Chidi Okonkwo's Blog, page 4

CUSTOM SILVER FOXX [ SCARLETT ] ACTION FIGURE TOY BY DSNG! [GIJOE CLASSIFIED VALAVERSE SCALE]

 Another new custom toy in the 6-inch scale! This is Silver Foxx. She is a seductive bad-ass mercenary, so she may be a bad guy... anyway, she is a former SWAT officer and ex-Army Ranger. I made her as a cunning counterpart to the likes of Scarlett, from the GI Joe Classified line.

The base body was Marvel Legends Lady Thor, while the lower legs came from Mocking Bird. Her arms came from Emma Frost. And her head came from Retro-carded Black Widow, and I had to sculpt her hair [I posted some teasers on Instagram and Facebook when I was doing that].

Her body and her extra leg armor were sculpted, and her guns came from ebay, while her dagger is from Snake Eyes. And her jacket and belts were from the fodder box. Thanks for looking! Enjoy and Share! 

     

     

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series [http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

WALLPAPER OF KIMBERLY FROM STREETFIGHTER 6! [SF6 / SFVI] PLUS A RANT ON BAD CHARACTER DESIGNS!

Street Fighter 6 [SF6] is coming out next year 2023. And they've got a new character called Kimberly... the trailer was dropped yesterday on Youtube. I just had to comment on this and give the artists & 3D modelers at Capcom a shout-out, for creating a beautiful African American / black young lady. As a young kunoichi / ninja gal, Kimberly seems to be a role replacement for Ibuki [who may still get released in a DLC package. We'll see how that goes]. 

Kimberly has high cheek bones, a compact egg-shaped face, and long black hair... yet she is beautiful to gaze upon, while yielding a warm energetic vibe. And I applaud that design choice.

And you can never compare her aesthetics as a black gal to the female character called Sarah Sharpe, who was a new leading character shown in the Netflix movie called The Sea Beast, released this year [June 2022]... And... Lord have mercy... Sarah also had high cheek bones, but she was one of the Ugliest black female characters I've ever seen in a big budget 3D cartoon, who was presented as a leading character. Her overall appearance as a tough one-legged pirate was just a very poor design choice by the character designers, and the animators had no choice but to roll with it. 

That's Sarah's face shown below, with her equivocally stamped expression for happy, sad, unimpressed, and nonchalant, all rolled into one.

I'm in my 40s. and I've noticed that some young fans have called Sarah Sharpe "the Best Character" in the movie, despite the fact that she's shown in total for less than 20 minutes, out of the 119 minutes running time. I will not debate or endorse that claim... I'm just stating that the design of that one-legged black pirate chick who just too ugly AF. The character designers Could Have done better. There was no law that said she has to be ugly, since she is a tough and battle-tested pirate / monster huntress. Honestly, the director should never have green-lit this design, which is shown below on the right. 

Over the past 18 years, I've drawn and designed over 800 characters for the DSNG Sci Fi Series, while presenting my works as 26 Mature ebooks available online, HERE. And I've made over 100 custom toys, in the 6-inch scale. But I don't post every single work online, because I'm too busy. 

And from a toy creator's perspective, I can tell you that the toys of a character like Sarah Sharpe will have a huge problem standing up on its own... with one wooden leg, especially when you try to set it in some dynamic poses. And per her appearance, SHE WILL NOT SELL WELL AS AN ARTICULATED TOY.

The thing is, these characters in leading roles, most of the time, are supposed to be role models that the viewing kids can aspire to, especially in a flick that is tagged as a family movie. Little girls look up to the leading heroic ladies that they see on the screen, whether it's a Wonder Woman, or even a Sarah Sharpe. So it's wise to makes sure that the character looks good... and she can even be designed to look good with a wooden leg - which was clearly designed to be the frontal spike of a swordfish, so that she can have killer karate kicks, and kick the sea monsters in their eyeballs, I presume.  Look, if I have time, in the future, I'll do a redesign of Sarah, in my style. But not today or tomorrow....  just Google "dsng blog art" to see a small sample of my artwork & custom toys, mostly fished out of this DSNG blog, which has been around since like 2010.

And as as parent, can you imagine the struggles of your young daughter having to dress up as a character with one leg, while other kids will criticize her if she shows up with "two boots" on her legs? You know that kids talk a lot and they say tons of random shit like that! They are brutally honest and they don't care if they hurt someone else's feelings!

[If article ends, Click "READ MORE" below on the left side to keep reading!]

Plus, there have been many other black female characters, in other 3D and 2D cartoons, and in comics, that were just beautiful. Look up: Storm, Monet St Croix, Vixen, Nubia and Misty Knight. They are all black female superheroes from Marvel and DC Comics, who look good... so good that Hulk would smash twice.

Even Disney made the movie called The Princes And The Frog [2009], with a beautiful young gal from New Orleans presented in the leading role, called Tiana. She's shown on the left side. She is fully recognized as a Disney Princess, although she is not as popular, since her movie was released [with minimal marketing] more than 50 years after the golden age of the classics like Sleeping Beauty [1949] and Snow White [1938].

Plus for some strange reason in that Sea Beast Movie with Sarah Sharpe, almost all the young pirate men were voiced by women. And at the very end, the lead hero, a guy called Jacob Holland, ends up living on a beach within what looked like a desert island, and with a young black girl who is less than 13 years old, to live happily ever after with him... and the little girl [a co-leading character called Maisie, who was an orphan fascinated with the sea beasts], actually says at the end of the movie: "Yup, my life is gonna be good".

And she's supposed to live on that beach, alone, for the rest of her life, with a grown-ass man....... she'll live alone, with an adult man, and there's no wife / mother / girlfriend with that man, to watch over Maisie, and keep Jacob [who drinks] from getting drunk and putting his hard stuff into................................

Sigh - it's called groomig folks, and it's wrong. Don't let Hollywood subtly pollute your mind or the minds of your kids, by giving you a morally twisted movie ending and calling it a good thing. Tell your kids what's going on, so that they can also become judges of TV Shows or cartoons with themes that are just plain garbage with some twisted bullshit. So was that Sea Beast movie entertaining? Yes. But was the ending theme good? No.

Now back to Kimberly, from Street Fighter 6... like I said, she is beautiful,  in her own unique way, as a premier design that has not been released for over 1 week. And comparatively, ChunLi is beautiful, with a design that has been refined for over 2 decades.

FYI, Capcom could have just made Ibuki black, and placed a "stamp of representation" on her while calling her "Kimbuki", like Marvel would do, per their notorious antics of race swapping and gender swapping... which is bullshit. It takes more creativity and effort to build a new character from scratch, and then work to make them popular / cool in the eyes of the fans. And that's actually the longer and better route to take, in order to give the character the true roots that will be respected by the fans, over time.

One of the least respected heroes in my eyes is Captain Marvel... the he / she identity crap has gotten so convoluted over the years, that the character is now... just completely unappealing, to me. And the comic tales of Carol Danvers  have been very poorly written for several years, so that the book sales drop and the comic series gets cancelled over and over again. But that's another story for another day. And if you like Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers, then that's fine. 

Just remember that the original Captain Marvel [Billy Batson, aka Shazam] was a white dude, back in the day [created in 1939]. And maybe next year in 2023, if the modern female Captain Marvel gets changed from "Carol" into "Calvin", then don't be mad.... Just know that it's part of the dumb shit that Marvel has been doing for years.

Hell, if they could get away with it, Marvel would sell you a fully black t-shirt with no design called "The Ghost", and with no logo on it... and they'd expect you to buy it at twice the price of a t-shirt with Heman or Superman on it :)

OK, that enough ranting for one day! This is my blog and I can say what I want, damn it! Now that you've heard the truth, it's up to you to share the news! :)

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series [http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

VALAVERSE MEME FEATURING THICK / THICC HARLEY QUINN - IT'S A SNACK!!

I often create memes that amuse me, before they amuse you guys... just basic psychology, for humor ;)

The two soldiers are from the Valaverse Action Force Toy line, which is an Alternative to the GIJoe Classified Toy line. Just Google them. And from left to right, their names are: Rollout and Condor. 

 And that Thicc / Thick Custom Toy [Harley Quinn] is a throwback to 2017. The full gallery of Harley is over here: https://dsngsfm.blogspot.com/2017/12/custom-harley-quinn-toy-marvel-legends.html

#DSNG #DSNGart #CustomActionFigures #MarvelLegends #DSNGCustoms #DSNGCustomtoys #DSNGCustomFigures #acba- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series [http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

CUSTOM KAYA FULLCLIP [ SCARLETT ] ACTION FIGURE TOY BY DSNG! [GIJOE CLASSIFIED VALAVERSE SCALE]

Another new custom toy! This is an original character named Kaya Fullclip from the DSNG Sci Fi Megaverse. She's supposed to be a Nova Trooper, like a police state patrol officer. She was based on the GIJoe Classified SnakeEyes Origins Scarlett body.

I sculpted her armor, and her boors. And I added straps and pouches to her. The guns came from ebay, while the crossbow was from another toy, and it was upgraded. And I sculpted her hair with green stuff putty. She was hand-painted with Tamiya paints. Thanks for looking! Enjoy and share!

   

   

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

CUSTOM KAYE TAGSHOT ACTION FIGURE TOY BY DSNG! [GIJOE CLASSIFIED VALAVERSE SCALE]

 Another new custom toy for my DSNG universe. Her name is Kaye Tagshot and shes is a mercenary from planet Taran. I teased this toy project last month, and finally got around to finishing her. 

The base toy was Marvel Legends Black Widow, and I mixed her with the lower legs of Lady Thor, and also the upper arms of the Retro Dazzler. I sculpted her body, her armor and her boots, and I created the belt from fodder. Her guns were from ebay and they are held by magnets on her. The magnum revolver in her right hand is from the Sergeant Slaughter Valaverse toy. Thanks for looking, enjoy and share!

 

 

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

CUSTOM ROGUE HEADSCULPT, MARVEL LEGENDS TOY FROM THE X-MEN BY DSNG

Just something basic today. I created a new headsculpt and new hair for one of the Rogue toys from the Marvel Legends toyline. Took a few pics of her...

  - Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

Fanart of Ms Squawk [Professor Squawkencluck] - Danger Mouse 2015 Cartoon

Back in the 1980s, there was a comedy/action cartoon called Danger Mouse. And it got a reboot in 2015.

It features Danger Mouse, an over confident British super spy, and his bumbling assistant Penfold, Fighting against an evil German frog bent on world domination, named Baron Silas Von Greenback.

In 2015, The new Animation style was different, from the Ireland studio called Boulder Media [they created by the studio behind Amazing World of Gumball, Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Transformers Cyberverse and others]. Yet the classic British humor was still evident in the revived cartoon series.

One of the newly introduced characters was Professor Squawkencluck, [she has the same first and last name, so don't even ask].

And in the new cartoon, she is actually... ThiccAF.... and she got it from her Mom, who is even thicker. So drawing her with dat ass was a no brainer ;)

Squawk is supposed to be Danger Mouse's love interest. And she has a lot of back-and-forth banter with Danger Mouse, since he is impetuous, reckless and acts without thinking, while she is disciplined, calculating and always pedantic [going by the rule-book].

They are almost like a yin and yang, while there is a lot of competition between them [and maybe some secret admiration / respect]. Anyway, Some fanboy on Youtube uploaded Prof Squawks greatest moments, and you can find it over Here.

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

CUSTOM MIKAH HEAVY WEAPONS PACK ACTION FIGURE TOY BY DSNG! [GIJOE CLASSIFIED SCALE]

Another new action figure custom! This is Mikah, and she's an Interpol agent, from planet Taran. The base body was Marvel Legends Lady Thor. The upper-arms came from Retro Dazzler, while the lower-arms came from Tracer. The fists came from Ironman. Her face was a repainted Movie Domino. Her body armor and hair were custom made, while the heavy weaponized backpack is from one of the Gundam models. The forearm blasters were custom made, held with magnets.

She was hand-painted with Tamiya paints. And my former GIJoe Classified custom called Nitescope was also added to some of the pics. Thanks for looking!

  

   

    - Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

CUSTOM BLACK WIDOW BLACK-OPS ACTION FIGURE TOY BY DSNG! [MARVEL LEGENDS SCALE]

 Another new custom featuring an alternate design of Black Widow as a black-ops soldier!

The base body was the Marvel Legends Retro Black Widow. And I had to sculpt her body and add the white armored pieces, with white-colored putty. Her hair was repainted and her handguns were custom-made, while she has a dagger on the left hip and an extra gun held on the right. She was hand-painted with Tamiya paints. The pics show her with Ironman, and with the Cobra Coil Cycle belonging to Baroness from the GIJoe Classified line. Thanks for looking!

    

   

   

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]

UPDATE: THE BOONDOCKS CARTOON REBOOT HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY SONY ANIMATION!

 I just heard the news today.... They've been working on the Boondocks Adult Cartoon relaunch since 2019, I think. And the rebooted cartoon series was to run for 24 episodes, with the lead characters of Granddad, Huey and Riley moving to a new city in Maryland, where Uncle Ruckus rises to power and pretty much f##ks everything up with his neo-fascist ideologies [far-right dictatorship, in which people are not allowed to oppose the government's rule].

The guy who broke the news in a vlog / podcast was the talented black voice actor named Cedric Yarbrough [the voice of Tom Dubois and Stankmeaner. Plus he was one of the cops on the Comedy Central show Reno911]. 

And Cedric mentioned Sony [producers] as being behind the pulling of the plug, as opposed to mentioning HBOMax [distributors]... yet some news outlets are claiming it was HBOMax that dropped the forthcoming show... And there are no reports on if any episode was animated at all, while animation usually comes after the voice recording stage.

Anyway, Sony gave no reason for the cancellation, which was done quietly. My guess is, the new show by Aaron McGruder [the African American guy, who created the original comic strip] was too edgy for the Sony Animation executives to swallow, after they saw the scripts...  maybe it was even edgier than the original hit cartoon [circa 2005] that aired during the late-night slots on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, which had a lot of adult / crude humor - humor that made fun of African Americans and other diverse people. 

Anyone who knows Aaron will tell you that he's very outspoken, and he boldly used the N-word on CNN years ago, when talking about his show, without shame. He's a black guy, true to his roots. And Aaron never hides his opinions on political or social commentary, which he shoved to the forefront as part of the daily life issues that black people face, in his original cartoon series, back in 2005. In the original episodes of Season 1 and 2, Aaron would also make fun of people like Oprah, Tyler Perry, Bill Cosby, Martin Luther King jr., and certain rappers, etc. And some of that stuff was just freakin' hilarious. 

But a lot has happened socially since 2005. Social media has given a microphone to the wise and the foolish. And there are those critics who believe that Aaron's stuff was just too "politically right-winged".

What do I think about it? 

Frankly, I don't. I chose to let that man do his thing. It was his brand of comedy / social commentary. So if I liked the episode, then I'd watch and enjoy it. And If I didn't like the displayed themes, then I'd switch it off after the first 5 minutes. That's what cool adults do, instead of bitching online ;)

Honestly, there's a place for The Boondocks style of humor, in adult oriented cartoon shows... but if certain themes and other things shown in the forthcoming reboot were deemed as being "too sensitive" for this era, then Sony Animation probably didn't want to go there, even though the show was to air on HBO Max.

That's all for now, folks. You can watch the video with the news [about 2 minutes long] over HERE

- Article written by the artist & author of the DSNG Sci Fi Series
[http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com]