Archive for February, 2010

MMM! – Mega Man Megamix Review

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

For almost 12 years, I’ve been hoping that someone would finally get their mind in the right place to see that the Megamix series, drawn and written by Hitoshi Ariga, needs to be translated. I think its good that they took their time, because over the years, Ariga’s Megamix series had undergone a lot of changes and “reprints” for reasons I can’t often imagine. (more…)

SFC has Character: Introduction to Happy Face

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Name: Happy T. Face
Origin of birth: Toon World
Series Origin: Random Road
Notable Quote: “That’s an odd stain…”

CLICK IMAGE ON LEFT FOR FULL DRAWING

A rather carefree and often clumsy cartoon character, Happy Face is one of the main characters in Random Road and Tooniversity. Often hanging out with his long time friend, Clang, Happy is often cautious of dangerous exploits in the cartoon universe. He is often the fall guy, but is more lucky then most cartoons of his type. Despite being in very precarious situations that would often cause him to have accidents, Happy usually manages to get out unharmed, but it’s not always the case.

He lives with his family on Random Road who acts more of the house mechanic then the son/brother of the house. He has a small room in the basement where he chose to stay along with his pet cat, Sox. He also has a love interest, Merry Christmas the Fox, daughter of classic cartoon villain, Fix the Fox. He is often shy around her, but they happen to be very close.

For work, Happy is the janitor of Tooniversity, hired by his good friend, Clang, to make sure the University is in good shape. Though Clang would often suggest he would be better off as a cartoon acting star, he still prefers his current occupation. Whenever there is a job that needs to be done, whether it be plumbing or architectural, he knows his way through. Happy is very handy with tools and would never deny an opportunity to get new helpful gadgets from the local hardware store. Though he can get rather carried away when it comes to purchases.

Oddly enough, Happy Face has an evil twin brother named Scrappy Face, whom he rarely thinks about unless he’s faced with him directly. Because of him, Happy is often the target for most of his schemes. Happy isn’t much of a fighter, but when he has to, will often rely on his tools or mop to help him out of a jam.

MegaManManiacs! Blog now moved to SFC

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Say goodbye to the MMM! site. I’ve decided to post all my new Mega Man Maniacs Blog posts to StarfieldCreations. Not only will it be more convenient for myself, but it will help keep from folks going from site to site for updates. So all future posts related to Mega Man stuff will now be considered Mega Man Maniacs! on SFC! Enjoy!

Amassed from the Past: Magazine Mail-ins

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

I collected a LOT of old magazines, specifically video game magazines. Electronic Gaming Monthly, Nintendo Power, GameFan, Playstation Magazine etc. and every once in awhile in the editorial pages, they would print artwork that kids mailed in and showcase, like envelope art or whatever. I remember drawing CONSTANTLY and mailing stuff in, but only a few would ever actually reach the editorial (I have no idea why so few were actually printed) but for the ones I managed to find was certainly memorable for me.

Now, right off the bat, you’re going to tell me “Andrew, for a guy who hates Sonic the Hedgehog so much, you certainly drew a lot of fan-art for it.” and that is true, I WAS (and still am) a big fan, but this was back when Sonic the Hedgehog was still fresh, creative and entertaining, as opposed to today’s Sonic which is… Well, it is what it is. But anyhow, let’s take a look at some of the stuff that actually made it to the mags:

< This piece was probably the first ever sent in that actually got printed, it was EGM, October 1994. I really have no idea what I was thinking when I drew this, I was still pretty young. But essentially, it’s Sonic and Tails watching a old timey 30′s style cartoon of Sonic the Hedgehog. What I find HILARIOUS about this though is that I drew Crow and Tom Servo in the front row as MST3K was also something I just got into. What’s also funny is that it’s probably one of the only pieces in that magazine that didn’t feature Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Sonic murdering Mario in an orgy of blood… I mean, dear God, we are sick, twisted children…

>This one was turned in for those Sonic the Hedgehog archie comics, which I despise now… Well, let me be fair, at first I did get into them, but around I think issue 20 or something I just lost it… The last issue I ever liked was that Sonic CD special they made, where the art was fantastic to me at the time. I mailed something in, but I never actually saw it printed myself. This is actually scanned by someone who noticed it. If anything, this was printed maybe two years after I initially mailed it in, and between that time I really just lost interest in the comic series. I completely forgot who gave me this scan, a few people pointed it out to me in the past couple years, so thank you.

<This one showed up in my all-time favorite video game magazine at the time, Gamefan, Volume 3, Issue 3 1995. This was made around the time Sonic 3 came out, obviously, and at the time, was one of those pieces I put the most effort into. I know, it’s still Sonic… and I could’ve SWORN that I turned in an Earth Worm Jim image that was also printed, but I can’t find it for the life of me. I either lost the magazine, or I’m just pretending that I saw it. Either way, after all the images I sent, almost 75% of them at the time were about Earthworm Jim. But looking at this bit of nostalgia, I can see myself as a kid, already saying to myself “I could do better then this…”

> Now this one is actually rather recent, and I actually feel kind of bad entering it, seeing as it was only five/six years ago I think. I mailed in an entry to the RockMan.EXE (Mega Man Battle Network) robot design contest and I actually got a mention of my entry in the magazine of CoroCoro. The prize is still hanging on my wall of an autographed image of Mega Man by manga artist Ryo Takamisaki.

For all the artwork I sent into Nintendo Power, NONE of them showed up, but I’m sure they got a ton of mail as it was. Just a shame, I also missed out on that Mega Man design contest because I never even knew it was going on. But I still think to this day, this kid stole my design for Whip Man. If I can find the original drawing I did, I could compare, but everything is stacked head high in boxes.

A few other notable pieces that actually got printed were in Gold Digger Swimsuit issues where I drew Gina and Cheetah Diggers a few times. I’d have to look through my collection to seek those out at some point. Anyhow, just thought I’d share! ‘Til next time.

Flash-Back: Johnny Polecat the Game

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

I’m going to gradually repost some of my classic flash cartoons (when I can find them) But this one is more recent, and shows off a bit more of the “world” of Johnny Polecat. I made this sometime early last year I believe, and harbors some of my better skills in animation, storytelling and design since its so recent. Make sure to follow the jump to view the flash in its entirety. (more…)

Quicksketch – Transformers Chameleon

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I drew this after asking for suggestions to draw an obscure Transformers character… I didn’t think it’d be THAT obscure… This character isn’t even a toy. I guess the characters ranged even farther in the comics then in the cartoon and toy-lines. None the less, I had no idea what to make of this character because all I could do was look him up. So I did my best. I guess his attribute is… disappearing? Also, he transformers into a hover-convertible… which honestly never made sense to me, if Transformers transform, it shouldn’t be something with compartments (Humans don’t exist on Cybertron) so he’ll just turn into some sort of hovercraft I guess.