Alien Sculpture

Okay, I've been working on this alien character for almost two years, and it's time to publish something. I call her Athena. She is actually composite creature, composed of  7 separate organisms. I've decided to set the canon for her origin; "she" brings herself together, after several failed attempts by Herman Bear. This is their attempt at an anthropomorphic form, after looking at Herman, and, uh, one particular "swimsuit edition" Herman had on board his ship.

When Herman Bear becomes stranded on the planet Solstice, he first believes the native life forms are unintelligent, and they seem to prey on each other regularly. He later realizes that the creatures only combine, separate, and then recombine to sustain and nourish each other. It's also how they communicate. He tries to "build a being", but is never completely successful. But soon after Herman's meddling, the separate creatures get the idea and come together to form Athena. The butterfly/flowers soon learn to speak. Their "legs" are formed from large lampreys, the feet are simple, shoe-like snails, and the body and head are one unit, like a large, uh, potato with a beak. The beak is actually a large claw the body pod uses to drag itself over the ground.

After pages and pages of sketches, I finally committed myself to their forms and proportions. The figure is just under 9 inches tall, carved from styrofoam, wire and plaster. I also roughed out a Herman Bear figure to get a definite size relationship. I'm struggling to make him more refined as well.

I'm working on the next model, with more detail and posable joints. At any rate, when these seven organisms come together, they become the forerunner of a new species on the planet Solstice. She/they eventually become the good will ambassador of their world, the possible matriarch, and perhaps even the custodian of the planet's future. And Herman Bear has a companion, so he isn't left alone on the planet. She/they teach how to survive. And more.

I must admit, I got the inspiration for this from the old animated Star Trek series episode "BEM". (Bug Eyed Monster). But I think I'm original enough with this creature, and her motives and origins are quite different.  http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Bem_(episode)

(Now I even see parallels to Voltron, and other anime' where separate components come together to form a greater being. But this isn't quite the same case here.)

All images copyright Ken Roskos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crj0V_R77Ns

Herman Bear on the planet Solstice

Here's some sketches from July in Canada...

Herman Bear lands on my new planet Solstice...

I didn't want him to be alone on the planet,
so I gave him a new companion.

(Cubcake is also there, but I'm not sure I'll keep her in the story.)

 

The bear has to make a new friend, literally! Herman assembles "Athena" from different organisms to build a composite creature. Sort of a cross between Larry Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers, and Sylvia the "Zbornak" from Disney's "Wander over Yonder".

http://larryniven.net/puppeteer/pupbod.shtml

(It's a long story)

When Herman first sees Athena, she is just some kind of seed pod that drags itself along the ground with some sort of beak. Herman has to put her together as an intelligence test designed by other aliens. Enjoy!

Wander Over Yonder cancelled

Well, this is not what I wanted to hear:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/craig-mccracken-confirms-wander-over-yonder-finished-137583.html

 

(copyright Disney)

 http://wifflegif.com/tags/177984-wander-over-yonder-gifs

 

I was enjoying this series, even though it was designed for a younger audience. There are a few, *ahem*, mature quirks in the show, but you have to look very closely.

Some of the episodes really pushed the artistic boundaries, such as "The Void" where everything this side of "Yellow Submarine" was possible.

 

http://crackmccraigen.tumblr.com/post/140529754374/wander-over-yonder-over

"WOY" creator Craig McCracken has confirmed this. Personally, I think Wander was railroaded the way the original Star Trek was put into lousy time slots by NBC during its original broadcasts. The Mouse picked up a Cartoon Network type show, and didn't know what to do with it.

http://crackmccraigen.tumblr.com/

 

No toys, no other merchandise, All I can say is "Bah, Humbug".

Speaking of Star Trek, I was hoping we would see Lord Dominator get her comeuppance. Maybe in the way Trelane did in the "Squire of Gothos".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqQa1Xhu9cQ

 

Still, I fell in love with the characters, and the designs, so Wander, Sylvia, and all the villains will still have a place in my heart. 

 

Except for Hater, he's still a jerk. 

Wander Over Yonder Season 2

Disney XD - Wander Over Yonder ID from Golden Wolf on Vimeo.

Wander Over Yonder Season 2 Trailer at Comic-Con

 Looks like they are turning up the heat on Wander Over Yonder. There's a lot more action, and the new super villain is a girl. We also get to see some male Zbornaks.

I like the MST3K tribute with He-Man thrown in, and Sylvia as Gigantor. According to Disney XD, new episodes will be begin Monday, August 3rd.

                               

(artwork copyright Disney)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg00b_nz8PE&feature=youtu.be

Wander Over Yonder - The Liar

Here we see Sylvia in "Loch Ness Monster mode" as she rescues some little Tiki guys. They are trying to escape from an erupting volcano which is about to blow it's top. She swims away frantically as giant flaming boulders rain down from Mount "Krak-yer-big-toa".

(Spoiler Alert) 

Having reached the mainland, Sylvia thinks the excitement is over and heads to a beach side bar. She's unable to relax when she sees that Wander has gone back to rescue a momma bird and her chicks.

In a tree.

Right over the mouth of the volcano.

Sylvia can only mutter to her drink: "Wait for me, tiny umbrella".

 (copyright Disney)

The action really begins as they struggle to rescue the family of birds from the volcano. When Sylvia says trying to save the birds is impossible, Wander chastises her with "I smell a big pile of  'can't do-do'".

The running gag is the momma bird keeps biting them to protect her young. (She thinks Wander and Sylvia are attacking her chicks.) The bird also delivers an electric shock which illuminates their skeletons. 

One baby bird runs off ("Gary") and hides in a hole in the side of the hill. Naturally, Wander and party pursue, and only to fall into some caves underneath the volcano.

 I kept wondering who the Liar was in this episode. It turns out that it's Wander. He swore that no one would die this day. Instead, it is Wander who turns out to be the Liar when they become trapped. 

Fortunately, Sylvia does not succumb to despair. She notices the hazards they faced before, and gets an idea. She makes a literal leap of faith, and takes them to safety riding one of the giant flaming boulders as Mount "Krak-yer-big-toa" finally blows itself to bits.

Their boulder crashes back on the beach, which also knocks over the bar. Fortunately, one of the little Tiki guys brings Sylvia her drink, complete with little pink umbrella. But before she can take a sip, she gets shocked by the birds one more time, only this time they jump on her out of gratitude.

Wander compliments Sylvia on her bravery and ingenuity.

Sylvia smiles and walks away, saying: "I never doubted it for a second".

With her back turned, her smile turns into a grimace of worry.

Thanks again to-

http://wandernews.tumblr.com/

Disney Fantasia Ostrich Ballerina meets Wander over Yonder Sylvia

Still trying to get back in my groove after my trip to Canada...

Here's another quick mashup of Wander over Yonder's Sylvia, and the Ostrich Ballerina from Disney's Fantasia. The potential for calamity here must be astronomical. I wonder how long Sylvia would put up with "Mademoiselle Upanova's" haughty attitude...

Probably a whole 2 seconds I would think...

(All artwork copyright Disney Corp., strangely enough.)

Enjoy!

Wander over Yonder - Sylvia

Okay, this will get me in trouble: I gave Wander's dino-horse-friend Sylvia a "makeover", and turned her into a torch song singer. From what I've seen of Sylvia's character, I'm sure she would hate it.
Maybe it's her sister, or a close cousin. For what it's worth, someone on deviantART liked another one of my Sylvia drawings SO much, he gave my makeover a makeover.

http://brandonultimate.deviantart.com/art/Sylvia-the-Zbornak-in-a-one-piece-Swimsuit-441460045

Ain't the internet grand?

(artwork copyright Craig McCracken/Disney Corp.)

Here she is with some slapdash Photoshop coloring. I picture her here singing "What's new"

(With apologies to Craig McCracken and Linda Ronstadt)