New Kaiju Scribbles

I may not get much digital work done these days, or even any real, good sized sketches, but I do have one source of artistic venting that I make plenty of use of. Every day I take a small, really cheap notebook and a pencil to work with me, and when I'm on break, I furiously jot down all my current ideas, writing and art-wise, into the pages until I run out and get a new one. Usually its nothing worth noting, or something I don't want to reveal yet, or completely illegible for that matter, but earlier today I actually managed to do something I'm pretty proud of with it.

I haven't revealed this yet, but I've been working on a series of short e-novellas I'll try to self-publish in the future, mostly pretty formulaic creature-feature type stuff with my own spin on characters and settings and the like. It takes place in the 1950's-60's around the world as giant monsters start emerging and causing havoc. I can't promise if it'll make much of a presence on DA or if its connected with the Stormback Series (though should the right idea come along I am open to that), but its been fun to make a retro-style monster story.

Anyway, today, I managed to fit tiny, but pretty detailed and to scale sketches of all the monsters I plan on featuring in these stories, each with a focus on its own. That's right, ALL of them, and at the sizes I generally picture them in too. I think it merits posting on here now that I've accomplished it, and now I'll give a small blurb of each of the monsters shown.

(Top Right)RAYGAR: Beast of the Deep-The first monster to officially appear, Raygar is a deep sea monster that first is seen off the coast of a small california town. It appears many times and is something of the godzilla, though rhedosaurus (and Ray Bradbury in general, if you haven't noticed what I did with the name yet) was a bigger inspiration. Uses a powerful yellow plasma like fluid (described as wet light by some) as a weapon.

(Top Left) CEPHABLOS: Technically not a new face, in fact Cephablos is one of my oldest kaiju designs and one I haven't really lost fondness for. There are two of them in this series (that we know of) and one is killed by Raygar off the coast of Japan months after its first appearance (thus negating thoughts of it being killed at the end of its debut story). They fight with powerful heat attacks that can boil the flesh off a bone in a matter of moments.

(2nd Row Center) GRAYSCALE: Another ancient monster and something of an anguirus/slurpasaur homage, Grayscale is discovered, well technically mistaken for a hillside, on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. It can alter its skin color and texture far beyond a normal chameleon, thickening it to stony levels when in need of defense. A bit of a loner and curmudgeon, he and Raygar have a long battle that extends for days until finally ending off the coast of Northern Australia. Yes, he has a long tongue.

(3rd Row Left) CAIEN: Technically an acronym, CAIEN is a mutated space chimp sent up in a secret 1940's experiment, long before we knew animals were going up into space. It was ill-prepared for the radiation up in the cosmic void and the craft crashed. (coughcoughroswellcoughcough) Miraculously, the chimp survived, but its burns were, as expected, quite severe. Over the next decade, the chimp persisted, in constant pain, until one day it entered a murderous rampage, killing one of its handlers. A lot happens, including growing to monstrous sizes, but basically they discover CAIEN has been infected with an alien virus of some kind, and it gradually gets worse, granting the creature great power but forcing it to kill indiscriminately. Hence, Chimpanzee Astronaut with Internal Extraterrestrial Necrosis. He's one of the more complex characters I've made in a while, and I love coming up with more details about him. The virus, which gets very 'the thing' like as it manifests, is contained in a highly advanced prototype nasa made suit that armors the chimp mutants body. The virus causes him great pain in this state, so he becomes violent, but without it he stands a chance of being a carrier of a virus that could wipe out all life on earth. He's the giant ape of the story, and was a lot of fun to create.

(3rd Row Right)DRAKUL: The Red Death-A flying creature that emerges from under the alps after an avalanche unearths it. Much like most bat monsters, it prefers flying at night, and menaces central europe on both sides of the iron curtain. Both sides blame each other, and a story of political intrigue and coming together to defeat a greater evil comes forward. Its very physically strong, its wings are hardly a weak point, and it largely just sticks to fighting tooth and nail. As a nod to Rodan, it fights Raygar several times, the two being quite evenly matched.

(4th Row Center)GIGANT: The Atomic Invader- Its hard to imagine a retro style monster story without giant bugs. They're kind of vital to the flavor of them, really. And Gigant, though simple in design, is my homage to that. It emerges in a small, western town, causes havoc, gets some teenagers riled up, and there's a crazy exterminator in there somewhere. It was mutated from atomic testing the desert, starts about the size of a cougar and gradually mutates with exposure to more chemicals into a true giant. I went with plain-looking on purpose, and I regret nothing.

(4th Row Right)ASTROV: Perchance you remember Dystrov, the giant robot I created in 2012? Astrov here is something of a spiritual successor to him. He doesn't have nearly as short a story, though, and is retrofitted by Soviet scientists decades after the Tunguska crash with a prototype space rocket exhaust cannon on his missing arm. I won't reveal anything else though, I've spoiled enough already.

(5th Row Left)FLOROX: The Creeping Reaper-A super plant resistant to all known disease, with the virility of a weed and the armaments of all your favorite carnivorous plants. It is a laboratory creation that almost covers a southern american town before being driven off by an unlikely hero. It traps small victims with sticky, sundew like buds that can skeletonize a human in less than an hour, making it deadly to people.

(5th Row Right)SAUL: Every story like this needs a retrosaur, and this one is a rather different case. Saul is a nazi experiment, an attempt to recreate a dinosaur using ancient, unknown technology. It seemed to fail, and the embryo was contained in cold storage under Berlin for decades, the number of people in the know of the experiment disappearing, dying or refusing to talk. It emerges in the late 60's, fully grown and growing ever still until it becomes a massive, terrifying force of destruction. It can absorb abilities from what it comes in contact with, and utilizes sheer size as a weapon. Won't reveal too much more, but yes, he is a spinosaur in base, seemed only fair they got a retro adaptation after all the unfair hate the species gets for JP3.

(Bottom Left)VINDICHO: Not quite as finished or detailed as the others, Vindicho is something of a mythological monster. Its story is very human, having a lot to do with Native American land and the like, but its design is alien, with an odd cross between ape and crustacean traits. He still has a ways to go, but he merited fitting in here.

(Bottom Right)GRADNOR This one's a little more sketchy, I didn't know if I could fit it into the tiny page or not, but this is a large, late addition to the monster stories. Inspired by a recent episode of River Monsters about Chernobyl, Gradnor is mutated from the nuclear accident and slumbers at the bottom of the cooling pond. Technically it emerges in the 80's, I know, but it seemed fitting to include. I'm still toying with how to do present day segments, but he will likely be a big feature. He's based off of Wels Catfish and Arctic Sea Wolves, mostly, with a bit of oarfish and sturgeon in there for good measure. A lot of fun to put together.

And that's it, a collection of tiny scribbles of some monster ideas. Hope you guys enjoy 'em.