This piece was done by Joao for the This Week Jam’s character: Thor, from Marvel Comics. It’s a pretty heavy spoiler from Civil War, so far, and the funny thing is that when Joao and I were sharing notes on this Jam week, we realized we were doing variations on the same thing. When I saw the results of his endeavors, I was blown way. The composition is soooo awesome.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute – Thor [Joao]
2. TRDL Tribute – Loki 01 [New Thor]
3. TRDL Tribute – Thor 2010

This is Cat09, one of the initial members of Japan’s Covert Star Initiative.

Concept, Design and Art: Thom Chiaramonte
Origin: Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Cat09

Name: Moko Fujihasa
Affiliation: Shining Star

Attributes:

Melee: 40
Reflex: 30
Muscle: 20
Vigor: 30
Acumen: 10
Observation: 20
Will: 10

Life: 120
Influence: 40

Abilities:

Energy Generation: Cat09’s posthuman latent ability is to generate arcs of pulsating energy, which surround her and react to her environment. In their natural state, they are more concussive in effect [5 IV], repelling objects more than causing damage, and very difficult to control. In addition, small, lightweight objects lose gravity pull around her, causing them to levitate weakly [0 IV]. However, with the refinements developed for her by the Covert Star Initiative, these abilities become much more coherent.

Efficiency Pods: The system developed to harness Cat09’s abilities involves a three way electro-neurological link, between her brain, her hands and the pods themselves. Each pod is a finely tuned transformer, that sharpens the frequency of her energy flares to a tight, powerful arc of whipping energy. The implants in her cerebrum allow her normally-weak ability to control the direction and intensity of her flares, to become highly controlled and voluntary impulses. The transmitters in her head-sheath in turn chain to the receivers on the backs of her hands, which then amplify that signal and transmit it to the pods that harness her energy whips. Ina dormant state, these pods are magnetically clamped to her hand transmitters. When in use, they take advantage of her mild telekinetic abilities, and hover around her. The movement of her hands causes the flow of the pods in space around her to conform, so she can direct the behavior of the pods through her arm motions, most effectively in a slow, organic, circular motion. Her amplified thoughts control the intensity and direction of the energy arcs themselves.

In this way, her power rank becomes Incredible [40 IV], and she is able to use the energy whips in a variety of ways:
-create shields of arcing energy that resist up physical and energy attacks [30 AP], and causing damage [30 AP] back on a physical attacker
-strike targets causing energy damage [40 DP]
-precision work, levitating or manipulating objects of considerable mass (levitation [20 IV])
-striking multiple targets (up to 9, with a -1CS cumulative for each three separate targets, applied to her Melee attribute)
-disrupt electrical and radio communication [50 IV]
-Levitate her body, including limited flight at [10 IV; 10 RV]

Origin:

Moko Fujihasa was one of the original candidates in Japan’s Covert Star Initiative, designed to create posthuman security defenses for government officials and sensitive cultural, scientific or defense entities in the country that were deemed potential targets for outsider aggression, in the wake of increasing tensions between China and the United States, and surveillance proving North Korea’s powered armor programs in development. The Covert Star Initiative was the longest posthuman process, relative to similar programs in the West, involving several months of treatments and study, before the results could be analyzed and refined for training purposes. While Fujihasa was one of three initial participants to successfully receive the early treatments without rejection, her past caught up with her along the way.

The daughter of a mid-level corporate raider in a Kyoto energy company, her relationship with her family had always been strained, ever since she rejected her father’s efforts to see her follow in his footsteps and study applied sciences. Unfortunately, her father’s company, though technologically innovative, was too small to defend itself against a hostile takeover, and found itself under siege by Taiwanese energy giant Sun Gold. Behind the scenes, though, Takeshi Fujihasa and his personal security had been receiving more immediate encouragement to sell the company, in the form of underworld muscle that began making themselves visible at his home, outside the Fujihasa Technologies building in Kyoto, and at his daughter’s Academy of Dance. While he resisted the obvious attempts at pressuring him to surrender the company to Sun Gold’s purchase offer, the kidnapping of his only daughter left him no choice. His wife was the one to sign for the courier package at their home, which contained her daughter’s manicured pinkie finger, mockingly prepared as sashimi. Takeshi Fujihasa surrendered his company the next morning, against the advice of the police and a special task force assigned to protect him after the threats began. Moko was dumped from a moving vehicle near the outskirts of the city within the pre-dawn hour.

What neither the mob enforcers, nor Mr. Takeshi knew, was that the Academy of Dance, while a legitimate educational facility, was also a cover for the Covert Star Initiatives extended training program. During the 48 hours that Moko Takeshi was missing, the entire Covert Star Initiative organization was on high-alert, believing the program to have been compromised. Black ops raids on four known private Japanese bio-engineering companies with suspected ties to either North Korea or mainland China yielded minimal results. Upon her release and decommissioning, it was determined that the kidnappers had no knowledge of Moko’s involvement in a secret government posthuman program, and, according to her training, she had played possum and not let alone any of her combat training, unless it would eventually become necessary. Her willingness to allow her own digit amputation, without defending herself, and without losing control of her latent abilities and unleashing an energy arc, was impressive to the Covert Star organization, and she received both a special commendation, and an eventual promotion to team leader.

In the short term, however, her father’s company was sold to Sun Gold legally, and her family moved out of the city in shame, relived to have prevented, or so they assumed, their daughter’s certain assassination, but unable to take reminders of her father’s technology legacy and the pressures of the urban environment any longer. Moko Takeshi stayed in Kyoto at the Academy, and secretly completed her training with Covert Star, who adapted the Pod Harness feedback system to function with less than ten pods active, accounting for her missing digit, as the previous system in development relied upon a nervous system chain connected to each finger. Subsequently, the improved design would allow her to control the pods in combat, even when one or more were destroyed, a considerable advancement over the original design. Her code-name, whimsically suggested by the Director of the Covert Star Initiative, Mr. Godoro, became Cat09.

:::

The illustration can be found herein the TRDL Universe Gallery[/quote]

We hope you enjoy!

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 81: Dr. Go
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 06: Surujin
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 26: Fine Ancestor

Thanks for being a part of the TRDL community!

Here’s to much, much more in 07

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1. Happy New Year from Third Rail Design Lab!
2. Happy Holidays from TRDL [all 4!] UPDATED
3. Happy Holidays to All!

This was done for the This Week Jam, the character, of course, being Marvel’s most famous high-powered red-haired hottie reincarnate, Phoenix.

When Joao sent me the initial drawing for his piece, I was floored. I could vividly see the original cover in my mind’s eye, but I swear he did Cockrum’s memory some serious justice, because this is good enough to be the real thing, in my opinion. My favorite detail is Jean’s fists, which, at those particular angles, are tough to draw. Great piece, dude!

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute: SuperReal!
2. TRDL Tribute – Phoenix [Dave Cockrum Design]
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Baby Boom is a member of the renegade posthuman superteam, the Intruders.

Concept, Design and Art: Joao Marques
Background: Joao Marques and Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Name: Amparo Garcia
Affiliation: The Intruders

Attributes:

Melee: 20
Reflex: 40
Muscle: 30
Vigor: 30
Acumen: 10
Observation: 10
Will: 10

Life: 120
Influence: 26

Abilities:

Energy Generation: Baby Boom can generate explosive energy blasts [40 IV; 40 RV], and control their behavior, from instantaneous yield to delayed explosions, which reduce the intensity and damage of the explosion by 10 points. She can set off multiple explosions at -1CS per blast, within the same round, with no multiple-action penalty.

Flight: Baby Boom enjoys a very limited form of flight [Intensity and Range of 5] which she is utilizes in the form of leaping actions. She believes it to be a ‘leaping’ ability, not the true, if weak, flight that it is. She often incorporates this into physical attacks, enjoying a +1CS to Reflex Attacks that involve her physical gymnastic ability.

Origin:

Amparo Garcia was the youngest candidate in the Northern European Achievement Initiative posthuman development program, attracted to the project after being discovered by NEAI scouts in Amsterdam, who witnessed her daring, if reckless, escape from local police perusing her for drug solicitation charges, a spectacular chase that traversed six winding, criss-crossing miles of alleyways, markets, thoroughfares, rooftops and waterways, culminating in Garcia sipping cider at a café as police cruisers unwittingly plowed by her. The scouts offered her an appealing proposition: join the program, and they would use their contacts in local government to have all records of her wild teen run-ins with the law expunged, and provide a healthier outlet for her energy and self-destructive behavior, through a drug rehabilitation program. With no intention of actually quitting her habit, but intrigued at the opportunity to have a clean slate and potentially scope out the apparently well-funded program for score potential, she agreed.

What followed was two weeks of intense detox and reprogramming, much of it against her will, which rid her of the physical addiction to the heroin, but would leave emotional scars, of self-loathing, mistrust, and paranoia, that would surface much later. She entered the NEAI’s posthuman development program, and excelled at her training, impressing her supervisors and showing great potential for the bio-engineering to come. The results of the process eventually yielded dynamic results: the ability to generate destructive blasts of energy, and direct them at will. She, along with thirteen other candidates, comprised the frist graduating group of candidates in the NEAI program, from which members were selected for posthuman uniformed identities, to be sold to certain Northern European countries participating financially in the program. She was troubled to learn, however, that some of the candidates were being tapped to act as adversaries to the the future national heroes of Europe, and that the goals of the program, while altruistic in concept, were driven by financial gain and entirely bendable to the will of whichever avenue of income best suited the privately-directed project.

Garcia, and two other candidates, saw themselves as posthuman mercenaries for hire, and loathed the idea of being told to perform roles in the public eye. Their futures had been sold to them as future uniformed heroes of the world, not actors, and it sat poorly with several of the candidates. These three, Garcia, Markos van Zandt, and one other, would take action. During a field training exercise, they made their escape. Unfortunately, Garcia and Van Zandt survived an explosion that killed their companion, or so they thought. Fearing capture, they fled to Germany and disappeared.

When the NEAI, through local government agencies across Europe, began circulating images of Amparo and Van Zandt, digitally edited to be responsible for a terrorist attack, identified only as Temper and Red Claw, they fled the country and successfully eluded authorities. They became the core members of what would soon be labeled ‘the Intruders’ by the press, attracting other posthumans who found their destinies outside of the sponsored-posthuman programs. But the escape attempt would weigh heavily on Garcia for years to follow, blaming herself secretly for the presumed death of their fellow candidate, whom they never knew, in name or background. And the dark temptations of addiction, which would never rematerialize in physical form, continued to plague her, manifesting in personal recklessness and what seemed to be a deathwish in combat, which troubled Van Zandt, now Code Red, and could not be masked by her superficial, positive façade. Only with the discovery and inclusion of Jungle into the Intruders, would Garcia, now Baby Boom, find emotional stability, and peace…

… Or so she thought…

:::

The illustration can be found herein the TRDL Universe Gallery[/quote]

We hope you enjoy!

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 05: Code Red
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 53: Red Claw
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 72: The Intruders

Marvel Editor Poobah Tom Breevort put together a little breakdown of how a typical Marvel book comes together these days, over on his bog. You can follow it starting with this entry and it’s a nice look behind the curtain for those of you who might be interested in the timing and sequencing of the process. I found it most illuminating to look at Marcos Martin’s breakdowns and studies, as I always wonder how much other srtists’ thumbs have in common with mine. The answer is apparently not MUCH, if brilliant Mr. Martin is a typical example, because his thumbs are TIGHT. Also of interest is that he basically inks his pencils, then they get pushed blue for the inker to re-ink. Seems he doesn’t like doing finished pencils. This was an interesting look, because I still think of it like the old Bullpen days as shown in the Marvel Try-Out and How to Draw books I had (and still have) as a kid. The process is streamlined and a little more flexible now, it seems.

Go check out the making of Dr. Strange already!

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1. TRDL Tribute: Rogue [New Years 2010]
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OK, y’all, next R3 Designer Jam subject is by Tawd [thereisadinosaurbehindyou] who has been anxiously awaiting this to be selected.

Amoeba Man and crew are Tawd’s creator-owned characters, originally conceived when he was in elementery school. I’ll look to Tawd to post some reference pics, but I understand that there are several of them, so lots to choose from.

Tawd, also, let us know: do you want this jam to be artists doing illustrations of these characters as designed, or is this a redesign opportunity, too?

OK, let’s see what Tawd has for us…

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1. R3 Designer Jam FAQs
2. R3 Jam: Space Girls
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Helvetia was the national hero of Switzerland, though her career was tragically short-lived.

Art and Origin: Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Helvetia

Name: Freda Bern
Affiliation: n/a

Attributes:

Melee: 10
Reflex: 25
Muscle: 15
Vigor: 20
Acumen: 35
Observation: 25
Will: 35

Life: 70
Influence: 95

Abilities:

Enhanced Physiology: As a result of her relatively primitive posthuman process, Helvetia enjoys a modest 10 AP of physical and energy damage resistance, as well as moderate improvements in her Attributes, above.

Alphorn: Helvetia’a latent ability is essentially sound generation. However, without enhancement, the frequencies she emits vocally are so high that they clear the audible spectrum, and the harmonics are phased so as to be non-destructive. With the use of the Alphorn, designed to amplify and modulate her vocal emissions, the harmonics are phased to be destructive wavelength patterns, allowing her to create a multi-toned call that causes 40 points of sonic damage over a Range of 20. The Alphorn has an effective Armor of 15 and a Core Strength of 20. All victims within range and without sonic protection must make an automatic Save vs. Stun/Shock or be incapacitated by searing pain in the inner ears and vertigo, for 1d6 rounds, and are unable to perform complex actions, suffering -3 CS to all attacks.

Force Field: Helvetia’s uniform contains a small forcefield generator, powered by a cold fuel cell, offering 30 AP against energy attacks.

Flight: Helvetia’s latent abilities also include limited flight of 10 IV at 15 Range and Speed.

Origin:

Dr. Freda Bern was one of the senior researchers in Switzerland’s own posthuman development program. When the three candidates for experimental study were deemed genetically unsuitable for the process, it was discovered that Dr. Bern was herself an ideal candidate. She was convinced to undergo the treatments, and proved to suffer only minimal side effects and disorientation, moving into training and latent ability study within three weeks of the procedure, a record among similar programs in Europe at the time. Though she was initially believed to only have developed a limited flight capability, the diagnostics revealed that she was emitting ultra-high-frequency soundwaves as she moved about the facility. The team determined that these emissions, which were being generated orally, could be harnessed and manipulated with considerable effect. This technology was employed in the development of her uniformed persona as Helvetia, in the form of her Alphorn, which was actually a sophisticated transmitter, based loosely on assumptions made about Liberty Group’s Bette Bellwether’s equipment, thanks t leaked whitepapers that were obtained by the Swiss government.

Helvetia debuted in the Spring, rescuing trapped tourists at a popular ski resort, then again at a fuel transport vehicle explosion near Lucerne. In both cases, she performed well above expectation, and grew to be very popular, both within Switzerland and abroad. The government planned to use Helvetia to campaign for a isolationist policy among the loose cadre of European postuman programs generating a national hero agenda. The European Union was, at the time, encouraging individual member countries to fund their own programs, with little forethought going into how the global interest in these programs might lead to a posthuman arms race, with the Americans and the Chinese well in the lead. Though not a member of the EU, Switzerland’s government favored keeping the arena of operations for European posthumans close to home, in the hopes of avoiding the growing tensions between the United States and her Eastersn rivals.

Unfortunately, on the eve of Helvetia’s speech before the European Union’s International Policy Committee, she was assassinated by a single shot, fired from what was eventually determined to be over 4 km distant. The impact of the projectile was immediately fatal to Helvetia, puncturing her torso and hurling her several meters down the grand stair leading to the administration building into which she had been entering, before a shocked crowd of journalists and spectators. Unprepared for an ambush, her forcefield was not engaged, though it was later determined it would have been insufficient to withstand the impact of the strike. The projectile was never publicly revealed, but the confidential investigation concluded that the deformed material had been some sort of aluminum arrow with a weighted bolthead. No suspect was apprehended.

The Swiss government have plans to put another individual in the Helvetia uniform, but have been unsuccessful, to date, in finding a suitable candidate.

:::

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Universe Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 81: Dr. Go
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 46: Antares
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 90: Q Suzuki

This was done for the This Week Jam, but that train has since blown the station. I recently finished it up with colors during my downtime. There’s a reference here which should give you a sense of timing as to when I was inspired to draw this piece. I still don’t feel like I’ve been able to do the contemporary WW justice… but fans of corsets probably would like this one. Damn!

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. R3 Jam: Re-Re-Redesign Wonder Woman
2. TRDL Tribute- Wonder Woman [Joao]
3. TRDL Tribute – Wonder Woman 2010 [TRDL Redesign]

This was done for the This Week Jam, but it’s a Two-fer this time…

Sauron from the pages of the X-Men, and Monica, from Joao’s childhood happy memories.

Sorry, Joao.

It wasn’t a fair fight.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute: Cannonball
2. TRDL Tribute: Bloodrayne
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