Two-Face by Doc Shaner and Nathan Fairbairn

The Black Flame

I thought I'd kick off a week of B.P.R.D. with an honest to gosh sketch for the sketch blog. 

No idea why I wanted to draw this guy, out of all the many cool characters from B.P.R.D. but there ya go. Cheers!

Officer "Shock-Headed" Peter Cheney

Top 10 might be my favorite thing Alan Moore has written since Watchmen. The stories are great, but it's the characters in this book that do it for me every time. Take this guy, for instance. Just some shit-kicking fundie Okie slob who's racist against robots and, oh yeah, happens to be a human power plant. And he wears his goddamn badge as a bling ring on his middle finger because fuck you.

Plus he looks like my cousin Jeb. I'm not even shitting you. I have a cousin named Jeb who looks pretty much exactly like this.

Except, y'know, without all the electricity and stuff. Obviously.

Bucky by Nathan Fairbairn

For my annual Ketchup Twart, I wanted to do a Bucky piece, in honor of the great work done with that character by fellow Twartists Chris Samnee and Francesco Francavilla (okay -- I haven't actually read Francesco's issue, since it was sold out the day I went to pick it up, but come on, it's Francesco. It's money. Just look at this preview!)

So, yeah. Here it is. And for all of you continuity hounds out there, this takes place after Bucky died, and before he wasn't dead anymore.

AKIRA by Nathan Fairbairn

I'm totally getting awesome at drawing dudes just standing around. That's pretty much all you ever need to draw, right?

Er ... Robin, by Nathan Fairbairn

So apparently Damian Wayne is 10. Like, TEN. As in years old.

I've discovered this information only now, after having already finished my twart. I had just assumed the new Robin was a teenager like all the others were. Not the case, it would seem.

So ... here's a drawing of Damian Wayne. IN THE FUTURE.



Shut up.

THE PUNISHER by Nathan Fairbairn

Hey, guys! Great entries, everyone! It's my week, so I couldn't NOT contribute, even if it's just a head shot. I've had a soft spot for the character of the Punisher ever since, as a kid, I picked up a black-and-white magazine-format collection of the Mike Zeck/Steve Grant 'Circle of Blood' mini-series. That shit blew my mind! And then, many years later, when Garth Ennis was given license to work with the character in Punisher Max, my mind was blown again by what can only be described as the definitive statement on the character.

I know a lot of comics fans may roll their eyes at the premise of the Punisher (especially when depicted in ivory evening gloves wrestling with Spider-man or whoever), but seriously, if you haven't checked out any of the original Punisher Max series, particularly Ennis's collaborations with the masterful Goran Parlov, you are missing out on some seriously great comics.

Thanks for looking!

SISTERS IN ASS KICKERY by Mr. Hawthorne

I defy you to find one problem these three ladies couldn't solve. No Batmen or Superman needed.

Check out the pencils here.

Best,
Mike

edit:

Okay, I get paid to sit in my chair and color comics every day, and I'm paid well to do it, and I've got more work to do than I can comfortably handle, but sometimes Mr. Hawthorne draws superheroes and I just push everything I'm supposed to be working on to the side for an hour so I can color his stuff for fun. That's how good he is. Why DC doesn't have him chained to a desk churning this stuff out for them daily is a mystery to me. A goddamn MYSTERY.

-Nathan

GSP by Nathan Fairbairn

Alright, dammit. I've never seen this guy fight but I hear he's pretty good. Some promoter made the news here in Canada by claiming he's more famous than Gretzky, which is pretty much sacrilege. But he seems like a decent guy. So I drew him.



EDIT:

Added some watercolor paint to the thing.

Calvin and Hobbes by Nathan Fairbairn

Calvin and Hobbes means the world to me. I started reading it as a 9-year-old and followed it religiously until it ended ten years later. I used to actually cut out strips as they appeared in the paper and paste them into photo albums -- many photo albums -- until my mom got tired of me stealing all her albums and started buying me the collections. My most prized books today are my three-volume collection of the entire run of strips. I must read through the whole set once a year. So much of who I am today has been informed by the wit, imagination, wonder, art, and, yes, the values of Mr. Bill Watterson.

The irony of choosing Calvin and Hobbes for this week's Twart is that I probably could have done a better job of it when I was 12. Back then I used to fill sheafs of looseleaf with Calvin doodles. Now, though, it's probably been 15 years since I last drew these characters, and it shows. In places, I think I'm within a cannonshot of being on model, but only in places. I'd like to sound cool and say this is because I just didn't have time to do it right, but, honestly, I spent all damn day on this thing!

But whatever. The point is not to show that I'm awesome (I'm clearly not). The point is to remind you how awesome these characters and their stories are, and to maybe inspire you to go back and spend a little more time with them.

Thanks for looking!

-N

MADMAN by Nathan Fairbairn

Bonus Ketchup Twart!

Here's a Madman drawing I did.



You can see the inks over at my blog, if you like.

EMMA FROST by Mr. Hawthorne

best,
Mike

PS - Partial process post for this over on my blog.

EDIT:

Sorry, Mike, I had to dry hump your drawing for a few minutes, and it got kinda sweaty.

-N



EDIT:

Nathan, that's awesome!! (the color part, not the sweaty-leg-hump part)

Mike

ARSEFACE by Nathan Fairbairn

This is a drawing of Arseface crushing a cheeseburger. But I forgot to draw the cheese. So it's just a hamburger.

Jar Jar Dinks by Nathan Fairbairn

If I were slightly more ambitious, I'd mock up a title crawl for this thing:

STAR WARS

Episode III.V

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Ostrichard by Nathan Fairbairn

For my choice this week, I was torn. On the one hand, I had a somewhat ambitious theme that I'd been giving a lot of thought to. On the other hand, the idea of forcing all these fine artists to draw the most retarded character imaginable really tickled my fancy.

In the end, Ostrichard won. I just love this guy. I have no idea what's going on with him whatsoever, but every time I see a drawing of him it makes me smile, so he's a big winner in my books. Well done, Mr Walker. Bravo, good sir. *salutes*

NICK FURY and his HOWLING AVENGERS by Chris Samnee

click to embiggen

"What if" I wanted to draw a team book? I'd want to draw this one. Nothing high concept here. Just wanted to put my favorite versions of some of my favorite Marvel characters into the Avengers, and have them lead by Nick Fury, who would make a kick-ass leader of any group! And yes, Beast is now a member of S.H.I.E.L.D - he's a joiner! :)

EDIT: Fellow Twartist Nathan Fairbairn colored this guy up for me. Amazing work, Nathan! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! :D

EDIT: Holy cats!! Another outstanding take on colors by fellow Twartist, Evan Shaner!! Thanks a ton, Doc, it looks A-MA-ZING!!!!

WHAT IF?: MAN-THING & ROCKET RACCOON by tom fowler

when declan suggested man-thing for our theme a few weeks back it really lit a fire in my belly (ha!). if my previous go at the character could be considered the basis of a weirdo southern-gothic pitch, then this one can be considered my balls-out gerberian societal-horror story. nathan's amazing colours (thanks nathan) are the icing on the cake!

(...but for those who like undecorated cake here it is in black and white.)
but wait... is that the pitter-patter of tiny, otherworldly feets i hear?

hyup.

rocket raccoon has been a passion of mine for a great many years. i actually wrote about doing my own version of the book a few years back. as much as i love his resurgence in the core marvel universe (and i do LOVE it), i still think my version would work. and what is that version, you ask?:

simply, john carter with cute furry animals, stocked on a bookstore shelf next to bone.




(also, nathan and my deadpool team-up #888 is out today. go buy it.)

Elektra Lives Again! by Mike Hawthorne

Elektra Lives Again...and again...

The ninjas that go up against her?...not so much.

Mike

edit:
The amazing Nathan Fairbain colored the piece, and I swear the man can read minds! He's so spot on it's scary!



Thanks, Nate!

WHAT IF: PUNISHER VS DAREDEVIL by Declan Shalvey

It's no secret i'm a huge Daredevil fan, and a Punisher fan too, so instead of picking one of them for this week, I thought a Punisher vs Daredevil mini-series would be a project i'd love to draw for Marvel. Something like 'Daredevil is on the run from the relentless hunter that is the Punisher'. The characters do not like each other, so I think there's a lot of conflict that could arise. Of course, it's probably been done a million times before, but dammit: ***I*** want to do it.

Ideally; written by Garth Ennis and coloured by Matt Hollingsworth! But hell: Fellow Twart Nathan Fairbain did a fantastic job colouring this piece, so i'd gladly take him and *anyone* who would write it.

You can see the black-and-white version I did on my own blog.

Dec.

Lone Wolf & Cub, by Nathan Fairbairn

Okay, I admit that I have never read a Lone Wolf & Cub book, but I figure it's a pretty safe bet that there's a fair amount of this sort of thing going on.