, consistent and actually makes a certain amount of sense. What a novel idea these days.

• The Gargoyles are certainly an ethnically diverse group, as many appear to be Middle Eastern and Asian. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. It just feels kind of forced to me, like the producers were checking ethnicities off of a list. Welcome to the age of Politically Correct Hollywood Casting.

See, Hollywood believes that if you have an ethnically diverse cast, your film will then appeal to the widest possible audience. I'd like to see if there's any hard evidence to verify that theory. Does any ethnic group really go see a movie just because Gargoyle #6 was played by one of their own? Somehow I doubt it.

This type of casting seems insulting to me. If Hollywood is really concerned about being all-inclusive (instead of just making a buck), why didn't they cast an ethnic actor in the lead role, instead of relegating them to the background characters?

• The Demons, who in reality look like, well, demons, disguise themselves as humans and all dress in contemporary clothing, looking much like Secret Service agents. The Gargoyles can also appear human when they want to, but they all dress like ren-faire rejects. If this is supposed to be a secret war between the two species, why don't the Gargoyles try to blend in a bit better?

• The Gargoyle designs looked a lot like the ones in the Gargoyles cartoon series from the 1990s. A lot. I mean really a lot. So much so that I can't help wondering if whoever designed the look of them in this film was a fan of the cartoon. I guess maybe there's only so many ways you can draw a gargoyle.

• Jai Courtney plays Gideon, the Gargoyle Queen's right hand man, er Gargoyle, and once again I marveled at his enormous head. It's downright distracting, I tell you. Every time he appeared onscreen I couldn't pay attention to his dialog because I was looking at the size of his noggin. 

If you ever read this, Mr. Courtney, please don't break me in half. I'm not mocking you. I sympathize with you. I know all too well what it's like, as I too have a larger than normal head. I'm still trying to find a hat that fits me properly. One size fits all, my ass!

• Whenever a Demon is killed, it disintegrates into a ball of fire that takes a few laps around the room before heading back down to the depths of Hell. When a Gargoyle is killed, they dissolve into an impossibly bright column of blue light that stabs Heavenward. Remember that visual.

At one point Gideon chastises Adam because he killed a Demon in plain sight of humans. He reminds Adam that their war must be kept secret from humanity at all costs.

Then a few minutes later a horde of Demons attack and the Gargoyles defend their headquarters. During this battle hundreds of fireballs swoop through the air and brilliant blue shafts of light shoot skyward, in full view of every human inhabitant of the city. So much for their secret war!

• Dr. Frankenstein's journal plays a big part in the film, as each side tries to possess it and its secrets. The journal is in amazingly good shape for a book that's over 200 years old.

• Missed opportunity: near the end of the film, the Gargoyle Queen's had enough of the Monster's crap and tells her minions to retrieve Frankenstein's journal, and once that's done, destroy him. I was really, really expecting her to then say, "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!" but alas, she didn't. 

• The CGI effects looked pretty good throughout the film, until the end. During the state-mandated "everything has to blow up at the end" scenes, the quality of the effects took a definite downward turn (to my eyes at least). I'm wondering if the studio ran out of time and/or money and had to finish quickly, before the effects were perfected?

An action-packed updating of the Frankenstein story that's being unjustly shunned at the box office. I don't know why, as it's probably the best "Frankenstein Teams Up With Gargoyles Against Demons" movie we're likely to ever get. I give it a B-.

I'm A Grown Man And I Bought This: Pacific Rim Action Figures

Straight from the new movie of the same name, it's Pacific Rim action figures!

They're made by NECA, a company who's been tearing it up lately when it comes to movie-based toys. Their stuff is always very well sculpted, actually resembles the source material, is painted well and is reasonably articulated.

The only real complaint I have about them is the price, but that's a problem shared by all action figures today. The days of figures costing five bucks a pop (as they did in the mid 1990s) are long gone.

Wave 1 consists of two Jaegers and one Kaiju. A second wave will be released later in the year if sales are good.

First up is Gipsy Danger, the main Jaeger (pronounced "Yay-ger, which according to the film is German for hunter) in the film. Gipsy Danger is the American Jaeger.

Then there's Crimson Typhoon, the Jaeger from China (Heh, the robot's from China and the figure's no doubt made in China as well. Com-O-Dee!).

And lastly, the Kaiju codenamed Knifehead (for obvious reasons). "Kaiju" is Japanese for strange or giant beast.

One thing before I open them. The way they spell "Gypsy" here is bugging me no end. 

There's no way I can look at that spelling and not pronounce it "Ghip-see," as in rhymes with "Nipsey." This isn't a typo either; it's spelled this way on every piece of promotional material I've seen and even on viewscreens in the movie!.

And yes, I'm aware that "gipsy" is the preferred spelling in England, which makes perfect sense since this is the American Jaeger.

Anyhow, here's Gipsy Danger freed from its plastic prison. The sculpting looks pretty accurate to the film. As near as I can tell, that is.

This is how you're most likely used to seeing the Jaegers, courtesy of Photoshop.

In the film, every single one of the Jaeger vs. Kaiju battles takes place at night, in the pouring rain. I can only assume they did this because they were counting on the rain to obscure the CGI and make it look better, a trick first used way back in the 1999 American Godzilla movie. I'd have thought we'd have advanced beyond the need for such crutches by now, but apparently not.

One thing I wish they'd done is add a little bit of wear to the paint job. In the film these weren't brand new giant robots that just rolled off the assembly line, they'd been around for years and seen many battles. That's a minor gripe though. I could probably scuff them up myself if I had the time and the inclination.

By the way, good luck to anyone who ever decides to cosplay as Gipsy Danger, what with its legs that are longer than its torso. You'll have to have your leg bones lengthened!

Overall it's not a bad figure, but the articulation is a bit lacking. The head seems like it's supposed to turn, but I can't for the life of me get it to do so because of the "hood" thing on the back. The shoulders are ball jointed (good) but the pin-joint elbows move about a grand total of three degrees, if that (bad). Why even bother if that's all they're going to move? The wrists turn too (good).

One strike against this and all the figures: They come with absolutely zero accessories. It wouold have been nice if they'd included an interchangeable "wrist cannon" hand like the one in the movie. Or the chain sword! Why the hell didn't it come with a chain sword? That sword's a pretty big deal in the film.

The hips are ball jointed, the knees bend adequately, and the feet bend and twist. He's got a waist joint too, so he can turn from side to side.

Be careful when posing these figures, especially the Jaegers. The arms and legs have an alarming tendency to pop right off. Fortunately they pop right back on again. 

A light up feature in the chest would have been nice, but these things were expensive enough without adding electronics to the mix, so never mind.

Here's Gipsy Danger in the obligatory "Bigfoot walking" pose.

There's supposedly an 18" version of Gipsy Danger coming out later this year. Cool, but god knows how much that'll cost.

Next is Crimson Typhoon. In the film the Jaegers are so massive (I don't know if they ever said exactly how tall, but they're the size of skyscrapers) that it takes two people to pilot them. Crimson Typhoon here is manned by three pilots, triplet brothers from China. Hence the third arm.

I read on the internet (so you know it's true!) that NECA used the actual CGI files from the film to model the figures, so I suppose the accuracy is spot on. It's hard to tell though, because Crimson Typhoon didn't get a lot of screen time in the movie.

It's got pretty much the same articulation as Gipsy Danger, but with a few extra joints in the satyr-like legs. Oh, and his head moves around quite freely.

Watch that rear right arm though-- on mine it pops off very easily.

Last up is Knifehead, one of the Kaiju from the first battle we see in the film. 

I had no idea that Knifehead had four arms or a tail until I saw this figure. Unfortunately you don't get a very good look at him in the film, due to the aforementioned darkness and downpour in the fight scenes. I'll have to take NECA's word for it that he actually looks like this. 

Most of the Kaiju in the film were designed by Wayne Barlowe, who's been drawing bizarre but oddly plausible aliens for decades now. Track down a copy of Barlowe's Guide To Extraterrestrials sometime. You'll be glad you did!

Knifehead's kind of become the official Kaiju of the movie, the one featured on most prominently in the promotional materials. I kind of wonder if he's an homage to Guiron here, from Gamera vs. Guiron? That's a knife head if I ever saw one!

Sadly, poor Knifehead has the worst articulation of the lot. The shoulders and elbows on his upper arms move, but his smaller lower arms are forever frozen in place. His hips and knees move a bit too.

He's got a bendy tail as well, that doesn't really bend all that much. It's got a wire inside, but it doesn't seem to hold poses very well. Mostly I think it's there to keep him from falling over backwards.

Knifehead has one more point of articulation-- his jaw. It opens and closes slightly so you can make him bite the crap out of your Jaegers.
 

Seems to me like the bifurcated forearm would just make his limbs weaker, but what do I know about interdimensional evolution?
 

"I say there, Knifehead old boy, prepare yourself for a good drubbing!"
 

It's Jaeger vs. Kaiju Wrestling! Here we see Gipsy Danger, pinned by Knifehead, trying to tag out!

Overall they're good looking figures, if a little lacking in the articulation and accessories departments. You'll have to decide for yourself if the $17 to $20 pricetag (depending on where you buy them) is worth it.

Guyclops

It's Guyclops! Is he alien or monster? No man can say. One thing's for sure, when he travels he always takes the red eye flight! He's got a real eye for the ladies, and would give his eye teeth for them, especially if they're easy on the eye! Don't let him catch you stealin' out of the corner of his eye; he won't turn a blind eye because when it comes to justice, he believes in an eye for an eye! Always look him in the eye, but don't make eyes at him! He won't bat an eye if you yell, "Here's mud in your eye," unless he's tired, in which case he'll grab some shut eye.

OK, I'm done now.

Guyclops was drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet. 

 Here's the original sketchbook doodle of Guyclops. He started out a lot thinner. And moister.

Here's the digital sketch I did of him. He seemed like a character that needed to be a little chubbier, so I widened him a bit. I also made his head and eye bigger. If you're gonna draw a character with one big eye, you might as well go for it and make it a really big eye.

Rockabilly Vampire

He's the coolest cat in the crypt, Drac-Y-O! He's the heppest! He's the mostest! He's the undeadest!

Hey, at least he ain't sparkling.

I wanted his look to be as authentic as possible so I did a lot of research on his clothing. I exaggerated the collar of his bowling shirt quite a bit to echo the look of a traditional vampire cape's collar. His shoes are some style (whose name I have conveniently forgotten) that's supposedly quite  popular amongst the rockabilly set.

I also had to google the switchblade comb. You think you know what one looks like until you sit down to draw one.

I spent a lot of time on the glossy highlights in his hair before I finally figured out a way to draw it that satisfied me.

Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.

 Here's the original pen and ink sketch of Rockabilly Vampire.

And here's the tighter, more detailed digital sketch I did.

Frankenstein 014: FrankenLincoln

Another entry in my ongoing and intermibable 100 Frankensteins Project. It's taking longer than I thought.

Like any self respecting mad scientist, I decided to combine two of my favorite things and came up with: FrankenLincoln!

Yes, it's FrankenLincoln, the Great E-monster-pator, in all his presidential glory. Looks like he's just about to give his stirring Deadies-Burg Address!

I would like to formally and sincerely apologize for those jokes.

Here's the first rough sketch I did of FrankenLincoln.

I also did this tighter digital sketch of him, but then decided that I wasn't crazy about the walking pose. I then drew another sketch of him standing upright with his legs ramrod straight. I wasn't crazy about that one either so I redrew him yet again in the pose seen in the final drawing.

As for the colors, I was attempting to make it look like an old daguerreotype. Really, spell check? You have "daguerreotype" in your database? I bet that word comes up a lot.

Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.

That Johnson Boy

Agnes peered through the living room curtains for the thirtieth time that day. "Look, Henry!" she shrieked. "There goes that "Johnson Boy" down the street again." She spat out the name as if it were a chunk of mealy apple. "I just don't trust that boy. There's something not quite right about him. Something about his eyes. Why the way he glares at you, it's positively unholy. Where that boy treads, the neighborhood cats begin to disappear. You mark my words, it's only a matter of time before he torches this entire neighborhood!"

Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.

Here's the original sketch of that Johnson Boy.

Sol Glickman: Demon At Large

Sol just loved the spotlight. Too bad it didn't love him back!

Wow, it's been a while since I posted an actual illustration on my blog. That because last year's Xmas card took a lot out of me. After it was done I didn't even want to look at my graphic tablet for a month or so. Then there was all the job drama. Losing my job, getting a part time job, and then finally finding a good full time job... it's been an eventful few months. All that's behind me now and I'm ready to get back into illustration mode.

This illustration started life as a sketchbook doodle, as most of them do. And like most of my drawings, the finished product looks quite different from what I had planned in the beginning. It started out as a square drawing, but about halfway through I decided I wanted the demon to be under a spotlight, so I kept making the page taller and taller until it looked right. That's usually how I work; I get a better idea halfway through.

Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.I deliberately went with a washed out color palette, just because.

Here's the original sketch of Sol. Nothing much changed in the final drawing, except maybe his fingers.

Baby Demon

 

Aw, isn't he cute? And look, he's teething too! I wouldn't want to change his boom-boom though.

Baby Demon was drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.

Here's the original pen and paper sketch of Baby Demon.I ditched the building blocks in the final drawing. I was going to have the blocks spell something, but my brain's worn out lately and I couldn't think of anything clever, so I nixed them.

 

Here's the digital sketch I did. I decided his face ought to be wider and more gator-like.

Have A Sip!

 

Go ahead, have a sip of my potion! Don't worry about the calories, it's DIEt! Get it? DIE-it! 

Yes, it's jokes like TV horror hosts used to tell.

The character is a vector drawing, done in InDesign. I imported him into Photoshop to add a scratchy, painterly background and a grunge texture on top of everything.

 

Here's the original sketch. I decided at the last minute to move his nose up closer to his eyes.

Goldthinger

Here's a quick vector drawing I did of a gold monster. Originally I had a more elaborate background planned, but the more detailed I made it, the more it detracted from the monster, so I said forget it.

Drawn all in InDesign.

At first I drew this normally colored background, but I found that making a monochromatic landscape made the monster pop more. I'm including this version for posterity.


And just for the heck of it, here's the monster with no distracting background at all.



Here's the original sketch. Nothing much changed in the final drawing, other than adding a more expressive eye.