We’ve reached the 31st, the final (official) day of Jack Kirby Tribute Month. It’s always something of a “wild card” day. Or as Howard Simpson, curator of the event, put it the first year: “Draw your own original character. The King would want you to create characters you own.”
I’ve never been one of those artists who sneezes and comes up with five new character ideas before breakfast (though I do know some people like that!). So I was wracking my brain to figure out if I had any other characters that would fit well with this year’s theme. I dug up a number of old sketchbooks I hadn’t looked at in years, and a character popped up that I had drawn a few times over the years. So ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Whammy Woman! -ahem-
So yeah,…not exactly the most super-serious character. I guess I kinda liked the alliteration, so that stuck with me. Truth is, while I enjoy a more serious superhero strip along with anyone, if someone were to push me to write a superhero comic, it would probably lean towards being more humorous.
I’ve included scans of a couple of the earlier sketchbook drawings of Whammy Woman here. The character would probably work just as well in a b/w comic. Most likely because at the time, I was looking at a lot of interesting ’80s b/w comics like Love and Rockets.
Whammy Woman is ™ & © Mark Lewis. Anyway, I hope you like this. And though it’s the final official day of this year’s Jack Kirby Tribute Month, I have one more thing to show. So stop by tomorrow to see!
Congratulations on completing another fun month celebrating the King of Comics birthday! As in previous years you reminded us how much fun comics, particularly Jack Kirby comics, are interesting and fun!
Thanks! It got a bit close this year, whether I was going to make it through this last week in time or not, so it was a relief to finally make it. And yeah: if all this reminds people that Kirby’s comics are a lot of fun, and that comics should be fun, then that’s a good thing!
Very early sketchbooks are they. One part of the drawing I was going to look at first were the hands, relative to the comment I made yesterday and also your response. Today her uplifted finger leaves with the next couple of panels watching the finger wagging “No you don’t!” I really like the look of this character. The hair coloring is very appealing. Perhaps the attractive Whammy Woman lives in a ghoul filled world? The figure on the right side in your Wham title has the “Dr. Death” sort of look. I must say you serve up a pretty heavy diet of lead for Whammy Woman. It’s all Bullets, Babes and Demon Beasts. Did you ever pen a story with the character? The images you’ve shared certainly create some ideas. Thanks Mark.
Glad you enjoyed this. No, I never actually did a story with her. Yet.
I was wracking my brain for what to do that would fit with the theme of this year’s list, and rediscovered her in the old sketchbooks. Sort of classic superhero type stuff, but with a bit of a sense of humor to it. Two of the four “wild card” originals I’ve done for this now have leaned that way. I’d forgotten that I’d drawn Whammy Woman a few times over the years. Just one of those things in the grooves of your brain that you don’t know where it comes from exactly