This piece was done for the R3 Designer Jam, the character being one of the many creator-owned property in R3 Member Tawd’s childhood pantheon of designs.

I was already working on another piece for this jam, when Tawd mentioned, off-hand, that he also had a character that was a ninja with arms and a body made from a tin can. As soon as I read it, I could instantly see the image you see here. It was as clear as day in my mind’s-eye, and that doesn’t happen with me often, and certainly not in, like, a millisecond. Fans of Aqua Teen Hunger Force will surely recognize poor Master Shake down there. Did you know he was a pistachio shake, according to the creators of ATHF? I did. Anyway, LOVE my ninjacanman, and especially, his brand of canned product. What fun. From concept to execution in under an hour…

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. New TRDL Ninja Spotted, Therefore Weak in Skillz
2. TRDL Tribute: Starfire

This piece was done for the This Week Jam, the character being Marvel’s Meggan, of Excalibur.

Joao’s piece here beautifully illustrates a number of concepts about the character I loved when i read the old Excalibur book: she’s gorgeous, she’s sexy as hell, she has cute toes, she has no sign of malice or dodgy motivation (though she always did get into romantic tangles, but out of innocence more than anything, though I can’t speak for the later stuff) and she’s got a lot in common with the classic mermaid of myth. The composition here is gorgeous, and I love the lighthouse in the background.

I also just realized how much it reminds me of my Amy Shaftoe pic, but much better…

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute – Meggan
2. TRDL Tribute: Halloween 2007
3. TRDL Tribute: Madame Masque (Iron Man Adventures)

Humble is one of the more aggressive members of the controversial sensationalist mercenary team, the Fingers of Hirabah.

Concept and Design: Thom Chiaramonte and Joao Marques
Illustration: Joao Marques
Abilities and Origin: Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Humble

Name: Samir Bok
Affiliation: Fingers of Hirabah

Attributes:

Melee: 20
Reflex: 20
Muscle: 30
Vigor: 50
Acumen: 40
Observation: 20
Will: 30

Life: 120
Influence: 90

Abilities:

Enhanced Physiology: Humble’s body has been grotesquely transformed, through the use of steroids, genetic grafting and nano-induced mutation, into a hardy, resistant and powerful physique. His musculature, while significantly enlarged and very strong, is prone to stiffness and cramping due to insufficient flexibility, so Humble is frequently in motion, stretching, swinging arms, keeping his energy level up, to stay loose and minimize tension in his major muscle groups. He enjoys resistance to physical and energy attacks [30 AP], resistance to thermal attacks [40 AP], and heals 10 points of Life every round when not in combat, as a result of the self-repairing nano-tissues used in his physical development. However, Humble suffers -3CS Melee and Reflex, and -1CS Acumen, for every round after an initial combat engagement where he was unable to stretch before engaging his opponent. This effect is cumulative, making him extremely vulnerable to ambush-based attacks. Ie. If Humble is able to spend one round stretching before combat, he suffers no penalties, but if he is forced into action without preparation, he suffers the attribute reductions shown above in the first round, then an additional reduction the next round, and so on, until he is either unable to stand, or finds an opportunity to stretch for rounds equal to the number of penalized rounds he suffered, each round of stretching counteracting each round of penalty, etc. As a result of this weakness, Humble suffers from paranoia. … Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 78: The Fingers of Hirabah
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 19: Bangkok Bill
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 114: Winter Queen

This piece was done for the This Week Jam, the character being Marvel’s Meggan, of Excalibur.

I read all of the original Excalibur series back then, and loved it. It was madcap, it was sexy, and it was Alan Davis. Plus, you know, War Wolves. All that stuff. And Meggan and her rad bodysuit was a huge part of why i liked the title (Kitty’s expanded leadership role in the X-titles being another) so when this jam topic was pulled, I was enthusiastic about getting her down on paper. I chose the green and black bodysuit, this being my favorite of her looks. I’m also struck by some subconscious influence I think this costume had on me and my design style, because I can think of 5 or 6 TRDL Original Characters with very similar lines.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute – Meggan 2
2. TRDL Tribute: Silver Sable
3. TRDL Tribute: Diabolik

This piece was done for the This Week Jam, the character being Marvel’s Captain America.

While I focused on the other man behind the shield, John Walker, our man Joao ripped Cap from the Civil War headlines, so to speak, and offered a more contemplative image, literally, than seen in either of the Cap vs. Iron Man one-shots. I love this piece, though chief in my admiration is his ability to seemingly effortlessly draw that helmet, which tasks me every time.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL 2011 Series No. 64 – Captain America [Film Version]
2. TRDL Tribute: Captain America 2008
3. Impressive Guest Art: Captain America

Pristine is a member of the multi-national crisis response team, Rampart.

Concept and Art: Thom Chiaramonte
Abilities and Origin: Thom Chiaramonte

::::

Pristine

Name: Patricia Caletrava
Affiliation: Project Hermes

Attributes:

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

Life: 90
Influence: 90

Abilities:

Suggestion: Pristine’s latent ability involves psychoactive suggestive synaptic stressors that are actuated through visual and auditory stimulation. Her epithelials release microtransmitter nanobots that are created in a glandular modification to her pancreatic tissue. The nanobots are tuned to a specific audiovisual frequency that causes powerful impulse manipulation in the human nervous system, which cause the victim who visually absorbs the transmitted information to highly susceptible to auditory suggestion. The action is tied to an irregularity in the adult hypothalamus, and affects language comprehension, muscle memory and decision-making, with active changes in the victim’s brain, triggered by an internal reactive response to the nanobot transmission stimuli. The nanobots only function for a brief window of less than one second, but are constantly being generated and released when Pristine’s skin is exposed. Because the visual inhibitors only dull the victim’s psychological resistance, the suggestive capability is administered through a vocal modulator implanted in Pristine’s throat, which allows her to give vocal commands that are virtually impossible for an affected victim to resist. The brain’s natural resistance to active protein re-distribution prevents these vocal commands from being complicated: Pristine can only effectively use single word commands, and only one at a time per target. The same word cannot be re-used with the same target, as the victim’s brain automatically compensates for the mutation of brain tissue that has occurred. If the target is unable to view Pristine’s skin for more than 10 rounds, the suggestion effect wears off, and they become lucid and exhausted, … Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 107: Draconia
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 124: Fria
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 101: Basilisk

This piece was done for the This Week Jam, the character being Marvel’s Captain America. I chose U.S. Agent, the occasional government stooge positioned to take Steve Rogers’ role as Captain America.

I always liked the colors of U.S. Agent, though I thought the guy was a jerk at the time. I hated John in Captain America duds, but when they rebranded him in this costume here, I was in love with it. Sure beat Steve’s ‘The Captain’ guise… I also liked how the darker colors gave him a more serious edge. Eventually some creators have done the same for Cap, which I appreciate as well. Anyway, I realize now that I broke the rules of the jam which I stated were ‘anything Rogers’. Whoops.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute – Captain Steve Rogers
2. TRDL Tribute: Patriot
3. TRDL Tribute- Captain America

This piece was done for the This Week Jam, the character being Marvel’s Phoenix.

I drew this back when i was recuperating from my tonsilectomy, but had no chance to really get on it until now, as I was pushing some end of the year commission work forward first. When i first saw that we had Phoenix as a character for the jam, a lot of ideas hit me at once, including another pass at Rachel (she never accepts) and a dark phoenix, which I’ve never attempted. But then i remembered that Cockrum had intended her to be very pure and vibrant, a reincarnation symbol of positive energy, in white and yellow, which marvel Editorial decided wasn’t purty enough, and pushed the green of her debut costume. It always stuck with me how awesome that contrast with her hair looked. So when it came time to draw this illustration, i was going for the serene, positive godliness of the character when she first revealed herself… using the original Cockrum color scheme. When looking for examples of it online, not particularly successfully, I came across the site of sometime R3 Member Singularity, who had done a version in this scheme… the use of a gold shade color for the white parts of the costume, instead of the very light blue I was originally using, completely finished the piece for me. I was pretty jazzed about the find.

Anyway, here it be!

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL 2011 Series No. 82 – Phoenix [Joao]
2. TRDL Tribute – Phoenix!
3. TRDL Tribute: Supergirl 2010 [Tulio Design]

Happy New Year from Third Rail Design Lab!

Follow this topic in the R3 Forum
here!… Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. Happy New Year from Third Rail Design Lab 2010 – 2011
2. Happy Holidays from Third Rail Design Lab 2010 !
3. Happy Holidays 2011 from Third Rail Design Lab