We’ve received several emails and comments from readers asking about the status of the Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue contest, so we wanted to share. Our P:R Staff and guest judges are putting the finishing touches on their reviews before we tabulate the results. Thank you all for your patience – once you see these entries, you’ll be as excited as we are!
It’s the final day to enter to win our Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue contest we’re doing with guest judges Cory Walker & Ryan Ottley. We’ve got a load of prizes courtesy of Thwipster, but the only way you’re eligible is by getting your entry in by 12pm midnight Eastern Time. As usual, check our guidelines, include your name and website, and send your art as an attachment in jpg, png, or gif format to projectrooftop@gmail.com. Due to the immense number of entries we cannot send you a confirmation letter after receiving it. Thanks to Paul Milligan for designing our contest logo!
Note: Deadline is next Monday. For the full details, refer to our contest announcement! – Chris A.
He may be still be seen by some as the new super-hero on the block, but Invincible has become an iconic addition to the super-hero landscape in comics. Created nine years ago by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, the Invincible series is nearing a landmark 100 issues and Project: Rooftop wants to dress Mark Grayson up for the occasion. Sponsored by the innovative comics retailer Thwipster, “Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue” is the latest in a line of contests by Project: Rooftop, giving artists a chance to redesign a super-hero in a friendly competition for prizes, recognition and just plain fun.
“It’s definitely exciting to partner up with Project: Rooftop as they are an exciting, handsome site that’s a great blend of three things we love: Comics, Art & Design,” says Lance Sells, Co-Founder & Director of Thwipster.
Joining our regular P:R staff to judge these entries will be the two artists responsible for making Invincible who he is: co-creator Cory Walker and current Invincible artist Ryan Ottley. Both Walker and Ottley have contributed redesigns to Project: Rooftop in the past, but having their experience and expertise for this contest brings it to a whole new level.
“I’m excited to see everyone’s take on Invincible,” Ottley explains. “He’s actually an extremely hard hero to draw and make look cool so a re-design should be pretty challenging. Sleek, simplistic, and iconic. Those are the hardest things to create in a character even though it might sound easy. Good luck everyone, make it awesome.”
The prizes for this contest, provided by Thwipster, are:
First Place: Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Vols. 1 – 3 (retail value of $105).
Second Place: Invincible Compedium Vol. 1 (retail value of $65).
Third Place: Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 (retail value of $35).
Entries for “Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue” must be received by November 28, 2011 at midnight EST. As usual, check our guidelines, include your name and website, and send your art as an attachment in jpg, png, or gif format to projectrooftop@gmail.com. Thanks to Paul Milligan for designing our contest logo!
Note: Our recent Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0 contest propelled a really strong debate, and got people really thinking about what works (and what doesn’t) with a Spider-Man contest. After the entries came in and the results were tallied, California artist Mika Dimayuga came out on top as winner of the contest. Now that the dust has settled, we wanted to ask Mike about his choices that led him to the winner’s circle. – Chris A.
Mike Dimayuga's Winning Entry
Project: Rooftop: First thing’s first – when you first heard about the contest to redesign Spider-man, what were your thoughts on the original costume and what needed changing – and why?
Mike Dimayuga: My very first thought upon finding out about the contest was “dang, this is gonna be another difficult one.”. In my opinion, Spider-Man’s original costume is perfect. It’s iconic, relatively simple to draw, but detailed enough to be visually interesting to look at. Its sleek, fashionable and just so right for the character.
So really, what can I change while still making it “Spider-Man” since the costume was near perfect already? well, having drawn Spidey since I was a kid I knew the least fun for me were the web patterns. They were really tedious to draw. Also, I knew I can play around with the red and blue portions of the suit. I figured I NEEDED a theme, since I was so stumped in the beginning. thinking about Spidey and having just been watching some anime, I realized Spider-Man’s kind of a ninja, so I wanted to do Spidey as an urban ninja. Hardly original, I know. But hey, any port in a storm, right?
To that, I add my other philosophy: when designing a costume, I imagine how iI would design a character if it were meant for a real monthly book. What would an artist have fun drawing over, and over, and over, again? What would be simple to draw, yet still have some interesting detail that would draw the eye? Something distinctive. So with those parameters I was able to finally narrow down what I wanted my design to be.
Note: After over 150 entries and weeks of judging, Project: Rooftop is proud to present the winner of this summer’s Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0 contest. I’d like to thank everyone who made this contest so successful: our iFanboy guest judges Ron, Conor and Josh; our sponsor, Flying Colors Comics & owner Joe Field; our regular contributors; and most importantly, the artists! Congrats to all of the honorable mentions and finalists… and now here’s the winner! – Chris Arrant
Total Score: 56 (Out of a possible 70 points)
Vito: 9. This is what I was talking about in Kris Anka’s design. The lack of a spider logo isn’t missed here in Mike’s because the web pattern serves as an identifier. The scarf is cool, but I can take it or leave it. The webs coming from the fingers is a huge addition, one that I wish Marvel would implement.
Josh: 8. Lose the scarf. But those web fingers? That’s some lateral thinking, and no one else in the group did anything like that. Again, the helmet is a nice touch, and while multiple eyes are hinted at, it’s subtle, and doesn’t gross me out.
Ron: 7. I kinda like the scarf. It keeps him warm and is swashbuckling in a 1920s pilot kind of style. I too like the finger-web shooters, but I always dislike the bracelet/external webshooters. Those should be hidden. Not a big fan of the multiple eyes but this does make it work, so I could warm up to it with this one.
Conor: 7.5. I LOVE the web fingers. Fantastic. I am of two minds on the scarf. On the one hand I’m a big fan of scarves. They are jaunty and keep you warm. On the other, it would probably get tangled up in the webbing and would be easy to yank on in battle. Again, the multiple eyes thing freaks me out, but I am willing to accept that that might just be me.
Jon: 8
Rachel: 7. I really like the general design of the bodysuit, but the red parts look more like brick than web. Bonus points for the tabi boots, which make a lot of sense for Spider-Man, since he’s all about the dexterity. Does the mask remind anyone else of one of the various Goblin iterations?
Chris A.: 9.5. Man oh man, does Mike D. draw for me or what? The cut of the suit, the vertical piping, even the buckle-less belt all add up to amazing. That helmet is amazing, but the scarf has to go.
Note: Trying to improve on what Steve Ditko designed back in the 60s is a mean feat; just ask anyone at Marvel who’s attempted it over the past 50 years. Regardless, the art community came together for P:R’s Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0 to show what could be done with comics’ wall-crawler. Yesterday you saw the honorable mentions, so today we present the finalists — the 2nd and 3rd place winners of the contest. Judging was heated, with these designs standing out as some judges’ personal favorite over even the winner. Tell us what you think, and stay tuned for tomorrow when we announce the first place winner. – Chris Arrant
Brett Howard
Total Score: 55.5 (Out of a possible 70 points)
Vito: 8. There are so many things right with this one, it’s hard to pick a starting point. Colors are fantastic; can’t go wrong with black and red. The spider logo is solid, using the negative space very well, and I like the eye pieces. It looks good. I just think that maybe, just a little, it might skew toward Miles Morales’ costume a little (that’s not an indictment, but rather what it makes me think of). Just a little. But it’s still very good.
Rachel: 9. Yeah, but you could make the same argument about a lot of the others that are more heavily informed by the old-school Peter Parker costume–and, while the inspiration is obvious, I think this design is way, way sharper than the official Morales look. The spider-web is cool, but the bold, clean red-and-black just works so beautifully; if I were Marvel, I’d seriously consider adopting this design, or something close to it. The visual balance is fantastic, and I love the logo made out of negative space. Actually, I love everything about this except for the targets on the feet. Why are there targets on the feet?
Josh: 7. It’s a great design in terms of the graphics on the suit, and it’s definitely clean. It does make sense to have compound eyes, and yet, I do not want that, and I don’t think any kid who has ever found a sizable bug in his room at night does either. It’s a small point, but… ick.
Jon: 7.
Chris A.: 7.5. While I applaud the insect eyes, I think it takes away from an otherwise amazing design. I appreciate how Brett paid attention to the lighted-silhouette style and came up with designs based on that.
Conor: 8. You know, I actually really love the smaller versions with the more basic colors. I like it slightly less in the larger version, but that might just be because of the eyes. But overall it’s a really strong and stark design. If this was the new Spider-Man costume I’d be okay with it.
Ron: 9. I really like this one, a lot. It’s reminiscent of the classic design and even the late 90s Ben Reilly costume design, but also stands on its own in a unique inventive way. I agree with Josh on the compound eyes, but if you look at the lower left versions, with no compound eyes, then it sings.
Jon: Spiders don’t have compound eyes, folks.
Vito: Tell that to the spiders! I’m too busy running!
Rosy Higgins
Total Score: 54.5 (out of a possible 70 Points)
Rachel: 10. So, you know how teenage Peter Parker is supposed to have made his costume from scratch? This is an accurate and awesome representation of what that would actually look like, and Rosy did an amazing job of translating the stuff that makes a superhero costume iconic to a punk / DIY aesthetic. I would read this Spider-Man’s comic in a minute. I would also pay substantial cash monies for that hoodie.
Vito: 8. This is an awesome costume, no doubt. It’s almost as if Rosy and Corey Lewis went to the same mall. The goggles are a great touch.
Josh: 9. Again, this is a “realistic” take done in a completely new way. The entire head is perfect, and perfectly attainable.I love how the goggles even hold the hood in place.
Ron: 2. I totally see and get the idea of a kid making his costume from scratch, but goggles AND a hood? Count me out. Not to mention the knee high boxer type boots? What kid has a pair of those?
Conor: 7. I love the goggle and the hoodie (and how they are applied practically) but I feel like the hair coming out is a bit much. There’s too much of Peter’s identity showing through. If the beauty of the full face mask is that anyone can be Spider-Man, this kind of tosses that notion out the window.
Jon: 9
Chris A.: 9.5. “Lovin’ you is easy ‘cause you’re beatiful…” Seriously, Rosy really took our contest to heart and came up with a near-perfect design. It’s a good prototype, but I think some of these elements could be streamlined if Rosy had a chance to draw it in action some.
As of this morning, we’ve received well over 100 entries into our newest design competition, Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0. People from all over the world, both fans and some surprising professionals have submitted, and we’re extending the deadline one extra week for all those who worked up to the deadline. The new deadline is Monday, August 15th, 2011 at 8am EST.
We did want to take this time to thank our sponsor, Flying Colors Comics based in Concord, CA. Store owner Joe Field is a titan in the comics industry, creating Free Comic Book Day and being a founding member of ComicPro. And also a big thanks — in advance — to our guest judges, iFanboy‘s own Josh Flanagan, Conor Kilpatrick and Ron Richards. Our judging begins next week!
Note: With Captain America: The First Avengers hitting theatres today, we thought we’d highlight the fantastic redesigns we received when we did the Captain America: Fighting Styles redesign contest last fall. We had a number of notable entries including the winning piece by Daniel Heard seen below. Check out the winners and honorable mentions at those links. Thanks! – Chris A.
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