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MattDrawsRobots — Carnivac vs. Bludgeon
Published: 2005-11-29 00:32:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 10812; Favourites: 211; Downloads: 589
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Description
"Carnivac vs. Bludgeon: Let's Play Pretend"Prints available: 8"x10" and 11"x14"
Carnivac and Bludgeon , despite both being Decepticons, became mortal enemies in the British Generation 1 comic. The Pretender-shell concept was never exploited to its full potential, and if anybody would get inventive about it, it'd be these two.
A little backstory for those not in the know:
In the UK comics, Carnivac was sort of a precursor to Beast Wars Dinobot. He was a Decepticon who teamed up with a small group of Autobots against a common enemy, Galvatron . After Galvy's defeat, Carnivac and the then-Decepticon Catilla maintained their tense truce with the 'Bots they'd fought alongside. This was viewed as treason by the 'Con High Command, and a squad was sent to destroy everyone involved. They only succeeded in killing Catilla (who fell to the squad leader, Bludgeon), but this sent Carny into a vengeful rage. He began stalking the execution squad, destroying them one by one. His attack on Bludgeon ended in more or less a draw, and Bludgeon's eventual defeat took the form of mere imprisonment in a 'Bot cell. But then he escaped anyway, and it's hard to imagine that he and Carny would never cross paths again...
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Comments: 46
"To know your limits, is to know your enemy's limits"
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How can the pretender shells move without the guy inside them?
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Space magic!
(The comics never gave an explanation for that, but right from the get-go the shells were shown to be remote-controllable by their owners. Which honestly is more interesting to me than them just being suits the 'bots could wear.)
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Agreed it just sorta made Bludgeon even more intimidating.
Makes me happy potp is bringback Pretender bludgeon.
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These Decepticon Pretenders are rough 'n tough, but from their descriptions, they're quite dangerous individually.
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Then Megatron killed Bludgeon in the G2 comics but only after Bludgeon managed to take over as leader of the Decepticons. Carnivac must've been PISSED.
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If you take the G2 comics to be in-continuity with the Earthforce stories , that is. I like to think of the EF stuff as an open-ended branch that could go anywhere.
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I don't think there's anything I can say that other commenters haven't already said at least as elopuently as I could, but I was so impressed by this picture that I just had to comment. You've fit such an involved and suspenseful story into one simple picture. It took me a while to realise that bludgeon himself is being stalked by carnivac's shell, but once I realised I just had to comment.
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Thank you! The stories in my head are what drives my art, so I'm really happy to hear when they come through.
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jeez, this is so good. what a vantage point view, how beautiful the art and the idea. wonderful.
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damn your colors are awesome, i'm just starting to learn how to color digitally.
i also like the perspective and general background.
hop you like my stuff too...
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Thanks for the back story. I love the perspective in this
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I think this has to be the best interpretation of pretenders I've seen!
Really great job!!!
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Fantastic stuff! I grew up with the old UK comics so this is a spin on some of my favourite stories.
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Gorgeous! Being a big Bludgeon fan, i loved it!
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MARVEL U.K ALWAYS DID HAVE THE BEST STORYLINES. I REMEMBER THAT SERIES WELL. ART WAS DONE BY STAZ (I THINK) AND LEE SULLIVAN (ONE OF FAVOURITE ARTISTS).
THIS IS A TOP DRAWING. EXCELLENT COLOURS, ESPECIALLY THE SHADING AND HIGHLIGHTS.
BY THE WAY, BLUDGEONS CREW WAS CALLED THE MAYHEM ATTACK SQUAD.
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Just was wondering. Is there a way to get a poster of this? It's just one of my all time favorite Transformers images by anyone, features two of my favorite characters, and well it's just beautiful to look at really.
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Thank you! I actually haven't made any prints of this one - I'd gotten out of the business side of fanart before I drew it. But if I do decide to get back into that, I'll definitely let you know!
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I am also favoriting this one, for all the reasons above, also because I really enjoyed that arc in TFUK, and finally because Carnivac and Thunderwing were the only Pretenders I had toys of.
I think I need to do Carnivac and Thunderwing myself.
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Fan-freakin'-tastic picture! I posted my own (crude) homage to that Marvel UK comic, since it was so awesome. Take a look: [link]
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Thank you! And hey, neat picture yourself. Good to see the classics being celebrated.
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Wow, two and a half year reply. Ghosts from the past! OO
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Yeah, I really haven't been paying attention to my DeviantArt account like I should've. Making up for lost time, though...
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That is not a sentiment one hears often, my friend. I'm glad to have inspired its utterance!
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You are very welcome, you deserve it!
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And that's why I don't write fanfic - I have no idea how it would turn out. I just like setting up the tension!
Anyway, thank you for your comments. If you're interested in where the backstory came from, it pretty much starts with this issue of the Marvel UK comic . The storyline that follows is generally held in high regard, as far as the old comics go.
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And you're very good at setting up that tension!
Awesome! All hail tfwiki.net. 
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Origional Bludgeon is bada$$
Old school is new school
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WOW.
I saw this pic months ago and I just thought exactly that: WOW. And I’ve been trying to find the artist who made it and I just came across your DA page!!! Also I didn’t know the pic of Bluestreak kicking Sunstreaker was yours too!!! You really have some great stuff here. This Bludgeon (one of my fav TF) vs Carnivac is awesome. Added to favourites
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Thank you! I'm glad you liked the pic so much! And I'm also glad that serendipity helped you find my work in the end. DeviantArt is pretty awesome, and I really don't think I've taken full advantage of it yet.
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Man, it's great that you came back
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Carnivac and Bludgeon. Two of the best characters from the comics. Faving this for sure, not just cos of the characters themselves but the clever usage of them and their shells.
Superb.
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Thanks! I had a lot of fun figuring out how to set this scene up. It's funny - sometimes the amount of pride I take in an piece of fanart is inversely proportional to the size of the audience that would understand it. I mean, most of my TF pics are basically accessible to anyone who likes to look at cartoon robots, but this one, with its Pretender shells and character backstory and whatnot, is really not for everyone... but the reason why it isn't is exactly what made it a worthwhile project for me. And, hey, as long as SOMEBODY digs it, I'm happy. So thanks for sharing your diggage!
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I think I'm the same. I rarely do what's popular to the masses. As for Transformers loads of people draw the obvious ones like Prime, Megatron, Jazz, Soundwave and whatever I'm more interested in the relatively obscure characters who had cool story arcs in the Marvel Comics. When I drew Blaster I thought he seemed like a popular character but my drawing is of the comic version where he was a hardened warrior and not the more carefree bland character of the cartoon. I always had a fondness for the 'gimmicky' Transformers too like the Headmasters, Targetmasters and Pretenders. They might have been simple (especially the Pretenders) but they were still fun toys and Simon Furman especially made several of those very cool characters (thinking of Carnivac, Bludgeon and Thunderwing for starters). Carnivac is my favorite Transformer and is why my avatar is of him (and I use his name for my website and game making hobby) and I've been trying to design a live action style version of him (though one I can kitbash from existing figures which is a lot harder). I bought the recent Bludgeon figure from the RotF toyline where they merged his shell design with his robot/tank and I love it. Hope they might get around to doing Carnivac but they don't seem to do animal-based ones with actual robot forms though.
I just noticed one of my comments you replied to about this piece is nearly 3 years old
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Excellent! I'm a big fan of the 'Survivors' series and this pic just captures the spirit of both characters perfectly. I think this is getting printed off for my wall..
I generally prefer Geoff Senior's characterisation of Carnivac to his toy form, but you've doen a great job with him here. I've done a couple of Carnivac pics myself, very different style to this though.
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Thank you! I'm glad the "Survivors" spirit comes through. I'm also glad to give his toy-form some love; it's kind of amazing how much his look varied between artists . Ultimately I tend to think of the toys as being the "true" basis for a character's appearance, since in most cases that's what the character models were derived from. And the more disagreement there is between depictions, the more I hew to that preference. So if my choice can still look good to someone who prefers another appearance, then I take that as a high compliment.
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Sweet!! ive seen this before! nice to meet ya here at Dev art! im one of the mods from the LOC you showed this pic too! ^_^
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Another great pic... i LOVE Bludgeon... very nice work here!
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Oh wow, the eminent Mr. Kuphaldt has joined us all here at DA, to grace us with his wonderful art! I've been a huge fan of your work for some time now, spotting it around the digital traps during my aimless travels, but I've never actually seen this piece before. Such a wonderfully inspired presentation - I love the mounting repercussions as the eye travels outward from the center; Carnivac has Bludgeon's Pretender shell caught pointblank from behind, but the inner robot lurks overhead, training his weapon upon his would-be assassin from the shadows. And yet, further up still, a single lupine paw can be recognized, revealing the presence of Carnivac's own shell, poised to pounce. Magnificently staged, this single image tells a story of deep richness and rising tension. Dynamic execution, presented with dramatic flare. Your artwork is very accomplished, with faithful renditions of each of these engrossing characters. Linework is strong, with solid application of proportional constraints and accurate perspective maintainance. Colour is used to good effect, also, with the brightness of the central presentation attracting the attention, but the darker outer regions not only acting as a juxtaposed framing of contrasts, but also teasing out additional details for the more observent onlooker to revel in. Shading adequately imbues the image with a genuine sense of depth and body, with subtle use of digital effects for that little extra dazzle. This could easily be adopted in an official capacity as a cover piece for an anthology of the stories it references, it is that professionally presented. You are an astounding talent, sir, and now that I have found you here at DeviantART, I shall be keeping a close eye on your future developments. The best of tidings to you. Well done.
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Oh wow, the eminent Mr. Kuphaldt has joined usI had no idea a reputation was preceding me! Would I know you from another board or newsgroup?
Magnificently staged, this single image tells a story of deep richness and rising tension. Dynamic execution, presented with dramatic flare.Thank you! That's a hell of a review you've given. And I appreciate every word of it. Especially since I put a lot of conscious thought into my drawings, and all the elements you touched on are things I considered as I planned and worked. It's very gratifying to hear that those specifics came through well.
I shall be keeping a close eye on your future developments.Heh, well, watched pots and all that. 
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