Without a doubt, 2016 was one of our most enjoyable group themes! I'm pretty sure this is the most sketches we've collected for a theme and every one of them is a blast of nostalgia! From childhood classics to forgotten gems to full length feature films! We covered a lot of ground collecting original sketches of our favorite characters in Animated form!
Let's start off with the Wonderful World of Disney! Popa went with the uber classic, Sleeping Beauty by Stacey Lee! And Angel went with the wild and crazy Stitch by Dave Aikins!
Popa kept things fun with Pinky and the Brain by Dave Aikins and the Scooby Doo Phantom Shadows by Joe Staton!
Next up Popa surprised us with Audrey II, from the Little Shop of Horrors (there was a cartoon) by Dave Aikins!
Eric revisited the heroes of G-Force (or Battle of the Planets. or Gatchaman) with Mark by Brendon and Brian Fraim and Jason by Sean Forney!
We collected a few different DC characters. From the Super Hero Girls, Karen and Alaina got Katana by Chad Thomas! Shane had Nate Lovett draw Slade from Teen Titans! And Andy had Gene Gonzales draw Superman based on the Fleischer cartoons and Kinsey Jenkins drew Supergirl from the Superman Adventures cartoon!
From the Batman animated universe, Popa got an impressive Clayface from Brian Level! Andy got Phantasm by Craig Rousseau and Batman Beyond by Andy Bennett!
And let's not forget Harley Quinn, who was first introduced in the Batman Animated episode Mad Love! Karen got her from Karl Moline and Popa got her from Robert Wilson IV!
Now some classic 80's characters! Shane got a Snake Eyes (GI Joe Resolute) sketch cover by Landon and Brandon Franklin! Popa had our good pal, Darryl Banks, bring Skeletor to the collection!
Speaking of Masters of the Universe, did I mention our newest Cranboy, Eric's brother Kurt, has started a MotU collection! Boy did he pick a great year to start! First off is Battle Damaged, Batttle Armor He-Man by Darryl Banks! Nate Lovett made sure Battle Cat was around too!
Kurt added a few more heroes from Eternia. MekANeck by AJ Sabino! Man at Arms by Scoot McMahon! Stratos by Sean Forney!
Kurt didn't forget the bad guys, either! Tri-Klops by Aaron Archer and Two Bad by Thom Zahler!
Kurt may own the most impressive Hordak art, ever, thanks to Dave Aikins! And Hordak has a Horde Trooper by Brendon and Brian Fraim!
We picked up a few Marvel animated pieces, too! Eric got this 90's Iron Man by Tim Switalski! Andy went for Spider-Man AND His Amazing Friends by Scoot McMahon! And a stunning Firestar by one of our favorites, Todd Nauck!
Andy didn't stop there with the animated Spider-man love! Pat Quinn drew an inspired Green Goblin! Gene Gonzales drew a sassy Betty Brandt! Scoot McMahon drew a spectacular Spider-Ham!
Eric's a fan of the Next Avengers movie and had Scoot McMahon draw James Rogers AND Thorunn!
Who doesn't love Super Hero Squad! Eric picked up M.O.D.O.K. by Scoot McMahon and Iron Man by Thom Zahler!
Eric also picked up this moody Phantom by Ian Nichols!
Big armored guys? They had cartoons too! Eric had Darryl Banks draw the Great Mazinger! Andy had Brendon Cahill draw a friggin Veritech fighter! (VF-1 Valkyrie, to be exact!)
It's the flying man! It's the Rocketeer! Andy got Rocketeer sketches by Scoot McMahon, Diana Kresge and Nate Lovett! Nate Lovett's piece even includes a Nazi rocket man from the propaganda film in the Rocketeer movie!
The Cranboyz are all about Turtle Power! Karen and Alaina got Michelangelo by Chad Thomas! Andy got Casey Jones and April O'Neil by Rebecca Farrow! Andy also got Bebop and Rocksteady by Ryan Bodenheim! Popa got the Shredder by Adam Withers!
More Than Meets the Eye! Transformers! Shawn got Autobots, a Clliffjumper sketch cover by Brendan Cahill and Prowl from Chris Giarrouso! Popa got Decepticon Rumble by Brendan Cahill!
Andy couldn't collect animated sketches without getting the Iron Giant! K Lynn Smith drew this one for him.
Shane used the Animated Adventures theme to get several Young Justice sketches! Blue Beetle by Nate Lovett! Bumblebee and Beast Boy by Scoot McMahon! Red Arrow by Tressina Bowling!
Brendon and Brian Fraim drew Aqualad and Robin! Mike Norton drew Superboy and Miss Martian! Comfort Love and Adam Withers drew Kid Flash and Artemis! And Brandon and Landon Franklin drew Nightwing!
As for the "villains", Black Manta AND Tigress are by Sean Forney! Cheshire is by Tim Smith III!
Our final sketch for the collection is Zuma from Paw Patrol! Sebastian Piccione drew him for Karen and Alaina!
That's a lot of original art, covering all kinds of animation! As always, we had a blast collecting these sketches, talking about them, planning them and sharing them! Stay tuned for our 2017 theme! I don't want to say too much but it's a big one, a definite reason to celebrate!
