Week 89: Crossover

The theme selected for week eighty nine of Operation Graphite will be: Crossover.

A few weeks ago an article mentioned a truly epic crossover that could become reality now that Disney owns both Marvel and Lucasfilm; having Indiana Jones team up with Captain America in the 1940’s. Fan fiction and fan artwork has brought many characters and properties together, but only on a few occasions have actual sanctioned crossovers brought togethers characters from separate universes. This week we will bring characters and elements from separate licenses, genres, universes or stories together. They can either be with or agains each other. Examples could be: Snake eyes vs Shredder, Dr. Doom teamed up with Captain Hook, or even Gargamel and Magica DeSpell.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Crossover.

All art work is due on Thursday, 11.7.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday, 11.8.13

Operation: Dracula

Week eighty seven of Operation Graphite – theme: Dracula.

Dracula will always be the ultimate vampire. He may not be the first, won’t be the last, and certainly doesn’t sparkle, but Count Dracula will continue to reign as the definitive blood sucker.  As vampires get sexier and more sympathetic, are we missing the original intent of these monstrous beings? Is our desire to turn all the bad guys into good guys ruining or improving the context of villains? Perhaps it is a sign of the times, where our real life heroes seem to fall so easily from grace, we want the malefactors become noble. Or maybe we just dig bad guys, really stylish bad guys who wear silk capes and can shape shift into a bat.

Shock – Unintentional Manga Dracula

Week 88: Witches

The theme selected for week eighty eight of Operation Graphite will be: Witches.

In the weeks preceding Halloween, the Universal monsters dominated the themes. We had the Wolfman, Dracula and the Mummy. It would have been very easy to finish up the month with Frankenstein’s monster or the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Instead I wanted to buck that trend and go with another popular class of character. The Witch has endured for centuries, and has been interpreted and re imagined over and over again. There are good witches, bad witches, sexy witches and scary witches, all of which are fair game.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Witches.

All art work is due by Midnight on Halloween, Thursday, 10.31.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday, 11.1.13.

Operation: The Mummy

Week eighty six of Operation Graphite – theme: The Mummy.

The ritualistic preservation of bodies isn’t unique to the Ancient Egyptians. The Incas would drug and mummify children to sacrifice to their Mountain God. A Capuchin order of Friars at one church in Sicily began to mummify bodies after the cemetery ran out of space. Other Catholic orders would preserve the bodies saints for there reliquary. Even the bog bodies of Iron Age Scandinavia were ritualistic preparation for the dead. But where are the Bog Body horror movies I ask you?

Contributing Mummies:

Micah – Set

Shock – Mummy’s Curse

Thank you for contributing.

Week 87: Dracula

The theme for week eighty seven of Operation Graphite will be: Dracula.

Few characters have as rich a linage, or the gravitas in the world of horror that the Prince of Darkness has. The original Bram Stoker novel was not the beginning of the Vampire Mythos, yet he could be regarded as the beginning of the modern Vampire. Dracula himself is not nearly as terrifying as his inspiration. The Historical Vlad II Dracul, also known as Vlad Tepes or Vlad The Impaler, was a man of almost unfathomable cruelty.  I will spare you the details what exactly impalement involved. Lets just say you wouldn’t want to meet him, or at least never be on his bad side.

A character that not only evokes terror and cruelty, but also lust and desire; Dracula has gone though many changes though the years. He has been ugly, sexy, villainous and sympathetic. Everyone has their favorite incarnation, this week we will get a chance to create our own.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Dracula.

All art work is due on Thursday, 10.24.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday, 10.25.13.

Operation: Wolfman

Week eighty five of Operation Graphite – theme: Wolfman.

Werewolves have always been a personal favorite of mine, something about the primal animalistic side overcoming ones civilized personality. Is it scary to loose control, or is it liberating? Then there is that chilling feeling of waking up in the morning, no idea how you got where you are, with a hand full of human ears, and the taste of blood in your mouth.

Contributing Lycanthropes:

kalebschad – Wolfman

Micah – Were-westie

sethomatic – Werewolf

Shock – Bark at the Moon

Thank you for contributing.

Week 86: The Mummy

The theme selected for week eighty six of Operation Graphite will be: The Mummy.

 

The curse of Imhotep will cripple your body with every step you take, until you take your last. Now there’s been some talk of mummies being just like Zombies, well that’s nonsense. First of all, you can’t become a mummy if you are bit by one. Sure they are both undead, but it is only though the arcane Egyptian mysticism that can trap human a soul in a rotting corpse quite like The Mummy. This week, it doesn’t have to be Imhotep, or his step pyramid of Djoser, any undead and bandaged Egyptian body will do just fine.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: The Mummy.

All art work is due on Thursday, 10.17.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday, 10.18.13.

Operation: Star Trek

Week eighty four of Operation Graphite – theme: Star Trek

Star Trek is still on that cusp of nerdom, where one is still a bit of a pariah for being too devoted a follower. With the rise of nerd and geek culture infiltrating, and to some extent, taking over pop culture, the Trek-verse is no longer something that could get you shunned for liking. And with popular, yet polarizing JJ Abrams films, Trek has become even more main stream. One wonders what kind of nerdy activity could make one an outcast in this day and age?

Contributing Trekies:

kalebschad – Enterprise

Shock – Andorian

Thank you for Contributing.

Week 85: Wolfman

The theme selected for week eighty five of Operation Graphite will be: Wolfman.

Happy Shocktober everone! To kick off the month of ghosts, gouls, monsters and pumpkin spiced everything, lets start with a monster that is less of a character and more of an ailment. Werewolves are like zombies, but way cooler. Just like a zombie, if you get bit by a werewolf, you become one.  Which begs me to ask, why hasn’t there been a movie about hordes of werewolves attacking people during a full moon. Think about it, Zombies come out every night, but werewoles only come out once a month or so. People have 30+ days  to let their guard down and loose track of when the next full moon is. And only the moment when the full glowing disk of the moon shows would you know if the one next to you will be infected or not. Besides, human decomposition is so 2007.

Please submit any drawing or painting, using traditional or digital media, that fits the theme: Wolfman (or woman).

All art work is due on Thursday, 10.10.13. Submissions will be published the following Friday, 10.11.13.