Marvel Comics

ADAM WARLOCK
[Him]
Inspired by Gil Kane

Kane was the Artist at the beginning of the Counter-Earth stories in Marvel Premiere - some of the best Warlock stories [along with Jim Starlin's].

THE ANGEL
[Warren Worthington III]
Inspired by Don Heck

 Heck was one of Marvel's workhorse artists, and he redesigned the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #39.  Included in that revamp was this look for the Angel.

THE BEAST
[Henry McCoy]
Inspired by John Byrne

 The Beast always seemed such a great fit for the Avengers where he was a lot more light-hearted than he was in the X-Men.

THE BLACK KNIGHT
[Dane Whitman]
Inspired by Sal Buscema

When I started collecting comics the Black Knight was this stone guy the Defenders were trying to cure.  Things have improved for him since then.

BLACK BOLT
[Blackagar Boltagon]
Inspired by John Byrne

 The Amazing Adventures stories [by Adams] and Inhuman stories [by Perez] were good, but they didn't stay on long enough to keep them afloat.  

I started reading the Panther's stories around the time of Panther's Rage in Jungle Action.  Still some of the best T'Challa stories ever.

THE BLACK WIDOW
(Natasha Romanoff [Romanova])
Inspired by Gene Colan

The Black Widow was great in Astonishing Tales, Daredevil and Champions after starting out as an Iron Man foe.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
(Steve Rogers)
Inspired by Jack Kirby

Cap has always been the ideal hero.  But becoming the peak of human abilities through the super solder formula and hard work.

NOMAD
[Steve Rogers]
Inspired by Sal Buscema

I jumped onboard during the Nomad storyline in Captain America in 1974.  One of the classic Cap tales.

CAPTAIN MARVEL
[Captain Mar-Vell]
Inspired by Gil Kane

Kane, along with Roy Thomas, revived Mar-Vell and gave him a much-needed makeover.

CLEA

 She was Doctor Strange's apprentice and came from another dimension, but made her really interesting were Frank Brunner's drawings......

THE COLLECTOR
[Tanaleer Tivan]

I was introduced to him in Marvel Triple Action's reprint of Avengers #28, and have to admit he's just an overzealous collector like most of us who read comics.

COLOSSUS
[Peter Rasputin]
Inspired by Dave Cockrum

  I sure wish I'd kept my copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1.  Colossus's appeal for me was that he was a bit naive and idealistic.

Click on him for animation!

CRYSTAL
[Crystalia Amaquelin Maximoff]
Inspired by Neal Adams

I was introduced to her in Marvel's Greatest Comics where they reprinted the old Lee/Kirby FF classics.  

CYCLOPS
[Scott Summers]
Inspired by Jim Lee

   stopped reading the X-Men after John Romita Jr. left the title, but Jim Lee is hugely popular so here you go.

  DAREDEVIL
[Matt Murdock]
Inspired by Bob Brown

  Brown was drawing Daredevil & the Black Widow when I started reading it and had just finished an excellent stint on Avengers.

DOCTOR DOOM
[Victor Von Doom]
Inspired by John Byrne

  Doom is the best villain in comics - delusional, dictatorial, egomaniacal, and a tremendous threat.  Something that escaped them when they made the FF movie...

DOCTOR STRANGE
[Dr. Stephen Strange]
Inspired by John Romita Jr.

  I like Strange as a character, but Englehart and Stern's stories are easily my favorites.

FIN FANG FOOM
 
If you get a chance, pick up the recent Marvel Monster series, they were all great - Devil Dinosaur was probably my favorite.

FRANKENSTEIN's MONSTER
[Adam]
Inspired by Mike Ploog

  Ploog specialized in monster comics in the early 70s, giving them a very creepy feel, much like Bernie Wrightson

SGT. NICK FURY
of the Howling Commandos
Inspired by Dick Ayers

War comics like Sgt Fury and Sgt Rock used to be huge - Sgt. Fury was one of Marvel's best-sellers in the late 60's.

THE GHOST RIDER
[Johnny Blaze]
by Mike Ploog

  The early Ghost Rider stories are great and Ploog's art there and on Werewolf by Night was fabulous.

THE GREEN GOBLIN
[Harry Osborn]
Inspired by Ross Andru

  They should have kept Harry as the Green Goblin, he was crazy enough to make Peter Parker's life a nightmare.

HAWKEYE
[Clint Barton]
Inspired by Rich Buckler

  This costume is about as 1970's as you can get.  But He's a great "everyman" character despite his brief stint in a skirt.

YELLOWJACKET
[Henry Pym]
Inspired by John Byrne

This one is inspired by the two-issue story in Marvel Team-Up by Byrne and Chris Claremont.

HERCULES
[Heracles]
Inspired by Bob Layton
 
My favorite Hercules stuff is the Bob Layton mini-series - which were great fun.  Skyppy the Skrull and the Recorder take a bow!

Click on him for animation!

HERCULES
[Heracles]

Inspired by his appearance in the latest Thing series where he wore the Nemean Lion's hide..

HOWARD THE DUCK
[Howard]

  Howard came from a time when Marvel tried a lot of different things.  To bad the tone of the character was changed so drastically for the movie.

THE HULK
[Dr. Robert Bruce Banner]
Inspired by Jack Kirby

  His first book was canceled after six issues, so who would have thunk it that the Hulk would have his own TV series and movie?

THE HUMAN TORCH
[Jim Hammond]
Inspired by Frank Robbins

  I loved the Invaders and the Human Torch in particular.  But the poor guy really got the short end of the stick when it comes to Golden Age revivals.

THE HUMAN TORCH
[Johnny Storm]
Inspired by Rich Buckler

  Bucker was drawing the FF when I started collecting and Johnny Storm was wearing this costume which was a tribute to the original Torch.

THE ICEMAN
[Bobby Drake]
Inspired by Neal Adams

  Adams's work was so innovative and his X-Men were brilliant, but it's hard to believe that sales were so poor that the title was cancelled after his run.

THE INVISIBLE GIRL
Susan Storm
Inspired by Jack Kirby

  The Invisible Girl/Woman is probably my favorite FF member - especially during John Byrne's run.  

IRON MAN
[Tony Stark]
Inspired by Steve Ditko]

Iron Man has been my favorite subject for micros by far.

THE JACKAL
[Dr. Miles Warren]
Inspired by Ross Andru

From the era when I started reading Spider-Man comics.

KANG THE CONQUEROR
[Nathaniel Richards]
Inspired by Sal Buscema
 
Kang is my favorite Avengers' villain mainly because of the Celestial Madonna Saga.

KID COLT
[Blaine Colt]
Inspired by Dick Ayers

  Steve Englehart brilliantly snuck the Western gunfighters into his time-travel stories in the Avengers, so I learned about them early on.

MACHINE MAN
[Aaron Stack]
Inspired by Jack Kirby

  Just because I think the animation's cool.

Click on him for animation!

MARVEL GIRL
[Jean Grey]
Inspired by Don Heck

  Another of Heck's redesigns.  Before the X-Men got so damn confusing....

MILLIE THE MODEL
[Millie Collins]
Inspired by Dan DeCarlo

Just to show off the model template and who better to use?

THE MIMIC
[Calvin Rankin]
Inspired by Jack Kirby

More of my favorite animation.

Click on him for Animation!

MISTER FANTASTIC
[Dr. Reed Richards]
Inspired by by Jack Kirby

  Believe it or not, it took me a few months to actually realize he was called "Mr. Fantastic."   Really.

MS. MARVEL
[Carol Danvers]
Inspired by Dave Cockrum

  She was part of the big feminism boom of the early 70's.  She was a very unconventional female character.

NIGHTCRAWLER
[Kurt Wagner]
Inspired by Dave Cockrum

  Every once-in-a-while you just nail the look of a character and I think I did that here.

FORBUSH MAN
[Irving Forbush]

- Not Brand Echh was a lot of fun.  You can tell they really enjoyed making it.

THE PHANTOM RIDER
[Carter Slade]
Inspired by Dick Ayers

Formerly the Ghost Rider before his name got usurped.

THE PUNISHER
[Frank Castle]
Inspired by Frank Miller

  He's not one of my favorites, but I did really like the early Frank Miller stuff.

QUICKSILVER
[Pietro Maximoff]
Inspired by Scott Kolins
 
Earth's Mightiest Heroes was a nice series that expanded on the early issues of the Avengers.

THE RAWHIDE KID
[Johnny Bart]
Inspired by John Byrne

  Just no Rawhide Kid by Ron Zimmerman please.

THE RED SKULL
[Johann Scmidt]
Inspired by Mike Zeck

  He's Marvel's most evil villain, 'Nuff said.

ROM, SPACEKNIGHT
[ROM]

Making things look metallic can be really tough, but I like how the "Greatest of the Spaceknights" turned out.

RONAN THE ACCUSER
[Ronan]
Inspired by Jack Kirby -

Emissary of the Kree.

THE SCARLET WITCH
[Wanda Maximoff]
Inspired by Sal Buscema

  Bendis! has really screwed her up so I'm hoping he doesn't ever want to use her again.  Let somebody else try to fix her.

SHANG-CHI
  Inspired by Paul Gulacy

  Martial Arts were the rage in the 70s, and Shang-Chi's book had a really nice run.

SHE-HULK
[Jennifer Walters]
Inspired by John Byrne

  Not my favorite as an Avengers, but I liked her in the Fantastic Four as the Thing's temporary replacement.

THE SKRULLS
Inspired by John Byrne

  The Skrulls were always interesting to me, I always thought alien shape-shifters had a lot of potential.

SON OF SATAN
[Damian Hellstrom]
Inspired by Herb Trimpe

  When they revised the Comic Code guys like this started popping up all over.

SPIDER-MAN
[Peter Parker]
Inspired by John Byrne

  Byrne drew what was probably my favorite run in Marvel Team-Up.

SPIDER-WOMAN
[Jessica Drew]
Inspired by Frank Cho
 
He only drew her in one issue of New Avengers, but Frank Cho sure draws her well......

SQUIRREL GIRL
[Doreen Green]

  I hope I never get to old to enjoy characters like Squirrel Girl and comics like Great Lakes Avengers.

STILT-MAN
[Wilbur Day]

  Click on him for animation!

STORM
[Orroro Monroe]
Inspired by Dave Cockrum

Cockrum drew my favorite comic [Giant-Size Avengers #2] and was the artist when the X-Men were revamped.  RIP Dave.

THE SUB-MARINER
[Prince Namor McKenzie]
Inspired by John Byrne

  He's obnoxious and arrogant, but I've always enjoyed him.

THE SWORDSMAN
[Jacques Duquesne]
Inspired by Don Heck

Always a favorite of mine, he was a loser who gave it his all at the end for the lover who spurned him.

THE THING
[Ben Grimm]

The blushin' blue-eyed Thing always enjoys a good stogie.

THOR
Inspired by Walt Simonson

  Walt Simonson did something that nobody else could - he made Thor really interesting to me.

THE CAT
[Greer Grant Nelson]

  A nice pose template that was created by someone on the Lilguyz group.

THE TWO-GUN KID
[Matt Hawk]
Inspired by John Byrne

  Inspired by some really nice work in The Champions.

ULTRON
Inspired by George Perez

  He's got to be done in battleship gray, not silver.

THE VALKYRIE
[Amora the Enchantress, Barbara Norris, Samantha Parrington, Brunnhilde]
Inspired by Sal Buscema

Another female character from the feminism days of the 70s - "Up against the wall male chauvinist pig!"

VANCE ASTRO
[Major Vance Astrovik]
Inspired by Sal Buscema

  The Guardians were really great, although the ozone layer wasn't *really* destroyed in the 1990s....

THE VISION
Inspired by John Byrne

  Why they keep trying to change him I don't know. He's the best as he was originally - an android struggling to fit in with humans.

THE WASP
[Janet Van Dyne]
Inspired by Carlos Pacheco

  If you're a long-time Avengers fan and haven't read Avengers Forever by Busiek, Stern and Pacheco, shame on you.

WOLVERINE
[James Howlet]
Inspired by Frank Miller

  He's not a favorite, but the miniseries by Claremont and Miller is terrific.

WONDER MAN
[Simon Williams]
Inspired by Al Milgrom

  The "Christmas Tree" version from the West Coast Avengers!

XEMNU THE TITAN
[Formerly known as the Hulk]

Xemnu has made several post-FF #1 appearances.

BARON ZEMO
[Baron Helmut Zemo]
 
The Thunderbolts is a great read.  What was Marvel thinking when they tried to make it a "Fight Club" comic?

DC Comics

AQUAMAN
{Arthur Curry]
Inspired by Alex Ross

  Gotta love an artist who remains true to the Silver Age like Ross does.

THE ATOM
[Ray Palmer]
Inspired by Gil Kane

Kane did terrific work for DC on such series as The Atom, Green Lanter and Rex the Wonder Dog..

BATGIRL
[Barbara Gordon]
Inspired by Brian Bolland

  Not exactly Yvonne Craig, but it'll have to do.

BAT LASH
[Bartholomew Lash]
Inspired by Nick Cardy
 
Cardy drew tons of DC covers, as well as Bat Lash and other series.

BATMAN
[Bruce Wayne]
Inspired by Brian Bolland

  Bolland's art in The Killing Joke was stellar, as were his Batman covers.

BRAINIAC
[Vril Dox]
Inspired by Kurt Schaffenberger

  Obviously he comes from a planet where pink is not stigmatized.

BLACK CANARY
[Dinah Lance]
Inspired by Brian Bolland

  Super-heroines in fishnets, part one.  Gotta love it.

CAPTAIN MARVEL
[Billy Batson]
Inspired by Alex Ross

Ross really seems to love "The Big Red Cheese."

CATWOMAN
[Selina Kyle]
Inspired by Batman Returns

  Michele Pfeiffer made that movie worth seeing.  Meee-Oooow!

THE FLASH
[Barry Allen]
Inspired by Dick Dillin

  Dillin drew the JLA for so long and so well that it's hard to pick anyone else as the #1 JLA artist.

THE GREEN ARROW
[Oliver Queen]
Inspired by Neal Adams

Adams and Denny O'Neil introduced topical stories in Green Lantern with Green Arrow as his foil.

GREEN LANTERN
[Ch'p]

Hey, he's a chipmunk with a power ring.  What's not to like?

GREEN LANTERN
[Hal Jordan]
inspired by Gil Kane

  Kane drew the Green Lantern for years, along with a long run on the Atom.

HAWKMAN
[Katar Hol]
Inspired by Joe Kubert

  Kubert's sons are popular but still have to take a backseat to their day.

THE JOKER
Inspired by Brian Bolland

  The Killing Joke by Bolland and Alan Moore is one of my favorite Batman stories and the Joker is just.... nuts.

JONAH HEX

He could use a little cosmetic surgery I think.

LADY BLACKHAWK
[Zinda Blake]
Inspired by Brian Bolland

  She looks a bit better than Jonah Hex, right?

LOIS LANE
Inspired by John Byrne

  From the Man of Steel mini-series that redefined Superman.

LEX LUTHOR
Inspired by Kurt Schaffenberger

  When Luthor was more of a mad scientist than a evil businessman.

MARTAIN MANHUNTER
[J'Onn J'Onzz]
Inspired by Darwyn Cook

  From DC: New Frontier, which was an amazing series.

SUPERMAN
[Kal-El/Clark Kent]
Inspired by Joe Shuster

  From Action Comics #1.  The dawn of the super-hero age.

TWO-FACE
[Harvey Dent]
Inspired by Brian Bolland

  I just like how he turned out.

WONDER WOMAN
[Princess Diana]
Inspired by Adam Hughes
 
Hughes is known for his cheesecake covers and he didn't disappoint on his Wonder Woman ones.  Still, she's no Lynda Carter....

Archie Comics

Miscellaneous Comics

SYZYGY DARKLOCK
of Dreadstar
Inspired by Jim Starlin

JON SABLE, FREELANCE
Inspired by Mike Grell

E-MAN
  Charlton Comics
Inspired by Joe Staton

RED SONJA
Inspired by Frank Cho

VAMPIRELLA
from Harris Publications

THE ROCKETEER
Pacific Comics

CASSANDRA STARKWEATHER
of Route 666
CrossGen Comics

SILVER AGENT
of Astro City
  Wildstorm Comics

ABE SAPIEN
of B.P.R.D.
  Darkhorse Comics

Movies & Television

COMMANDER PETER QUINCY TAGGERT
of Galaxy Quest

MR. INCREDIBLE
of the Incredibles

INDIANA JONES
of Raiders of the Lost Ark

CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK
of Star Trek

LT. WORF
of Star Trek 

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA
of Star Wars

Mythology

HECTOR

HERMES

PERSEUS

SIGURD

Sports

ARIZONA CARDINALS
National Football League
c. 2000

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Major League Baseball
c. 2000

PHOENIX COYOTES
National Hockey League
c. 2005

Real People

Site maintained by everybody's favorite comic book geek,
ROBERT BRADLEY

DAVID LETTERMAN
from Avengers #239
Inspired by Al Milgrom

Miscellaneous Stuff

  PILGRIM

One I did for Thanksgiving a couple years back.

PLAYBOY BUNNY

Good use of the model template if you ask me!

SCANTILY-CLAD WOMAN

  From Mad Magazine

CONTINENTAL ARMY SOLDIER
c. 1780

Original Version Micro-heroes

Robert Bradley

Captain Marvel

Doctor Strange

Hulk

Iron Man

Silver Surfer

Spider-Man

Ultron

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