Pulp Heroes

[SuperXAsh]

Hey there everyone. Hoping to share with you all some sprite edits, and possible/future mugen WIP/Projects based on classic pulp novel heroes.

Doc Savage
If ANYONE of these sprite edits becomes anything mugen-esque, it'll probably be this guy, the Man of Bronze. For the uninitiated, he's meant to be like a mixture of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, and Indiana Jones (though he predates Dr. Jones). He also had his own Fortress of Solitude before some guy in a red cape came along. ;P


Used Urien, as he's got the right build, height, and look to him.

And here's a sheet of pre-edited poses I hope to tinker with in the near future.



The Shadow
I don't think this guy needs much of an introduction.


Made using Rolento, Strider, Jill and Holhorse sprites. Would love to make more poses for him, but his trenchcoat has proven a bit tricky.


Tarzan
Another whom I don't think needs much of an introduction. Tried to make him a combination of the various Tarzan interpretations from over the years.


Used Adon for the legs, that Huang guy from "Martial Masters", and a combination of Vega and Alex for his head.

Getting the body isn't a problem (except for the fact that Adon's poses will be hard to edit into acceptable parts), but the head has proven tricky... can't quite remember the exact combination of the parts used.


The Phantom
Another I doubt needs much of an intro... the Ghost Who Walks.


Pretty much just straight-up edited a Captain America sprite. Wasn't TOO difficult So the prospects of this getting somewhere beyond just simple sprite edit are possible.


Zorro
It's Zorro... what more needs said??


Made using Spidey, Cody, Vega and Captain America sprites. Not too hard to make... just... long process.


Arsene Lupin
The Master Thief and Semi-Detective of literature. Talking the original, not the anime "grandson".


Made using Remy and Cody sprites, the rest pretty much just pure editing. Would love to make more of this, but it's a tricky character to make. Had to really shorten Remy's arms and legs.


John Sunlight
Doc Savage's greatest opponent. Basically his Moriarty


As if it wasn't obviously, huge contribution from Rugal via CvS. He was the only one who was seemingly tall enough to be the part, and had that nice suit (something Sunlight is said to love wearing, nice attire). So I took off some of the needless extra stuff on it, and brought in Tiger (Martial Masters) to contribute a head. Still not 100% happy with this, mainly due to the widely varying takes on the character over the years.


Captain Midnight
Aviation hero, and piloting ace, of the 30's-40's. He has a pretty cool design for such an early hero.


Used a Cyclops pose, and got the scarf from Strider, and the goggles from Alfred Airhawk (Fatal Fury series).


Kato
The Green Hornet's trusted companion (hope to one day make one for the Hornet).

Figured the best place to start for a base would be Fei Long (aka: that guy who's based on Bruce Lee, aka the best known actor to play Kato).

Made the hat from Yun (SF3)


Will post more soon.

[Toxin97]

Captain midnight is cool.

[C.R.O.M. - Shadaloo Lives!]

I recognize everyont except for Captain Midnight. Interesting ideas.

[HyperVoiceActing]

Those are some really excellent sprites 

Good luck with your WIPs

[ZVitor]

cool,
top spriter here,
nice ideias for possible wips.

[SanjiSasuke]

I thought this was cool. Then I say Kato!
The sprites are very impressive. Tons of luck to you if you do end up trying to make the Shadow, the trench coat looks quite difficult.

[SuperXAsh]

Glad everyone likes the sprites.

Before I begin with more pictures, Would anyone be willing to help me with making a Doc Savage WIP??

Now for more sprites

SOME OF THESE STILL AREN'T FINISHED

El Borak
From the creator of Conan the Barbarian, Robert E. Howard, comes El Borak. Basically a gunfighting adventurer who traverses the areas in and around early 20th Century Afghanistan. Think along the lines of guys like Lawrence of Arabia, the fictional work of Talbot Mundy, etc.

And like most character of Howard's... is a pretty big cool.


Made using Guy, Joseph Joestar, and CvS Bison... still not 100% pleased with this. Might add more.


Fantomas
French Pulp Villain, and quite possibly the predacessor to such folks as the Joker, Diabolik, etc. etc. Crimelord, Sociopath, and perhaps even Serial Killer would be apt descriptions. Took inspiration from a really cool pictute I found of him on the internet.


Used Britsol Weller (Power Instinct series) with Dhalsim's head.


Pat Savage
Cousin to the mighty Doc Savage, Pat is more than capable of handling herself (which set her apart from of the other women in the pulp era). This isn't exactly my best work (at least as far as I am personally concerned) because the selection of women character sprites to use is quite limited.


Yeah... I basically just used Rogue. XD


Rocketeer
I know, not exactly from the Pulp Era, but obviously heavily influenced by it. Got some big time help from navsmed of Scruffydragons to get this far.


Still need to add his jetpack... and perhaps work on those pants... not happy with them. AND maybe shorten him a bit. Made using various sprites (Navs pretty much provided the pieces, so ask him XD), do know that Robert (AoF) is among said pieces.

speaking of Rocketeer

Lothar
The big returning (as in seemingly hard to kill) villain of the Rocketeer franchise. Was a pain in the butt to get THIS far, as his body shape isn't as simple to pull off as you'd think (the late Rondo Hatton, the obvious inspiration behind Lothar... suffered from acromegaly complications).


So far, using Zangief and Victor (Darkstalkers) sprites. Still trying to think of what legs to use. Had to really shrink the parts down, because while he was a BIG guy, Rondo wasn't Zangief huge. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.


Rima, the Jungle Girl
One of the many "Jungle Girls" to come in the wake of Tarzan and Mowgli. Perhaps you're more familiar with her due to DC Comics having the rights to her. Her most recent appearance is in the really neato "First Wave" story (starring Doc Savage, a more Golden-Age Batman, the Spirit, the Avenger, etc). Which is where I took some inspiration from.


Used Elena, making a custom pose. Yeah... I suck at making hair. XD


Shiwan Khan
STILL WORKING ON THIS. The greatest/biggest foe of the Shadow. Is also a pain in the butt to make. Mainly because I'm trying to decide what to do with him. Might use the 90's DC Comics (not the Chaykin ones) as a good referrence. But also liked how he looked in the Shadow movie. So yeah... not even remotely done yet.


*shrugs* Used Gen (SFA) and Huang (Martial Masters) Again, any help would be appreciated.


Will post some more later. Again glad everyone likes the work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[HyperVoiceActing]

Again, excellent work. Probably my favorites in that batch are Fantomas, Pat Savage, and Rocketeer

[SuperXAsh]

Some attempted Backgrounds for the various characters. Using various pieces I've come across.


The Jungle:
The first one I cobbled together using various items from across the web. Basically the jungle BG from that one Capcom Fighting Jam game, with more vines, and an elephant in the background.




The Fortress of Solitude:
As stated earlier, Doc had the Fortress of Solitude before Supes. It was meant to be just that... a place for Doc to go (up in the Arctic) to be alone and to be able to work without ANY interuptions. This would become a problem in later stories when John Sunlight manages to gain entrance, and loot the place of some of Doc's amazing (and dangerous) weapons.

Got help from Navsmed, he found and put this together with the initial background I had made.




Doc's Headquarters, the 86th Floor:
When he's not out fighting evil, or up North working on secret projects, Doc hangs out at his home atop the Empire State Building (86th Floor). Was a bee-otch finding things to make this. Still not 100% happy with it. Using bits and pieces from various backgrounds. The main piece is from AoF3, with some parts of Geese's Office, and the books from Acey's Beast (if he objects, I'll gladly take them out). Just made sense that Doc would have some clutter around his office, he's a busy man.




Pelucidar, the Hollow Earth:
Meant to be a hidden level.
For a while, a favorite idea amongst Fantasy/Pulp writers was the "Hollow Earth" concept, that there was a strange subterranean world beneath ours. Full of dinosaurs (natch) and other bizarre creatures. Tried to make that with this idea (taking SOME inspiration from Peter Jackson's King Kong). Put together two different SF3 stages. Idea is to have random creatures (mostly dinosaurs) move about the background. Found this Pteradon, and even got ahold of the T-Rex from Wolverine's Savage Land stage. It's still in progress




Cobalt Club WIP:
The Shadow's favorite place to visit. This has been a pain in the butt to get to this point.... and I'm probably not even halfway done. Meant to be a 1930's New York street, so it's been difficult. Took a building from "Indiana Jones and the Fate of the Atlantis" to serve as the Club. Got a sign for it



The Sign


Lupin's Treasure Room:
Now here's a favorite of mine. Inspired by classic Lupin stories like "The Hollow Needle", trying to make a hidden cave full of the various treasures Lupin's pilfered over the years and other items of interest to him. This was fun because it gave me room to fit in little nods and tributes to various things from this genre of writing. The various items come from a multitude of games (Punisher Arcade, Sailor Moon arcade, Darkstalkers, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Golden Axe (i think) and one of the Dungeons and Dragons beat-em-ups).

Eagle-eyed views will perhaps spot the Sherlock Holmes bust (a nod to their various crossovers), the Maltese Falcon statue, and a certain DaVinci painting.

Still working on it, since it's basically Oro's cave, but refitted and edited in various ways. Gotta find SOMETHING to replace that big chicken leg up there.

[HyperVoiceActing]

You make stages too?

Your skills are impressive

[fer619]

well done with all of these sprites, ash! 

[C.R.O.M. - Shadaloo Lives!]

Ok, that second batch I didn't recognize quite as many, but this has potential if they develope into WIPs.

Oh, and nice stages.

[SuperXAsh]

More stuff, more like stuff for various stages, random items, etc.

-Doc Savage's Items of Interest
A fun idea I've had is to try and bring in MANY nods, tributes, and shout-outs to various other media in the world of Pulp Novels and stuff inspired by it. One idea is an intro animation for Doc Savage, showing him looking over a random item before realizing his opponent is standing there and either chucking it aside or pocketing it.



Left to Right: Cthulhu Statue (inspired by a similar one seen in Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened), the golden "fertility idol" from the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Art, and one of the 'Skulls of Touganda' from the 96 Phantom movie. Made using various bits and pieces from various game sprites.


-Background Cameos
The idea was that just because they're not appearing in the proposed "game", doesn't mean I can't have some known pulp characters appear in background cameos.

-Margo Lane, lover/companion of Lamont Cranston, aka: The Shadow. Used the Margo from the 90's movie as referrence. Still trying to figure out which version of the two i'd want to use.

-The Spider. Basically like the Shadow but more brutal in how he approached his enemies. Made using a villain standing in the background from that "Headquarters of Evil" or whatever it is from Marvel vs. Capcom.

-The Avenger. Came out about the same time as the Spider, and was made in a vein similar to Doc Savage, except due to weird complications involving immense tragedy, his face is rendered emotionless and (depending on the writer) has the color of stone to it. Want to see a good example of how he is, read DC's "First Wave". Made using a mall vendor sprite from MvC.

-Nero Wolfe. Portly detective and master crime-solver from the 30's onward. His schtick was that he was able to solve cases without leaving his brownstone apartment much (which some misconstrue as agoraphobia). Made using a random BG character from the Martial Masters game.

-Sallah. Indiana Jones' loyal friend who's appeared in two Indy movies. Made using a character from the over-the-top game Growl.

[HyperVoiceActing]

You really have a lot of talent and ideas man. 

[Tha Lando ( Le CROM )]

awesome sprites and love those stages. great work bro. 

[SuperXAsh]

glad everyone's liking my work. Still would love some help with possible projects.

quick question... ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A GOOD TOP HAT??? Need it for Lupin. And a cane too would be nice. would be most appreciative.

[.Batzarro.]

A lot of great work all around here, man. Really impressive. Especially liking the background pieces you've been making.

Could try White from KoF/SNK. He has a cane and a hat but it's not a top hat. Might be a good starting point for one, though. Only person I can think has a top hat is Zatanna but she's an edited character. Was thinking she's open source but honestly not sure on that..

[Loganir]

Loving your take on the Phantom... one of my favorite characters from Lee Falk.
Mandrake the magician it's another creation of him I think fits this collection for sure.

Cool sprites man!

[ZVitor]

Top hat:
http://spritedatabase.net/file/255

[Shockdingo]

Know this, for doing that Shadow edit and making all these pulp hereos, you are now ranked awesome in my book.

Awesome work dude, I'm loving the stages too!

[SuperXAsh]

Know this, for doing that Shadow edit and making all these pulp hereos, you are now ranked awesome in my book.

Awesome work dude, I'm loving the stages too!

Thanks! ^^

Got a few more things to post.

-Shiwan Khan: (update)
Working on Khan has been tough. Because trying to find good referrence material is hard. Finally came across some pictures from the 90's DC Comics run. So gonna try to use that.




-Black Whip:
Came across this British pulp-era/1930's hero while trying to find more character ideas for this project. Sadly having trouble finding any more info, pictures, etc. outside his profile at the "International Superheroes" website. He's an agent for the British Secret Service, apparently.


Used Remy, Captain America, Rolento and Whip parts.

-Josephine Balsamo:
Arsene Lupin's most memorable foe, the femme fatale Josephine Balsamo (aka: Countess Cagliostro). It's funny how many of these villains I'm trying to use/make are all supposed to be dead in continuity. XD

Still working on her.

Used Hway Star, Ruby Heart and Psylocke so far. Took some clothing hints from various sources (The Scorpion comic, a character from Doctor Who, etc.). Might rework her hair. *is something he's pretty bad at*


-Cobalt Club Stage: (UPDATE)
Been working more on this stage idea.

[Tha Lando ( Le CROM )]

good work bro! that stage is sweet bro.

[Shockdingo]

Oh by the way, I've been looking for a good desk for a bit, which Fatal Fury did you get Geese's desk?

[SuperXAsh]

Oh by the way, I've been looking for a good desk for a bit, which Fatal Fury did you get Geese's desk?

Art of Fighting 2 would be your best bet.


AND here's another sprite. For a while I was on a roll.

-Miss Masque: (aka: Masquerade)
A masked heroine from the 40's who's appeared quite frequently off and on over the years since her debut. Most recently seen in Project Superpowers.

Going for a blend, design-wise, of AC Comics' Miss Masque and Dynamite Entertainment's Masquerade.

If this "project" goes ANYWHERE, (as soon as I can find a pot of gold from a leperchaun XD) she'd probably be more along the lines of your typical gun-toting crime fighter than her current approach in Project Superpowers.



Mixed Rose with some parts of ZVitor's Mystique custom (because i liked the pose & gun she had, credit goes to creator, got his okay to use it), various hairstyles from various female sprites (jeezus did that take longer than I'd care to admit, thus why there's three different hair approaches) hat from Hol Horse, little satchel/holster from Doctor Doom, (shrunk down of course) pantyhose color from Chun-Li, and face from Psylocke.

Still don't feel as though I'm finished. MIGHT mess around with her coat, belt, right hand (maybe put another gun in her right hand) and shoes (what the hell is wrong with Rose's right foot?!?!?). And maybe add in some more highlights.

Would make for a neat contrast to the Shadow. XD

[Tha Lando ( Le CROM )]

  beautiful! i love a sexy lady with a mask, heels , nice legs...ok the gun might be stretchin it a bit... i dont wanna get shot. .  she looks great bro.