Brand new sketch added to the GrowlerVerse! Green Avatar in action! New superheroes for a New Age! Click the picture below to see her in a larger size.

Click here to see the full size sketch of her!

The Amazing Spider-Man 4 minute - Preview

The latest sketch in the GrowlersWorld Universe has been added! Check out the Eagle flying high, soaring among the clouds! Click the picture for the full size version.

Click here to see the full size version of him!

The Dark Knight Rises - Trailer

Brand new sketch added! In full colour no less! The costume was tweaked a little bit at the start of the gloves and boots to make it a bit more interesting. Click on the picture to see her in full size.

Click here to see the full size sketch of her!

Well, well, well. DC Comics - The New 52. Still top dog. DC Comics was broken for new or lapsed readers like me. It was heavy in contiuity and had less than compelling storylines save for a few. That quality was often headlined by Geoff Johns. Now, it's fresh, vibrant and urgent. I'm more excited for DC than Marvel for the first time ever. Learning a lot too of how to market comics in this brave new world. It's truly DC's time and their success is well deserved. Their second wave has had an awesome start with Earth 2 and World's Finest and with Before Watchmen, DC Comics will be owning the sales charts for a long time to come. Fortune truly favours the bold.

Prometheus - Trailer

Just added the latest TechSorcery sketch in full colour. This marks the completion of the latest set of the Eight sketches. Click on the picture below to see it full size.

Click here to see the full size sketch of him!

It's an interesting time in the world of superhero comics. While Marvel's The Avengers hit large on the big screen, the main attraction in the House of Ideas is Avengers vs X-Men. I'm liking it but feel they need to add more quality titles and storylines to their belt to compete with DC Comics. DC had spectacular success with their recent reboot but Marvel had tried that already. It was called Ultimate Comics. This line is still going strong so I don't know if a similar reboot will work for Marvel. Ultimate Comics was their reboot. It's a dilemma as now, for the first time, DC Comics actually feel fresher than Marvel to me. The weight of continuity doesnt feel so heavy with DC Comics. It's an interesting challenge for Marvel to solve and I'm sure they will find a way. Marvel have always been at their best when they're the underdog. Let's see what happens.

On another note I had a chance to watch the Marvel Superhero Squad cartoon. I was reluctant to see it as it looked too simplified but I was amazed. The depth of story and classic Marvel characters is awesome and it helps to have loads of comedy to balance out the story. The best thing about it for me is the characters wear their classic costumes. This may sound like a small thing but let me tell you, they are iconic! And rarely seen in animated series as they get changed often in the adaptation. So if you havent seen it I heartily recommend it.

Amazing Spider-Man - Trailer

This Marvel Hatchette catalogue shows all upcoming Marvel Comics product for the second half of 2012. Enjoy the latest from the House of Ideas.

[This is a short version of my review. Click the link below for the full version]. At last. Today was the day I'd been waiting for over twenty five years. I saw The Avengers on the big screen at Streatham Odeon in London. Over here in the UK its called Marvel Avengers Assemble. (This is why. The awesome Steed and Peel originals). The basic premise of Avengers Assemble is, a collection of the biggest superheroes get together to fight the threats too big to fight alone. Of course, crafted in the mighty Marvel manner, it isnt that simple so expect plenty of internal conflict. It was just perfect. It helped to have watched the previous Marvel films but it wasnt essential. Everything you need to know is in the film.

Have I told you it was perfect? What I loved about it was how every character got a chance to shine. Whether it was in the quieter personal moments or the big loud blockbuster action. This was an awesome comic book come to life. It honoured the source material perfectly and remember to stay after the credits for a 'cosmic' extra scene. I loved the Hulk and Bruce Banner in this. He deserves his own film for sure, so perfect. His best portrayal on screen bar none. Mark Ruffalo really brought out the character's scientific genius, geeky and awkward manner. Modelling the Hulk's facial features on Ruffalo himself was a touch of class and it highlighted the Jekyll and Hyde personality differences between the man and the monster.

Avengers Assemble was a magnificient spectacle from start to finish. I loved the infighting between the team which set the tone perfectly. Thor versus Iron Man! Hulk versus Thor! A Marvel Comic on screen. These are the stuff that dreams are made of and my dreams certainly came true during the course of this film. The acting was superb and drama and suspense kept me in the story throughout. This is the real thing true believers! Nuff said! ;)

The Avengers battle Loki and his allies, and what a battle it is! Vast in scale yet very human and touching where it needs to be. Twenty five years ago I started enjoying Marvel Comics with The Avengers. You could say that experience sowed the seeds that would later blossom into this very website.

Hats off to Joss Whedon and the entire creative crew's awesome adaptation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's masterpiece with a touch of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates thrown in. I give it 10 out of 10. The first film ever to have that rating from me. It needs to be seen in its entire big screen glory. All in all, to sum up, I have to say that Avengers Assemble is ten tons of awesome. Go see it!

Click here to read the full version of this review!

Check out the Avengers Assemble website! Click here for the UK site and also click here for the Official Site!

Just added some updated versions of The Eight logo with colour! A brave new world is unleashed. New superheroes for a new age!

Click here to see full size versions of The Eight Logo!

What is the Human Internet? Just updated a brand new sketch to the GrowlersWorld Universe. New superheroes for a new age!

Click here to see the full size sketch of her!

A brand new sketch has added to the GrowlersWorld Universe (GrowlerVerse)! Who is the man known as Celsius? New superheroes for a new age!

Click here to see the full size sketch of him!

Click here to see the full size version of her!

Who is the space celestial? Brand new sketch added to the GrowlersWorld Universe. New superheroes for a new age! Witness the power of Quantum.

Click here to see the full size sketch of him!

Just updated the GrowlersWorld Universe with a brand new sketch! New superheroes for a new age! Come and see the goodness!

Click here to see the full size version of her!

Swooping down from the skies above! A brand new sketch added to the GrowlersWorld Universe. New superheroes for a new age!

Click here to see the full size version of him!

Like a bolt from the blue. A brand new sketch has been added to the GrowlersWorld Universe! New superheroes for a new age! Enjoy.

Click here to see the full size version of her!

At last! The completion of the latest round of sketches that has been simmering for ages. New superheroes for a new age! Enjoy the first of the batch.

Click here to see the full size version of him!

Been looking at the sales charts of Marvel and DC Comics titles from September 2011 (The New 52 Relaunch) up to now. Click here to check them out (Via The Beat). It's been fascinating to see the ascendancy of DC Comics and the fightback by Marvel Comics. Marvel's Avengers vs X-Men upcoming event looks amazing and I'm looking forward to it. Character driven and also has all the hallmarks of great superhero comics which include the operatic battles and conflict using all manner of superpowers.

To me, Marvel are always at their best when they're the underdog. With DC Comics sweeping the top ten in the sales charts, the game is most clearly on. What I love about the sales numbers are how sobering they are. The numbers never lie. There are books I'm enjoying which, quite frankly are selling quite poorly. That leaves them marked for cancellation.

These sales show how many copies the stores are ordering as opposed to what readers are actually buying, but they're still accurate none the less. It's perfect market research too as I can see what people are actually buying to read and what's popular these days. Trying to analyse why they're popular is part of the fun as I want my stories to reach a wide audience. So the journey continues. The Eight march on... ;)

Now, you may have noticed I'm a massive fan of sci-fi and fantasy and love comic book superheroics. I could take them 24/7 and love the way they bring the author's imagination to life. But how do you balance out all that fighting and constant jeopardy? Simple. Intense character moments filled with emotion. Namely, but not exclusively, a love story. Not just any love story, mind. It has to be a roller-coaster of emotional turmoil, full of ups and downs and twists and turns.

Here's a compilation of scenes from the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy that showcase the love story between Aragorn and Arwen. Now, the films were so much more than this, they were rip-roaring action adventure blockbusters, but this undercurrent gave it a heart. Enjoy... ;)

Aragorn and Arwen - A Love Story (From Lord of the Rings)

The awesome returns! Check out what's coming in June 2012 from the Marvel Comics superhero titles. Click here to see these amazing comic books! (Via Newsarama)

The phenomenal New 52 marches on! Click here to check out what's arriving in June 2012 from DC Comics! (Via Newsarama)

This is the trailer to the second season of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I love this, a great animated series of the Avengers. Enjoy.

Earth's Mightiest Heroes - Season 2 - Trailer

And here is a sneak peek of the logos designed so far. I've uploaded a larger version in The GrowlerVerse. The learning journey continues apace.

Click here to see a larger version with comment!

Have been experimenting with logos for the Eight and the individual characters. It was a total revelation to me to know that they can be created by hand using art software like Manga Studio or Photoshop. Found out from artist Jamal Igle who's preparing his creator owned comic book, Molly Danger. This is one of those times when my love for creativity has no limits. Seeing everything come together in a kind of eureka moment. Just awesome.

Ok, every superhero is only as good as their villains. Building an iconic rogues gallery is no mean feat. The best ones in comics today are still clearly Spider-Man and Batman. So an effort has begun to create a bedrock of foes to challenge the Eight. Designing supervillains is making storytelling easier for me as I'm more of a visual storytelling person and often run into blocks if I focus on text alone. So the fun continues and, as always, updates will be posted here.

Keeping me inspired has been an awesome book called Lee and Kirby: The Wonder Years. This detailed the careers of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby leading to and including the creation of the Fantastic Four in 1961. What amazing detail! It just shows when creativity is on fire, anything is possible. They single handedly re-invented superhero comics for a new generation and kick started the Marvel Age. Definitely something that is needed now in my opinion. It's a great read and I recommend it wholeheartedly!

Click here to check out Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: The Wonder Years (Jack Kirby Collector Presents) by Mark Alexander  

For now, here's the latest Japanese version of the Avengers trailer. The Avengers were also created by Stan and Jack. Let me tell you that this trailer's the best one yet. Nuff said.

Avengers Trailer (Japanese)

Also watched John Carter (of Mars). I enjoyed it and give it seven out of ten. Don't understand the heavy negative reviews, I've definitely seen a lot worse. Good concept by Edgar Rice Burroughs with Mars being called Barsoom as opposed to Earth's Jarsoom. Good performances all round with perfect use of CGI special effects. The story was a simple one based around love. Very good.

Click here to check out the official site to see more.

John Carter - Unofficial Trailer

Knee deep in designing the supervillains and supporting cast for the heroes of The Eight. Creating a good rogues gallery is essential as a hero is only as good as the opposition they face. Having fun with it and coming up with some cool heroic and iconic imagery. Stories such as these have been around since forever and include the ancient Greek myths. Check out the second trailer for Wrath of the Titans, it's looking awesome.

Wrath of the Titans - Trailer 2

Happy Leap Year Day!! In a flurry of creative goodness, I've thumbnailed six webcomics, featuring The Eight group of superhero characters. Will get a few more in the can before tightening the pencils and adding colours and text (lettering). These are the first webcomics I've done in a age and follow on from intensive research into comics storytelling in general.

Learning from past and current superhero comic book tales from Marvel and DC Comics. I've got a clear idea of what stories I love and will use those to learn from. These webcomics will be told over eight panels and are generally done in one stories. Experimenting with the form.

Drawing pinups has been good practice for anatomy. Now I want to mold the skills learnt into telling stories. There will be a greater emphasis on facial expressions, hand gestures and of course dynamic action.

Also, delving deeper into animation and playing with the basics. Want to see my characters moving! ;)

Brand New Avengers Assemble Trailer!

And here's the same trailer done in classic 1960's Marvel Comics animation style... ;)

Here's a look at what's coming from Marvel Comics in May 2012! Click here to check out the inspiring creative goodness! (Via Newsarama)

And here's a sneak peek at what's coming from DC Comics - The New 52 in May 2012! Click here see it at its full glory! (Via Newsarama)

Working on the next batch of The Eight superhero sketches. Loving how they're coming out so far. I'll upload them when complete. These have been a long time coming as I had done the roughs for them some months ago. Keep your eyes peeled, not long now! ;)

I went to see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance last Saturday. Originating from Marvel Comics the concept is one of its darker superheroes. The first movie wasn't the best, but from the trailer the sequel looked interesting. Starring Nicholas Cage and Idris Elba.

My verdict? Six out of ten. It was quirky fun and a competent superhero film, surpassing the original. Why only six? It could have had a bit more humour to balance out the overall mood and the quirkiness at times went slightly over the top.

Apart from that I enjoyed that it had action aplenty, moved along at a brisk pace and the story held up nicely. The special effects and action set pieces were awesome! A good addition to the superhero genre of movies I think.

Check out the official website! >> http://thespiritofvengeance.com/ <<

This is a great idea from Eaglemoss. It combines the awesome game of chess with DC Comics superhero characters. Check out the trailer below to see more!

DC Comics Chess - Trailer

In the name of spreading the word of GrowlersWorld around the internet, I've joined two awesome new social networks.

Tumblr is an amazing visual blog and great way to share artwork. I'll be adding some of my sketches of The Eight and linking back here.

Pinterest is also an innovative way of sharing pictures, called pins, and can be added to personal vision pinboards. I'm creating pins from my sketches and making them available for sharing around the Pinterest network.

Creativity and innovation are the hallmarks of GrowlersWorld so I'm glad to be associated with these awesome websites. Also tweaked with the overall layout and visuals of the site to give it a cleaner look.

Click here to check out my Tumblr blog!

Click here to check out my Pinterest boards!

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