Comrade Hero by Jeffrey Cruz

Here is a slightly cartoonish version of my tanker, Comrade Hero, by Jeffrey Cruz. More of his work can be found at DeviantArt here.

Linky

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Hey that looks pretty good. I like the coloring. I wish the flag (?) he's holding had a few more highlights to it, like how his costume does and the rubble he's standing on. But overall, good work.

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I hate web blockers!

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I agree with Lush. It's got an old school appeal with new style added in. I'm such a sucker for the old school stuff...

Jim

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The Neverending Battle Continues; Be Heroes!!

Stuff I've Drawn

My Deviant Art Page

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Hey that looks pretty good. I like the coloring. I wish the flag (?) he's holding had a few more highlights to it, like how his costume does and the rubble he's standing on. But overall, good work.

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It's the flag of the Russian Federation Comrade Hero is holding. He's a post-Soviet version of Captain America, Judge Dredd and Superman all rolled into one.

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Looks great! Congrats!

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Looks spiffy. Very good detail innit.

And the concept for the character doesn't sound too bad, either.

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Very nice. I love the lighting and colors.

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Looks spiffy. Very good detail innit.

And the concept for the character doesn't sound too bad, either.

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For the curious:

Comrade Hero

Nikolai Alexandrovich Biryuk was born on November 5, 1970. The son of Aleksandr Biryuk, a high ranking diplomat in the Soviet Union’s United Nations delegation in New York; and Caroline Jackson, daughter of US shipping and oil magnate Thomas Jackson. Nikolai was born in the United States, but raised in the former Soviet Union by his father’s family in the Ukraine. His younger sister Nina was born in 1975, and was raised by his mother in the United States. Nikolai would not get to see his mother or sister in person until nearly three decades later.

Nikolai graduated from secondary school in 1988 and joined the Kharkov Higher Military Aviation School for Fighter Pilots. He graduated with honors in 1993, receiving his Pilot-Engineer diploma. Nikolai subsequently attended the Ministry of Aviation Industry Test Pilot School in Zhukovsky, receiving his Test Pilot Degree in 1996. Upon graduation, Nikolai was selected as an experimental test pilot and posted to a classified Russian Federal Space Agency test site somewhere in Siberia known simply as Lot 11.

Nikolai excelled as a test pilot and enjoyed working with the various ‘X Planes’ being constructed and tested at Lot 11. In the aftermath of the Rikiti War in 2002, Lot 11 came into possession of a number of Rikiti artefacts and technology. Some of this was reverse engineered and incorporated into the Phoenix Project - an attempt to create a fighter spacecraft that could make sub-orbital leaps through the edge of space. In 2003 Nikolai was given the honor of piloting Phoenix IV on its maiden voyage.

Nikolai piloted Phoenix IV to the edge of space with no problems. It was during testing of the sub-orbital ‘leaping’ ability that Nikolai ran into trouble. Phoenix IV was unexpectedly exposed to a massive bombardment of unknown cosmic radiation during one of the tests. Nikolai’s spacecraft exploded spectacularly, sending him hurtling helplessly towards the Earth. Nikolai plummeted over 70 miles and crashed into the frozen wastes of the Arctic. The resulting impact created a massive crater and briefly lit up the night sky with an eerie crimson glow.

A week later rescue crews recovered the unconscious Nikolai, and were astonished to find him alive and complete unharmed in the middle of a smouldering crater a half a mile across in diameter and 100ft deep. The cosmic radiation that had destroyed Phoenix IV had activated the latent mutant potential in Nikolai - creating a near indestructible man infused with cosmic energies he could now control and channel through his body.

Nikolai was immediately transferred to Moscow for debriefing and assessment by order of the GRU (Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie) Russian Metahuman Identification and Utilisation Division. Nikolai was quickly recognized as a potential asset and began specialist training to help him master and control his metahuman abilities. Nikolai was called ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ in recognition of his astonishing survival. But it was Nikolai who decided to adopt the mundane sounding 'Comrade Hero' as his hero identity, despite suggestions of several more exciting and dramatic hero names.

Given Nikolai’s parentage, it was decided to send him to the United States. Obstentiously as part of the Russian Federation’s continued assistance to the ongoing reconstruction of Paragon City, but primarily to gather intelligence and curtail the activities of the newly emergent Council. Moscow was particularly worried by the ease with which the Council had overthrown and absorbed the remnants of the 5th Column into its ranks.

Nikolai returned to the United States in 2004 and was granted a Paragon City Hero Registration Card in April 2004. He was also joyfully reunited with his mother and sister, and introduced to his American relatives.

As Comrade Hero, Nikolai strives to protect and educate the peoples of America against the depredations of criminal subversives, against capitalist exploitation by immoral corporations, and against oppression from the corrupt governmental policies and practises.

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