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CarlPearce — To the DEATH...
Published: 2010-03-30 20:28:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 2495; Favourites: 31; Downloads: 0
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Description
This is an image I've had a lot of fun with. It's an experiment in that it is coloured somewhat differently than I'm used to, and took bloody ages because of that, but it was also drawn completely digitally with a Wacom pen in PS7.I won't be trading in my pens and pencils any time in the near future but, as I said, it was fun.
Couldn't get any work doing this though. It takes so much longer than the usual methods because it's more akin to painting than my usual method which is all about light.
So. It's Dan Dare. Seminal British square-jawed hero of the Eagle, a comic / magazine for the youths of this good country back in the 50's.
As a kid I always wanted Tom to kick the crap outta Jerry, Popeye to just punch Bluto's head through his arse and for Barney Bear to just like, fucking stab that Mexican jumping bean in the face, chew him up and shit him out in a big, sloppy, messy, bear-arse turd and say "Fuck YOU, Bean".
And I wanted all these arseholes to get their comeuppance.
And that is what this is. The heroic last fight to the death between our hero, Colonel Daniel Dare, Pilot of the Future and the evil Treen ruler, The Mekon.
Hope you like it. Oh, and a big thanks to for the original influence.
UPDATE:
I changed the laser beam because I wasn't happy with the other and after a little chat with I thought I'd make the Mekon's head resemble a big popping watermelon. Hence the juicy pink / red inside now.
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Comments: 90
He's very much ingrained in the British cultural psyche (of a 'certain' generation) so anytime someone / thing with a big bald head pops up he's likened to The Mekon. I also wonder if his look is partially responsible for the stereotypical 'grey' alien image.
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Sorry to bother you but I have just put up a short fanfiction about Dan Dare, and I would like to have some fead back please.
Spread the word if you can please.
Spaceship Away!
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i have to say that Mekon's outfit here is just awesome, a little bit Piccolo-esque and kind of ninja-esque too, not the gay metal-like plaid that he used in the regular show
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Thanks. I used Frank Quitely's Prof Xavier design as an influence. I tweaked it a little because there wasn't much to the original 50's version. I don't know the cartoon though, more a reader of the old comic. But what or who is Piccolo?
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Picolo [link] from Dragon Ball Z
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ouch, i meant 'metal-like tight' clothing, typos happen for browse with multiple tabs jaja,
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Jolly Good! Lets hope that Dan defeats that blasted Mekon.
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The way I see this is the beginning of a new chapter. After years Dan finally offs the Mekon but is badly injured and takes time off on a sabbatical. A few years later though, with the Mekon now gone, many new villains who were kept at bay by the Treen Empire are now filling the void and causing more trouble than Dan's old foe ever did.
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haha, this sir, is bloody great! you'r lines are fab!
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Cheers bud. This is new territory for me; fully digital lines.
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Nicely done sir, this came out really great.
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Cheers, bud. I'm quite pleased with it, for a change, because it's something different for me. Glad you like it.
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Brill!
Your rendition of Dare himself is particularly good. He looks like a believable 50s military chap - drab khaki, short back and sides, upright bearing, rugged determination.
But why's he drenched in blood? Is it his own, or did he have to fight through half a hundred treens to get to the Mekon?
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Cheers, bud. It's a bit of an OTT caricature, facially, but it is one big homage to Frank Hampson's amazing original.
Dan's taken a couple of gun / laser shots and stab wounds etc, here. He's bleeding and badly wounded which is why it's called "To the Death". Because they may not both make it out alive. I like to think of this as the last hurrah, so to speak.
But between you and me, I say Dan survives only to fight for queen and country against a whole new villain.
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Sweet! Love the 'retro future' feel of the Dan Dare stuff. Got the first 4 collection books from Titan books and you've given me a hankering to go check 'em out again!
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Cheers, Dave. I love 50's retro future too. Things like 'Forbidden Planet' and 'The Incredibles'. Brilliant.
I really need to buy those books. I've only got Eagle annuals which just print random strips.
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Hehe... and I imagine the Mekon head made a sound like a ripe melon smashing on the pavement.
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And his brains to be bright red like a water melon.... ARGH! Why didn't I do THAT!?!?
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Oh. Yeah. Why DIDN'T you?
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I don't know. I was thinking of changing the laser so I may change that too.
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D'oh! Why didn't Dan think of doing this back in 1950, think of all the hassle he coulda saved himself.
This is bewtiful. Well worth ze effort.
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Cheers, Liam.
I'm hoping to get this kinda work in the near future so I want to start doing more sci-fi. Retro sci-fi though. I'm also doing a sequel to a book I did a few years ago, soon and it's all set in space so some stuff like this could be cool to do.
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Sounds good to me. I'd love to see much more of this stuff from ye and you seem to revel in it a bit more than the textbooky stuff. Though you are seeming like you're enjoying the work a bit more these days, must be down to the influence of that goat character.
Which book is it a sequel to?
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The educational crap is always shite, but this could be something cool. I enjoy the picture books a lot more. I'm a narrative character guy. Meaningless random crap does nothing for me.
I've been really enjoying the Feral Gargantua things, and I have to thank you guys for that. It's made drawing fun again. It's been way too long since I felt that way. The job I did for this company [link] nearly finished me off a while back. They were horrible to work for.
The book I'm doing a sequel for, if I ever get it back from the writer / publisher, is this one [link] I did a couple of months after I graduated from uni. I was knackered when I did this one having just done a solid year of work, dissertation, shows and my first book, and it really isn't up to much at all due to that. So I see this as a chance to make up for it.
It was my first kids book, too. Argh.
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Wonderwheels rides again!
Sounds good to me, a fine chance for ye to engage in a spot of sci-fi skullduggery.
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I've had the story through but haven't read it yet. It seems a bit hokey but kids will like it. I should make the most of illustrating it this time.
*sigh* - "Wonderwheels"... Bloody gay shit.
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But will he survive those wounds?
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That's for, Doc McCoy to decide!
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I think it would be a fitting end. Destroying the Mekon and the evil Treen Empire.
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The good guys winning...now that's a nice thought.
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Yup. God old fashioned stories of good triumphing over arseholes.
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an twats, don't forget about the twats.
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Ha ha ha. They actually made a little mong-face for that? God, there are some retards on dA.
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Haha bless the 'tards.
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BURN THE TARDS! I'm sorry. Went all southern for a second, there.
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Southern America or Southern Europe? Cause I hear some areas aren't too different!
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I don't think that really counts though, seeing as America is a country and Europe is a continent. So that would be, like, Spain, Italy and Greece. Actually, I'd rather be in either of those three right now.
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Just messin with ya!
(North America is a continent too we include whoever we have to to look bigger 
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Ha ha. Canada's got your back but they're our cousins, ha ha.
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Well unfortunately in the southern U.S. Some folks sleep with their/mine/your cousins!
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Oh dear. Dirty southerners.
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they don't call it the Dirty south fer nuthin'
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