When 2020 began - oh, it was such an innocent time. I was trying to figure out what sketches to get in my respective collections and got the idea to let the other Cranboyz choose one of my sketches.
Let me explain how this all works: I have three main collections right now - The THORTFOLIO, collecting Marvel's Asgardian characters (like Thor,) The Marvel Cosmic Collection, collecting characters from Marvel's cosmic adventures - Inhumans, Infinity Gauntlet, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, etc ... and my monster sketchbook, where I get sketches of characters from horror movies.
All the Cranboyz have similar themes and often as my friends are getting characters related to their specific themes, I often wonder why they don't get the characters I want them to get - so for years while Shane collected GI Joe sketches, I politely requested he get Wild Weasel, nearly every day. Why did it take him nearly 20 years to get the Blob in his X-Men sketchbook when I'd been requesting it since day 1? Why did Andy want to get characters HE wanted in his Spider-Man sketchbook when I'd clearly stated how much I wanted him to get Cardiac? And now that he's gotten Cardiac, WHY HASN'T HE GOTTEN CARRION yet?
It was this mindset that inspired my 2020 sketch challenge: I let each Cranboy select a character for me to get in my respective collections. If they'd been secretly wishing I'd get a certain character in any of my collections, now was their chance to force my hand. The only caveat was it had to be a real request (no 'hilarious' ones) and it had to be a character I had some interest in - I mean, sketches and commissions aren't cheap!
Without further rambling from me, here's what the crew came up with...
Shane's Pick: DARK PHOENIX in the Cosmic Collection.
I went to Khoi Pham for Shane's request. I've only met Khoi once and don't have any other pieces from him. The fun I had here was I told Shane I'd set it up, but didn't tell him who with, leading to a couple days of me sending him clues and him sending me guesses, all of which were incorrect.
Khoi seemed pretty excited about the request and we went back and forth about how great Paul Smith's run on "X-Men" was. What I love about this sketch is that Dark Phoenix is definitely evil here - love those smokey eyes. Oftentimes, Dark Phoenix sketches look like just another hot girl in a Dark Phoenix costume. I mean, I'm fine with that, but I like that this piece has some more character to it.
Kurt's Pick: Starfox in the Cosmic Collection.
This is one of the picks I really appreciated because Starfox was a character on the list for the Cosmic Collection but was way down in priorities. He was destined to get bumped over and over! I reached out to our friend and up and coming artist Landon Franklin for this one.
I guess there's a character called Starfox in something the young'ins like these days and at first that's who Landon thought I wanted. Nope, I'm an old geek, give me a relatviely obscure 80's Marvel character, please.
Andy's Pick: The Destroyer in The THORTFOLIO.
I went to Jim Calafiore for Andy's request. I have one previous piece by Jim, a Kurse sketch in my villain sketchbook. Jim's known for drawing great armor/shiny metal so I was thrilled he took on my commission. After Andy's man crush on my Ultron sketch in my villain book I was worried about him wanting another shiny metal character but so far he's restrained himself.
I tried the same game of 'guess the artist' with Andy but apparently my clues were too strong because he guessed Calafiore in like two guesses.
Dave's Pick: Karnilla in The THORTFOLIO.
When our pal Craig Rousseau announced he was taking some at home commissions early in the year, I leapt at the chance to get his take on Karnilla. Craig's got a great Walt Simonson vibe to his work which is always a great fit for Asgardians. Turns out, he'd never drawn Karnilla before.
Similar to Kurt's pick, Karnilla was another character on the THORTFOLIO wish list, but Dave picking her kept me from bumping her over and over, which was possible.
Karen's Pick: Thor as Herald of Galactus in The THORTFOLIO.
The Cranboyz had a get together in August and Landon Franklin popped in as a special guest and did both my Starfox piece and this new look Thor for me. One cool part about The THORTFOLIO is getting all the different versions of The God of Thunder, including this current version where he's a Herald of Galactus.
The only hiccup that came up was that since every convention was cancelled in 2020, I couldn't get my monster book in anyone's hands, so Bez's request for The Crypt Keeper will have to wait until 2021.
Thanks guys for these great ideas and additions to my collections this year! Seriously, though, Andy, CARRION. NOW.
