2012 Cay'an Comicpalooza Commission by Jonathan Thibodaux

I spent a lot (like, a lot-- I mean a lot) of time and money (especially money, dear LORD!) getting last year's commissions together. Don't get me wrong-- I don't regret most of them, but did I mention all that time and money? The truth is, I was overwhelmed by how much material there was to sift through afterwards, which was part of the reason I took breaks from posting them (skipping November and January entirely.) I'll try not to get quite so crazy this year, especially since I'm still paying back money from school, much less regular bills that didn't benefit from the extravagance. I say this now, but May isn't nearly as far away as it used to be, and have you seen the 2013 Comicpalooza guest list? George Pérez alone is going to punch me right in the wallet, and it would be kind of spiffy to keep the weekly commission posts coming into the sixth anniversary lasting through to October of 2013 on a blog centered around villains.

Anyway, part of my point is that three seasons on, I'm not sure how detailed this final round of commission posts is going to be. I'm not getting any younger, and memory gets hazy. Thankfully, a lot of the folks to come are repeat pleasers, so I've already said most everything about the background for the commissions. Also, I've saved some of their best pieces, which should speak for themselves. I just don't want anyone feeling like they got short shrift.

Moving along, Cay'an was the central villain in the only Martian Manhunter mini-series published in the aughts (unless you count World War III, which you shouldn't.) I like the character, despite her emphasis on near nudity and the utter inanity of her master plan. I haven't seen so many desperately convoluted illogical machinations that meant and amounted to nothing since the Birther Movement. Despite her importance to the Coneheadhunter, she only appeared in her true Martian form in the final issue, and never in a clear full body shot. My initial plan was to have Joe Eisma correct this via a colored commission, but he cancelled out of Comicpalooza, and I was broke by the time he showed up in town a couple of months later at Space City Con. I considered Marcio Takara, but I wanted him to do Patrolwoman Diane Meade, and I frankly would have been peeved if Cay'an had come out without feet when I specifically wanted a full length figure. I also thought about asking Lane Montoya, but she'd already done the half-naked Princess Cha'rissa for me, and I didn't want her thinking I had some sort of pervy fixation.



Jonathan Thibodaux was seated near (between?) Chris Beaver and Vo Nguyen... who would later share a table at Space City Con... where I would get second commissions from both that have been posted here already while each's first commission has yet to surface (though Vo's is coming very soon.) I don't think Thibodaux was featured on the con's website, because he has a very distinctive style that I would have taken time to match to a specific character. Instead, I stumbled upon him in the closing hours of one day, tossed through his portfolio, and figured he could be my Cay'an guy. I don't think he wanted to keep the piece overnight, and I explained that I was looking for a basic, no-frills, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe type style guide image. He knocked it out in about twenty minutes at a buck a minute. What a pro! As usual, the shabby coloring above is all me. What an amateur! The scan gets all of the broad strokes, but there's a lot of fine detail missing, especially in the face and crotch-hatching (not a typo.)

Thibodaux is affiliated with CCP Comics, like several other commissioners I've worked with, and he used their 8¾" x 11" semi-rigid sketch paper (further branded with his name and contact information.) Check out more of his great work at deviantART!