Category Archives: Challenge Favorites

I am happy to announce that the winner of Caption Contest 43 and a custom black and white illustration of whatever he likes by yours truly is Rob Rogers!

Rob deserves special credit for successfully using the word "Ampersand" in a sentence, which is not easy to do. I always thought that would be a good name for a super-hero... Anyway, I digress. Congratulations to Rob, and to the other Honorable Mentions from this week:

Runt82:
GL: The spider just caught a couple of flies. You know what that means?
Batman: Bring out The Gimp!

Pip:
GL: Did you remember to put out the crackers?
BM: Crap, I think I left them in my other utility belt.

Lyogi:
GL: I only agreed to meet your fan club if you would introduce me to the hottest members.
BL: …Those three are the hottest.

Dave:
Green Lantern: Batman why are you smiling?
Batman: Because I am about to beat you to within an inch of your life.

I can see why two-balloon panels don't work as well, I think they're a lot harder to make funny and pithy. I think I'll go back to the one-panel weird looking ones for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congratulations again to Rob.

The winner of the HeroMachine Caption Contest 42 is ... Ian!

The whole thing tickles my brain in a weird way, from the nonsense of the actual sentence to the look on Thor's face. I imagine him being all "whaa-hunhn?!" Plus the combination of leather and lemon cookies is just perfect with the long flowing blond hair. Well done, Ian!

The other Honorable Mentions from this week in my humble opinion were:

• Runt82: You know the Kama Sutra? They had to write an entirely new chapter because of me.
• The Doomed Pixel: Wait…That’s not the Heimlich…
• Ian: Mmmmm…you smell like leather and lemon cookies!
• The Imp: Lemme show you why they call me ‘Mr. Fantastic’…
• Ballin' Boy: Giddy up!
• Neil Leslie: Hello there, Thor. Let me tell you about my stimulus package.

Neil Leslie's in particular was very timely, and now every time I watch the news and hear that phrase I'm going to get the willies. Thanks for that mental image, Neil.

Many thanks to everyone who entered! Ian and I will be talking about what he'd like for his prize, and we'll be sure to share it with you once we're done.

I am happy to announce that the winner of Caption Contest 41 is ... John D!

Congratulations to John, who wins a custom black and white illustration of whatever he likes (within reason). I had to truncate the lyrics a bit to fit the balloon, but I loved the idea of Thanos appearing in a musical. Maybe if he did that more often he wouldn't be so grumpy and bent on universal destruction, you know?

The other Honorable Mentions this week were:

• Kaldath: Five … Five Dollar Foot Longs!!
• jude: “Spirit fingers!!!!!”
• epochfox: join the dark side…. we have cookies and these lovely costumes
• Bael: “Well aren’t you just the cutest little homicidal xenomorph in the whole wide universe! Yes you are! Yes you are! Yes you are!”
• Ballin' Boy: You’re an angry elf!
• Rick: Ribbed… for your pleasure.

I apparently love commercial references, obscure movie quotes, cookies, baby talk, and lewd allusions. Me in a nutshell, pretty much!

Thanks to everyone who entered, and keep an eye out in a bit for Caption Contest 42 and YOUR chance to win a professional illustration!

The winner of the hotly contested and very difficult to judge Caption Contest 40 and a custom black and white illustration by yours truly of whatever he or she likes is ... Fishpants!

After a lot of mental wrangling I chose this one because a) just what the hell IS he a doctor of, anyway?, b) thinking it's in podiatry made me laugh, and c) the casual tone of the reply fit with the way the figure is standing and the gentle tapering of its fingers. Its fingers of DOOM!!

Ahem.

The other notable Honorable Mentions as I saw them were:

• Ed: FOOL! HOW DARE YOU DEFY — oh, yeah, I can hold….
• Jester: Hello, Mr. Yakatori? My name is Victor von Doom, and I’d like to talk to you about joining my new world order…
• Loki: No I don’t want to vote for him! leave me alone!
• Dave: 1) NO! Doom does NOT want to switch his long distance! 2) Doom WILL have two large pies with extra cheese! 3) Doom demands your supervisor! Doom did not spend $700 on text messaging!
• Frankie: “What do you mean he can’t come to the phone right now? Do you have any idea what I’M doing right now?”
• Meg: Alright, I’ve opened Control Panel, what do I do if it’s still flashing?
• Zincspider: Stop calling Tony… Yes, your movie was better, I don’t care… are you drinking again?
• Timespike: Hello and welcome to the supervillain hotline. This call may be recorded for quality purposes. For account information, press 1. If your doomsday device is malfunctioning, press 2. If the heroes are knocking on your door, press 3. If your costume is out of date, press 4. If you need to rent more minions, press 5. If you need to punish the fools, press 6. If you need help deciphering ancient tomes, press 7. If your second in command is in league with the heroes, press 8. If your army of mind-controlled giant robot ant-sharks with laser beams on their antennae has stopped working, press 9. For all other calls, press 0, and a representative will be with shortly. Your call is important to us.

I think Dave best nailed the way Doom would actually talk on the phone. I liked Meg's line because it made me imagine myself getting Doom on the phone back when I worked tech support for Dell and ... ouch. But they were all good in their way, and I thank everyone who submitted an entry. Nice job everyone!

Check back in the next little while for Caption Contest 41 and your chance to win your own custom black and white illustration of whatever you like (within reason)!

With many thanks to our honored Guest Judge Jeff Rients (whose blog you really should make a regular read if you like gaming, creativity, or coolness), the winner of Caption Contest 39 is ... Skulan!

Jeff wanted to be sure to mention the following entries as also being "laugh-out-loud funny":

• Skulan: "Damn. I should have picked surrender"
• Settembrini: I should quit while I´m still ahead"
• Whit: "Just call me Shishka Bob."

I see Jeff shares my love of good puns which, contrary to popular opinion, is not an oxymoron. It was great working with him; I've admired his blog for a long time and clearly he can bring it on caption contests too. Thanks again, Jeff!

There were a record number of entries for this one, and almost all of them were of a very high quality, so Skulan's win is most impressive. He'll get a free custom black and white illustration from yours truly of whatever he likes (within reason). If you didn't win, don't fret, Caption Contest 40 is going on right now, so put on the Funny Hat (not the one you got arrested in, the other one) and head on over for your chance at your own custom drawing!

The winner of Caption Contest 38 is our first three-time winner ... xStacy!

This week was really tough to judge, I have to say. For the first time I generated two versions of the panel to help me decide, the other super-close runner-up was Gregg's:

Ultimately I felt like xStacy's made a little more sense in the panel, and its multiple possible meanings also intrigued me more. Plus, the final arbiter in these is always "Do I laugh even after having read it multiple times?" and xStacy's definitely qualified. So, congratulations to her, she'll win another custom black and white illustration from yours truly. She's probably sick of them by now!

The other honorable mentions (all very good) were:

• Gregg: Avengers pull my finger!
• HalLoweEn JacK: Ok team, 3…2…1… GRIMACE!
• Frankie: “We’re gonna party like it’s 1985.”
• Fishpants: How do the assless pants look from back there, Steve?
• marx: OK! OK! Your telekinetic atomic wedgie counts as a super power!
• Cory: Run! Its the one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple, rip-off eater!

I really loved Fishpants' "How do the assless pants look from back there, Steve?", which makes me laugh every time I read it, especially looking at that horrible grimace on "Steve"s face. But, it ultimately was just too long to fit nicely in the balloon. HalLoweEn JacK's was also very funny given the expressions on the other people in the panel. Frankie's reference to the dated headband, hair, and outfits was great, marx's comment really fit the whole look of what is going on in the scene, and Cory's was the cleverest, I think. Great entries all the way around, thanks everyone!

I am pleased to announce that the winner of Caption Contest 37 (the Thanksgiving Edition) is ... HalLoweEn JacK!

Don't get me wrong, I like cats just fine, but this caption made me laugh every time I read it. It's the look of absolute glee on the girl's face that does it. I don't condone kitty cruelty though, let's be clear on that!

Other honorable mentions from this round include:

• Kaiju: Wow! I never knew hansel smeled so good!
• Scorpidius: Wow, lets give mom a big hand!!. . . . . oh wait!
• John D: Oooo yummy! Daddy DID come home for the holidays!!!
• Jester: I’m so glad you used the Betty Crocker recipe… But what are we gonna tell her folks?

Many thanks to all the entrants! As always, I'll be posting the prize to the blog for everyone to enjoy (assuming JacK's all right with that). Check back in a bit for Caption Contest 38 and your chance to win your very own custom black and white illustration of whatever you like!

I am happy to (belatedly) announce the winner of Caption Contest 36 as ... TheNate!

I really appreciated TheNate's originality and unique spin on this one, I think the line perfectly captures both the look on the guy's face and the weird stance. Plus I just love the idea of a criminal techno-mastermind being stymied by a child-proof cap, that's classic. I look forward to getting the details on what the prize illustration will be.

Having said that, there were a number of great entries, including the following Honorable Mentions:

• Vengeance: Every body dance. Now!!
• John: …wha? Batteries not included? *&^% Wal-Mart!
• HalLoweEn JacK: mmm mm MMMMMMMMM! mmm mmmmm mmmmmm!
• Whit:Let’s see, that’s left, left, A, B, right, X, B…
• devo6: Great Spiraling Sperm!! These Gloves make texting impossible!!
• Kramer: (in small print) “I think… I think I just soiled my armor.”
• Jester:(and, to quote a line from one of my new favorite movies) Ok, let’s face it: This isn’t the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.

Good stuff this week, thanks everyone! If you didn't win this time around, never fear -- Caption Contest 37 is going on right now, so head on over and try your luck for a chance to win your own professional illustration!

The winner of Caption Contest 35 is ... Meg!

Meg will receive a free custom black and white illustration of whatever he or she likes (within reason). Look for your chance to win your own professional drawing every Tuesday right here at HeroMachine.com!

The other honorable mentions from this week were:

• TheNate:
  1) Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy Jeans you’re wearing?
  2) Ding dong! Avon calling!
• Rick: Yancy Street Makeover my ass!!!
• Meg: Honey? Does this crusty greenish skin make me look fat?
• C. Yusuf Mumaz: Those people at Maybelliene… I’ll give’em a real challenge!
• The Doomed Pixel: “Dad, I think I’m allergic to bees!”
• John D: I…want….MIDOL!!!!!!!!

I almost went with Meg's other entry, because I like to use the word "crusty" whenever possible, but I thought maybe the internet one had broader appeal. I also liked the unspoken assumption that Ben Grimm would go out on a blind date wearing a mask, as if to hide his identity without noticing his giant orange rock hands poking out the ends of his coat.

Finally, as I said in the comments, Rick gets bonus points for the old-school Yancy Street Irregulars shout-out.

Nice job everyone, many thanks for your creativity!