The title of today's post is a quote from Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back, actually), though I'm just using it here because it seemed appropriate for the body language of today's sketch:
click above for larger view
Also posted on the He-Man.org fan-art forums. My post is here, the entire thread (including some of my previous sketches) is here.
This is Scare Glow, another of Skeletor's thugs, who was introduced towards the end of the toyline, arguably after the franchise had "jumped the shark." He was originally billed as the "Evil Ghost of Skeletor," though this was never further clarified or confirmed in any official manner. It seems like fans generally agree that he is probably not Skeletor's ghost, and that works fine for me. As a result, I have changed his title to "Evil Ghost Warrior."
The drawing itself is actually several months old--after I completed Skeletor, I had a couple of failed attempts at Scare Glow that got as far as inks, but didn't quite sit right with me... actually, those first few attempts just plain sucked. What you're looking at is my third attempt, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The pose is meant to convey Scare Glow's standing as I see it--one of the deadliest and most trusted of Skeletor's minions. Anyways, this pic had been sitting in my hard-drive half-colored for months, and now here it is.
Before I sign off for the day, an anal retentive point that I want to address--Scare Glow's weapon is frequently referred to as a scythe, and I'm sorry but that is hands-down, one-hundred percent wrong. A weapon does not automatically become scythe just because it's wielded by a grim reaper-like character! I should however, clarify that I'm talking about the classic Scare Glow--the Scare Glow for the 200x revamp, actually did carry a scythe. But back to the classic version--I've also seen it referred to as a halberd, which is much closer, but still not quite right, because Scare Glow's weapon lacks a spike at the head and a hook or thorn on the backside of the blade. I thought that it was a glaive, but this too was a mistake, as closer inspection revealed that a glaive's blade is mounted on the end of the pole, not the side. Further investigation lead me to the lochaber axe, which is pretty close--but again, Scare Glow's weapon lacked a vital component--a hook at the head of the pole. Finally, my research turned up the bardiche and the voulge--both seem like they could work, but I'm guessing voulge is the way to go.
Do we have any medieval weapons experts who can give us a verdict? Or maybe just a really well versed fantasy RPG fan?
Post Script: Sorry Buffy-fans, THIS isn't a scythe either--alliteration does not make a scythe a scythe!
3 comments:
You, sir, are most likely correct with your voulge statement. Have I ever told you I would one day like to own a bardiche? I am definitely a polearm- aka poleaxe-lover (quiet you!).
Although, according to http://www.historicalweapons.com a voulge aka volgue is related to the glaive and may only be a different name for a similar weapon.
Wish that I had at my disposal an historic weapons tome, but all I've got are things about tanks or fantasy stuff.
Paladium RPG also concurs with your statement btw.
Love it. He looks so creepy yet so Awesome. Another fantastic peice of work.
charles-- i should've known that i could talk about the nuances of medieval weaponry with you!
jazyl--thanks man, i really appreciate it!
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