Superhero of the Month - Canaan Grall's Aquaman

Art by Canaan Grall

Congratulations Canaan Grall, winner of this month's Aquaman contest! Canaan wins the Aquaman collections and $15 gift card from our friends at Scott's Comics!

What a fun contest this was! It was great to see all of the art submitted to SHotM, Project: Rooftop, Superhero Coco and Whitechapel, and I'd like to thank all of them for their participation in this crossover. It's been a total blast, and I hope it's something that we can do again in the future.

Much more after the jump!

Aquaman Finalists

Alright! After some deliberation, we have the finalists narrowed down to the following five:

Joker Little

Superhero of the Month (SHotM): Steampunk is huge it seems, and while I often like what I see, it's rarely something that "does it" for me. This does it for me. The armor is well-done. There's a lot of great detail in there that is done just to the point of where it's enough. It's not over-complicated, and could easily be translated to another artist's style. This really takes me to another era or different universe.

Brian Gubicza: A well researched and cohesive design. The armor is my favorite part, and draws immediate comparison to all manner of undersea life, which lends a definite context to the design.

Canaan Grall

 Brian Gubicza: A fun interpretation. It made me laugh. I enjoy the kung fu flair of the pants.

SHotM: A great submission that took advantage of the Elseworlds theme 110%. Something about watching Arthur punch that cat in the face is priceless. (Again, against animal abuse. This is kind of like Itchy & Scratchy animal violence. Please don't call PETA.) I would just love to see a bigger version of just Arthur; there's so much going on in the piece that it takes going to the full-size version to really get a good look at him.

Joy Christian Juyo

Brian Gubicza: You could easily see this type of design in a Hollywood version of Aquaman. It is a very simple and polished; incorporating the the classic orange and green.

SHotM: I agree with Brian, this could easily be Aquaman: coming to a theater near you! It's very modern looking, and very superheroic -- without looking like spandex. I think I'd like to see a little more orange on the chest, though; when I think Aquaman, I think green and orange, and I think the latter is just a little to restrained.

Lee Harris

SHotM: Very much an "aqua man"; another great, completely different take on the Elseworlds theme. My favorite thing about this is that Lee managed to incorporate the chest armor in an entirely different way with that chain mail quasi-poncho.

Brian Gubicza: A great creature study. I like the deep sea lighting. The costume fits well with the given story. Design wise I would move the bracelet to the opposite arm. For me, it would create more balance, and give emphasis to his claw.

Seni Oyewole

Brian Gubicza: A very unique design. The reptilian skin, hair, and chest gills are interesting details. I feel that the pants would restrict his movement. The background image is disparate, and could be knocked back a bit, as the bubbles are currently the focus of your piece.


SHotM: I love how the reptilian skin emulates the traditional scale armor. The webbed hands (and I assume feet) are a nice touch. I like how the green is mixed in with his skin, but I'd have liked to see some orange worked into his pants to give it more of that traditional color scheme. But as far as an Elseworlds reinterpretation goes, this is a solid A. I'd love to read about this Aquaman.

The drill is the same as last time: Vote in the comments for your favorite Aquaman. Just submit the artists name as the comment. Voting will commence from today through March 30 at 7:00 PM MDT. The winner will be announced March 31. Good luck to all!

Take On: Oliver Gwynne's Aquaman by Ross Radke

Oliver Gwynne sent us an Aquaman right at the start of the contest. Most submissions are sent to us colored in Photoshop or some other kind of digital painting program, but Oliver went old school, and was proud of it: crayon was the name of the game.

Oliver's piece inspired Ross Radke to do his own take on the original redesign, presented to you below:

Ross Radke

"Here's my take on Oliver Gwynne's Aquaman design. I've rechristened mine the Aqua-Thing."

View the original here. More after the jump.

OFFICIAL CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT - ATOM EVE

Thanks to C.O.R.P. for the picture!

It's contest #6 and we're breaking away from the Marvel/DC catalog and offering an Image character for April's contest: Superhero of the Month presents Atom Eve!

Atom Eve stands out among superheroes with her bright pink costume and red hair. Her costume is fairly unique in design and can't otherwise really be misconstrued as being someone else. But that doesn't mean that we can't have some fun!

This contest is being sponsored by our friends over at Big Shiny Robot! BSR! is a great "nerd news & reviews" site that will constantly keep you updated on the latest information on comics, movies, TV and more. We'll have more on BSR! in our upcoming Sponsor Spotlight, but be sure to visit and bookmark their site. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Atom Eve entries are due by 6:00 p.m. MST on April 22. Voting will take place between April 26-29, and the winner will be announced April 30.

Aquaman Results - Part V

Canaan Grall

"When 11 year old, freckle-faced, super geeky Mera ordered some of those Sea Monkeys off the back of a comic book, she had no idea they'd be crated in-transit with some dangerous radioactive waste. Within three days of plopping them in some water, she had one five-inch super sea monkey named Arthur on her hands. He now spends his days in service to his little lady's fish pond, beating up stray cats, raccoons, dogs, and the occasional wandering bear, and eating pretty much only popcorn."

Vince Bayless

“Hope everyone enjoys it.” 

Lee Harris

"The surface dwellers had finally succumbed to a nuclear war. The radiation drove the Atlanteans deeper into the ocean. The radiation combined with atmospheric pressure from deeper water mutated them. The deeper parts of the ocean were also full of unknown creatures that preyed upon them. The new Aquaman is a distant descendant of their fabled king from long ago, who seeks to reunite his people."


More Aquamen after the jump!

Aquaman Results - Part IV

Richard JP Le Guen

"I had a terrible dream last night. Iit was 2005 and there was a bunch of suits from WB, sitting in a board room. They were discussing how to portray Aqua-Man on television, and one of them spoke: 'This surfer idea works guys, but the navy is willing to sponsor us if we make him a sailor, and I figure we can include some clown fish stripes in his uniform; it'll make the kids think of Finding Nemo, and everybody loved Finding Nemo!'

"I awoke with cold sweat dripping down my forehead, and I knew the gods of superheroes wanted me to show the world that Aquaman is actually FREAKIN' AWESOME by showing them the horrifically lame monstrosity he could have ended up as..."

Ross Radke

"Aquaman works best with designs between the two extremes - the Golden Age, goldfish shirt wearing lad and the crazy 'Hulk Hogan' pirate. The obvious reference point for this design was the movie Gladiator. Aquaman is now 'Aquilla the Murmillo' and his story would be much the same. The favored son, cast out, enslaved, forced to fight, eventually he starts a revolution and claims the throne of Atlantis."


What do you all think? These are some fun, fantastic redesigns by some great SHotM regulars!


Be sure to check out Aquaman Results - Parts I, II and III, and check out our sponsor for the month, Scott's Comics!


Check out a little side contest after the jump!

Aquaman Results - Part III

I've been waiting until we've had two or three pieces to put up at a time, but since we've had a dry spell for the last little bit, I thought I'd put this fresh Aquaman up ASAP!

Peter Dora

"I wanted to make a more streamlined Aquaman. I always thought his "shirt and pants" outfit never really seemed like it would move very well under the water. I went with more of a body suit, like an Olympic athlete would wear. I wanted to give the orange part some texture to help break the character up and give him a little more variety in design. The texture reminds me of the underside of a whale, and the grooved lines makes me think of flow."


What do you all think? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out the last couple of batches of Aquamen in Aquaman Results - Parts I and II. Be sure to check out our sponsor, Scott's Comics, and check out the Official Contest Announcement -- Aquaman redesigns are due Monday, March 21!

A Little Update

Things have been a little slow since we got hit with a plethora of Aquamen at the start of the month. Hopefully that will change soon, but for now there are a couple of updates I want to tell you all about.

First, I set up mobile viewing for the site. Now your iPhones, iPods and other mobile devices should go to the mobile version of Superhero of the Month for easier viewing!

Also, we now have jump breaks! So longer posts will now show two submissions, followed by a "read more" tag that you can click for the full article. It'll keep the front page looking a little less lengthy, I think.

Thanks for sticking with us! I hope we'll have some new art on the way shortly!

Aquaman Results - Part II

Here comes another round of Aquaman redesigns!

Joy Christian Juyo

"My approach was very simple and yet very utilitarian. Aquaman is the King of Seven Seas, so I tweaked a bit of his classic costume, incorporating a piping golden yellow with a rib design; more of a coral or marine motiff/look. It's an armor, yet very lightweight, so it doesnt impede Arthur's swimming ability.

"Nothing was very wrong with his traditional colors; besides, how many characters wear an orange costume? It's a classic! So I employed gold and orange, complimenting with dark green/grayish sharkskin texture so that  underwater Aquaman will shine through." 

Joker Little

"I wanted to keep mostly in line with the original classic Aquaman look, but build up on the idea of royal armor with the hook (harpoon) hand standing in for an ornamented saber. A warrior, but clearly one of a high station.

"I was going for a steampunk/Jules Verne-era nautical pulp look that could also work as modern."


Ahoy! More Aquamen follow...

Aquaman Results - Part I

Editor's Note: Welcome to the first round of Aquaman results for the Sea Change crossover! I did notice that some of our Aquamen crossed over with Superhero Coco, and that's fine with me as the submissions fit the Elseworld's theme we've got going this round, as well as SHCC's criteria. If your submission fits our criteria and you want to send it here, feel free to submit it.

Zephan Osiris

"For my version I decided to do a super military Aquaman. Basically the Captain America of DC's Seven Seas!"

Oliver Gwynne

"You'd think people would have made a bigger deal when they discovered a race of sea people living beneath them. Nope. They were all too busy going crazy for Superman. Who wants to support a superhero who smells like seaweed? Atlantis currency quickly became de-valued when they started trading with the world and the former king finds himself working on the docks. Every now and again though he wips out his his costume, sharpens his claw, and goes off to save some ungrateful human swimming too close to a shark. (Yes that is crayon, and yes we should try and bring it back.)"


See much more after the jump!

Sponsor Spotlight

Scottscomics.com opened in August, 1997, and was one of the first comic book sites with a shopping cart in 1999!   Now with over 130,000 comics, Scott's Comics prides itself on friendly service, good packaging, and treating customers fairly.

Scott's Comics offers on-line ordering, great customer service, a wide comic book selection, strict grading, and secure credit card transactions. We specialize in 1960's-to-date comic books and trade paperbacks. 

Scott's Comics is a one-man operation. Scott has been collecting comic books since 1973, set up multiple comic book shows, ran a part-time store in Rocky Mount during the early '90's, and worked at local comic shops. Today, Scott's full time job is a Civil Engineer. 


Scott's Comics U.S. economy shipping rate starts at $3.99 and is free for orders over $50. Check us out and sign up for our free once a month newsletter!

OFFICIAL CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT: Aquaman - Sea Change

Thanks, Wikipedia!

In conjunction with Project: Rooftop, Superhero Coco, and Whitechapel, Superhero of the Month is pleased to announce Aquaman as our redesign challenge for March!

This special event sees all four sites redesigning the same character in unison. We're all very excited about it, and are excited to see what each site brings to the table.

Each site has their own criteria for the event. For SHotM, we're throwing in an alteration to our rules: your Aquaman submissions must fit into the Elseworld's category. They do not have to fit into established Elseworld's stories. Feel free to create your own interpretation of Aquaman. While you don't have to, we'd love a short paragraph that explains his Elseworldly origins.Other than that, all other criteria remain the same! 

There will be a prize for the winner, courtesy of Scott's Comics: two Aquaman collections (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, Aquaman: The Water Bearer) and $15 gift card to scottscomics.com. 


Redesigns are due by March 21 at Noon MST. As usual, entries can be submitted between now and the due date, and will be posted as they are submitted between March 1 - 21. Voting will be held between the 26 - 30, with the winner announced March 31.


Feel free to contribute to all the sites if you wish. Dean over at P:R is going to do a "best of" round-up after the contests are done featuring the best work from each site.


If you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop me a line at superheroofthemonth@gmail.com.


Thanks, and good luck!