This piece was done for the This Week Jam, the character being Storm of the X-Men.

I’ve drawn Storm a few times, but never with much satisfaction. in fact, i have especially NOT drawn her in the classic garb with much success. In my childhood versions, her headpiece seemed to be a mutated offspring of Galactus and the old Scarlet Witch get-up. it never worked. I was going to try again this week, but while on the bike this weekend, I was reminiscing about the days when i got back into comics after being left somewhat disillusioned by the work of Marc Silvestri and Jim lee and Rob Liefield, all who collectively nailed the final pin in my coffin of enjoyment at marvel Comics. Awhile later, i poked back into a comic shop, and discovered Joe Madureira, and was mesmerized. So, i decided to draw his version of Storm’s costume, specifically the one that struck me profoundly enough, at the time, to influence some of my later TRDL costume designs.

Does his work back then hold up now? Not as much for me, personally. I see holes in it I didn’t then, and subsequent artists who have imitated his style have made it seem less interesting in it’s east-meets-west way (what he calls Art Adams, followed by manga influences) but I was struck by his costume designs as well, and while I distinctly remember LOVING his space Rogue, this particular Storm was one of my favorites of his design work. I’m not sure that it has enough reference to the classic Storm to last the test of time, frankly, nor does it have something SO unique to it that it could replace that original look, but I remember being blown away by the haircut (not the first short cut for … Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL 2011 Series No. 73 – Storm [Joao]
2. TRDL 2011 Series No. 72 – Storm
3. Third Rail Thrills No. 61 – Sue Storm [Future Foundation]

This piece was done by Joao Marques for the This Week Jam, the character being Storm.

When Joao and I are working on our illustrations, a half a world apart, we often post teaser crops of the pieces to irritate, agitate, and inspire each other. I posted a curious three fingered thumbs-up-thrown from my piece this week to him (to which he guessed ‘Stormcrawler???’ which was great) and he posted to me a pic of some bats. I thought on it for a spell, and then it hit me: Bloodstorm, the vampire from the Mutant X series Marvel did a while back, with Tom Raney, and later i think Cary Nord, on pencils. As it turns out, I think, based on sales figures, Joao and I were the ONLY ones to read this book. It was so hazy for me, I could barely remember the art, but not the name of it. But I loved it at the time. The key difference though, and no offense to Raney, but Bloodstorm has never looked more smokin’ to me than she does here. I’m especially impressed with her left knee and leg position. Amazing, dude! Hats off to Joao on this one!

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: Helloween 2009
2. TRDL Tribute: Enchantress [2009]
3. TRDL Tribute: Halflife

This is the Wachter, Germany’s National Hero, and one of the earliest technology-based supernormals in the National Hero program.

Art and Origin: Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Wachter

Name: Erich Keller
Affiliation: German National Hero

Attributes:

Melee: 30
Reflex: 30
Muscle: 55
Vigor: 40
Acumen: 10
Observation: 20
Will: 15

Life: 155
Influence: 45

Abilities:

Powered Armor: Wachter is a normal human, a superb athlete and fighter with military training, who has trained in the effective implementation of a custom powered armor designed for his use in his National Hero identity. The armor is primarily comprised of a resin/carbon compound fiber interlaced with sheet titanium, forming an ultralight, durable, damage resistant plating that carries electrical impulses yet shields the wearer from energy damage Resistance vs. physical attacks [40 AP] and resistance vs. energy attacks [50 AP]. The suit’s unique properties allow a cybernetic extension of Keller’s nervous system to interact with the armor itself, allowing for heightened reflexes and improved tactility, reflected in the Attributes above. The armor also contains a life support system, and a sensor array including telescopic, thermogragh, IR imaging, and satellite interlink feed [+2 to Observation Actions], allowing Wachter to track both distant and local targets simultaneously. A primitive combat AI improves his reaction time against multiple targets, and allows the remote Wachter support staff to influence the armor’s combat protocols through a networked feed, in effect remote-controlling some aspects of his otherwise automated offensive and defensive capabilities, but never impeding his primary, willful action [+2 to Initiative and defensive Actions].

The armor comes equipped with a projectile launcher on each wrist: the right contains tear gas and mild neurotoxin shells for non-lethal crowd control [10 RV; area effect on ranged attack, victims must make a Vigor Save vs. a 30 IV attack, or become nauseated and disoriented … Read on for more awesome…

Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 73: Rampart
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 71: The Liberty Group
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 122: Lenin’s Hammer

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