Marvel’s Avengers comic book celebrated its 60th anniversary at some time this month and I’ve got some new pixel art to honor the series and a group that is one of the secret main reasons why I got hooked on comic books (thanks to the Grantray-Lawrence Marvel cartoons that were still in syndication)) before I was even in school.
Custom Sprites – Marvel:
– Captain America: scratch-made sprites of a calmly standing Cap and the Avengers #16 cover pose.
– Thor: Mjolnir raise pose in a slightly different drawing style from the earlier sprites.
– Scarlet Witch: new poses in a style similar to my 2022 SW sprite
– Vision: Captain America and the Avengers fight stance and classic Vision in the John Buscema folded arms pose
– Black Knight: 1 pose, classic outfit and jacket outfit (like Data East’s “Avengers in Galactic Storm”)
– Kang the Conqueror: 1 pose
– Baron Zemo: 1 pose, 2 variations
– Mandarin: 1 sprite
As usual, all new custom sprites and mini-logos are in the image generators, where you can make your own graphics like the one at the top of this post. I also uploaded what should be a fix to an issue with the sprite palette feature, something that slipped through the huge site code fix session to get the entire site (and some of my other sites) ready for the PHP 8 upgrade.
Here’s a video showing the heroes’ new sprites, including some early animation work, and a preview of the 2024 Avengers Sprite Showcase video:
So, what’s new? Nearly the entire website. I’ve spent bits of the last four months having to get this site (and illmosis.net and Beans vs. Cornbread) ready for a server upgrade. That’s a nice way of saying “fixing up my old crappy code with new less-crappy code,” along with replacing depreciated programming that’d either carpet the site with warnings or make the entire website doo-doo on itself. The Image Generators were the toughest to fix, they’re more complex than the rest of this site, Illmosis, and BvsC put together, multiplied by five with cheese on top. To be honest, I spent a lot of time making sure this website keeps working and make sure it looks almost exactly the same. So what’s really new? Almost nothing. I’ll still have to keep an eye out for errors, so please let me know if you find any.
Custom Sprites: separated gallery pages for ESWAT, Kiki Kai Kai (Pocky and Rocky), and Taito’s Ninja Warriors. Also added today:
– Gain Ground (new gallery): redrawn sprite of Betty
– Pengo (new gallery): Pengo (and friends), Sno-Bees
– Marvel Comics: a new scratch-made Hawkeye sprite in his Avengers #189 cover pose, (drawn by John Byrne) to replace the old Capcom sprite edit
ToyBoss/Toybox: You can now see the new header for this section that would’ve been part of last week’s update, but wasn’t seen until now because part of its code was tied into the all-around site coding update.
(edit 2023 September 5th): All of these were added to the GFX Image Generators where you can make images like the one at the top of this post and this one…
… which mentions that I’ve added new colors to the ‘ScrollBoss bunnysuit ladies’ extra palettes, including some all-new skin colors, and even added a new ‘lipstick’ extra palette to let you choose that. Getting the image generators to work was probably the hardest task in redoing this site’s code, and I rewrote a lot of the extra palette code from scratch, so adding a bunch of new colors to the bunnysuit ladies seemed like a fun way to celebrate (and push the limits of the feature). Characters with that feature now have a special section near the top of the character list, too. Now that I know it works on the rewritten site, I’ll be adding the feature to more characters in future updates.
I know what some of you are thinking. “One of those sprites seems a bit out of place.” Well, just consider it a preview for something else I’ve been working on this year.
Elsewhere, Arcade Quartermaster’s new shrines of the month are in: Gang Wars (Alpha Denshi/ADK) and Caveman Ninja (Data East). Weird timing, because Shadi planned this out way in advance, at the same time I was working on this year’s Revenge of 1989 update with sprites of Jackie and Mike from Gang Wars.
The coding work to get this site (along with Illmosis and Beans vs. Cornbread) for the Dreamhost server update is FINALLY done, but I promised to have an update to the a ToyBoss section before that happens and here’s that update!
new:
– Jada Toys’ excellent Street Fighter Ryu and Fei Long figures.
– Golden Axe: added shot of Storm Collectibles Tyris and Gilius.
– X-Men (LJN) – playable heroes.
– Spider-Man and the X-Men get their own revenge of Arcade.
– an Articulated Icons/Fwoosh parts-swapped custom made to look like Ryu Hayabusa. They have pre-orders up for a reissued (and from what I’ve read, slightly retooled) Crimson Fury, the dark red ninja.
– The Marvel Super Heroes (Capcom) heroes team, with a work-in-progress custom figure of Psylocke!
updated group shots:
– Captain America and the Avengers (Data East) – heroes – added new Sky-cycle Hawkeye and a recently re-acquired Neo-classic Iron Man (retro card version).
– X-Men (Konami) – villains – includes a customized VHS Mystique and more added characters.
BTW: Articulated Icons/Fwoosh is still having a sale on “Sakit (Martial Artist)” and the “Arms/Hands/Wraps Pack (Red)” pack ($3.99!) and also put up have pre-orders up for a reissued Crimson Fury, the dark red ninja.
The big coding update will hit this site within the first few days of September, so if you really need something from the site I suggest you get it before then, because I really won’t know if everything works until it’s uploaded and tested. The site may be temporarily closed until it’s all complete, but it shouldn’t take longer than a day.
Oddly enough, I made a new header for the Toy section, but the coding is connected with the updated version of the site, so you won’t see it until then.
It’s the birthday of this website, but the presents are for you! No, you can’t exchange them at the store if they don’t fit. First, thank you for visiting the site, whether you’ve been stopping by since the Tripod and Angelfire years or if this is your first time. It’s fun to make these things, but it’s even more fun when people other people enjoy it. But you know what? Instead of doing the usual thing with shots from the generator, I’ve got a short video with most of the sprites in it.
Custom Sprites:
– Captain Commando: all-new sprites of Captain Commando (1991 design), Carol, Brenda, Wooky, Eddy, Dick.
– Final Fight: Eliza (a.k.a. Elissa) and Mary from Final Fight 2
– Mega Man: original Mega Man robot master lineup is completed with new sprites of Cut Man, Guts Man, and Ice Man.
– Street Fighter: Kimberly
– DC Comics: Green Lantern Hal Jordan
– Marvel Comics: Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde
– Music: Wu-Tang Killer Bees
Mini-logos:
– Capcom: Street Fighter 6 cutscene style logos for Kimberly, Dee Jay, Juri, and Damnd
– Atlus: Atlus
– Marvel Comics: Shadowcat
– Music: Wu-Tang Clan
Custom Sprite Packs: (edit: 2023 July 22) Kitty Pryde and Shadowcat added to the X-Men CotA name graphics pack.
The high amount of new Capcom items is making up for the fact that I planned to do a bigger Capcom anniversary update a while back, but I had to concentrate on commission work. As usual, the new custom sprites and mini-logos are available to use in the GFX image generators
ToyBoss: A few new pics have been added, including that brand new side-scroller legend you see off to the side. Last year’s anniversary update featured a pic of my then-new Tyris Flare figure from Storm Collectibles and this update just happens to parallel that event with my new Gilius Thunderhead figure. I lucked out and caught one of the last sets on sale from Entertainment Earth, the online store where I got some of the luckiest finds of my rebuilt collection. Storm Collectibles is now exclusive to BigBadToyStore and you can find their Golden Axe line (and other Golden Axe items) here. Entertainment Earth still has one “Not Mint” Gilius left for $96.53 and free shipping, but it probably won’t be in stock for long. I also managed to get another figure I’ve wanted for years but aftermarket prices usually kept me away, until I found an incomplete one for a decent price: Sodom! It may have been a Street Fighter figure from SOTA, but we all know Sodom comes from the Final Fight series. I’ll probably have to customize a crest for his helmet and get a spare pair of swords so he can reach his full boss potential.
There’ll be more updates to the ToyBoss section soon because I need to update a few roster pics and my current customized figure project is about halfway done. I also got a new digital camera (on sale, of course) that won’t immediately murder its battery after being on for more than 8 minutes, so I’ll be having fun with that, too.
I mentioned a while back that I’ll have to rewrite a lot of code on the site to get it ready for the updated Dreamhost servers, and that’s going to be my main focus for a while. My hard drive has copies of the old and new code versions of the site running in two different XAMPP installs, which complicates adding new things to the online (and old) version of this site. So while site updates will be limited as I work on the new version of the site, I’m going add more things to the ScrollBoss YouTube channel on the side. Some areas may temporarily disappear when the site upgrade starts in August, so be sure to check out, enjoy, and right-click save what you want before then.
We’re still in that month of foolery, April, so this update adds more pizzazz to the site’s image generators!
Custom Sprites: River City Ransom/Kunio-kun 8-bit: Kyoko and Misako (Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka uniforms), Spider-Man custom Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 portraits: Terry Bogard (the portrait I teased in late March’s update) and a scratch-made Ryu Hayabusa (replacing the old edit). Illmosis – ScrollBoss: Two sprites added to what I’m calling the “archetype” series for now. First is a brand-new “Bunny Costume” Lady and the second is an Undead Zombie. Zombie (o’, Zombie) was originally made in 2020 for some merch, but I made a few adjustments and added him to the site and the generator. These two are also helping to test out a new feature I’ve just added to the…
GFX Generator: A new River City Ransom/Kunio-kun ‘scenes’ screenstyle has been added to the Fake Screenshot and River City Ransom generator pages. So, yeah, finally some beat ’em up in-game shots (but no combat… yet). I’m starting it with 16 background/set-up shots from around the map and two “crossover” backgrounds that I’ll let you find for yourself. I also added standing sprites of the lower enemies from River City Ransom, along with Misako, Kyoko, Misuzu, Kumiko & Miyuki from River City Super Sports Challenge for the PC.
Today’s update adds a new feature that I’m currently calling “Extra Palettes” that are sub-palettes beneath the main palettes that only change a part of the palette. So in these special characters, you pick the main palette and then use pull down text menus below those palettes to change hair, skin color, outfit part colors, and so-on. It’s almost like I’ve added a palette editor to the generator.
Two Illmosis section characters in the main generator have these palettes so far: the new Bunnylady and the Undead Zombie (found in the “Monsters (Illmosis)” character). In fact, the Bunnyladies were almost in the March update, but I ran into the problem I had with the River City Ransom/Kunio-kun Variable Color character (more info about this in the full post). The Fake Screenshot (8-bit) section’s River City Ransom Variable Color and the RCR/Nekketsu drone enemies have this ability, too. If this works, I’ll be adding more options to these characters along with adding these functions some other sprite sets where it’d make sense. I feel like there’s a specific 8-bit platforming character who could benefit from extra color options.
BTW: I’m going to be part of this Saturday’s Retro Roundtable on the Dire and Bette YouTube channel! I’m not sure if I can say what the theme is yet, but it’s a game subject that I like A LOT.
Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 portraits: Andore/Hugo (Final Fight/SF), Captain Commando, Harley Quinn (DC Comics), Spider-Man (Marvel), Black Widow (Marvel Comics)
Four of these were requests that I already wanted to make, but for various reasons (I had a Hugo/Andore sketched years ago, but didn’t like it) didn’t get done until now. Harley Quinn is just one I just had an itch to make.
Seeing my custom portraits in fake screenshots is one thing, but did you ever wonder how they’d look in the game? Using a new rendering technique, I made a short video using some of the older portraits I made from scratch:
What’s that rendering technique? I’ll tell you at the end of this post.
GFX Generator: The engine itself got some minor fixes, including a fix to some reflection effects. Also
– a “ScrollTech pattern background (added by request) added to the main generator
– The new portraits were added to the GFX Generators, mainly the SFA3 generator
Happy New Year and Happy Year of the Rabbit! I’ve spent most January 2023 working on a line art commission that you’ll see some time this year (it was teased by the author last year, but I can’t show it yet), so this update is a bit lighter than the usual First Update of the Year, but at least it has variety.
Custom Sprites:
– Street Fighter: new Cammy SSF2 win pose, updated her other win pose sprite to match better with the others.
– Marvel Comics: the Enchantress
– DC Comics: the Rabbit enemy from Taito’s Superman arcade game
– Illmosis Network – ScrollBoss: Vonetta “Vernacula” Paige gets a new sprite, a slightly modified outfit, a satchel and a last name in an all-new sprite!
All of these sprites are tied to things I plan to work on throughout the year, including a rabbit theme to celebrate the year.
Vernacula-X Glossary: Vonetta, mascot of the Info Center area of the site, threatened suggested I also work a bit on that part of the site, so I updated amazon (updated the main pic), Beat ‘Em Up (added info, main pic borrows the main menu “Brawlstreet” banner for now), Versus Mode (added more info and main pic) and minor updates to other entries.
Image Generators: All new custom sprites were added, and the following screen styles were updated…
– Vs 3v3 scene 384×224: 12 more Vs. graphics from different games were added.
My newest game-related action figure is the Marvel Legends Capcom-style War Machine (not that they mention Capcom, but we know the deal). The Iron Man sculpt it’s based on was already proven solid twice in the standard red and gold release and the special flat red and yellow PROTON CANNON edition from last year. The spark effects, also used in that Proton Cannon IM, are still great, but you’ll probably have to heat up the rubbery plastic of the biggest spark to bend it back into shape. What makes this version really sing is the use of metallic paints and plastics to mimic the sprite’s look. I’m not a fan of factory-done painted-on cel shading for action figures, 97 times out of 100 it just works against the sculpt work and only looks good if you have light coming from a specific direction (if it ever looks right). But this figure looks really close to the sprite when it’s hit with enough light, mimicking the car paint finish found in the sprites.
Ever wonder what would happen if Captain N: the Game Master had its own Netflix monkey paw-grasped revival? Friend of the site Channel 905 a take on that (and a few other things) in this video!
Okay… I’m going to try and take a break again. A real one this time. Besides getting rest, I’ve got some new programs to learn, and maybe I’ll even take enough time to play a game again. I’ll be back at some point between late February and early March, but there may be some small updates before that.
It’s time to wrap-up this year of updates in the usual way: content based on toys from the eighties and some unfinished business!
Custom Sprites:
– G.I.JOE: Wild Bill, B.A.T.s
– Thundercats: Mumm-Ra
– Toys and Cartoons:B.P. Vess (C.O.P.S., all-new sprites), Miles Mayhem (M.A.S.K.)
– Double Dragon: the alley cat from arcade version of Mission 1, NES design Billy and Jimmy Lee
– DC Comics: Stargirl (yes, I’m going to miss that show)
Mini-Logos: Venom (from Kenner’s M.A.S.K.) added to Toys and Stargirl added to DC Comics
All new custom sprites and mini-logos have been added to the image generators. The main “Fighter-size” generator now an 80s action figure toy aisle in the Group, Vs. and MvC ending screenstyles. It’s still a work in progress, because I spent more time searching for image and scale reference than I did working on it so far. This version’s toys are mainly centered around 1985, the last year the first wave of Transformers were still being made. I’ll continue to update this in the future, and possibly add more versions and years (like a late-eighties version with a big TMNT section) if enough people want to see that. BTW: some of the most helpful reference pics were from this post on 20th Century Toy Collector, because I was able to see how some boxes from different lines of the era scaled next to each other.
ToyBoss: My custom New X-Men/classic Cyclops Marvel Legends figure is done enough to show, so I finally… FINALLY… have a full Konami X-Men playable character roster in 1:12 scale. I’d have had this roster (and others) finished earlier if I didn’t have to practically restart my Marvel Legends collection in 2020. I also added an updated shot of the Red Skull’s crew in Data East’s Captain America and the Avengers to show I’ve got the Controller in there.
Speaking of toys, a lot of my 2023 figure hype is aimed at Jada Toys’ Street Fighter and Mega Man action figure lines. Three figure in each wave and all at a price point that won’t K.O. your wallet, and they’ll fit in with 6-inch/1:12 scale figures, so they’ll be part of my Marvel vs. Capcom set-ups. All the little details, like the Hadoken having hands molded in like the old sprites and one of the two optional heads being based on the Super Street Fighter II Vs. portraits (still some of the best art of those characters), I’m definitely hype for these. Check out this Fwooshcast episode that drops info on these and the other figure lines Jada is working on right now:
Storm Collectables is still putting out Street Fighters, though their figures seem to be in a slightly larger scale than Marvel Legends and closer to Mattel’s Masterverse and McFarlane Toys. It’s great to have options with these and I hope both companies get into more classic video game lines.
It’s time for me to thank everyone who has visited the site this year, and I’m giving a really big thank you to those who commented here, by e-mail (yes, some people do!), and on social media. There are times when my day job has worn me out and I don’t have a lot of energy to do anything when I get home, but things like your feedback, seeing pics you made in the image generators, being surprised when the pixel minilogos pop up in fan projects, and things like that refill my energy again. Take care and see you in 2023!
All new sprites added to the site’s image generator, and so has a new Marvel Legends 20th Anniversary package tribute. Oddly enough, while the only one I have (so far) is Cap, I made a pixel version of Iron Man’s figure stand background. Don’t worry, there are also options to use backgrounds from various Marvel games by Capcom and a few that I’ve made. This ML card is MOSTLY finished, there’s another thing that’d require modding the whole engine to do, so that’ll have to wait for another day.
I’ve just started working on some pixel art commissions, so I’ll be very busy for a while. I’m not sure when I’ll be done and have enough time for site updates, but I’ll be back as soon as possible. There’s some new video stuff in the works, to the point where I’ve made pixel remakes of some old-school TV overlay fonts:
Other plans (besides sprites) include a frequently asked questions video (because people have been asking more questions), some new screen layouts for the Image Generators, and a ToyBoss section update.
