Category Archives: Sharing Day

Oh dear, JR's been going through old blog posts again and has decided to do another one off Big Question.

So yeah, I was going through some of the old Big Questions and I stumbled across one of the earliest ones I did (think it was number 9 or something) where I asked what peoples first comic book experience was, and whilst reading through some of the replies I saw a comment by Niall Mor where, near the end of his comment, he started to talk about how he started out with Heromachine. So that's this weeks Question, because I'm genuinely interested and I know that everyone here has a story here, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. So, how did you discover this website? How did you become part of the Heromachine Community family? Tell us your Heromachine story.

Personally, I started out with Heromachine 2 in, I think it was around 2006. I was bored whilst staying down at my Grandparents house one day and I started messing about on their computer. I can't remember what exactly lead me to the site, but I probably searched "Create A Superhero" in google and this site was the first thing that came up. I dutifully set about creating my own comic book fantasy world, full of characters either myself or my friends (who all loved this new toy I'd discovered) had thought up with our twelve/ thirteen year old brains. I was quite happy just messing around with the basics for a while, until the 2.5 update. Around then I stumbled across a collection of other Heromachine art. I think it was still on the site, it must have been on the blog or the forums but it blew my mind. There was stuff there that I didn't know was possible to do, it was the first time I saw any of the alternate skins or monster bodies, I remember seeing one female character that had a transparent 1st skin colour with a purple 2nd colour and I basically went and memorised every aspect of that character and went into the program and rebuilt it. I can even visualise it today. That got me into actually experimenting with the program, although this kinda slowed when the other versions of the program where introduced (Modern Warrior Creator, then HM3). Then it was just translating my 2.5 characters into 3 with my very limited skills at the time. It took me a few years before I looked properly at the blog, I focused again solely on my own little world on the program its self. But then, for some reason I took a look and, as with the previous time I ventured away into the unknown depths of the site, I discovered wonders. I found the contests and through those the art of AMS, DiCicatriz, Anarchangel (I have to say guys, you have no idea how many of your characters I tried and failed to recreate the way I did with the transparent girl) Kaldath, Asder,  Zyp and SeanDavidRoss. I discovered that there was a whole community built around this program and there were people out there doing this amazing work with this thing that I was barely scratching the surface of. And you know what I did? I turned round and said "I'm gonna try and beat them." God, if you look back at my first contest entry, I was such an idiot. I didn't stand a chance and not only because I didn't name my entry correctly. It didn't take me long to realise that I could do better, so I ended up on deviantart, where, once again, I started look at how other people were using Heromachine, in specific; AMS. I started trying to copy his style and whilst I didn't fail spectacularly, it's safe to say, I was no AMS. Thankfully, he humoured me and gave me some advice on shading and how to improve my art. Shortly after that I got up the confidence to join the forums, which was actually because I wanted a bit of help on a picture and Jeff told me to go to the forums newly opened "How Do I?" section. A few days later I started up my thread and the rest, as they say, is history.

So yeah, that's how I got started on Heromachine and how I got into the community. So now it's over to you.

Oh and if anyone's interested, I still have that first Heromachine picture that I made round my Grandparents all those years ago. I know it's terrible, but I was thirteen (maybe twelve, I can't exactly remember the date). I think his name was The Eagle or something like that.

Sorry guys, no video post this week. I sat down to record, everything was going quite nicely and then I got interrupted by my housemate knocking on my door, so that recording went out the window. Then second time I tried recording, my webcam failed. And the story then continues in a similar vein from there-on-in, car-alarms going off, other miscellaneous noise, you get the idea, so I'm not gonna keep trying re-records, I'm just gonna do it typed for this week. Sorry about that and all, but hopefully it'll be service as usual next week.

Anyway. This week we have 2 questions, both from Kaldath, because he asked 2 questions that I really wanted to answer. I'll include the questions below and my answers will be after the jump.

QOTD 1: Do you collect anything?

QOTD 2: Do you have a cherished childhood television show, animated or otherwise?

Continue reading →

This weeks question: Do you do anything creative besides Heromachine? (Art, music, video etc.)

Trying out a new format today. It's up to you guys if you want me to continue or not. Hopefully these will get better in the future, this one is pretty much just a test run, to see if you like the idea or not. Sorry about my voice, I know I sound awful.

Anyway, todays question: What inspires you to create on Heromachine?

Leave your answers in the comments below and if you have any questions that you'd like me to use in a future video feel free to leave them in the comments too.

What is your favorite movie based on a comic book and why? Live action or animated. Let's hear what you have to say. No fighting or putting someone down for their choice, just share with us what you think.

Now, today I want to talk about something that has always been something that I’ve held dear to my heart, but has really been brought into stark focus recently, and since I’ve got a soapbox, I’m going to use it.

Now I don’t know how many of you have heard the news about a young kid called Michael Morones recently, who is currently fighting for his life after attempting suicide because he was bullied for liking the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Now I have to say that I am appalled by this, both as a Brony (and willing to admit it out loud, in front of a load of strangers that I only know through the internet) and as a human being. Michael was only 11 years old and to feel that your life is no longer worth living at such a young age is just beyond words. I don’t know what kind of bullying he went through, how bad it was (though I’d have to assume it was pretty bad) or for how long it had been going on for, all I know is Michael’s age, that he had ADHD and that he like the show because he identified with one of the main characters due to her ADHD like behavior. But still, the fact that he felt forced into such drastic action just because he was different is tragic. And that brings me onto the point of today’s missive.

Difference is not something that should be shut out, forced into a corner or laughed at. Difference is something that should be embraced, celebrated. We are all different in our own way and the more we recognize that, the more we grow as people. Hell, I’m a guy who loves children’s cartoons, still collects toy cars, watches sci-fi, reads comics, but I often feel I was born the wrong gender and I’ve always and will always support anyone who feels shut out because they are different and I have been bullied because of it. There were times when I seriously considered suicide, but I didn’t because I knew that it didn’t matter what the bullies and the judgmental thought, it’s what you think that really matters. If YOUR differences make YOU happy, then why should you bend over backwards to please the world, because trust me, you cannot please everyone. And that’s why this story gets to me so much.

We in this community are made up of self-professed geeks, nerds and weirdoes, who have been drawn to this site to unleash our creativity into a variety of geeky worlds, be it superhero, sci-fi or fantasy, all genres which have had their fair share of ridicule from “normal” people (and I say normal in the loosest possible way, because, as stated before, we are all different so there is no such thing as normal). Hell, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has gone through bullying for being different, but we’re all still here and that is what matters.

So please, if you do nothing else today, give a thought for Michael Morones and don’t looks down on anyone because they are different, embrace that difference, because remember, you’re different too.

Get well soon Michael.