The return of FAN ART!!!
Hey all,
At the recent Space City convention, I managed to get my hands on several pieces of art from a number of very talented artists. I have to say, it was a lot bigger convention than I was first expecting. I re met Robert and Emily there. They were both dressed up for the occasion and, in the spirit of recent events, he pulled off a decent Sauriel (his beard was a dead give away though) and she managed a very good Sister Aether. She said that they had other friends that they were hoping to show up as the entire 2014 lineup of Quantum's Questers. I told them I might try a Faraday if i could loose more of the gun (50 pounds so far thank you very much), and found a decent tailor. They smiled and asked if I thought about the Big Guy himself. Seriously, I would love to, but I do not have the physique yet. Yet.
Along came a woman, over hearing us, dressed as Xenophile, the cybernetic spider and information nexus point for the Questers. She asked if she could join such an endeavor. I say "dressed" but that is very open ended phrasing. I wasn't sure if she had a body stocking or lots of tape hiding the appropriate parts but she had strategically and artfully wrapped most of her body in USB cables, electrical feeds, and coil after coil of metal wrapped wires. She didn't cocoon herself so much as make a bikini out of the materials and let them grow about her body. I shouldn't be surprised if she took the recent artistic impression of the metahuman since there has been no known photo of Xenophile taken and spread around the web. Considering how many metas are connected to the internet in very intimate ways, it would probably make sense that she could monitor her presence in ways to make of us facebook using yahoos look like cavemen banging rocks together and wondering if the other cavemen liked it. Thumbs up, smiley face, Thog!
Not long after that a woman dressed as Burlesque came by and offered herself, her husband, and their friend who were over at the wall posing for pictures as the Spot and Slipstream, for such a group endeavor. How that woman was let in, I'll never know but she was braver than I, I can tell you that. To be honest, I wasn't sure if she was brave, devoted, or just an exhibitionist. In a place like this, you never know. In either case, kudos, each and every one of you.
Anyway, I met a lot of nice people and got more swag than I am comfortable admitting. In the meantime, I have stuff to show of the great art I got. Excuse the cheering geek boy fan-squee.
Yes, I am over forty...... Shut it!
Sorry. Anyway....
What I found fascinating was the number of Cosmic Girl interpretations I got. There were tons out there, a very popular hero this year, apparently. Of course that bit with the Bex invasion probably helped some.
First off, this great version of the Cosmic Crusader herself by artist digitalduckie, ( http://digitalduckie.tumblr.com/ )

I love the playfulness and the dynamic feel of this picture. She really captured the adventure spirit of Cosmic Girl. She got the suit just right and she did great work on this. I can only hope she can follow it up with her counterpart, Captain Mongo. Time will tell.
And another, this time a Pin-up interpretation from the hands of Andrew Herman (drewherman@gmail.com, Instagram: andrewmarkherman)

Andrew takes on Cosmic Girl as the 1950's pinup every Bex thought she must be, pulled from the pages of Amazing Stories or Planetary Tales. He does an amazing job giving us the retro-adventure feel of a pulp cover.
We delve into the dark side as one particular image caught my fancy, being that I encountered this one not long ago. I love his scratchy, even more horrific interpretation of the Candy-Man by Markee Shadows (www.markeeshadowsart.com, markeeshadowsart@gmail.com)

Talk about creepy. As a man who has come face to face with the confectionery criminal, I have to say Markee's bleak, sinister, even almost frighteningly jovial take is just hypnotic. I feel so sorry for the little girl and that should tell you something about how good this is.
Oddly enough, another popular hero was Witchstone both the older carrier of the mystic stone and the more recent. First, Rave Lincoln of Rex Magnus Designs (rex--magnus.tumbler.com, Rexmangnusdesigns@gmail.com) gives the modern re-interpretation that has made a couple of news outlets lately. So much so, it has been wondered what she is up to. The word 'Walkabout' gets thrown out occasionally but who knows with the mystical types.

I like the rough feel, the almost singular line and rugged street wear. Great work!
Then from Chris Beaver, (artbybeaver.com, animatedbeaver@gmail.com) a beautiful rendition with a bit of a flair of the original Witchstone.

The shape of the character, how three dimensional she seems and the hints of back to nature joy with a hint of sensuality was amazing. (The artist also spelled his name in runes down the side of her tunic. Well done, sir! It took me a few days to find that detail. Granted I was enjoying the full picture anyway.
Now we have the ones I'm most happy to find. In an similar layout of that Force of the Nation cover with so much added style Novekai (Instagram: @novekai www.novekai.com) brings out the almost playful powerful side of Columbia.

I love this work. Rarely does the super soldier smile, but the artist found the great image taken of her after defeating Count Spectrum, a fight that I can only imagine. I wonder if the artist is the one who took the picture herself. Honestly, there is a connection not often seen when Columbia interacts with the public and she caught it. Well done!
And lastly, but by no means least, Cait Zellers (www.mismayhemstudios.com, artandmayhem.tumblr.com) captured the recent controversy concerning Doctor Quantum and his, um, rival? (can we still say rival if they are dating? Hey, Facebook doesn't have the status for "Quietly possibly dating and arch nemesis but no one must know." Do they? Look into it Facebook!) Anyway, here is her very fighty yet flirty art of the two together.

I adore this picture. I have this hanging over my desk as I type this. I love the interactions, the ever lingering question that fills the picture, and how the flow (that's a water pun) just fills the space. When I first saw it I caught it upside down and didn't realize it. It works at both angles like a comic book yin-yang. Absolutely breathtaking.
Thanks to all the great artists who took the time and effort to generate some amazing art! You all did great work and I hope to see you again at further cons! (or get more art later... first must get job...)
In the meantime, I have things to figure out what is going on what wall.
Keep dreaming
Daniel