Corvo, Agent 47 and Connor Kenway

Cool killers from Dishonored, Hitman and Assassin's Creed III

Archer, a person of the ripe old age of 11, asked me yesterday which of these three games would I be most likely to allow him to play.  A thorough enumeration of the relative amounts of sadism and bloodletting in each of the three games followed. (For instance:  "Really! You don't HAVE to kill anyone in Hitman!")

I replied that this seemed like a trick question as I was pretty sure that all three were rated M.  Archer responded that 11 is almost a teenager and it was high time for his first M rated game.

Connor Kenway from "Assassin's Creed" with Guns from "The Sixth Gun"

Since we seem to be wallowing in images of weaponry now that the kids are in summer camp and not at Quaker School, here is an assassin posing with supernatural weapons.  The summer camp is, however, housed within the Quaker school and features many of the same staff.  As usual, I am just refining my children's ability to engage in self aware hypocrisy. 

And speaking of questionable parenting, and what is, or is not OK at Quaker school:  we are finally completely caught up to the current issue of  "The Sixth Gun" a moderately inappropriate for kids supernatural western comic series by Brian Hurtt and Cullen Bunn.  We got started on the series when one of the kids discovered the first two volumes at the school's used book sale. Apparently, they had been ousted from the library for unsuitable content.

At any rate, Ansel requested that I draw his favorite assassin, Connor, holding the first two supernatural pistols from "The Sixth Gun.'  The first gun shoots "with the force of a cannon blast," and the second "spreads the fires of perdition."  While Connor appears  to be capable of mowing down an entire army single handedly with just an axe, certainly he would benefit from this weapon upgrade.  (Having admitted to reading "The Sixth Gun" to my sons, I feel compelled to  pathetically point out that I have not allowed them to play Assassin's Creed.  This does not diminish their enthusiasm for the concept or the character.)

Distracted by Connor's annoying to draw outfit, I botched the pistols: the part of the gun that identifies them as the first and second gun is the grip, which is, of course, impossible to see here. 

Assassin's Creed Connor Confronts Batman

This is another image from a year ago that I somehow never managed to post... I think.
At the time, we were right in the middle of the Assassin's Creed IV obsession around here.  And at the tail end of the Batman obsession.  Although, like Star Wars, Batman is never completely out of fashion.  Assassin's Creed is never out of fashion, for that matter.  But I am not drawing Connor on napkins several times a week at present.

I usually added strawberries on the end of weapons to make them more friendly for Quaker lunch, but here I guess the strawberry is the point of contention.  Or maybe they're just having a moment.

Bart Simpson in Assassin's Creed Costume

In the continuing spirit of Too Much Connor Kenway...

Ansel and Archer have recently started to appreciate "The Simpsons"... mostly because they think the show is full of inappropriate jokes.

Toothless and Hiccup Wearing Connor Kenway's Costume

If one imaginary character is wearing another imaginary character's costume, does that qualify as cosplay?

Hiccup is appearing in Ansel's favorite assassin's get-up today.  

Ansel was planning to wear his older brother's Connor costume from last Halloween this year, but now both of them have to be Hiccup.

Connor Jaeger: Pacific Rim Meets Assassin's Creed

I usually object to drawing Mr. Kenway because of all the fussy detail on his costume. 

After trying unsuccessfully to turn him into a giant mech, I now appreciate the relative simplicity of his human form.

G-Man and Giarrusso Style Connor

Mikey goes in for a high-five with the axe wielding star of Assassin's Creed III, Connor Kenway.

We've been reading (and rereading) the three G-Man books by Chris Giarrusso over the last few days.  

As I am very well aware of my sons' interest in the character, I showed them Chris's "Weekly Wednesday Sketch of Connor Kenway yesterday.  Ansel immediately told me he wanted a G-Man style Connor on today's napkin.

I was perhaps overly ambitious and put the two characters together.  Ansel looked at it this morning and said "Nice.  But I want the other one for tomorrow."  (Meaning: "Copy Chris's sketch exactly, Mom!) Innovation has never been encouraged by my children.

Jake The Predator and Finn the Assassin From Adventure Time

We've been reading "Adventure Time: Volume 2." The TV show is one of my sons' favorites...except when an episode is "too much about love."

The bros cosplay here as the boys' other favorites: a Predator and Connor from Assassin's Creed 3... who are definitely not too much about love.

Ewok Dressed as Connor From Assassin's Creed 3

Fluffy and cute...but deadly never looses its charm for our sons.

Reminded by his reading of Jeffrey Brown's "Star Wars: Jedi Academy" just how cute Ewoks are, Ansel asked for one done up as Connor from Assassin's Creed.

Archer insisted that there should be an Ewok Predator also on the same napkin, but I just could not manage the two of them last night.

Axe Cop And Connor From Assassin's Creed III

Axes for Peace:  Axe Cop and Connor from Assassin's Creed III support nonviolent conflict resolution for Quaker lunch:

Ansel wanted these two guys on the napkins complete with their axe/tomahawk.  This was not exactly Quaker First Grade lunch material, so I moved the weapons to the edge of the image and ladled the peace rhetoric on really thick.  Archer said, "Oh come on! No one actually says that stuff at school!" 

Ansel had requested that they should both be saying, "I'll chop your head off!"... (Although, perhaps not to one another- He did not specify)

I am pretty sure that saying that sort of thing is not encouraged at school.

Izzy with Assassin's Creed 4's Edward Kenway

Our younger son continues to be abjectly dog-deprived, so whenever we visit with an even slightly affable canine, Ansel immediately "misses" him or her afterward. The dog he is missing most recently is Izzy who belongs to some  friends out on Long Island.  Izzy allowed Ansel to pick her up, sort of, earning a place in the napkin hall of fame.

Here she is hanging out with the remorseless killer from Assassin's Creed 4...because...maybe because I am tired of drawing Connor from Assassin's Creed 3?

And Edward doesn't carry his weapons on his back.

Cute Assassin's Creed III Connor Naps With A Predator

Our kids are still fixated on characters from video games that they are too young to play. They obviously enjoy the age inappropriate malice and power of characters like Connor, but that doesn't mean that they can't be improved by insipid cuteness.  

The official request from Archer was that I draw "chibi" versions of the two.  He meant in the manga sense of the word, but I ended up making them look more like "real" children (whatever real might mean in this context....). If you're justifiably wondering what "chibi" means, take a look at the Wikipedia article

Zombie Assassin's Creed III Connor With Zombified Zombie Hunter

The widespread popularity of zombies has finally sunk in around here and I got a request to draw my sons as members of the living dead.

The kids are definitely too young for most zombie movies, but Archer has at least a half dozen video games where the guiltless and gleeful bashing of zombies is the both the goal and the pleasure of the game.

So it was certainly not that they weren't thinking about zombies, but last week for the first time, they  decided that perhaps being a zombie might be cool.

Maybe not as cool as caving in the head of many zombies, but cool nonetheless. 

And cool enough that Ansel wanted not just to be a "Zombie Hunter," but as he said: a "Zombie Zombie Hunter."

Infinity Blade's Siris with Connor From Assassin's Creed III

The anachronistic knight and assassin discuss the impact of impaired vision while battling the enemy.

Archer did  not give me a request last night, but these two guys are always good.

Connor The Assassin Gives Mabel and Dipper From Gravity Falls A Ride

We had watched a lot of "Gravity Falls" over the weekend while Ansel was quarantined with his viral and bacterial infections, so he asked for Mabel and Dipper to pose with his favorite homicidal video game character on Monday's napkin.

Since we had already done Batman holding the Gravity Falls siblings on his shoulders, (see image here) I felt the irrational urge to come up with some other arrangement for the three of them.  Having Connor give the two kids and the pet pig a horsey ride seemed about as implausible as having the three of them in the same image in the first place.  Mabel is game for anything, while Dipper's expression indicates that he knows this drawing is a bad idea. Perhaps Connor is just placidly waiting for his opportunity to slaughter another dozen Redcoats.  

Unsurprisingly, Ansel was not too impressed with this image, although he did remark, "You really looked carefully at Waddles the pig! You got the pink circle around his eye." This sounded very much like something his Kindergarten teachers might say to one of their students, and was about as close as we get to a compliment about my drawing.  

Predator and Assassin Kids' Costumes

There are few things as compelling as a video game that you are too young to play.

This week Alien Versus Predator, or AVP as the cognoscenti call it, has suddenly appeared on Archer's radar.  Ansel still finds Assassin's Creed III to be his personal age-inappropriate favorite. 

Last night, the two of them asked me to draw them as their respective murderous characters.

Archer woke me up early to tell me that his face looked horrible in the above image.  What he really wanted was to be wearing a Predator mask.  When I observed that then no one would know it was him, he suggested a label.

Alvin of the Chipmunks Dressed as Connor of Assassin's Creed III

A television broadcast of "The Squeakquel" over the weekend reminded our younger son how much he likes the chipmunks. 

As a parent of two small boys, it is hard to decide which is more challenging:  the insipid furry with the excruciatingly high pitched voice, or the remorseless hooded slaughterer of hundreds.  

My sons are happy to emulate either one, in public and as loudly as possible.

It's a difficult choice, so here they are ridiculously rolled into one.

This morning, Archer shook his head and observed sadly, "His cheeks really mess up the hood."

Fantasy Dodgeball with Connor, Robin and Spider

Remarkably, even at a progressive Quaker school, our younger son  is having stress about dodgeball.

Here we have a fantasy team of sorts: Connor from Assassin's Creed III doesn't look like he is being very effective, Robin from Teen Titans is about to hit the floor hard, and Spider-Man is probably doing some gratuitous jumping.

Evidently it was too many characters on one napkin given the amount of time I had to work with last night....

Connor from Assassin's Creed III As An Irish Wolfhound

When in doubt, draw a dog wearing a costume. 

I'm not sure why I thought an Irish Wolfhound was the right choice last night.  My knowledge of dog breeds is rather poor... although it has improved a bit recently thanks to the super canine series.  Maybe something incongruously cute would have been a better choice for the remorseless killer.

Skylanders Hot Dog Jumps on Connor From Assassin's Creed III

My sons' intense appreciation for the Assassin's Creed Games, (which they are too young to actually play) makes me appreciate the fact that no one's head gets hacked off with a tomahawk in Skylanders.

To tell the truth, I am a little burned out on drawing Hot Dog-  all those molten cracks really are a drag to deal with on a napkin- but his presence here seems to render the assassin a bit less ominous. 

Connor's head is tilted back to try and escape the flying pink saliva.  And because it's hard to see under that hood.