dimanche 19 avril 2015

The Red and the Black - Redux - Parallel portraits of Batman and Daredevil




The Red Devil and the Dark Knight, pencilled by David Mazzucchelli

Recently, I had the occasion to rewrite this article in French for Bruce Lit, a blog I occasionally contribute to. I received positive feedback about the new pictures I choose to illustrate it. So, to come full circle, I decided to update the old English article with the new pics and rewritten parts.

dimanche 22 février 2015

Vertigo thoughts : suggestions for mature readers

I had fun with superheroes new year's resolutions last month, so I felt like to do a similar exercise, this time with Vertigo series...

Death is one of my favorite comic-book character

lundi 19 janvier 2015

New Year's resolutions with superheroes

January is not over yet... Let's take some resolutions with Marvel's superheroes !


samedi 20 décembre 2014

The Murdock Interviews - part 7 (The lost issue)

Ages ago, I planned a twelve parts comic-strip playing with the concept of Matt Murdock/Daredevil looking for a job.
I had posted 6 strips but totally forgot I had this one sleeping on my computer...
Consider it my very small tribute to DD's 50th anniversary...

Playing to the Camera (sort of)


Catégorie : Blogging_Comics

dimanche 27 juillet 2014

The joy of customology

As I update this blog once in a blue moon, I'd like to go into some details of customology. I don't think this is a word, though. The most accepted term would be "action figure customizing". But it's a wink to the title of a cocktail book, as custom figures and cocktails do have a common point : it's all about mixing parts.
Bon, pour le post du jour (voire de l'année), on va causer customologie. Je crois que le mot n'existe pas, mais c'est un clin d'oeil à un titre de bouquin sur les cocktails. En fait, il faudrait parler de customization de figurine. Le point commun avec les cocktails : il faut mélanger les ingrédients.

To illustrate this idea, I'll do a sort of making of of my latest custom action figure (and 50th entry at figurerealm) : Mr. Freeze.
Au programme, un tuto express de mon dernier custom (le 50ème dans ma galerie de figurerealm) : Mister Freeze.

The first step is a very funny one : design. You have to picture out what kind of figure you wanna get.
For Mr. Freeze, I had a lot of freedom, as the character had many looks through the years.
Le design est une étape assez fun, il faut choisir le look de la figurine qu'on veut obtenir. Avec un perso comme Mister Freeze, dont le costume a beaucoup varié, il y a pas mal de marge de manoeuvre.


I choosed a "heavily armored" look, red goggles, an all-glass helmet with a big big freeze-gun.
Je suis parti sur un look "armure lourde", avec les lunettes rouges, un heaume tout en verre et un très gros pistolet à glace.

Next, you have to select parts of existing figures you'll re-use for your custom. Here's another common point with cocktails : it's always good to start from a strong base.
I went with a grey Iron Man armor, changing upper legs and adding elements from a Destro Arctic Threat figure.
How did I know it would work ? Trials and errors, experience... For instance, transplanting upper legs needed some unforeseen re-tooling.
Ensuite, il faut sélectionner les parties à assembler. Comme dans les cocktails, il vaut mieux partir d'une base assez forte. J'ai choisi l'armure grise d'Iron Man, avec le haut des jambes du Dynamo Pourpre et des éléments d'une figurine GI Joe (Destro version polaire).
Il faut parfois pas mal d'essais et erreurs dans cet exercice (ici, la greffe de jambes a nécessité un peu de bricolage).



More often than not, you'll need to add sculpts : here it's the collar piece, the goggles, the ears and the helmet. Consider sculpts like bitters, you may go without it, but it won't be the same at all. It makes the whole thing come together.
Assez souvent, il faut sculpter certaines pièces : ici celle autour du cou pour installer le heaume, les lunettes et les oreilles. La sculpture additionnelle, c'est comme les bitters, on peut faire sans mais c'est pas pareil. Ca donne de la personnalité à la figurine.

And then painting. I'm running out of cocktail-comparisons here as it's where customs and cocktails go separate ways. You drink cocktails, you display customs. Ones have to taste good, others have to look good.
Et enfin la peinture. La comparaison avec les cocktails s'arrête là... à moins de boire les customs ? Nan, mauvaise idée.

Last common point with cocktails but very specific to Mr. Freeze : ice, ice, baby...
Dernier point commun avec les cocktails, mais juste pour Mister Freeze : la glace.

Mr Freeze is a bit like Fonzie...
Et tu sais comment il est Fonzie ?
 
...he's cool!
Il est cool...
 


Catégorie : Blogging_Misc