JonMcNally @ LiveJournal

Skeletal Minion and Cleric of the Frog God, 2009, ink with digital color.

Think you can escape this batch of dungeon denizens? Think again!

Wererat Adversary, 2009, ink with digital color.

Behold another dungeon denizen, drawn for an upcoming game of Swords & Wizardry! Downright terrifying, isn't he?

G-3 (Jun the Swan), 2009, graphite with digital color.

Since the release of the Speed Racer feature film, I've discovered a love for the work of Tatsuo Yoshida (who, with his two brothers, founded Tatsunoko Productions in 1962).

I could say, "rediscovered a love," although as a kid I had no clue that my beloved Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets (originally Gatchaman) were created by the same person.

Looking at both series with adult eyes, the similarities are clear and wonderful. Both series feature simple yet flashy designs with great colors. Both series feature family units of a kind and hefty helpings of melodrama.

Also, as a person who lost a parent at an early age, I greatly appreciate the mysterious masked figures present in either series, Racer X in Speed Racer and Red Impulse in Gatchaman. Whew, it's powerful stuff.

I'm wary of the CG Gatchman film in the works but I hope, if nothing else, we'll see a fresh release of the original TV series on DVD to coincide with the film's release.

Goblin Adversaries, 2009, ink with digital color.

As you may know, I have a lasting affection for tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). During the summer I was tickled to discover a number of do-it-yourselfers publishing games which emulate play of RPGs long out of print (especially versions of a certain well-known fantasy role-playing game).

For example, Mythmere Games publishes Swords & Wizardry, a game intended to approximate a simpler, mid-Seventies RPG. Other titles include Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future, both published by Goblinoid Games. Works like these are permissible under something called an Open Game License (OGL). Neat, huh?

Now I'm itching to test one of these babies! To prepare for play, I'm drawing a handful of characters that I'll make into paper miniatures, hence the goblins pictured above.

Who's ready for fortune and glory?

Cassie's Wonderful Threads, 2009, ink with digital color.

Summer's a great season for superheroes and superheroines. Something about athleticism and primary-colored costumes, perhaps?

Cassandra Sandsmark, the current Wonder Girl, celebrated the new year (2009) with a new costume. Image above and words below I composed in response ...

... Oh, Cassie. I see you've changed your costume again.

You've conjured a new pair of jeans, donned an armored collegiate sweater, and dropped the bracers, even. There's a colloquial charm in these (arguably) street-ready threads but are they appropriate dress for superheroics?

Consider your predecessor's clothes: Donna's costume in NEW TEEN TITANS was a wonder of economic, elegant design, truly a heroine's costume. Her current starry suit ain't half bad, either.

We'll spare you an all-red get-up; you tried that and, I must agree, it didn't always work. Also, we must control the blue, lest we mistake you for Kara, and temper the star motif, lest you remind us of Courtney. We'll respect your decision to omit the bracers, despite my uncertainty regarding your motivation for that decision.

Just wear it on your next couple of adventures, Cassie. Should it fail to wow friends and foes alike, we'll try something else.

Fondly, Jonathan McNally

Cassandra Sandsmark created by John Byrne. Wonder Girl, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics.