Behind the Scenes @ SJRP
The Martian: An Anatomical Analysis
by artist, Chris Moreno with comments by creator, Tony DiGerolamo
The Travelers #15, Locust vs. the Martians!, provided Chris and I with a unique challenge. When you mix science fiction and fantasy elements, there is always a danger of diluting both concepts. The Martians in this issue had to be very strong as characters, so Chris needed to create a design that was equally strong. After tossing around some very alien-looking concepts, we eventually went with something more expressive, yet very distinctively alien. The pictures below are sketches and notes from Chris's sketchbook.
Here we see the Martian skull. Every good design has a skeleton beneath it. Even if you never really see it, skeletons are very important to drawing anatomy. When drawing aliens, it is doubly so.
The design we eventually agreed upon resembles a mix of the Mars Attacks! Martian and lead aliens from DC Comics Invasion crossover.
Chris came up with the exploding brains bit. That, in turn, influenced the story and became a running gag within the issue.
We didn't really get to explore the conept of the Martian government, but their hierarchy is clearly implied during the issue. There was lots more to explore with the Martian characters. We hope to bring them back in a later issue. Issue #15 was one of our favorite issues to make. Although we were pretty bummed about the printing error that left off the last page by mistake, we were able to post it on the website here and print it in issue #16 so fans didn't miss it.
Would you like to buy an original piece of artwork from Chris Moreno? Email him at JCMoreno121@hotmail.com
Email questions to imfix@comcast.net
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