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 - the Bot - A character dies!

Well, I didn't see this coming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-26EHu5kRQY

 Lord Dominator is not turning out to be such a likable villain. At first I thought she was so powerful that she was simply competing with the other supervillains just for fun. But now we see her ruthless side, and executes not just one, but two of her minions in a demonstration of sheer callousness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_NN46_3Pvw&ebc=ANyPxKr2_tug_gmLO8EpvEd_0qo7CdXhcF-Oia5Obzc1T2aUOvfDk6Hx9-kbgZP9aC5NQJqxNuAS 

SPOILER ALERT!!!

http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/wander-over-yonder-and-jon-hamm-show-limited-anima-231835 

First, "Bot" 42 ( a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference?) is sent to a fiery death after he turns in a poor survey report. It turns out that Lord Dominator needs a special element, "Volcanium X", to power her army. Dominator then calls on her favorite evil space probe, "Bot" 13. "Bot"13 inadvertently helps cause "Bot" 42's demise when his report shows 3 planets rich in "Volcanium X". In a fit of pique, Lord Dominator tosses poor "Bot" 42 out of her ship, and lets him burn up on entering a planet's atmosphere.

After making an example out of  "Bot" 42,  Lord Dominator demands that the rest of her 'bots to move it, and resume their search for more "Volcanium X" in a hurry. "Bot"13 seems eager to please, and heads off to keep his good record going.

Naturally, "Bot"13 crash lands after getting snagged on Wander's kite. Damaged, "Bot"13 is unable to attack Wander, and Wander, naturally, tries to help him. Unable to speak clearly, Wander mishears the robot's name, and calls "Bot"13 simply "Beep Boop".

After resisting Wander's initial attempts at being friends, "Bot"13 learns to appreciate Wander's kindness, and refuses to cooperate with Lord Dominator. After deleting his files containing the location of the mother load of "Volcanium X", (which happens to be the planet Wander and Sylvia are visiting), "Bot"13 shares the fate of "Bot"42.

Only this time, "Bot"13 takes a last look at photo of him and Wander as friends.

Wander managed to stir something in "Bot"13, and helped him outgrow his obedience to Lord Dominator. Before "Bot"13 vaporizes, his memories go back to the good times he had with Wander, and states: "I am Beep Boop".

At the same time, Wander and Sylvia begin to realize that "Bot"13 did not give their position away to Dominator, and are impressed at his bravery. They look up at the night sky and see a shooting star.

Unaware of "Bot"13's situation, Wander can only say, "Good luck Beep Boop".