2012 Scorch Comicpalooza Commission by Johnny J. Segura III

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Best (Martian Manhunter) Art Ever (This Week) offers its first repeat artist! Johnny Segura did such a swell job on Professor Arnold Hugo that I was back at his table the next day for commission #2. I already had a list compiled of characters suited for his manga stylings, and having already gotten a Human Flame elsewhere, that left Scorch and the Saturnian. I'd also seriously considered B'rett and The Mercurian, but I ended up coming back to a blog request.

I never get much of a response when I try to open up the comments section to requests, but Anj of Supergirl Comic Box Commentary and our "clubhouse" blog DC Bloodlines wanted to see Segura do Scorch. She's one of the only villains shared by the Alien Atlas and Anj's favored Maid of Might, and Segura channels a lot of the same energy as Scorch's co-creator Ed McGuinness. I'd already gotten a commission by Roderick Thornton the previous year that I was carrying around this con, trying to get inked. By Saturday, it wasn't looking good for that to happen, as I talked in circles with the only serious contender until I gave up commissioning from him at all (though my girlfriend did, and we're still waiting for his piece two months later.) Not only was Segura stylistically appropriate for Scorch, but I can't tell you what a relief it is to get a large, full color piece turned around within a few hours without any headaches. Forget commissions-- I'd call on this guy to draw actual comics if I could!

I gave Segura a very brief description of the character, and he ran with it. As usual with the 11" x 17" art boards that I have to make reduced photocopies of at FedEx Office to fit on my scanner, there's a shift into the red spectrum. In this instance, it kind of works for Scorch, being a devil girl and all. The original art is more of a peachy tone, though. The scan loses a lot of detail on the quasi "color hold" of the cigarette smoke done solely in marker. There are swaths of subtle flesh tones that are rendered plain white here. Finally, about a centimeter and a half are trimmed off the bottom, since even ex-Kinko's copiers can't quite handle this much image space. To get a better look at the unadulterated art, check out this photo, although the lighting foils it, as well.

What I love is that Segura wasn't even familiar with the character, so he had no way of knowing that she was a smoker with exactly the kind of nasty attitude to flip the bird at the world. I had an excellent verbal rapport with the artist, and we always seemed to be on the same frequency without my having to elaborate excessively. He just "got" what I was looking for every time, which is very exciting and, again, a great relief. I knew every time I came back for a piece, it would be better than I imagined, and brimming with personality.

Check out more at Johnny J. Segura III's deviantART gallery, and if you'd like some work of your own, order his $40.00 8.5 x 11" or $120.00 11 x 17" eBay commissions!