Nichelle Nichols passes away at 89 but leaves a legacy for the ages

I had just completed putting this posting together prior to the sad news about Nichelle Nichols having passed away so for this posting I'm going to lead with her. I've been a Star Trek fan for pretty much all my life although my interest in Star Trek came on a bit more gradually and a bit later in my adolescence then in the case of Star Wars. I know that given the age of the original cast members that this sort of news shouldn't come as a huge surprise but it still feels like a punch bellow the waist.

Did you know that after season 1 of the original series that Nichols considered leaving the show despite Gene Roddenberry begging her to stay? Apparently it was Martin Luther King who ultimately convinced her to stay on the show. It can't be understated enough how much of a pioneer Nichelle Nichols has been in the history of America's civil rights movement with everything from the first interacial kiss on TV to her efforts for creating more diversity at NASA. She was 89, so when you think of all she achieved both professionally and personally you have to take into account what was going on in America in her life time as a black woman. A beautiful human being both inside and out, Nichelle Nichols leaves an amazing legacy for not just Star Trek fans but also for great achievements off screen to. 

 

 

 

Well the last posting featured fan made cover variant so why not one more to open up this posting to? This was originally a black n' white sketch card https://www.deviantart.com/nikoskap/art/Micronauts-sketch-card-922465755

But I felt it had potential to be something more so I colored it and added the other necessary embellishments to give it that Marvel 80s touch.

 

Here's my latest envelope fan art. This one has an 80s properties or what might be today a "Hasbroverse" kinda theme to it. I think the "Hasbroverse" concept works better as envelope fan art then it does as an actual story line we all remember what a train wreck that was with IDW.

No photoshop nonesense going on here. The Godzilla prop on top of that high rise and the full size Gundamn robot are both quite real. A friend of mine is on an extended stay in Japan right now and he's been sending me some fantastic photos in recent weeks. Some have to do with all things in Japan that are related to the comic book/sci-fi/fantasy genre. Of those, I wanted to share these two in particular because this stuff is awesome and you'll only find in Japan. Those must have been a Hell of a sight to see in person.

 

 Just on a whim today I decided to revisit a fan art piece that I did 11 years ago although it doesn't feel like it was that long ago. I was always happy with how Ikon came out from a figure composition stand point but I kinda lost my focus with the other elements in the sketch piece and as a result it never did look quite right to me plus it also felt like it was missing something to. you can see the original here romspaceknightart.blogspot.com

IKON was Marvel's attempt to fill the Greatest of The Spaceknights void. And at times there was some promising moments as we saw IKON team up with cosmic powerhouses like Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Quasar, Silver Surfer and Ronin. We even at one point got to see her lead a task force of classic spaceknights giving us a bit of the old Mantlo magic from the original series. But that was very short lived and Marvel true to form fucked it all up with her apparent untimely demise along with Galador. We would see a couple brief unexplained appearances not long after that and then that was it. Haven't seen her since 2014 so fuck you very much Marvel Comics. And don't think I forgot about you also IDW with your shitty ROM and Micronauts reboot fails you fucken suck also.

 

 

WELL SAID!

ROM and the spaceknights of Galador vs Ronan The Accuser epic cosmic throw down

Here's my latest 3 1/2 X 5 sketch card fan art after months of not feeling motivated to actually produce anything despite some of the ideas I've had rolling around in my head. Some of those ideas included a hypothetical encounter between ROM and Ronan the accuser and doing something (as a separate piece) with one of the most bad ass looking spaceknights ever, Gloriole. So I decided to just put it all together as one scene and later added Firefall which I thought was a nice touch. This would have been so awesome! Almost as much as Terrax The Tamer mixing it up with Galador's spaceknights in ROM 26 (thank you Bill and Sal!) when Galactus showed up to make Galador his latest meal. Just as Terrax was forced to contend with all those different spaceknight powers so to would Ronan in some other type of confrontation scenerio. Like I said it, would have been awesome.

The official handbook of the Marvel Universe #9 back in 1983 was actually my first introduction to the Ronan the accuser character. Quite literally over the decades I've seen him evolve from what basically was a Fantastic Four villain to a much more complex character and ultimately something of a anti-hero  in Marvel cosmic story like The Annihilation Wave and War of Kings.

1985

March 3rd Update: A little something interesting I found today in regards to some of Bill Mantlo's thoughts on the cancellation of the ROM series. Issue 66 was the official end of the Wraith War on Earth but the series went on for another 9 regular issues and 1 annual. As those of you who have read the series know the story concludes with a post apocalyptic situation on Galador in which a new generation of spaceknights went rogue and turned on the rest of the population in a "Skynet" kind of way.

Left click to enlarge

March 4th Update: I recently added another blockade runner to my growing rebel fleet. This one has more of a blue stripe color scheme and is with out the battle damage detailing.

Hayward CA

March 12th Update: Mondays suck as we all know. Finding these awesome Black Panther and Okoye PVC figures on my door step went a long way to getting over a case of the Mondays. And just for the record, even before I heard the unfortunate news about the Toys R Us chain closures I would have been happy to buy these at my local Toys R Us store had they carried them. That Hayward store has been around since the early 80s and I used to go to that Chucke Cheese as well back in the day when it was full of video games.

A tribute to the classic

I didn't think I was gonna do any fan art for the longest time. But this week something just came over me I don't know if it's nostalgia or this chill work week I'm having so far or a combination there of. Just started sketching something last night with some of my free time and it started coming out pretty good. Earlier tonight I colored it and viola....my image montage of the classic ROM series is complete.  P.S. Fuck IDW Publishing

Gordon Henley as rebel X-Wing pilot Red Leader

I feel like I should give another recently passed away actor a little shout out here who isn't a house hold name but never the less has managed to cement their place in sci-fi history. Gordon "Drewe" Henley earlier this month died at age 75 from chocking on some food he was eating. Something of a tragic freak accident I would say especially coming on the heels of Carrie Fisher's death. For those of you who saw Rogue 1 you may have noticed him in the film appear in a couple of scenes exactly as he was back in 1977 when he led the rebel squadron that attacked and destroyed the Empire's first Death Star.
Unlike with The Grand Moff Tarkin and Princes Leia there was no well done CGI going on with Red Leader. That's because the producers of Rogue 1 actually inserted cut scenes from the Death Star battle from A New Hope into the ending space battle in Rogue 1. I absolutely loved that it made Rogue 1 feel that much more like classic vintage Star Wars and it was also great in terms of continuity. I can only hope that Henley was able to see Rogue 1 before his accident. Think about it, watching cut footage of yourself intended for a movie back in 1977 being used for a movie in 2016 I mean seriously how cool is that!? It should also be noted the same thing was done with the actor from A New Hope that played the rebel pilot with the call sign Gold Leader.

Left click to enlarge

January 28 update: My sketch card collection so far as of today.

Sabra by Dann Phillips!

http://dannphillips.deviantart.com/

Mozel Tov! Every body raise your glass Dann and I just had a baby. But in this case the "baby" came in the form of an upload yesterday on deviant art. Now the baby thing is because I had been pestering Dann for some untold months about doing something with Sabra. The thing is I can always draw something myself (previous post) if I really want to see it but every artist brings some different to a character or scene based on their style and imagination and some times it's just nice to see another artist's interpretation for a change. I hope you all enjoy this it certainly made my weekend.
Nothing new on the ROM front I hadn't really planned on any more postings in the foreseeable future and I'm trying not to think about the new series because I'm burnt out on it already. But since I posted this new Sabra fan art today to give it some more exposure I might as well pass along some other fan art to you. Speaking of strong female characters created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema this is some of the best Starshine fan art out there although The Defenders cover concept doesn't make much sense to me but that aside this is pretty damn good . . .
http://michaeldooney.deviantart.com/art/Spaceknight-covers-595064323

And finally, here's a color version of that recent Acroyear vs ROM fan art piece which is over all really good although ROM's neutralizer still looks like shit. It really is the proverbial fly in the ointment as the saying goes . . .
http://mavspace.deviantart.com/art/Rom-Vs-Acroyer-591575790

March 14th update
Actually there's one more thing Ptor from The Sanctum Sanctorum gave me a heads up about a custom Torpedo that just recently sold on ebay. The seller also had this on deviant art where  he comes off as kind of an asshole but hey whatever.