A commission on the occasion of an engineering doctoral candidate receiving his degree. Client though it would be funny to create a supervillain, since the graduate would literally be named "Dr. Flood". Wanted to do something bold while still being true to the old school Bronze Age cover aesthetic.

It always starts with sketching. Since the figure is so central and the body language is important, I had to get just the right pose from life.

Once the pose is right, then I can distort it for effect. This is the rough digital sketch used to mock up the rest of the piece.

This is the first color test and rough placement of the trade dress. I came up with a custom title logo and the other stuff is all subtle details related to the graduate.

Full-size pencils...

Brought the pencils into Photoshop so I could mask out the other areas needed for the drawing and colors.

Second color mock-up, used for final composition and placement.

Inks and color flats. From here's it's just a process of adding the details, highlights, etc.

Once the details are colored and added, I got to town with the vintage effects. The worn textures are some of my own making, while the paper texture and halftone colors are all from True Grit Texture Supply. They rock!