Graphic Content

And now, a comic strip - Action figures revolt!

Hopefully you all had a chance to check out Charlie Bennis's awesome "Soup-er Man" this morning, but we've had so many great entries that we're not slowing down a bit.

 

So, I thought we could dive into our first full-fledged comic strip on this fine Tuesday afternoon. This one comes from Isaac Reichenbach and it definitely put a smile on my face. Take a look at it and you’ll see why (click it to enlarge it and get a better view).

 

   

Now the reason I enjoyed this so much is because my initial passion for comics was significantly influenced by the fantastic offering of X-Men and Marvel Superhero toys with which Toy Biz seemed to dominate the action figure aisle for quite a few years. You see, I had the Marvel Superheroes Board Game (somewhat chaotically seen here), and my best friend and I would use my various action figures to act out the battles fought in the game. For hours. Tons of hours.

 

That said, I’m very glad that Isaac’s vision of the toys’ revenge never became a reality for me. It would have been a sad day when my beloved Captain America and Wolverine figures turned against me by pairing with Magneto and Venom for a full-fledged toysault and battoyry (did I try too hard there?). Needless to say, I survived my childhood experience unscathed. Which is why it’s funny to laugh at the kid who did get beat up by his toys.

 

Thanks for the great submission, Isaac. You mentioned that you don’t make a ton of these comic strips, but I certainly enjoyed this one and would love to see what you come up with in the future if you try again.

 

So, we're now diving into both superhero (or Souperhero) designs AND comic strips themselves. Lots of bases being covered, all of them totally rad, so keep sending in your submissions to [email protected] and we'll be sure to include them in the week's postings.

 

I'm looking forward to posting the new ones and hopefully adding my thoughts (as long as you guys aren't tired of hearing me ramble about my comic love). Leave your comments and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear what you readers/viewers have to say (and I'm sure the artists wouldn't mind some appreciation either).

 

Thanks, and we'll be back with more soon!

 

-The Wordsmith (Mike)

Putting the "soup" in Superhero...

Well hopefully you had a chance to check out Andrew Brynjulson’s submission in yesterday’s Graphic Comic post. It was definitely a great start to the week, so check it out here if you haven’t seen it yet (but don’t forget to come back to today’s submission).

 

Speaking of today’s submission, we’ll start the day off with a superhero so unique that I don’t know if any superhero in existence even remotely comes close to what this guy has to offer. Rather than ruin it with my own words, I’ll let artist Charlie Bennis describe this one. He uses some throwback, Stan Lee-esque description that reminds me of the good ol’ days when Stan the Man ran the Marvel Universe. But first, here’s Charlie’s submission (warning: he puts the soup in superhero):

 

 

 

Now, as Charlie put it, "Here is a drawing of the Souperist hero around. He is strong and delicious. Making a rare apearance outside of his lair, Progresso Point. After seeing Souper Girl bisqued away he will hunt the enemies down and make chowder out of them!"

 

I’ve gotta say, I love the commentary. I’m guessing when Soup-er Man catches his enemies, the soup de jour will be a steaming serving of pain and punishment. I’m glad to know he’s out protecting our town and our tastebuds with his stupendous souperpowers and his ability to swiftly swing that spectacularly-sized spoon.

 

Great work, Charlie. I really enjoyed how you were able to take such a basic concept (and humorous pun) and turn it into something brilliant. Excellent stuff.

 

And to everyone else, thanks for checking in today. Feel free to leave your thoughts or insight in the comments section and let us know how you feel about Graphic Comic so far this week. On a side note, we’ve got some good news. Due to the high number of excited GC entrants for Graphic Comic, we’ll probably need to start posting two posts each day to make sure everyone gets credit for their “Spectacular Submissions.” We’ll probably roll with an earlier-morning post and then an early-afternoon post to satisfy your comic cravings this week (so check back later today for more!).

 

To me, too many submissions are so much cooler than too few, so thank you all for submitting, and if you have any more brilliant entries, send them along to [email protected] and we’ll get them included. Thanks again!

 

Mike “The Stegosaurus” Billeter

 

(It’s a reference to me thinking that my head is tiny compared to the rest of my body. That Holli Rausch is a funny gal… haha..ha..ha…aww…)

 

P.S. - Here's what I'm guessing is Charlie's initial sketch of the Souperhero. Very cool to see what it became from that point...