[The Atomic Punk]

@Vampyrist said:

I like him and I just saw Rififi a couple of weeks ago, it was very good.

Thanks for the nod. And good to know I’m not the only one with a penchant for foreign films.

Character Contest 42: Another Brick in the Wall

Earth, The Foundation. I have had a story in my head forever with the elements as the primary characters (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water). I tried again to stretch the design with unimpressive results. I like my HM 2.5 design more than my upgrade.

Earth HM 3 Alpha

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HM 2.5

[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 42: Another Brick in the Wall

I tried to make Maltese bulkier by re-sizing “All Items.” The result was a stretched image. It’s not great, but an improvement over my original design with “normal” proportions. I wanted to him have a Casablanca classic Hollywood social club vibe. Instead, everytime I try to make a blue character with patterns or tattoos, I keep thinking “Avatar” and wind up scrapping the whole project.

The name of the club where Maltese works, Rififi, comes from French slang meaning “fisticuffs” or “trouble.” It is also the Auguste Le Breton / Jules Dassin’s 1955 classic Du Rififi Chez les Hommes. Dassin was a director who was black-balled during the McCarthy era. So he moved to France. I don’t know the circumstances or his personal politics. Don’t really care and not going to discuss. Rififi is an excellent movie. I highly recommend it.

Maltese

Streched

Backstory
Even superheroes with a public identity need a place to relax and socialize. That place is the Rififi where mutants, costumed metas, and celebrities mingle. No thanks to fanboys and the internet, the club recently became plagued by the curious public, lawyers, and upstart villains.

To keep out the uninvited, Rififi hired Maltese. Standing at nearly ten feet tall, over 700 pounds, he is an intimidating presence. True to his stripes and skin color, Maltese strikes with the speed and strength of the mythical tiger. His thick skin and dense bone structure make him almost indestructable.

[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 42: Another Brick in the Wall

With Golem, I wanted to create the illusion of bullets that had smashed into the creature’s body. One oversight is the dog’s all-white eyes. Golem was created by a mystic. Maybe the dog is enchanted, too. The silent movie Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920) inspired this design.

Golem

Close-up

Backstory
Rabbi Antal was a peaceful man until the Nazis tried to shut down his Warsaw bakery. He collected special red clay under their noses. When he amassed enough, the Rabbi called upon ancient arts to give the statue life.

Antal is now a resistance leader with a golem at his command. The golem is mute. He only obeys his master. He neither feels pain nor bleeds. His body merely absorbs bullets. Rabbi Antal has enough red clay to repair any serious damage.

Golem’s clay body is malleable. Because he is not sentient, he cannot truly shape-shift. However, Golem is a singular creature. He is able to contort his body to fit through larger pipes and slide down chimneys. Which makes him a rather effective assassin.

[The Atomic Punk]

SoulLess is incredible. Welcome and well done!

[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 42: Another Brick in the Wall

To be honest, when it comes to superhero arch-types, the Brick is not my favorite. I admit to being uninspired even lazy with these entries. Still, it was an opportunity to try out some techniques.

For instance, with the Wentshukumishiteu, I tried to create a hole in the ice with splashes. Also, I wanted him to appear ready to pounce. Instead of a lumbering brute, he’s more of a wolverine or badger. Results were “meh.”

Wentshukumishiteu

Close-up

The Wentshukumishiteu, an Inuit Legend
Wentshukumishiteu is a spirit that protects animal young from humans. He lives under Manitutshu, the Spirit Mountain. Manitutshu is located near the Churchill River in Labrador, Canada.

Wentshukumishiteu moves easily on water. He ambushes his prey by breaking through ice. He also tunnels underground. So powerful, he digs through solid rock.

[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 41: Art Martial

Last entry: The 1970s Blacklight Tiger Poster. I am really pleased with the background.

70s Blacklight Tiger

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[The Atomic Punk]

Agatha Finch

[The Atomic Punk]

Bon anniversaire, Monsieur Hebert!

[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 41: Art Martial

El Completo translates loosely as “The Complete One” or “The Total Package.” It is a term used to describe the best luchadores (rasslers). I thought he would be a fun character. Luchadore is more acrobatics and choreography than an actual martial or fighting style. Which can be said of many karate demonstrations and kung fu action movies.

El Completo: El Rey de los Luchadores de “Lucha Lunes” (King of the Monday Night Wrestling).

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[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 41: Art Martial

A knight demonstrates the Mordstreich. Literally translated as “Murderstroke”, this technique uses the hilt of a long sword to bash an enemy’s helmet. A successful blow could be forceful enough to knock him to the ground. Thus, the sharpness of the blade is saved for a killshot while the enemy is prone.

A web documentary on the history of European Martial Arts and the Mordstreich technique can be found here. This documentary primarily addresses Renaissance combat. However, the Mordstreich technique pre-dates the Codex Wallerstein.

Mordstreich

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[The Atomic Punk]

Character Contest 41: Art Martial

Deseret is the name of the design not the character herself. She is more assassin than martial artist. A “deseret” is a type of honeybee. The big takeaway from this updated version is the lips. They match her skin. Human lips tend to be darker than the rest of the body.

I began to experiment. I found that darker skin tone set at about 50% Alpha tints the lips without overwhelming the face. It gives a natural rather than lipstick look. I don’t have the saved file, so I didn’t update Deseret’s lips.

Deseret

Close-up

HeroMachine 2.5

[The Atomic Punk]

I like Angstrom. His “story of time” angle is unique. I like the long-range view to his motives (cause & effect). It’s along the lines of Confucius, Aristotle… karma, tao, zen… etc. He is most likely the Dr. Fate or Manhattan of your meta-verse.. maybe an Etrigan? Also, great allusion with “Angst” and “Strom.”

[The Atomic Punk]

@Hammerknight said:

That is a Jeff question if I ever saw one. I’ll let him know.

Thanks again for checking. I understand Copy&Paste does not work for posting saved character text because of the HTML tags. In fact, it’s a bad idea, even if you use the spoiler tags.

[The Atomic Punk]

Willkommen, Raymond!

1) Try manually scaling “All Items” by entering the x-y values rather than dragging along the grid.

2) Wish I had a ready example for you. I’m better at showing than explaining, but I will try. The results are not guaranteed, but should point you in the right direction.

What I do is create the main character then save to text first. This will be your “main anchor.” The scale and position of items are all based around the first Head that is placed in the default position.

So you have the original character saved as text. When you create the second character, make sure to include a “small anchor” Head in 100% scale in its default position as the very first Item. For this anchor, I typically use a Winner Head. One that is not going to be part of the final design. You will have multiple Head items. The “small anchor” and whatever head that you scale and move for the second character. Naturally, save the second character as text.

Reload HeroMachine (Refresh your browser). Load the main character. Then load the second with “Keep current Items” option. Because of the second character’s “small anchor” head, the position and scaling should be as you had them in the original.

Some HMers create the characters separately then export them as GIFs with transparent backgrounds. They create the background separately and export it. Then they combine all three pieces in another image editor (for example, Photoshop). This is quicker and easier. However, if you decide to enter the design in a Character Contest, this technique might disqualify an entry. Limited use of picture cropping and zooming are often acceptable. Using another program to layer is strongly discouraged.

Hope this helps!

[The Atomic Punk]

Willkommen, Scatman. I agree with Kaylin88100, but I am a minimalist myself. I like Hangman. Without a backstory, the wyvern seems tacked on to the picture.

Having said that, a closer look at the detail. Hangman’s hands are on the outside of his sleeves / above the gauntlets. They are tacked on to the character. Might want to tweak that.

[Author]

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