This is using the “new” (well, new to me anyway) Photoshop coloring tricks from MelissaClifton.com. I’ll put the black and white lineart after the jump for the curious.

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So the question is:

I’ve left exactly which powers you get up to you, because every animal has both savory and unsavory attributes. I mean, imagine if Peter Parker had gotten spinnerets in his, er, posterior, the way a real spider does, instead of in his wrists. Unpleasant.

• Cat: Although several cat-themed characters exist (Cat-Man, The Black Cat, Cat Woman, etc.), I don’t think any of them got their powers by being bitten. If you’re lucky, you get super reflexes, the ability to see in the dark, always landing on your feet, and incredibly agility. If you’re unlucky, you get super hairballs, the compulsion to obsessively lick yourself, and a super indifference to other living beings.
• Cow: You have to work at it to be bitten by a cow, I admit. But this is a radioactive cow, so maybe it was driven to irritability by the power of the atom, who knows. It’s hard to see much good coming out of this, although I suppose the prospect of being able to shoot super high-powered streams of milk from your nipples would be decent. I’d certainly be curious to see what kind of villains that would give rise to.
• Dragonfly: Flight and quickness are very appealing possibilities, but unfortunately I don’t see much beyond that. According to “The Dragonfly Website FAQ“, however, “large dragonflies will sometimes try to bite, but they fail to break the skin.” That doesn’t sound like much of a super-power. “With the might of a mutant dragonfly, his powerful jaws … FAIL to break the skin!”
• Dog: One assumes the frenzy of rabies doesn’t count as a super-power, so instead we’d hope for things like super-powerful olfactory senses, super-hearing, incredible endurance, super-strong jaws, and that sort of thing. To some degree this would depend on the dog breed, of course. A Doberman-powered radioactive bite would make for a Superman style power set, but I shudder to think what would result from a radioactive Mexican Hairless or Chihuahua. Super-shivering and hyper-nervousness FTW!
• Dung beetle: OK, I stole this idea from a “Dilbert” cartoon. You’d almost be forced into super-villainy, because let’s be honest, the power to consume waste and poop out something good is not exactly inspirational.
• Ferret: Ferrets are agile, lightning-fast, and wily, all great bases for a super-hero. Add in keen tracking ability and a Spider-Sense-like ability to avoid danger, and this one has real potential. Sadly, the prospects for an accompanying super-bad-smell are also high.
• Horse: Living with five horses, I can confirm that they do bite from time to time. The only super-power I’ve ever seen result was a super desire to run screaming from other horses, but none of the ones I saw were radioactive. So. Clearly, super speed and endurance and a heightened awareness of danger would be the upside. The downside would be a super-powerful urge to pee or poop on pretty much anything in sight. Not pretty.
• Mongoose: The evidence of “The Whizzer” aside, I wouldn’t think of super-speed as the likeliest outcome here. Toughness and quickness, yes. Plus a strong hatred of snakes. I think maybe the GI Joe corps should look into this ….
• Monkey: Super poo-flinging powers GO!!
• Scorpion: I think Spider-Man has a villain based on the scorpion, but his powers come from a suit. I am too lazy to look this up online — we’re talking several clicks here, people, I can’t be expected to shoulder that kind of load! — but still, the possibilities of built-in super-scorpion abilities are pretty appealing. Wicked bad poison, lightning quick-strike ability, the tough armored shell, multiple limbs. Plus, you could make your lair look like a giant shoe so you could curl up in it. What’s not to love!?
• Shark: Appealing, but you’re much likelier to survive the initial radioactive bite from one of the other members of the list.
• Snake: Like the shark, getting bitten by a radioactive version of an already deadly-poisonous creature carries significant risks. But the venomous snakes are the ones with the most appealing possible super-power set. Moving crazy like a sidewinder, or having the super venom spitting ability of a pit viper, or the hypnotizing power of the cobra, those would be cool. But what if you got bitten by a garter snake or garden snake? Not so impressive.
• Weasel: I just like to say “weasel”.

For me, I’d go with the ferret. I tend to play thief-like characters in most games, and it seems like you’d be ideally suited to spying and sneaking with super-ferret powers. The runner-up for me would probably then be weasel, because I’ve always been fascinated by the possibility of a career in law. Ha ha! Just kidding, all you lawyers out there, you know I love you.

Which animal would you choose to gain super-powers from if bitten?

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(From “Master Comics” number 58, 1945.)

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The rules are simple:

• No more than three entries per person;
• All entries must be left as a comment (all in one comment or separate ones, doesn’t matter) to this post;
• Must be relatively clean, appropriate for broadcast on late-night network TV, for instance.

That’s it! Good luck everyone, we’ll post the Finalists for voting next Monday.

(Image from “Action Comics” number 1, © DC Comics, Inc. Yes, this is the one with Superman in it, so you can see why he’d be afraid of magic for the rest of his career.)

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RoboGirl by Brons

I liked how Brons was able to keep a sense of femininity in this armored-up character. The wrist-mounted gun and boot flames were also cool

(Click to embiggen.)
Torch by Crinold

I liked this ensemble, with the red bits nicely offset by the gray underarmor. The use of the robo-tentacle as a tube conduit for the flamethrower was also well done. And I like the side-by-side view showing him both with and without his mask. I didn’t ultimately feel like this was really an Iron Man style armored design, but I did think it looked great.

Captain Steam by Demented The Clown

I almost picked this one as the overall winner, both because of the super cool gear gloves and the overall nifty steampunk vibe. The design carries through the entire figure very well, I like this one a lot. But, like with Crinold’s, I didn’t think it was really a fully-armored design. Well done, though!

(Click to embiggen.)
First Responder by Hammerknight

I picked this one as an Honorable Mention because I thought it was the strongest characterization out of all the entries. The name and the auras make this a definitive hero, a guy with a mission and a reason for being. The design is good too, but it’s all in service to the concept, which is hugely important.

Green Ronin by Imp

Green Ronin also has a strong sense of identity, which I like. The addition of the antennae to the robot head also help jazz it up, and the pose overall has a lot of life in it.

Which brings us to our overall winner for this week. I’m glad he’s bringing home the gold (and a prize of whatever item he wants, or a portrait of himself, to appear in the final HeroMachine 3 version), because every time out he’s working hard and putting together strong submissions. So let’s hear it for the winner of Character Contest 29, Kyle!

Three things brought home this entry as the winner, rescuing it from the fate of being too generic by dint of the matching pieces that I more or less drew to match on purpose. First, I like that the face of the character shows through the helmet. Tweaking the alpha on the actual face is a nice touch too, making it look like she’s behind glass. Second, I love the extra set of limbs mid-body. That’s just neat. And why not, she’s in a huge robot suit, it ought to have as many limbs as needed. And finally, the simple color scheme is very effective in tying the whole design together.

Great job Kyle and everyone who entered, thank you all very much!

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It was a narrow victory of just three votes, with the second runner-up being JWMan:

Thanks to all who entered and congratulations both to Spidercow2010 and all the Finalists!

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(Click to embiggen.)

Apparently I have a thing for the Rocketeer. Note I stole the background from the contest prize for Captain Thorn and the jet pack from Backplane-Standard. Sue me.

I also tried doing more “advanced” coloring right in Flash. The main problem I am running into on that front is getting the line color right, as Flash doesn’t have a nifty “preserve transparency” option like Photoshop does. There’s a way around it with Masking but it’s crude and hard to work with. It’s fun learning, though.

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(From “Punch Comics” number 14, 1945.)

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(Click to embiggen.)

(ETA: Headline changed, I unwittingly used a derogatory term originally. Oops. I blame Bullwinkle.)

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(From “Master Comics” number 57, 1944.)

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