Comrade Hero's Pieces...

This turn-around ref is very well done but something about it was bugging me.
Had to stare at it for a few moments until it dawned on me what it was... is Comrade Hero supposed to be shorter than average?

Most comic heroes are drawn between 8½ heads and 10 heads tall but this depiction of CH looks to be
barely 7 heads, if that, (not measured it or anything just eyeballing it) is this accurate?

Funny you should touch upon the costume. I was just discussing that over on Facebook.

"The boots and gloves, like the belt buckle were based on uniform pieces and images from old World War II and post World War II Soviet patterns. The actual tactical belt though was based on a modern US Law Enforcement pattern.

It's either leather, spandex, body conforming hard shell body armor, or swimsuit/lingerie ensembles in a lot of Comic Books.

I was watching one of future science shows on Discovery Channel (or was it History Channel?) and the show was discussing next generation soft body armor materials made from materials like carbon nanotubes.

Tactical combat shirts and vests keep getting stronger and more resilient, but at the same time more lightweight and flexible. So I started incorporating that into costume design and character images from 2010.

The big star on Comrade Hero's chest is like a bullseye to draw fire, and is accordingly the upper chest area is more armored. In one scene Comrade Hero bemoans the fact that everyone else is wearing uniforms are less colorful and are more discrete. Comrade Hero is basically told that given his degree of imperviousness to harm, it makes sense for him to walk point and take the first shots."


You're completely spot on and yes there's a reason for this version of Comrade Hero not having idealized comic book sized proportions.

Yamandú was given the physical dimensions and body reference shots of competition era Arnold Schwarzenegger - that was the limit of physique that I wanted Comrade Hero to have. The facial reference was based off Viggo Mortensen's turn in Eastern Promises. The other direction was that this Comrade Hero was in his late 30's - early 40's.

Not an athletic, younger hero like Nightwing, or an extremely muscular adult hero in the same physique build of DC's Superman and Captain Marvel. That's not saying that I don't like Comrade Hero being portrayed as such, I just wanted to go down the more 'realistic' route that Scott Turk started when he worked on the revised Comrade Hero uniform last year.

Christopher isn't wrong though about the general size of comic book heroes. They do tend to be larger than life in terms of height and physique.

That's a neat picture with the heads you did there Ironik, do you mind if I copy that and use it for a baseline sort of reference?

Actually that's great. If I get that sort of Snake Plissken reaction from Christopher ("I thought he'd be taller") about Comrade Hero being larger than life, then I'm on the right track in terms of making a memorable character.

Hey, he's your hero. I actually shouldn't let you use it, because I'm mad at you. I followed the link by the picture and spent 2-1/2 hours on Deviant Art. Grr grr.

Ouch. Wouldn't a ruler have been quicker?

*ducks*

Yeah, once you start searching, it's almost as bad as TV Tropes.

Angel Red
"We're heroes. Fighting injustice is the thing we do." ~Rebel Scum

Well either that or your Google search ph41lz @ teh context. lolz0r
*crumples up midgetized Minotaurus sketch just to be on the safe side*


Indeed, the accompanying text to the image I linked above (Big John Buscema of Marvel) reads...

"Lets start with an average joe. Most average guys are abiout 6½heads tall. But take a look at this sketch of Reed Richards. Notice that he's 8¾ heads tall. If we draw a hero he's got to look like a hero. He should be of heroic proportions. Unfortunately, the normal 6½ head tall proportions would make him look somewhat dumpy in a Marvel mag..... a superhero simply has to look more impressive, more dramatic, more imposing than an average guy."

Word.



P.S. TV Tropes is ebil, stay away or lose many otherwise productive hours of your life!

TV Tropes is Ebil - waste too much on there

Every so often Comic Books cop the same flak that Fashion Magazines do - the portrayal of idealized physiques and looks that most men and women (and it's the idealized stereotyping of women that cops the most flak in Comic Books) that Joe and Jane Average can't generally aspire too.

Of course the majority of Comic Book Superheroes are drawn to be idealized versions of human beings - this is escapist entertainment after all.

And it's nothing new - humans have been 'exaggerating' the physical appearance of themselves in artform all the way back to our primitive ancestors scratching away on cave walls.

If you look at the images and statues of fertility goddesses worshipped in ancient times the depictions are often of large women with Ruben-esque proportions rather than the athletic Greco-Roman portrayals of physical perfection.

The way I'm going is that very few people in my 'world creation' will fit the classic Comic Book Superhero standard. Ironically enough, the ones who will fit the mold are considered to be the Ideal Heroes by the public - young, fit, handsome, and whose public appearances and press releases are handled through an agent - basically everything that Comrade Hero is not.

No no no, Minotaurus is totally 10 heads tall.

He's the exception to the rullllllle!

::: weeps :::

Thanks. That whole re-entry sequence and first few pages are directly inspired by the opening television introduction to 'The Six Million Dollar Man.'

One of the classic television introductions in history.

The captions come from notes I took whilst reading about the realities of fatal injuries and death in space vs. the Hollywood movie portrayals. I had originally written a piece that had Comrade Hero floating helplessly in orbit musing about his impending death - Origins I.

Red Hero 2011

Arc: 379017: Outbroken See all your old friends in the Outbreak Tutorial sequel!
Arc: Coming Soon: The Incarnate Shadow Shard of Fire and Ice Mender Rednem needs you!
Massively.com opinion poll: Please Help Save CoH!

That's doubly true, although you're not supposed to know where the submarine base is.

*takes notes* must add more lines of exposition...

That's the beauty of sharing work with others - because I've invested so much time in this, I don't necessarily see any oversights, errors, or omissions. Other eyes can can spot what I can't.


Ah... right.

Page 2. Comrade Hero strike the earth with the force of a small meteorite, hence the massive crater. That metal building/ship is the coning tower of a submarine breaking the ice. Why is the crater mostly empty. Snow and ice don't burn - but it does steam. For such a small body - the huge impact crater is created by a human body. That little device in the soldier's hands is a wibbly-wobbly bit of tech that is cleverly disguised as a defibrillator.

Not revealing the base's location is cool, but I do think a bit of added background info about the story and/or world wouldn't hurt. Or heck, just something similar to what you have on the opening page:

Tracking <insert codename here>.

Terminal velocity reached.

Impact area: Arctic Circle <longitude/latitude coordinates>.


For what it's worth, I followed it fine and was going to pretty much say this.

Bikini Girls With Machine Guns... there's a song there.


Furiously scribbles down more notes...