Pug Nefarious

Pug Nefarious:

We’ve always been big fans of “Gladstone’s School for World Conquerers” by Armand Villavert and Mark Andrew Smith.

 “Kid Nefarious” One Shot is in its final hours on kickstarter now. 

Please consider funding, we did, and are fervently hoping that it reaches its goal and gets published!

Nefarious on Kickstarter 

You can also see the rest of our canine cosplay series from 2012-13:

Including the Skull Brothers as dogs, (also from Gladstone’s) Raven the Weimaraner, Starfire the Dachshund, Nightwing the Hound, Kid Flash the Italian Greyhound, and a disturbing number of many more. One can assess whether my Nefarious or Pug napkin drawing skills have improved over the last six years.

Or there’s always the Animal Cosplay series, if you are really looking to waste some time (Nintendo cosplay for cats!)

Pomeranians Celebrate the End of Shark Week 2017

My younger son thinks that a Pomeranian would be the best breed of dog for us to have...if we were able to have a dog. 

He has very defined opinions on what sort of haircut this hypothetical dog should have. 

He has not offered an opinion on what sort of shark costume would be preferable, so I am offering a few options here.

Tigger in Fallout Power Armor

Continuing in the "Aunt & Uncle's pet cosplay" theme: here we have their cat Tigger sporting a suit of Fallout 4 power armor. That's some sort of bomb launcher on his right shoulder.

Unlike the samurai armor, I don't believe that Fallout mech suits for house cats are available for sale online.

But they should be, definitely

Samurai Millie

Samurai Millie

Various social media outlets recently alerted me to the fact that I can now purchase samurai armor suitable for pets....if we had any pets that were willing to wear such outfits.

An avid knitter during my childhood, I made more that one cat sweater for my disgruntled, curmudgeonly cat, Muffin. If I could manage to actually get the sweater on, she would promote collapse on the floor as if mortally wounded and refuse to move until the wretched abomination was removed. I can only imagine the enthusiasm with which she would have greeted a suit of cat sized samurai armor.

Perhaps my sons' uncle and aunt's good natured dog Millie would be more amenable.

But luckily for her, I only imagined her wearing the armor.

RaptorPool for Dinovember 2016

Or perhaps it is VelociPool?

 (Just not DinoPool, my sons say, as that has already been done.*)

In honor of #Dinovember: A Merc with an extra toothy mouth. (I debated about covering up his mouth, and teeth, with a more accurate mask, but in the end, I just couldn't do it.)

A couple of days ago, I was picking out some images from the last year, and I noticed the overwhelming prevalence of Deadpool napkins. So here is yet another.

A classmate of my older son was over for a visit recently, and I overheard him declaring that Deadpool was the only superhero that still interested him at his advanced age of 14.  While my sons are still compelled by other supers, Deadpool definitely stands out for them also.

Wade is the only superhero with a R rated movie... Could there be a connection?

*The T-Rex DinoPool in "Deadpool Kills Deadpool" from 2013, which also featured the much-beloved-at-our-house PandaPool.

Batman V Superman Pug Cosplay

The kids are of course looking forward to "The Dawn of Justice" because, you know, Batman is going to fight Superman WHILE WEARING POWER ARMOR.

My husband and I agreed that we could recall very little of the preceding Superman movie, although we were both pretty sure that we had taken the kids to see it.

The appearance of Wonder Woman seems like a potentially pleasant diversion... or a disaster, I suppose.

But Pugs! Always good!
Pugs in power armor? Even better.

As you can see, I did not quite get the pose right.  My younger son said, "What is he doing with that paw?" And the isolated Pug muzzle in the power suit makes the dog look more like a cat... Should have drawn Wonder Woman.... or not

Puppy Pugpool

My sons want to see the Deadpool movie that opened yesterday almost as much as they want a puppy.

Sad to say, this napkin is the best I can do for the moment.

There is a "Dogpool" and a "Pandapool" among others in the rather extensive "Deadpool Corps" in the Marvel universe. But no image comes up when one googles for "Pugpool"...well, nothing beyond a pool for pugs anyway.  The web abhors a vacuum- particularly one that could be filled with a puppy wearing a superhero costume.

We had an extensive series of super dogs in mostly DC outfits back in 2013 when our younger son was suffering from more acute feelings of pet deprivation. You can see some of those napkins at this link. Or more exhaustively (63 napkins and counting) at this link

Shulk From Xenoblade Chronicles as a Cat

We're really feeling that magenta vest:
Feline/Nintendo cosplay #8

The Xenoblade Chronicles is another Japanese video game that is relatively obscure to the North American market.  But our sons know a little bit about Shulk, because he is playable in Super Smash Bros on the Wii U.

I can only observe that he sports a very busy and peculiar outfit: a magenta vest with multiple doodads and a highly patterned pair of shorts with a strange strappy arrangement protruding from underneath. Except when he mysteriously pops up clad in nothing but his underpants.

I did not know about what my sons call the "Sexy Shulk" appearances when I drew him last night. I just looked at the big techno sword  and thought that was probably pretty cool in the minds of 8 and 12 year old boys. I usually try to avoid drawing overt weaponry on the napkins, lunch at Quaker school and all, so I left the majority of the sword off the napkin. I also wanted to avoid having to translate the knee bondage gear for feline hind legs.

Of course now that I have typed the word "sexy" above and looked again at the image on the napkin with the low placement of the magenta sword handle....well, I am regretting my compositional choices a bit. Perhaps I should not say more than that. Just so you know that I did not make any of this up, the original image is below:

Feline Maxwell From Scribblenauts

Cat with Rooster Helmet and Notebook:
Feline/Nintendo cosplay #7

Scribblenauts is one of my personal favorite games for all of its edifying potential.  Typing nouns in the search field from a vocabulary of over 20,000 words allows the player to summon all sorts of characters and items, from "Quetzalcoatl" to "Barracuda" to "Public Address System."

My sons particularly appreciate the possibilities of words like "Rocket Launcher," "Special Atomic Demolition Munition" and "Gatling Gun."

While Scribblenauts is not strictly speaking a Nintendo game, it is playable on the DS and the Wii U, so I am going to include it in the series here.

Samus Aran as a Cat

Armored Cat Suit:
Feline/Nintendo cosplay #6

Samus Aran, "an intergalactic bounty hunter," originally hails from the 1986 game Metroid.
Once again, I am slightly perplexed as to how my sons have become so familiar with this character. The continuing interest in 1980's pop culture in video games that has been communicated to them ("Ready Player One" anyone?) seems bizarre to me.

Remarkably enough, Samus is a female character, although it seems this was originally hidden from Metroid's players unless the game was defeated within a prescribed time frame.

Stuffing a realistic feline physique into her small waisted "power suit" was a challenge. And I felt that I had to draw her bareheaded...

...because when you are wearing your power suit, nobody knows you're a cat... or a woman.

(as opposed to: "On the internet no one knows you're a dog)

Snake from "Metal Gear" as a Cat

Feline/Nintendo cosplay #5, sort of.

Over the weekend, I discovered my older son's keen interest in "Metal Gear," a game that we do not own and he has never played. While we were at the MoCCA Arts Festival (that's the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Arts) on Sunday, he came across a fan art poster for the game  that he absolutely needed to have. We brought the poster home and infected his younger brother with the enthusiasm for the game. I should point out that this particular character does not actually appear on the poster. An iteration of this "Snake" guy appears in one of the Super Smash games, but not the one we have. In short, Snake's sudden popularity is still mysterious for me.

This morning, my twelve year old son gave me chapter and verse on the details of this game, its history and relationship to Nintendo and the development of this particular character. Sadly, I do not think I could possibly retain, much less coherently summarize the information.  Instead, I will pathetically turn to 90 seconds worth of  Wikipedia reading, and offer that Metal Gear is "a series of action-adventure stealth video games" that feature the "titular superweapon "Metal Gear," a bipedal walking tank with the ability to launch nuclear weapons." Well, what could be more exciting than that?

In addition to Snake's stylish strappy outfit and cool head band,  my son points out that the guy is a clone, and is therefore "extra, extra badass."

Captain Falcon Cat

Feline Falcon Punch:
Cat Cosplay #4

Our sons have been flailing around the house shouting "FALCOOON PUNCH!!" for a long time.  While I did know that this Falcon Punch was "A Thing" not just specific to my kids, until last night, I was ignorant of the source and the wide distribution of the concept.

For those of you even less informed than I, (I'm talking to you, mom) the Smash Bros Wiki explains,"The move consists of Captain Falcon throwing a powerful punch, with his fist engulfed in flames shaped like a falcon. It is one of the most powerful moves in all five Super Smash Bros games."

The question of who is this Captain Falcon guy seems to be recursive, at least as far as my sons are concerned. Captain Falcon is the guy who throws the Falcon Punch.  We don't need to know more than that. I read on the Wiki that he also has a reverse Falcon Punch, and even a Falcon Kick, but these seem merely to muddy the purity of the concept as far as I am concerned.

The falcon punch seems to play the same role as "Fus Ro Dah" in my sons' life...and the internet at large.

It is always fun to imagine possessing an overwhelming force....or failing that, at least to imagine a cat who possesses an overwhelming force.

Kirby Kitten

Insipid in Pink.
Cat Cosplay #3

I'm not sure this qualifies as feline Nintendo video game character cosplay. It's certainly not one  of my better drawings. But my older son assures me that the point of Kirby is to overwhelm one's enemy with cute cheesiness, so perhaps it is appropriate.

Feline Robin From "Fire Emblem"

Stylish Medieval Feline Intersexual:
Cat Cosplay #2

While Mario was the obvious next choice for cat video game character cosplay, our younger son requested this character from the Nintendo series Fire Emblem instead. I know almost nothing about this game, but Wikipedia tells me that "The Fire Emblem series is known for its innovation and for being one of the first Eastern style tactical role-playing games, with a strong emphasis on Western forms of medieval fantasy."

The kids made this character's acquaintance through "Super Smash Bros," a melee style game that uses Nintendo characters drawn from the company's entire history. I don't think they know much about Robin besides the fact that he or she wears some cool clothes and has an impressive sword. There has been a long running debate at our house about whether Robin is male or female.  Having done 90 seconds of research last night, I was finally able to resolve the question: In Fire Emblem, Robin can be played as male or female. The main difference in the character's appearance seems to be hair length.

Since the cat doesn't have a human haircut, I guess s/he can go either way.

Feline Link

Kitty Cosplay #1:
Could it have cross gender appeal for 8 year olds?

My younger son has apparently not been receiving much positive feedback about his napkins from his peers at school. He particularly values the opinion of a couple of video game obsessed boys and one diffident member of the opposite sex.

We discussed this conundrum last night: how could we simultaneously impress the cool boys and gain the attention of the attractive girl who is not particularly moved by video games, or, more unfortunately, by my son? The rigid gender roles of the second grade universe don't seem to allow for much overlap.

After a few minutes of brainstorming with his older brother, the only obvious solution we could come up with was cute cats dressed as video game characters.

It seemed clear that Link should be a blondish, pointy-eared cat.  I suppose I should give some thought as to what sort of cat could be dressed as Mario.

Ninja Viking Kitten in a Mech Suit

Random Mash-up: Cute and Furry with Weapons.

Yesterday's Dinosaur/Astronaut/Pirate combination led to a discussion of other compelling aggregates: (Mutant, Viking, Dinosaur, Samurai, Super Soldier, Cyborg, Vampire, Zombie, Cowboy, Cannibalistic, Werewolf Aliens anyone?)

I selected a couple categories at random...(well, maybe not entirely at random, I had decided that I didn't want to draw any zombies, vampires, or mutants)....

....And then I added "Kitten."

I'll admit the Viking and Ninja components are rather thinly represented, and the suit looks much more Storm Trooperish than I had in mind, but amazingly enough, Ansel looked at it this morning and said, "Nice."

Biker Bear from "Big Top" Comic

Rob Harrell writes a daily strip called "Big Top" about Pete, a ten year old boy growing up in a circus populated by talking animals who appear to be acting in loco parentis as well as being his pals and roommates.  His primary companion is Wink the unicycle riding, tutu-clad circus bear.  Early on in the series, Wink reveals to Pete, that he has a colorful past involving smoking, leather and a motorcycle. For obvious reasons, I had to omit the cigarette.

Before starting the drawing last night, I somewhat tentatively Googled "Biker Bear," thinking that I wasn't going to see many images of four legged creatures. The results are heavily devoted to teddy bears wearing pleather and bandanas, so cute bears on motorcycles does seem to upstage other uses of the term.

This is the second motorcycle that I have tried to draw in the last week or so. Definitely too complicated, I should avoid them in the future.

El Deafo

Super Bunny with Hearing Aids:

Our kids were very taken with Cece Bell's graphic Novel "El Deafo." 

Ms. Bell tells the autobiographical story of her years in lower school, struggling to fit in and feel good about herself while wearing a clunky hearing aid. Everyone in the story is drawn as cartoon rabbits: clothes-wearing, human-hair-having rabbits.  

Our boys were perhaps slightly disappointed by the lack of dire plot developments.  Nothing explodes, There are no weapons. Cece is not even apprehended at the conclusion when she uses her hearing aids as a tool to enable her friends to get away with goofing off in class when the teacher is out of the room. 

Our dyslexic younger son, nonetheless, was particularly moved by the message that being different can actually turn out to be a super power. 

Having a lunch napkin with a picture of a rabbit with bangs and what now looks like ear buds probably doesn't quality as a super power, however.

An image from the cover of El Deafo:

Karate Unicorn

The kids were very taken with "101 Ways to Kill a Zombie" by Robb Perlman, with humorous illustrations by Dave Urban. The book features a skewering-by-unicorn-horn right on the cover, in addition to other virtuoso demises by things like "hot dog eating contest," "password reset," or "Axe Body Spray."

Ansel was inspired to describe another character for our still mostly nonexistent family webcomic: The Karate Unicorn.  

While the idea in its pure form was pretty amusing, and I'm sure Dave Urban could have run with it successfully, I had trouble coming up with a good image...well, a good image that could be pulled out of a lunchbox at a 2nd grade Quaker school anyway. 

I asked Ansel, "If a human demonstration of karate involved breaking boards, what does a unicorn break?" He provided the obvious answer: "Zombies." While the idea of a unicorn cleaving a stack of the undead in half was potentially funny, it seemed a bit much for lunch with 7 year olds. A stack of rainbow colored boards, however, was definitely not an inspired solution.

I was also unnecessarily distracted by the issue of anatomically correct horse drawing. Afflicted in my youth by a particularly acute case of preadolescent female equine obsession, I spent many years perfecting my drawing of various horse body parts. I recall making several drawings of unicorns also...and I fear there were more than I can now remember...

At any rate, last night I suddenly felt a bizarre compulsion to try to draw this horselike thing in an accurate and sophisticated way. My subsequent failure at equine draftsman grandstanding certainly did nothing to help the humor of the image. And I added a indeterminate purplish background.  My excuse was that if you google "unicorn," you do see a remarkable amount of purple...skies, mountains, water, haze, etc.

Unfortunately the results here are not particularly ironic or otherwise funny. Instead it looks frighteningly like something I might have drawn while I was a horse obsessed tween.....Sorry Ansel.

(Meanwhile, we are eagerly awaiting the sequel, "101 Ways to Use a Unicorn")

Canine and Feline Ewok Cosplay

I can't seem to stop with the Ewoks this week.

I swore to myself yesterday that there would be no more, yet when confronted with the napkin void at 11 pm last night, I could not come up with anything more compelling.... or anything more compelling that I was capable of drawing at 11 pm last night.

I can only offer in my defense that Ansel loved reading "Ewoks: Shadow of Endor" a relatively recent graphic novel that takes place between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."  And he has left little drawings of Ewoks all over the house.

Archer suggested that we should actually watch "Return of the Jed" sometime.  I am not certain that Ansel has seen it, recently converted Star Wars hater that he is.  Archer added, "It is my favorite Star Wars film....And do you know why?"  I asked, "Does it have something to do with very small actors in fur suits?"  "No," he replied, "Epic space battles!"

Ansel is less interested in epic space battles than his brother, but the fur suits might win him over.