Spider-Man Week - Part 3

Green Goblin and Electo

The previous drawings were all villains that hadn't yet appeared in Spider-Man movies. This is where, over a year later, I went back and just drew all the buggers.

Green Goblin - A hero is defined by his villains. Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has Joker, and Spider-Man has the Green Goblin. Although, it's an odd pairing. What do goblins have to do with spiders? The juxtaposition of Superman and Lex Luthor is great. Superman is an alien with immense physical power. Lex Luthor is a human with powerful influence in business and politics. Batman is a dark, sombre figure whilst Joker is a bright, laughing maniac. I feel Goblin and Spider-Man lack this contrasting dynamic.

It certainly works better when you consider the men beneath the mask. Norman Osborne is an older scientist working wihout consequences. Peter Parker is young with full respect and responsibility for what science can achieve. But in costume, they're both bright and eccentric figures. It seems to kill Spidey's sense of humour when the Goblin is around, laughing and making his own jokes. Also that whole 'he killed Gwen Stacey' thing.

Man, I didn't mean to shit on him so much. I mean, the Green Goblin is a great character. Visually and personality wise. I've actually been trying to draw him for a long time and am really happy with how this turmed out. But as a main villain, I think Spidey would be better served with Doctor Octopus. He's also a smart, devious scientist without concern for other people in pursuit of his goals. And that's his personality all the time. It gives Spidey more of a chance to display his wit, whilst those robotic arms match Spidey's wall-crawling and quick combat. To be fair, Doc Ock is pretty high on the list of Spider-Man's most prominant opponents. You'll see him later.

And to be fair to Goblin, maybe hes just been used too much. There's been so many variations with various people beneath each one. Hobgoblins, Grey Goblins... cut them all out. Treat 'em mean, keep him Green.

Electro - Of all the villains I've drawn, Electro is the one I gave the biggest makeover too. His original costume is one of the goofiest there's ever been (or maybe we take comics too seriously now) but I didn't want to depict him as pure electricity like modern interpretations do. To figure out his costume, I had to figure out who he could be. 'cos ultimately, he's just another superpowered thug chasing money. That's not much to work with. The film clearly had the same idea, reinventing the character as an anxious, paranoid nerd. Personally, I don't think that works. I have no problem with keeping him a thug, he just needed a fresh angle. So what's different about him?

Unlike Spider-Man's other enemies, Electro's power is immense and limitless. He could be a god. In fact, considering he shares this word with other Marvel characters such as Thor and Storm, that's exactly how I imagine he would view himself. Delusions of grandeur.  That's what his costume could be: ceremonial armour, a cape, and hell why not, throw in some spandex just for the Bowie-esque showmanship of it.

Rhino and Chameleon

Rhino - A lot of the people I draw are skinny. Even when I try to draw muscular characters, they come out rather slim. For example, this Hulk I shared on Twitter. The drawing here of Rhino is the first time I've drawn a character with real mass. I'm not sure why this happened. Actually, you know what I think it is? It's the tiny pink face in the grey rhino suit. It's hilarious. A squashed man surrounded by muscle. It makes him look bigger than the Hulk, and other Marvel tough guys such as Thing and Juggernaut.

Modern interpretations of Rhino, such as in Marvel's 'Ultimate' comics and the movie, depict his suit as being robotic armour. It looks cool, but considering several other characters have armour plating, I decided to ditch the suit and making him fully mutated. No, I don't know how he pees.

Chameleon - Whilst researching the Chameleon, I found he's always wearing a white mask to cover his own face. Has he ever revealed it? It's a great feature, that a man who can look like anyone chooses a featureless form for his own head. I've taken this one step further and removed his face entirely. No, I don't know how he drinks.

Looking at images of him, he comes across as very machiavellian. I like that. He combats Spider-Man not through physical force, but through intelligence, manipulation and lies. He appeared in Spider-Man #1. Perhaps he could be a more prominant foe than he is. Chameleons eat insects, right?

That's all for today. Tomorrow: Doctor Octopus, Lizard, Sandman and Venom!