Welcome to my first Thundarr the Barbarian commission! As a child I recall fondly enjoying this two season run animated series (known simply as ‘cartoons’ back then) by the Ruby-Spears Production studio which is not surprising as it was created by notable comic book creators Steve Gerber and Alex Toth with later production by Jack Kirby and stories contributed by writers like Martin Pasko and Mark Evanier! In this image are depicted Thundarr (a cross between Thor and Conan) along with his regular allies Ookla the Mok (a Chewbacca rip-off being that Star Wars had just debuted to uber-success worldwide) and Princess Ariel.
Phil Noto is another first for me, but my 49th commission for Michael Rankins. Like the last piece by Al Rio, this was a prelim so it was drawn in a loose, sketchy style. (I didn’t include it below because I don’t have it…..I believe I tried scanning it but it was too light to make out.) But Michael sent me the file of the finished (and color) piece as reference, as well as another Thundarr & Friends drawing to suggest a rocky terrain for them to stand on. I ‘finished’ it in ink, while using mostly micron and Pitt markers (and a smidgen of brush), and I made it similar to the other piece but I used Pantone warm grey markers for the planets and rocks….in the original color art Phil used what looks like watercolors for the planets. I didn’t bother showing a color file of my work because the warm greys turned out brownish from the scans.
This 11X17 image was on non-descript 2-ply board and I finished the job on October 7, 2012.
Phil Noto Art: http://www.notoart.com/