Bowie is cool.
Okay, the topic today are the very creative projects my classmates did in the create a character part of the course. Starting off with one Dan Ahrens. You can link to his blog post here.
His hero is called "The Creep". It's a plant monster along the lines of Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, The Heap, Jason Woodrue the Floronic Man, the last Cotati from the Avengers' comic, Medphyll from Green Lantern, Plantman, Blackbriar Thorn, some versions of Solomon Grundy, the James Arness version of The Thing From Another World, the Triffids from the movie Day Of The Triffids, the Krynoids from the classic Sc-Fi series Doctor Who, and last but not least the Jolly Green Giant.
Here's a picture of the green monster.
The key part o these images is the lighting in my opinion. The hero is draped in shadows while the villain is basking in the spotlight. This creates a shift in mood since we tend to assume it will be the other way around. But if you look at the defensive posture of the Creep, you notice he isn't an aggressive figure at all. He s hiding in the shadows, not lurking in them (despite his name). He's a misunderstood character. One who is called a derogatory name, not one who choose it.
An interesting source of light in the upper image actually comes from the eyes of the monster. Glowing a bright red hue, this unexpected brightness makes the character standout, and creates the impression he can't hide in the background as much as he wants too.
The Villainous Ringleader wears a bright red jacket, which contrasts with the dark green of the Creep. The jacket makes the entire character pop out of the image, rather than the how the Creep's eyes make you focus on just a part of the character. This sends the message that the Ringleader is a man who walks in the open daylight. But with his exaggerated features, and his dark eyes, we feel like he's hiding something in plain sight. This message is sent actively and lets us make the connection ourselves.
Both characters are interesting and very well drawn. They evoke familiar archetypes (hmmm, that isn't a vocabulary word. Maybe it will be next quarter), meaning we've seen similar images before and we have certain expectations as a result that the narrative can then conform to or contradict depending on the level of said familiarity to these contextual images the author is counting on the reader to possess in order to manipulate the reader engaging the text to expect something but get the binary opposite instead leaving him or her surprised but still feeling that the narrative arrived there logically. In other words, we've seen guys like this before, and as long as the creators are aware of that they can use that knowledge to play with our expectations. Or not. It's just a super-hero, after all.
Beth Carter
Beth posted her character here. Here's a picture of her stalwart hero "The Good".
And here is his dastardly enemy, "The Ugly" created by Megan Scalf.
I like these two a lot since they aren't overly serious and stay very kid friendly. I also like that they went into a different genre with their characters and did cowboys here. As super-hero and villain they stretch the definition of the term, but that's good because why should we stick to rigid classifications for something as intentionally silly as comic book heroes. In fact there are dozens of comic book western super-heroes, mainly published in the 1950's. Here are a few pictures of some of them.
There were more, and that doesn't even begin to cover characters like The Lone Ranger, Red Ranger, or Zorro who started out on Radio or in the dime novels.
So I really love the nostalgia Beth and her partner evoked with their characters. There is a rich tradition of western comic books, and many legendary cartoonists thrived in the genre like Dick Ayers, Joe Maneely, Doug Wildey, and Carmine Infantino.
Now here are the two characters again:
If we look closely at the two drawings we see that color is the primary trait to contrast the two figures. The Good uses much brighter coloring and hues, the Ugly sticks with dark blues and black, sort of like a walking bruise. This darkness is saturated in his costume. While the earth tones the Good wears keep him from being too obviously a goody two shoes, and show his character actively instead of making him more didactically the hero with primary colors and the obligatory white hat.
Their posture also creates different lines and shapes with the characters. The Good has some sharp angles and broad shoulders which effectively frame him as a square character, while the Ugly is curvilinear and therefore contrasts with the hero without being too threatening for younger viewers.
These are fun characters. I think the laid back nature of The Good makes for a good contrast to The Ugly, who is a more over the top character. If both were chewing the scenery it wouldn't work. One needs to be calming to the viewer, particularly if you are skewing the product to a younger audience. These two could definitely spur (pardon the pun) a light-hearted western animated series or strip. In fact, Nickelodeon Movies just released Rango to capture that very market.
Not the same thing exactly, but similar target audiences perhaps. I could see The Good and The Ugly as a Cartoon Network counterpart to the gunslinger chameleon. Mighty props to Beth and Megan.
Katie Everett
Katie ad her partner used a different take on the project than everyone else in our lab and went for a toon version of The Hangover.
They are Doctor Owen
If Beth and Katie could have pitched their idea to Cartoon Network, then these two could find themselves on the cable network's very popular (particularly with college aged viewers) programing block Adult Swim. The despicable Rib would fit right in alongside the cast of characters on Aqua Teen Hunger Force or on Squidbillies.
The gist of these characters is simple here. Te Rib Tempts Dr. Owen to indulge in all manner of drugs and decadence. Rib gets Dr. Owen high and then, one supposes, hilarity ensues.
If you can get comfortable with the concept, then we can engage the actual designs of the two. On inspection there is nothing active in the insinuations here. This is purely didactic. The rib looks like piece of anthropormorphic (another word that may not have been in the vocabulary: Essentially giving human characteristics to a non-human figure such as an animal or inanimate object so as to stress a particular element of human personality and character through symbolism and metaphor. Essentially making a syringe talk in order to show the folly of drug abuse.) drug paraphanalia and the message is crystal clear that he is going to mess Owen up.
There is very little contrast among the colors, hues, or even brightness of the two drawings. Dr. Owen does wear purple red and blue, but he is surrounded by a yellowish aura that is very similar to The Rib's coloring. This probably suggests an affinity between the two, and is could be a statement by the artists on the inherent duality of all men and the manner in which we bury the darker demons of our natures in a futile attempt to suppress their control over us and our actions as Judeo-Christian ethics suggest that all indulgence is sinful but is undeniably part of human nature. Or this could be a part of the lighting that the illustrator is trying to use to create the mood of being in Las Vegas. I really couldn't tell.
So, good work Katie. I think you have a very creative piece here.
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