Operation: Guardians of the Galaxy

Week two-fifty-seven of Operation Graphite – theme: Guardians of the Galaxy.

Well, hello there. I’ve been absent for quite some time. I really doubt anyone has noticed. This past spring was a tough time, work picked up and I got pretty burnt out.

I had previously hinted about my plans for ending phase one of this project. With only a few more weeks to go, I broke my streak and ended up abandoning it all.

The plan is still to wind things down, and even though I did complete my goal of publishing consistently for five years, I didn’t have the nice neat cap to end things with. My current plan is to wrap things up by the end of the year.

This particular post was initially meant to go up when Guardians Part 2 hit theaters. Now it is even months past the blu ray release. At least I made it before Part 3 comes out.

Shock – Drax and Gamora

Week 257: Guardians of the Galaxy

The theme selected for week two-fifty-seven of Operation Graphite will be: Guardians of the Galaxy.

The first Guardians of the Galaxy was the equivalent of Marvel throwing a Hail Mary pass even though they were still ahead, 34-3. Oh my god, I just made a sports reference. What is wrong with me? A property no one knew became one of the biggest Marvel hits, and one of the funnest, most beloved comic book movies to date. There have been better comic book movies, and certainly much worse, but there are few ensembles that quite match the Guardians for providing a fun, action packed, sci-fi adventure. I’m super pumped for Volume 2.

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

Operation: Nebula

Week one-eighty-two of Operation Graphite – theme: Nebula.

Working on the drawing of, Nebula made me really want to see Guardians of the Galaxy again. I’ve been kinda worn out by the Marvel Cinematic Universe recently, but I really enjoyed Guardians, and I hope the sequel is also great. Some of the Marvel strain is due to trying to cram too much in, some of the strain is simply too many films needed to follow the ongoing story. I don’t know if I’m looking forward to Civil War or not. Capt. 2 was fantastic, and I think part of that was the small, tight team instead of trying to fit every Avenger in the film. There are two years of slated films, and I don’t know if I will be able to keep up. I didn’t see Antman, despite liking the character, and the actors in the film. By the time the Infinity War hits theaters, I don’t know if I will be up to date, or using the cliff notes from preceding films to know what the hell is going on.

Shock – Nebula and the Infinity Gauntlet

Week 182: Nebula

The theme selected for week one-eighty-two of Operation Graphite will be: Nebula.

To finish off the groundless, impromptu month of Marvel, I wanted to end with a villain, and with with a female villain, and also one who wasn’t a mutant. Those were tough boundaries to work within, and made me aware that most of my favorite women in the Marvel Universe are wrapped up in the X-men family. But what about Nebula? Ok, without Guardians of the Galaxy, I wouldn’t have known anything about her, but she is pretty bad ass. A space pirate mercenary who, depending on comic version or movie version, is either the granddaughter or adopted daughter of Thanos. She’s wiped out entire civilizations, wielded the Infinity Gauntlet, and was so terrifying she got Thanos to team up with the Avengers to defeat her. She also didn’t die in Guardians of the Galaxy, and will be back… with a vengeance…probably.

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

All art work is due 9 P.M. PST on Friday, 8.27.15. Submissions will be published the weekend of 8.28.15

Operation: Guardians of the Galaxy

Week one-twenty-six of Operation Graphite – theme: Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy, opens today. It looks fantastic, the reviews sound fantastic, and I am hoping Guardians is that fun sci-fi adventure I’ve been waiting for. I still think Bob Hoskins would have made a better voice for Rocket, but now that he has passed, I’ll no longer hold that against the producers. Oddly enough, I created a different furry character years ago, and he too would have had Bob’s voice in my mind. Something about Hoskins having a perfect voice for little scruffy guys. After all, he was Claremont’s ideal pick or Wolverine back in the 80’s. Now I’m wondering / hoping if there’s been a moment where Rocket and Wolvie meet in the comics.

Contributing Guardians:

drafturgy – Rocket Raccoon

Shock – Rocket and Cosmo

Thank you for saving the Galaxy.

Week 126: Guardians of the Galaxy

The theme for week one-twenty-six of Operation Graphite will be: Guardians of the Galaxy.

Here is where things get interesting. Does anyone remember that a few years ago, the idea of an Iron Man movie sounded insane to some, as it was believed no one knew who Iron man was? I thought Iron Man was just under Cap and Spidey as far as character recognition. He had always been a major Marvel character, had been in video games, and even his own 90’s cartoon. I figured Iron Man was pretty much next inline for a film, as far as the top tier comic heroes go in that verse. Now, Guardians of the Galaxy on the other hand, they are about as obscure as they get.

In an act of pure Marvel hubris, the next massive budget, comic book movie will truly be about characters hardly anyone knows about. But for those who do know, Marvel actually planted a few seeds a while ago. I had never heard of these guys until my roommate (drafturgy) got insanely excited for Rocket Raccoon being one of the playable characters in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 back in 2011. Both Marvel and Capcom were very strategic about which characters would be in the game. Hawkeye (months before he appeared in Avengers), Nova and Rocket Raccoon were all characters who were not yet main stream, but Marvel had plans in store for them. Since then, both Avengers cartoon incarnations had the Guardians as guest stars, furthing introducing the team to the world.

The fate of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is on the line, and Guardians bombing could break the plans for future films, or it might prove that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a juggernaut (despite Fox owning the movie rights to Juggernaut) that can’t be stopped. The cast looks amazing, and everything I have seen makes it look like the space western that more than just comic fans are eager to see.

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

All art work is due on Thursday, 7.31.14 Submissions will be published the following Friday, 8.1.14