u/Southern_Inks

A commissioned illustration of the Hulk in his Planet Hulk gladiator gear. This one was a lot of fun & let me play around with something I wouldn’t normally have attempted.

A little fun ink sketch of the ladies of the original New Mutants lineup: Dani, Illyana, Rahne, & Amara

Being a firm Claremont purist, I’ve always had a soft spot for Maddie Pryor and the the belief that marvel editorial destroyed one of the potential best plotlines for a mainstream superhero when they brought back Jean Grey & changed the plan for Cyclops from being the X-Man that grew up & “graduated” to an adult life with a wife and child to the guy that would abandon his wife & child & constantly chase after the next thing. Sinister I tend to view as lost potential. He went from a potentially massive villain who architected the Mutant Massacre & the X-Men’s first crushing defeat, being the mastermind behind Inferno, & with his own goals & history, to being second fiddle to Apocalypse. Either way, I love both Sinister & Maddie.

An ink illustration of one of my all-time favorite comic book villains, The Joker. Including the pencil art which, unintentionally by me, I had made the character look pretty much exactly like Willem Dafoe. Just worked out that way.

When I first read the Claremont run from start to finish in my 20’s, I skipped over New Mutants & Magik’s story. So, I only knew the bits from the main run, the Limbo age up & Inferno, doing a massive reread project of everything X-Men related from the beginning, I was blown away by how great this character was & how much I’d missed.

Just a fun ink sketch of the best wife in comics, at least until Joe Quesada got involved, Mary Jane Watson-Parker.

Although I’m a firm Cyclops & Maddie advocate, it’s hard to deny the appeal of Scott Summers & Jean Grey as the central pair of the X-Men. I may prefer them as individual characters but they are inextricably linked.

Maybe not my favorite X-Man character, but one I consider one of them pillars of the Claremont era. I’ve always been fascinated by what should have happened if his plan for the character to be fully redeemed & lead the team had played out. Perhaps the character was always doomed to be recycled to his villainous role, but it’s a fascinating character progression.

With all the news swirling of announcements about potential X-Men casting, thought I’d post my own fan cast for the role of Magneto, Alexander Skarsgard. Had they made Archangel a central character when he was younger, Skarsgard would have been great for that too. But after reading back over Claremont’s take on the character as a more noble man prone to violence, but still with an ability to inspire & convince others of his cause, Skarsgard would be my go-to. He’s who I base the character off when I draw him & could bring the perfect amount of presence & menace to the MCU.

An illustration of my all-time favorite X-man, Archangel. From the first comic I ever got, Uncanny 280 through all of the 92 cartoon series & on, he’s the character I’ve most enjoyed drawing & wanted to see fully realized. My own take on his wings is that they operate like sharks teeth/box cutters wing the blade feathers in channels that constantly regenerate to replace fired blades.

Just some character illustrations of one of the X-Men’s most perennial nemesis, Raven Darkholme, Mystique. Diehard Claremont era fan myself, so I prefer Mystique as a true femme fatale.

So, one of the characters in comics I’m most fascinated with is, Magneto. From his start as a Silver Age histrionic bully/terrorist to his full stop Evil Bastard role under Claremont/Cockrum & Claremont/Byrne up to through his Claremont Redemption arc & back to a psycho extremist & now the version that presses them all together into what I call “Hypocritical Prick Magneto”. Over the last year I’ve been working on a video series that chronicles the X-Men from their starting points to the modern era, starting with the Master of Magnetism.

This is my ideal X-Men Movie lineup, trying to blend the best of all eras into one cohesive unit that feels like the great stories from the Claremont era.

Cyclops - Experienced Team Leader
Storm - Second in command & “heart” of the team
Rogue - fun, upbeat powerhouse who covers for her sheltered upbringing by villains w/bravado
Nightcrawler - always focusing on the positive, team medic
Colossus -stalwart “gentle giant” who is peaceful until his friends are threatened
Gambit - new to the team, hard to read, & a scoundrel who is unproven
Wolverine - gruff “Gunny Sergeant” to Cyclops Officer, no Jean lust, just the no-nonsense, get the job done, older soldier
Jean - Head mistress of the school
Beast - mainly at the mansion as surgeon/ science/ research support. Will go into the field when he has to.

Work created by me as fanart.

This is my ideal X-Men Movie lineup, trying to blend the best of all eras into one cohesive unit that feels like the great stories from the Claremont era.

Cyclops - Experienced Team Leader
Storm - Second in command & “heart” of the team
Rogue - fun, upbeat powerhouse who covers for her sheltered upbringing by villains w/bravado
Nightcrawler - always focusing on the positive, team medic
Colossus -stalwart “gentle giant” who is peaceful until his friends are threatened
Gambit - new to the team, hard to read, & a scoundrel who is unproven
Wolverine - gruff “Gunny Sergeant” to Cyclops Officer, no Jean lust, just the no-nonsense, get the job done, older soldier
Jean - Head mistress of the school
Beast - mainly at the mansion as surgeon/ science/ research support. Will go into the field when he has to.

Work created by me as fanart.

A progression of an illustration based on one of Wolverine’s deadliest enemies, introduced in the pages of Iron Fist & brought to the forefront of villains in the Mutant Massacre. Started as a fun sketch & built up to more solidified inks & color flats. Still need to do some final rendering, but going well so far.

One of the first single issue comics I ever bought in Middle School was X-Factor 71, the launch of the All New All Different roster of Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man, Strong Guy, & Quicksilver. Written by Peter David with a more lighthearted/humorous tone, & featuring great art by Larry Stroman, I have always loved this iteration of the team. Admittedly, not a fan of how X-Men 97 has turned them into literal Mutant Ice putting mutant kids in cages.

Just having some fun with the ages of the Fox X-Men. Love the team & been a fan since I was 6. All done in fun.

An illustration of the Original X-Men. While I do love the design & the aesthetic of the original 5, admittedly, the Silver Age stories aren’t my favorite. There’s good stuff in them that later writers have built on to great effect. Personal preference, I use young Clint Eastwood as a basis for Cyclops. Illustration done with ink & digitally colored in photoshop.

Decided over the 4th of July weekend to also work on a little Supergirl Illustration. Hand drawn, inked & digitally colored by me.