I draw nerd things.
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ALT I like Aquaman a ton and never loved how he was viewed by the non-comic reading fanbase. He is a combination of fantasy, sci-fi, super-hero, and barbarian tropes that come together to make a character with plenty to offer any reader. I wanted to capture his dynamism while keeping him feeling kind and approachable.
ALT I feel arch-villains should visually contrast their heroes. While Aquaman is outwardly open, colourful and inviting, Black Manta is reserved, monochrome, and hostile. I imagine him as a guarded obsessive whose fixation on Aquaman is nearly out of his control. A highly capable badass, but one who is alone even in a room full of his Manta-Men followers.
ALT The Fisherman is fun. His weird hat is a parasite which controls the human body. I imagine him as a more typical pirate than most of the other villains. My take steals from anything on the water, using his advanced technology, and sells it to other villains. I would use him in more humorous stories and as a support villain to contrast the horror of what he is, while leaving room to develop him later on. Since the parasite is so old I would write him like an old school pirate and give him pirate-like motivations. He indulges in the world, knowing that if he gets in over his head he can ditch his host and start over.
ALT In the New 52 era, Atlan was the 1st king of Atlantis and expanded it to 7 kingdoms. His brother Orin opposed his open race policies and war broke out and Atlan was injured, retreating to the ocean. Orin killed Atlan’s wife and child. In his grief, Atlan forged the 7 Weapons using Alchemist’s Gold and killed Orin before using his Dead King’s Scepter to sink the city, destroying 4 of the kingdoms before going into a magical sleep. Aquaman would rejuvenate the “Dead King” in the modern day (accidentally by using his telepathy on a global scale) and both Xebel and the Trench would yield to him. Aquaman waged war against him as Atlan tried to destroy Atlantis, resulting in the Dead King melting away in magma. As I wrote in the Atlan section, I believe both versions of this character can work in the same continuity. I would have his grief over the death of his children lead him to look for magical weapons against this brother and for the creation of his weapons to require him to “puri
ALT An Ocean Elemental conquered by daemon artisans for Dagon. Ocean Master found her and used her power to help him found the city of Dagon, populating it with the lost and forgotten of Atlantis. He has her kidnap Aquaman’s baby daughter Andy, but confesses later on. She has the mind of a child and plenty of potential as a future hero. She’s usually naked, but that didn’t feel right so I made her a costume.
ALT The grandson of the Operative (one of the Others), who passes his role to him. He flirts with Sky.
ALT Younger sister and inheritor of Kahina the Seer’s gift of precognition. Kahina is killed by Black Manta and Sayeh starts getting her visions, leading to her institutionalization. Legend tries to use her for her powers but the Others rescue her. She returns to Iran to look after her sister’s children after the story. She leads the Elite Basij, a group of Iranian metahumans.
ALT Mother Shark is a giant, ancient, godlike, psychopomp who gathers the secrets, fears, hopes, and memories of those who die in the sea. Aquaman has to go to her to unlock his amnesiac memories and reclaim his identity. She is as old as time and dwells in the sunken forests and turns memories into coral to feed the ocean. She hasn’t appeared much (and I took some liberties in her design), but her potential is palpable. I would love to see her become something like Aquaman’s patron deity. In the way Tempest is a kind of symbol of life under the waves, fighting his uncles army of the undead and rotting, I could see Mother Shark build Aquaman up as a representation of the undersea dead. She is a character which could easily represent the Blue and the Black/Rot at the same time. A force of life through death. If I ever did an Aquaman run my ultimate goal would be to establish Arthur and Garth as the yin/yang of the Blue, with Tempest as the chaotic aspect of ocean life and Aquaman as t
ALT An Atlantean doctor in the Medical Cove. She is devoted to her work, forgoing traditions like bowing to the king when he enters to focus on her patients. I haven’t read the books she appears in and had 3 images to work on (almost just of her face) so I winged it with her suit. I went with a bit of a Guyver/Gantz thing. No idea what her facial scar is about but it’s cool and memorable. An Atlantean who doesn’t care about tradition and is focused on the preservation of life is a nice breath of fresh water.
ALT I may be scraping the barrel a bit, but I like the vibe of Deputy Wilson, even if I don’t know his first name. He’s a cop who was involved in the Trench’s attack on Amnesty Bay. As far as I know, he’s never done anything else. I feel he could be expanded into a decent Jim Gordon if Erika Watson and Dwayne Fradon are too close/unavailable to fit that role. He could be an easy regular-guy-on-the-ground.
ALT Orphaned in the Amazon Rainforest by a plane crash she was saved by the Forest Mother (its embodiment) who empowers her with knowledge and power. She was taken in by the Tapirape tribe and would later join the Others. She is the Jaguar Goddess of the Amazon. She took the Globe of Transportation, which teleports. She has some animal sidekicks. She seems to have a thing for Aquaman who finds her willingness to kill concerning. She makes a deal with Morgaine Le Fey and quits the Others since she believes they will not be able to trust her again.
ALT The last episode was a bit disappointing. With how the show had been flip-flopping from one idea to the next I figured it wasn't going to be the most amazing finale I'd seen, but I was hoping for something a little more climactic. Either way, it was a fun ride getting there and if I can get my hands on the later series I'd love to see how they handle this character.
ALT Including the line-art because it's what took me so long to complete. I tried to include as much of the final battle as I could, gave pretty much everything cross hatching, and tried to make sure each element interacted with another. I'm not as satisfied with the final as I am with this stage. I'm not sure if it's the colors or lighting, but I feel the final came out too dark. I tried a few things to fix it but couldn't work on this project anymore and gave up. It may be that I'm over-relying on colored lines or effects.
ALT I love characters like Ayeka, who hide their more selfish (or straight-up unhinged) selves under a barely-there veil of propriety. They're always a ton of fun and tend to push stories forward with their antics instead of bringing it to a full-stop.
ALT Not sure how I feel about the colored lines this time. I like it in the line-art, but the final feels a bit too radioactive to me (though that might work as a kin of warning sign for how dangerous Ayeka is). I tried to blend my style with the various artists' who've worked on her over the years. I'm going to focus more on blending styles to help keep my own characters from feeling samey.
ALT I tried colouring my line-art differently this time. I've done this on a few of this months Aquaman uploads but Chaor was where I first tried it. I'm going to try to integrate this sort of thing into my art more. I'm also trying to take more liberties with how I draw other people's designs. I'm stubborn, and a creature of habit, so reprogramming my brain and integrating new things can take time and practice.
ALT The line-art alone. I wanted to show it off since I’m trying to upload more process stuff.