[Various] Commissions from various artists

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:05 pm

His sword is flaming. He's supposed to have been sent to Earth by Ares/Mars, and was supposed to help the *. By accident he ended up in the USA, and became a patriotic hero.

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:51 pm

I understand, hotter flames have more of a blue/white hue (cool). I like the Greek/Roman war god connection in his background.

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 12:58 am

A lot of Golden Age comic book heroes had connections to Egyptian or Greek Mythology. Man of War is just one of many. He's been revived twice since then; once by Malibu (in their setting featuring other public domain heroes separate from the Ultraverse) and also by Dynamite in Project: Superpowers.

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:31 pm

Another sketch from Brian Brinlee. This is Yagermeister, who is part of the same team as Iron Raven/Hauptmann Zero. He was a vigilante in pre-war Germany, and was coerced by the *'s into joining their super team. He does so reluctantly, as he doesn't agree with the * party, but doesn't want his friends/family to suffer their wrath:

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:53 am

Great design. The studded arm bands are a nice touch. I love the boots. I was such a fan of that type of hero footwear, thanks to Captain America, when I was young.

I commend you on including a villain for the * team that is not true villain. Well done!

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 2:25 pm

MrJupiter wrote:Great design. The studded arm bands are a nice touch. I love the boots. I was such a fan of that type of hero footwear, thanks to Captain America, when I was young.

Here's the original image, for comparison purposes:

MrJupiter wrote: I commend you on including a villain for the * team that is not true villain. Well done!

The whole team is pretty much that way. Iron Raven & Hauptmann Zero are simply soldiers doing their duty, and Yagermeister was a pre-war crimefighter. They're the public hero team, and for the most part, are heroes. The Germans have plenty of supers who are really bad guys, but most of this group isn't.

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:13 pm

I see, these guys are part of the counter-propaganda machine designed to change the public perception of * intentions. They use all those other nasty supers for the real dirty work!

Its good to see the original image for Yagermeister (great image by the way). The hood and mask of the first sketch had me envisioning white fabric colours (probably a Moon Knight influence).

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:28 pm

MrJupiter wrote:I see, these guys are part of the counter-propaganda machine designed to change the public perception of * intentions. They use all those other nasty supers for the real dirty work!

Sort of. They're the "good guys" protecting Germany and the territory they've conquered. There are supers attached to the military and SS/Gestapo, as well as those that cause havoc overseas. That's why none of these characters have a swastika. Raven & Zero use the Iron Cross, as it's less offensive (and shows they are Germans, not necessarily *)

MrJupiter wrote: Its good to see the original image for Yagermeister (great image by the way). The hood and mask of the first sketch had me envisioning white fabric colours (probably a Moon Knight influence).

I don't recall the exact influences when I first created him, but I do know the idea came from taking the idea of a Batman/Green Arrow type, and having his influence be the guy who was in charge of hunting down food for the lord's manner (since his name translates roughly to Huntmaster). It was supposed to be somewhat medieval in look.

I just sent Brian info on the next two members of this group, Blitzkrieger (Lightning Warrior) and Zyklon (Cyclone). Looking forward to seeing what he does with them

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:40 pm

Yes, Yagermeister definitely has a medieval 'huntmaster' look about him. I'm looking forward to seeing Lightning Warrior and Cyclone.

Great work on the cool German names, urbwar. Do you speak German, know someone that does, or use a translator program to develop them?

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:48 pm

MrJupiter wrote:Yes, Yagermeister definitely has a medieval 'huntmaster' look about him. I'm looking forward to seeing Lightning Warrior and Cyclone.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Brian does with them. I think he's another great artist. I've been lucky to find all these really talented people, each of whom brings something different to the table

MrJupiter wrote: Great work on the cool German names, urbwar. Do you speak German, know someone that does, or use a translator program to develop them?

I was stationed in Germany for 2 years back in the mid-80's when I was in the Army. However, my German is fairly limited (most people spoke/understood enough English in the nearby cities that I didn't need to use it as often as I likely should have). I do know someone who works with Spectrum Games who is German, and I've consulted with him on names and such.

One thing I've seen mentioned regarding German characters in other super games (and comics) is the fact that their names sometimes don't make sense from a German standpoint. For instance, Marvel comics had a hero named Blitzkrieg. His name translates to "Lightning War", which was the term dubbed how fast armored warfare was in the early part of the war. Blitzkrieger (Lightning Warrior) makes more sense in German, which is why I used it over Blitzkrieg (which might come across as cooler to English speaking people). I'm just trying to be more accurate with the names

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:42 pm

Having someone to consult with on names seems like the best way to go as they can give you the nuanced interpretations (like you said: Blitzkrieger vs. Blitzkrieg). I figure that typing in the English name that you'd like to use to a translator application, and then recording the German output result might cause some humorous results for those that know the language in question.

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Wed Apr 30, 2014 2:10 pm

MrJupiter wrote:Having someone to consult with on names seems like the best way to go as they can give you the nuanced interpretations (like you said: Blitzkrieger vs. Blitzkrieg). I figure that typing in the English name that you'd like to use to a translator application, and then recording the German output result might cause some humorous results for those that know the language in question.

There's a really goof product for Champions/M&M called The Algernon Files: The Fires of War, which covered WW2 supers. I understand some of the German names were criticized by some German gamers. I took note of that, and decided to try and not make the same mistake. My friend gave me some name suggestions that translated into English seem kind of silly to me, but make sense from a German standpoint. It's interesting to note the cultural differences.

On that note, Brian sent me sketches for Blitzkrieger and Zyklon, so here they are. Up first, the speedster known as Zyklon (Cyclone):

and his team mate, Blitzkrieger:

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Wed Apr 30, 2014 7:35 pm

Excellent sketches. I like the costuming for them and Blitzkrieger's stance is really cool. It will be great to see the finished coloured art when finished.

urbwar · Post by **urbwar** » Wed Apr 30, 2014 8:50 pm

MrJupiter wrote:Excellent sketches. I like the costuming for them and Blitzkrieger's stance is really cool. It will be great to see the finished coloured art when finished.

The basics for the uniform came from the costume of a hero named The High from Wildstorm. He was a superman type whose origin is closer to Hugo Danner (the character from the novel Gladiator, which Superman is based off of). He was part of a pivotal Stormwatch storyline that was a precursor to the creation of The Authority. The original Doctor and Shaman were part of his team, and their deaths led to the ones who joined the Authority gain their powers. It was one of the better storylines they did back then.

Anyway, I'm considering how many more members to add. There is at least one more for certain. His name is Aufseher, which means "Overseer" in German, and he will be the only real * on the team. He is their watchdog to make sure none betray the cause, so to speak. I'm also considering a female member, and possibly an Norse godling to round out the team. If I don't use the godling, he will show up elsewhere, as he is also part of a modern day group known as The Pantheon (a team of lesser known gods and goddesses operating in the modern era)

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Thu May 01, 2014 4:29 pm

I think that it would be a great idea to include both the Norse godling as well as the female member (its always nice to have a woman's touch on the team). The idea of an actual god, even a possibly minor one, is a very intriguing idea. The Pantheon sound like a great hero team concept that I look forward to hearing more about.