April 24, 2007

Stalk Like An Egyptian

Today's post is a Masters of the Universe fan character created by He-Man.org forum member Patreek. You can read all about Wraptor here (initial creation), here (development and design), and here (posting of final pictures). Four artists were asked to draw up the "final" illustrations of Wraptor, (click on their names to see their versions): Bearshow, Buffalo Bill Man, Super-Munkyboy, and me.

click above for larger view

My version of Wraptor is definitely meant to be in the style of the classic cartoon, while the others are done in the style of the 2002 revamp. I had seen Bearshow's design already, and Patreek had given me a sneak peek of Buffalo Bill Man's work-in-progress for reference. Their designs and final renderings were fantastic and done firmly in the style of the recent version of He-Man. Putting Wraptor into "classic" mode really just meant simplifying some costume elements and leaving out the skeletal snake appendages. The colors are heavily influenced by Bearshow's version, though I simplified and brightened the colors somewhat, to give Wraptor the cartoony feel of the old series. I added the horny ridges on his brow just because I thought it made him look more dinosaur-y, and simplified the whip so that it wouldn't distract from the snake-bandage-tendril-thingees. The snake-bandages, by the way, are something taken directly from Patreek's earliest version of the character, and are my favorite thing about the character, along with his perfectly punny name.

Please check out the awesome renditions of Wraptor by the other artists, and definitely read Wraptor's bio! And thanks to Patreek for inviting me to join in on this!


Fun Fact: Wraptor's blade is a khopesh!

5 comments:

Atomic Swan Serials and If - E - Zine said...

I really like this. The colors, the design, the action.. All very good.


Is it odd that I was reading/writing about Thamus (aka Amun?) and Theuth (aka Thoth?) and Plato's Phaedrus? Must be something Egyptian in the air.

This reminds me a lot of Serpentor and perhaps more appropriately the time in G.I. Joe: The Movie when, exposed to certain spores, Cobra Commander began to "devolve... into a snake. Escaping with Joe member Roadblock, Cobra Commander's 'humanity' begins to slip away as his body transforms, soon left mindlessly hissing that he was "once-ssss a man..." "

Wraptor seems like the demon-seed illegitimate bastard offspring of this particular Cobra Commander and Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living.


Lessee... I got to combine genres or characters plus make a ThunderCats reference... I love it! This is your best work ever!


BEST. WORK. EVER!!!

JAMILYN said...

Dangdude... this is awesome 'nuff said

Anonymous said...

You'll get a more detailed comment on DA, but man, thats cool stuff dude:D

Patreek said...

Hey man,

Thanks again for drawing Wraptor. I really love what you did, and although I MAY be biased I really truely think its the best you've done so far. Just everything about it I love: The pose, the vibrant colors everything!

Great job and thanks again!

Patreek

J.Ho said...

lord shen: thanks for the kind words... however, the imagery of a devolved cobra commander makin babies with mumm-ra is... disturbing to say the least. O_O

jamilyn: thanks dude!

super-munkyboy: thanks man! yours turned out pretty badass too!

patrick: thank you! even if you are biased as the proud papa of wraptor, this piece did get a pretty good reaction out of people. and it was a lot of fun for me too!