Sketch Card: Psylocke

Okay. I’m just gonna say it. I prefer British Psylocke over Ninja Psylocke. There. I did it.

Psylocke was a part of my favorite X-Men era, the Australian Outback X-Men. I liked her new armored costume during that time. Just recently learned Art Adams designed that costume.

Now, I’m not against Ninja Psylocke. She’s great in Uncanny X-Force. I just like Betsy Braddock more before she went through the Siege Perilous and came out the other side as a ninja.

And when they brought in Revanche and had this whole “who’s really who” conundrum… Well. I’m still confused. Maybe I was over-thinking it and someone can break it down for me in a few simple sentences. Anyone?

Sketch Card: Cannonball

Back when I was in high school, my favorite comic books series was New Mutants. I had a mail subscription to the series because we didn’t have a comic shop in my small East Texas town at the time.

Cannonball was a character I could relate to: tall, gangly, goofy looking, unsure of himself, and Southern. I really liked that when he “blasted” into the air he could only fly straight. Turning was his weakness. It was fun to watch this character mature, learn how to control his mutant abilities (i.e. turn!), and grow into a leader. Glad to have him back leading his fellow New Mutants again.

Sketch Card: Iceman

Iceman has to be one of my favorite X-Men. As a kid, I first discovered Iceman on the cartoon, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Once I got into collecting comics, Iceman was a regular in the Defenders comics. But the local grocery store, where I bought my comics off of a spinner rack in the cereal aisle, rarely ordered Defenders comics. So I pretty much missed out on those stories as the series ended shortly after I began collecting comics.

But I remember the day I found X-Factor #3. There he was on the cover along with Cyclops and Angel. I didn’t know who Marvel Girl was at that time since she had already died before I started to read comics and had just recently come back to life. X-Factor was originally a series that reunited the first five X-Men as a team once again. They posed as humans for hire to hunt and eradicate the mutant menace but were actually rescuing mutants and training them to control and use their powers.

I often would buy whichever comic issue interested me at the time, but X-Factor immediately became one of the few books I began reading regularly (along with Uncanny X-Men and Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham). I became a huge fan of the book when Walt Simonson took over as regular artist. His dynamic storytelling and figure work along with his unique design style easily made him one of my earliest influences.

Sketch Card: Longshot

I remember, back in high school, getting the first 3 issues of the Longshot mini-series from a friend. I read those over and over again blown away by the Art Adams art. But growing up in a small East Texas town, I couldn’t easily or affordably get the last 3 issues to finish the story. So I kind of just forgot about it. I was very glad Marvel put him in the X-Men Annuals, then into the Uncanny X-Men series to get a  monthly dose of a cool character.

Recently, friend and fellow comic artist, Jonboy Meyers, gave me the Longshot hardcover. I love seeing all the thumbnail, prelim, penciled pages and character designs by Art Adams, one of my earliest and biggest influences. Now I know the whole story. Thanks, Jonboy!

 

ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown, Lance Briggs, X-Men

Just recently Marvel contacted me to draw Chicago Bears’ linebacker, Lance Briggs, as a composite X-Man. Lance is a huge comic fan and ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown did an interview with Briggs about his passion for comics on Dec 13, 2010. My art, as well as me drawing it, is featured in the video on the ESPN website.

This is the original black and white line art. See the color art, by John Rauch, on my DeviantArt page or Facebook Fan page.