AVP: Arachnid vs. Predator

Among Spider-Man's major foes, Kraven was the one I liked the least. Maybe it was his goofy costume. I don't know. Even when I read Kraven's Last Hunt for the first time, I thought it was just okay (awesome Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod art, though). I loved it, though, when I re-read it when I was older. I guess my appreciation for it grew when I matured. And, yeah, I think I like Kraven much better now, too... Goofy costume and all.

Claws Encounter

The brown suit is still my favorite Wolverine costume. It was during those times that Logan was still not ridiculously over-powered (or OP, as the kids say nowadays). He was hard to kill, but it wasn't impossible.

I've always liked Native American characters when I was growing up, and Puma is no exception. He debuted as a Spider-Man adversary, but even then he didn't seem villainous. I think he's more of a Deathstroke-like character, straggling the line between friend or foe.

Arak in a Hard Place

 

I was maybe 8 or 9 years old when I bought Arak no. 4 on a whim at a small general merchandise store. I don't know why it caught my eye, the cover was Arak about to attack a monstrous tree with some people struggling to free themselves from its grasp. I liked it well enough, but it didn't compel me to buy any more Arak comics. I guess I was too much into superheroes back then (although I would buy DC's horror/mystery books whenever I'd see them. Go figure). I was already an adult when I bought a few more from back issue bins.

Rock 'n' Wrestling

Ben Grimm, the Thing, is my favorite Fantastic Four member. I guess it also holds true for a lot of readers since he was the only one who spun off successfully on a solo series (a number of them, actually). Marvel was trying to do the same with the Human Torch, but with little success. I guess Ben's troubled nature while still trying to be a positive guy resonated more with fans, as opposed to Johnny's cocky young man who has everything going for him.

Risky Business

 

John Byrne's take on Lex Luthor as a ruthless businessman (based on Marv Wolfman's idea, I believe) was very different from the mad scientist of the Pre-Crisis universe, but it worked. He became much more dangerous in my eyes, and it became difficult for Superman to bring him to justice since he could just employ an army of lawyers to avoid being imprisoned.

I think this clash would be something Ted Kord would lose, since during those days Ted was not too keen on running a company. Indeed, by the end of the Blue Beetle series his father had wrested control of the business from him.

Red, White, and Sacre Bleu!

I  first saw Batroc the (or should that be "zee"?) Leaper in a Marvel house ad for Crazy Magazine. I really haven't read too many stories with him in it, but I kinda like him because he demonstrated some sort of code of honor way back when Roger Stern and John Byrne used him during their all-too-brief run in Captain America.

I can totally see him teaming up with Cap for a while, but I know Steve isn't a fool who will trust him much.

Black Magic (Cat)Woman

 

This is my favorite Catwoman outfit. I know it's very impractical for running across rooftops, but during the time she wore this I don't remember her sprinting across Gotham's buildings. I think that version of Catwoman happened post-Crisis, specifically during Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's Batman: Year One.

Billy and Willie

 

It's been over half a year since I last posted! I was very busy with work but now I've been afforded a bit of a break so I managed to finish a new piece. I dabbled with a modern coloring style, hopefully I still managed to capture the essence of 1970s/1980s comic books with this one.

Captain Marvel is one of my all-time favorites ever since I first picked up Shazam no. 2, with the cover depicting him flying straight out of a comic book, and as a kid I didn't realize that the guy who fought the Man of Steel in Superman no. 276 was not the same guy. That was Captain Thunder, DC's test run to see if readers would want to see Superman and Captain Marvel battle it out. I guess it worked because eventually the two heroes would collide for real a short while later.

It would have been a hoot to see Marvel and Thunder encounter one another. And if you look closely at my depiction above you'll see who's masterminding this fight.

Parker Posin'

Out of all the actors who played Spider-Man, Tom Holland seems to be the one who's really into the role. In some of his social media posts, he really seems to think that he IS Spider-Man in real life.

The artwork above was colored by my daughter, Jade. You can see more of her work at galaxymascot.deviantart.com and at instagram.com/ta.kage.