S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Commission
Hell Hath No Fury!
This commission is the fourth in a series of pieces I've commissioned from John Byrne, each of which involves a team of Marvel heroes, their headquarters and at least one really cool team vehicle. In this case, I asked John to do a piece with the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier under assault by the hordes of Hydra with Nick Fury in his flying convertible fighting back along with the rest of his team. As you can see below, the result is fantastic with a great cast of characters including Nick Fury, the Contessa, Dum Dum Dugan, Barron Von Strucker and lots of Hydra goons along with incredible renderings of the Helicarrier and Nick Fury's convertible. Truly an action-packed scene!
"The piece is 20" x 30" and John Byrne said it was the largest S.H.I.E.L.D.
Helicarrier he'd ever drawn - larger even than in the She-Hulk Graphic Novel"
I've commissioned a number of pieces from John Byrne over the past few years and I continue to be amazed by the results. I initially started giving very specific instructions for my commissioned pieces: this character here, this character there, this position, this expression, etc. But, not surprisingly, what I've found over time is that John Byrne does a far better job of bringing a concept to life based only on a high-level description than I possibly could ever conceive. He apparently can almost immediately picture a scene in his mind's eye when it's described to him and render it perfectly, which is a skill I find truly remarkable.
Hooked On A Theme
The commissions that John Byrne has done for me with the theme of a team of heroes, their headquarters and vehicles are among the favorite pieces in my original comic art collection. At the heart of it, these commissions embody so many of the fun and exciting things I dreamed about as a young boy when I pictured myself in the Marvel Universe. How cool would it have been to go to school at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, live in the Baxter Building or the Avengers Mansion or be an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stationed on the Helicarrier? These commissions definitely bring out fond memories of the 12-year-old in me.
What's Next?
At this point, I've done the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., so I'm trying to figure out what - if anything - to do next. I've given some thought to the Defenders flying up up and away from Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, but they don't have a cool team vehicle other than Valkyrie's horse Aragorn. I also thought about doing the Champions since they have a great flying vehicle, but they don't really have an iconic headquarters. As much as I love Alpha Flight, their team vehicle is a ripoff of the Avengers Quinjet and they don't have an iconic headquarters either. So, I'm thinking about flipping the theme a bit.
"Perhaps the Fantastic Four attacking Castle Doom or the Invaders
attacking Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Ah, delicious food for thought."
I was tempted to move into the DC Universe with the Batcave, Hall of Justice, Fortress of Solitude, Watchtower, etc., but my true love from my early days of comic reading is really the Marvel Universe. So, rather than doing the heroic team's headquarters, I'm thinking about commissioning an assault on a villain's headquarters. I can definitely imagine a piece with the Fantastic Four attacking Castle Doom with Dr. Doom blasting away and an army of Doombots flying through the air. Or maybe the Invaders attacking Hitler's Eagle's Nest from above with Master Man, Warrior Woman and the other Axis supervillians leading the counter-assault. Ah, delicious food for thought.