Xhibit: Mystique Joins X-Force! :D

Here's another artwork submitted by me for the Artists Assemble segment of the Comic Book Nerds Are Hot Facebook group. For this one, we could draw any character from any media (movies, tv, comics, games, books) but as a member of Wolverine's X-Force. So that basically involves the trademark black-&-grey costumes, masks (if needed) with red eyes, weapons & blood. Lotsa blood. :P

If you been reading my blog from the time I started, you'd know that I'm a HUGE Mystique fan, so I knew I just HAD to draw her donning the X-Force duds! It's just a happy coincidence that she can also be a murdering bitch which makes her a perfect fit for the X-Force team! You can download the artwork I created as a wallpaper (1280x1024). Below are two versions: clean & bloody.

INSPIRATIONS:
When thinking of ideas about what her costume & weapons would look like, I was gonna go for her leather pant suit look that she sported in her solo series Mystique Vol. 1 #1-24 (see below) but then realized that it wouldn't be challenging enough so I decided to go with changing up her classic white costume (you know, the one with the skulls). Also I decided she didn't need a mask cos, duh- she's a shapeshifter! And since imo her yellow eyes look gorgeous on her blue skin, I didn't give her red eyes either.
^Mystique's solo series issues #1, 4, 6 & 12. I used the title
Below you can check out all the images I used either for inspiration when sketching her out or for the background...

Costume:
^Mystique in her classic white costume, the Uncanny X-Force costumes, X-23 in her X-Force costume without the mask & the boots!

Weapons:
^These are the actual props used in X-Men The Last Stand as the cure guns.

Background:
For the background I used one of the stills released for Resident Evil 5 (aka Resident Evil: Retribution)

Do lemme know in the comments if you liked the wallpapers. Critiques are most welcome as always...

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Xhibit: The Wolverine Minimalist Movie Poster!

Calm down, calm down...I hope reading the title didn't make you think they've actually released an official poster for the movie! They haven't even announced the entire official cast lol!

This poster was created by yours truly...Below are the various iterations for the poster which you can download in a 1600x1200 wallpaper resolution.

I tried to go for a minimalist design here & this idea has been nagging my brain since AGES! I finally got down to creating it. As you guys all know, The Wolverine movie is gonna be based on Logan's stint in Japan, hence the claws over the red of the Japanese flag...

Below are the various images that inspired me or that I used directly in the poster:

CREDITS:
*Font- Wolf's Bane

*Texture inspiration- I was searching for suitable textures I could use for my poster once I was done with all other aspects of the design. Since I recently joined DeviantArt I thought of searching "flag textures" out there & by coincidence I got this as the second result! It was damn nice of "think0" to give some pointers of how he created the texture for that art, which lead me to the source below....

*Texture- Bittbox.com! 1 was such a PERFECT fit with those claw-like scratches on it! I used 2 just over the hand & claws to differentiate it from the background.

*Special thanks to all my Comic Book Nerds Are Hot homies for sharing their inputs on the designs. I had various other iterations (with a brown hand, grey hand, & other minor changes) & these guys let me know which ones of the iterations they liked best so thanks guys!

Hope you guys dig the wallpapers! It would be nice if y'all could comment below & lemme know which version/s y'all like best...I do have plans to do a second poster but I think I might wait until they announce the official cast & characters. If I decide to do it earlier, then I might just end up creating THREE poster designs in total for The Wolverine! lol

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X-Event: X-Men Toys at Toy Fair 2012!

Every year in mid-February a major toy industry trade show is held in New York City at the Toy Center & the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, by the Toy Industry Association strictly for industry insiders.

Yes, it's the Toy Fair! Toy Fair 2012 took place from Feb 12-15. Needless to say Marvel ensured that their wares were on display at the fair & below are some images of the X-Men action figures & toys that are set to be released this year.

Hasbro Marvel Legends 6 Inch
^Hope Summers, Dark Wolverine, Fantomex, Daken

Hasbro Marvel Universe 3.75 Inch- Besides the ones below Professor X & Jubilee are also set for release but were not on display...
^Astonishing Beast, Scarlet Witch, Angel, Puck (with Snowbird)

Hasbro Marvel Universe Comic 2 Pack 3.75 Inch

Hulk vs. Wolverine >

Marvel Universe Masterworks Sentinel with Wolverine

Besides these, a Marvel Universe Super Hero Team Pack with Uncanny X-Men will also be released that will include Rogue, Longshot, Wolverine, & Baby Cyclops from Mojo World.

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Kotobukiya Marvel figures
Check out the GORGEOUS figures Marvel figures for Archangel, Magneto, X-23 & (in last pic) Black Widow, Rogue, Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, Scarlet Witch, Emma Frost.

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Diamond Select Toys Marvel Select
^1- Nightcrawler, 2- Storm,
3- Colossus & Juggernaut with Abomination, Red Hulk, Hulk & Thing

Diamond Select Toys' Marvel Minimates
^1- Australian X-Men (Colossus, Wolverine, Rogue),
2- Havok & Storm, 3- Wolverine

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Marvel Lego
^1- Lego Deadpool, 2- Lego Wolverine, Magneto, Deadpool

CREDITS:
MarvelousNews
Marvel (Kotobukiya)

Marvel (Diamond Select Toys)
MarvelousNews (Lego)

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Xtraordinary! Best Moments of Marvel Anime: Wolverine.

So I finally watched the Wolverine Anime series...I like that it caters to a more mature audience- there's loads of blood & LOADS of cussing! :D DEFINITELY how Wolverine needs to be served up!

One downside for me is that each episode ends with a cliffhanger & the next episode always starts with a slight replay (not a recap) of the climax from the previous episode. It just feels like a waste of time when you can just jump straight into the newer developments.

Another downer for me is actually Milo Ventimiglia voicing Wolverine. I was a big fan of the guy during his Heroes days, but here sometimes it just feels like he tries to overdo & force out the gruffness in his voice just to sound more Wolvie.

You'll also find that they got very lazy in naming the episodes. :P Most of em are named after different characters & sometimes it doesn't even make sense!

On the whole it's a gritty Wolverine series, something that especially caters to an older audience. Read on to know my favorite moments from the Wolverine Anime...It may get slighty spoilery if you haven't seen the series, but do scroll down right to the end of this post to read my final verdict & rating for the show!

Ep 1. I loved the focus on the Canadian Gold, hinting towards Logan's Canadian origins & the X on his belt buckle is a nice touch. This episode succeeded in showing off his sense of smell & also highlighted the fact that he doesn't need his claws to go all badass on the baddies. The whole setting of the fight in Shingen's house reminded me of The Matrix training fight.

Ep 2. The action scenes in this episode made me wish I saw stuff like this in an X-movie (ESPECIALLY a Wolverine movie!)- Yukio's aerial combat, the kickass character of Kikyo Mikage (voiced by Steve Blum). Although Kikyo looks like a chick, he talks & fights like a man- quite a lethal combo lol!

Ep 3. Had a few issues with this ep- hated the way Logan & Yukio look when they run :P And imo, Wolvie would NEVER run away- no matter who shows up on the scene! I also hated how it took SO LONG for Logan to heal that little scratch from Kikyo's blade when he's previously shown to heal bigger wounds much faster! On the other hand I love Yukio's badass character & her flying "Tron" disk & how she's always got Wolvie's back (which is rare for him :P). Omega Red makes his entrance!

Ep 4. One thing this series DOES have is some good dialogues that really make you crack up! The fight between Logan & Omega Red in the warehouse took me back to the 90's Spiderman cartoon where Spidey fought off Doc Ock's metallic tentacles in a similar setting. The duel between them however are so long drawn out that things become a bit repetitive & Omega's almost Frankenstein-like Russian accent repeatedly demanding for his synthesizer gets quite funny after a while.

Ep 5. The repetitive brawling continues (sigh), but once Wolverine gets the upper hand it's all slice-&-dice-&-everything-nice! AIM make their first appearance. Their otherwise dorky looking costumes have been very well redesigned & updated. LOVE when Omega Red calls Kikyo (see below) a "girly-boy" LMAO! The episode ends with a VERY special guest appearance!

Ep. 6 EPIC scene of the X-Jet (hint) flying over the city. The background music in that scene reminds me SO MUCH of the original X-Men movie trilogy!!! Love the entertaining banter between the three characters in the X-Jet. I did find it weird however, that even though the point of the X-Jet's stealth mode was to remain unseen, it's only turned on after they move above cloud cover. Even Kikyo spots them! And when landing, the stealth is turned off AGAIN! WTF! MOAR slicin' & dicin' from Wolverine & Yukio's fight in flight! Claws snikting out towards the screen! LOVE the Min character! Holy shit! Shingen's got skills alright! Enter Vadhaka! He's like a stone Sentinel- if the Japanese made 'em. :P

Ep. 7 Nothing great about this episode...The fight between Wolverine & Vadhaka isn't all that great as it could've been & I hate how it ended! What this episode DOES do though, is answer the questions you may have had about Yukio's past. Koh's (see below) gang underground reminded me of the Morlocks...I'm sure they could've written them into the script instead of simply having normal people hiding out below...

Ep. 8 In this episode, still more to Yukio's story is unraveled...

Ep 9 It's fun to watch Logan & Yukio jointly outwitting the notorious Hell Road! Yukio is one tough chick! And watching a flying disks take out the goons NEVER gets old! Geez! This Hell Road is like something straight out of Wipeout or Takeshi's Castle!

Ep 10 LOVE the always entertaining interactions between Logan & Kikyo! I LOVE how Kikyo is now become a grey character & not a complete baddie- guy's got ethics! It's hard to believe an assassin like him has such integrity- that's part of his charm as a character. Vadhaka returns, & just when you think that Logan is FINALLY fighting an opponent without help from anyone else, Kikyo aids him! The episode ends on a bittersweet note.

Ep 11. A LOT of swift fighting moves from Kikyo & Yukio in this one! Surprisingly I found them a lot cooler than even Wolverine in this episode! I somehow suspect that the creators made the Japanese characters cooler than Wolvie...

Ep 12 It's the final showdown, the battle of battles in this series- Wolverine vs. Shingen. This episode had quite a few "HOLY SHIT!" moments. Great action & drama, a twist reveal & a poignant but beautiful ending. Hideki reminded me SO MUCH of Loki in this episode. Vic Mignogna definitely has a great voice to play Loki in any future animated features he may appear in...

Final series verdict: I loved the tone of the series, the action, the Japanese characters (Kikyo, Yukio & Shingen) & the whole love story between Logan & Mariko (which we haven't witnessed much of in any TV series or movie until now) BUT sadly where the series fails in my opinion is with Wolverine himself. He's shown here fleeing from fights & constantly relying on other individuals to get him out of sticky situations! That is HIGHLY un-Wolverine imo & it makes Logan's "X-factor" go down in my book by not just a couple of notches!

For that reason alone this series gets a 6/10, when it could've in fact gotten at least an 8 if not for this major flaw in a "Wolverine" series.

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Xhibit: The calm before the Storm...

So I assume you guys now know about the ongoing weekly assignments that we members take part in at the Comic Book Nerds Are Hot Facebook group.

Last week, tragedy struck at the CBNAH group. We lost a dear member, Jason Trent, to a car accident. What was even more shocking to us was that he'd just turned 27 on Feb 11 :( . He was a big X-Men fan & Storm was his favorite X-character.

I immediately thought the most fitting way to dedicate my AA art to him would be to draw Storm. Also it so happens that the month of February was celebrated as Black Appreciation Month in the US, which convinced me even further that this time, I was meant to draw Ororo Munroe.

After being inspired by fellow member Will Smith who was just churning out his art (like a machine!), I decided one artwork wasn't enough- so I did two! Hope you dig...You can download wallpapers for both as well as the original poster version for the 2nd art.

In #1 is of all my favorite avatars of Storm! 80s Mohawk Storm, Avengers Storm & her trademark white costume (that featured in X-Men The Animated Series as well)! The costume that I used for her in #2 is her current comics garb (you'll see her in these duds during the Avengers vs X-Men story arc). Check out the different images I took my inspiration from below!

Oh! And I'm now on DeviantArt as well! So if any of you guys are on it as well, feel free to get in touch with me out there as well!

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