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No Holds Barred

2 Weeks
Double Scar Match

Comics

No Holds Barred
By Animeshen
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star star
Sovereign Greece
Final Score: 8.09
No Holds Barred
By Magistelle
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star star
Mammon
trophy WINNER
Final Score: 8.35

Comments (14)

Rikun's avatar
Rikun
All-Rounder
8 years ago
It seems that those before me gave a much more detailed critque than I ever could, so I'm going to give a short summary of what I thought of you both: Shen: Yours was definitely the more bombastic, action oriented of the two. The plot was crazy and it was honestly an excuse to have these two beefy guys throw down, and you did that with style. My only real critique I can give is that your anatomy can get a bit inconsistent but that's something I myself need to work on as well. Still worth the hype and I get the feeling that your forte is squarely on how much ridiculous fun you can have! Magistelle: If Shen's battle was Kill Bill, then your battle is John Wick. It's darker, more grounded, and I felt that the reason for the team up had more weight. While on the surface it's yet another ring match, the solid lineart and the tension gave it plenty of variety from the previous ring matches. I'm excited to see where you'll be taking Mammon next after this. Overall two really solid entries from you. Can't wait see what else you guys will do and the mayhem Murphy's Law will be throwing down now!

Radji's avatar
Radji
All-Rounder
8 years ago
SORRY i'M LATE Shen: i totally didn't see Greece joining Blackader's butt buddies, lol. But giving his personality and his view on the world, it's kind of fitting. There is still that little problem of Greece body mass fluctuating like Trump's electorate, but the dynamism does keep it out of the way of our enjoyement and what enjoyment it was !!! hmmmmmm.... MUSCLES EVERYWHERE !!!! Magi: I kinda don't understand the correlation between's Wizzie's scar and the moon stones thingies, but DAMN that's one glorious finisher ! I love the colore as always, my only complain would be the noise effects that kind of kill the effect of speed of the punches

Kozispoon's avatar
Kozispoon
All-Rounder
8 years ago
MAGISTELLE- Oh man, the moment I got to the cover page and saw the wrecked mess of Mammon's back, I knew we were all in for a good time. You fire off with what we all came to see- a no holds barred match. I will echo the previous critiques that I'd love to see a change in locale for your fights. I know the ring is the traditional way to go about it ,but void itself really is anything but. You have a wealth of locations and in/out of canon spots to explore and capitalize on, it'd be a shame not seeing them featured for Mammon and company to putter around in. I leaned back fully expecting tried and true void brutality and as I went page to page, I prepared for grandstanding, swagger and usual bluster from Mammon himself. To see his solo henchman come in and find Mammon nervous, actually wringing his hands and looking anxious stunned me. Stunned me in a great way. Too often, especially on this site, artists strive so hard to make their characters the biggiest baddiest mofo's out there, that it is arresting, nay unprecedented to see a semblance of humanity in them. A weakness of any sort. The fact you took the time out to add this moment, for me, made me lean in my chair and actually get interested. Its great that with all the action you packed in here, you really gave space for this moment for us to get to know your character so much better through nothing more than two pages. :D Your use of shadows is definitely inspiring. most notably in your first page with how you handled the volume of the crowd with alotta spot black- clever! I especially dig how it enhanced that 'uh-oh' moment on page 8 when Greece catches Mammon by the middle and gives off that unsettling grin. I commend you on lettering your own comics when it comes to your SPX sounds, but with such care and precision you give your figures and backgrounds, comparatively, your lettering seems to be lacking. Its just...there. I'd definitely give a couple traditional comic SPX fonts a looksee for inspiration and try to find a style all your own that really brings home the impact I think you were intending with all those punches and slams. I think the spot where you really give a great feel with lettering is the top of page 15 when Mammon juices himself up. All that jaggedness really ramps up the intensity of that scene. Speaking of juiced...I'm not sure how I feel about this. Mammon kinda cheating a-la Batman's Bane style? Say it ain't so! well, I'd figure he's the head of a terrorist bad guy cell for a reason. Makes you wonder if he hadn't gotten a boost from the green stuff, would he of still won? I really dig that, that question is even something to consider in this battle and you didn't make a 'oh of course he wins cuz he's my chara' obvious end. You've returned to void with a vengeance lady, and I for one feel sorry for anyone who goes toe to to with you.

Kozispoon's avatar
Kozispoon
All-Rounder
8 years ago
Omigosh I got so much to say, I gotta break it up in posts SHEN- The colors, dawg, the COLORS! You definitely know how to keep things interesting by picking such unconventional palates. I dunno why you picked the interior of a cave for this particular encounter, but I super dug it. We so often get the city proper or other urban backdrops as our setting, its neat to see a change of pace. Like oh geez, did Greece muck up some of Skulls neighborhood? Are we setting up for another throwdown? Right off the bat, I dig the intro to heel vibe you set with that amusing quick flash to Greece talking shit on TV of all places. Mammon's reaction panel on page 3 cracked me up. I went from cracking up to furiously fanning myself when I got to page 5. Where are my smelling salts?? Honestly, its clear throughout the throw-down, you had some real fun double entendre-ing this tussle. All this muscle is making me swoon! Your male anatomy has these moments of really impressive on point-ness. Its clear you studied up and are generally comfortable doodling the dudes. What throws me is that either due to deadline or skill (?) you tend to get wonky and off model. These are wrestlers. Tough bulky dudes and you overall tend to draw them sorta stringy. Like on the same page as Greece's supah fine unveiling on page 5, we got Mammon on the bottom panel with a torso that is listing to the left and off center from his legs. My guess (which would be the same reason as mine) is that male anatomy is super tough, but I commend you for not only having this character, but making comics with him and trying. The more the better! I super dug your paneling, and your action and wrestling moves are evident of your WWE fandom (well done grasshoppa!). You got some cool instances of manipulating your shadows which I wish you used more cuz we 's all up in a cave. Like the top of page 10 where Greece is in shadow and all you see is his grin? That's cool. We needed more of this. Honestly, with the way your light sources were working in your environment, it definitely needed more shadow- if nothing else, but to add more drama to the scene Also, PLOT PLOT PLOT. I am supah interested to see where Greece goes from here and whether he'll stay a heel, or look to become a headliner once he's joined the gang. Super rad effort from you, lady. Cheers! ;D

Nana-Banana's avatar
Nana-Banana
All-Rounder
8 years ago
I've been excited to see how this matchup would go so I thought I'd put my two cents in on this one! Shen: One of my absolute favorite things about your comics and art in general is the vibrant colors. For example, the first page alone is a wonderful establishing shot with the amazing backgrounds and cooling blues only to be disturbed by Greece's pink/magenta colored clothing. All the intensity of the shading choices aid in immersing the readers as well as set the tone of Greece and Mammon's exchange. By utilizing a mixture of warm and cooling colors the character's pop off the panels in a liberating way. My favorite usage of colors to break away from the scene where page 18 where Greece is drastic contrast in color to the background explosion yet, he turns back to the red tones from earlier. At that point it would have been neat to have Greece's purple there be a transition for both Mammon and Greece to change color schemes. Speaking of backgrounds, I really enjoyed how unique the setup of their show down! Even with the limited detail shading, the depth of the cavern system compared to the vibrant water highlights how undisturbed the location truly is. It's also extremely pleasing how the color of the cavern shifts as their fight continues to spiral out of control however, it seems like the characters' merge too much with the background at this point since their skin tone is a darkish red which matches the cavern walls. I think something to consider for the future would be switching the character color scheme with the background. For example, the cavern is now warm reds so maybe Greece/Mammon would be cool blues. The explosion helps to reset the characters' emotions wonderfully yet I almost wish that Greece's and Mammon's colors had shifted at this point but, that might just be a personal preference. Naturally there's always going to be anatomical issues no matter how skilled an artist is and the time constant is always a bummer when you're a slight perfectionist. Overall, this is a well thought out battle, contained an interesting setting, and splattered a lovely color scheme for us all to enjoy! Great Job Shen! MagiStelle: I always enjoy opening up your comics to see a well illustrated theatrical poster-esque cover page. The reds jump off the page as the purple bruising accent Mammon's battered body as Greece looks down upon him. Even when you select a simplified anatomy for characters still fill the page and set the perspective of the panel itself. The dialogue you produce is well thought out and matches the characters' emotions while still portraying who they are as a person. As much as I enjoy seeing two characters brawl in a boxing/wrestling ring I do wish that setting had been different, maybe take a leap of faith into uncharted territory for settings, since the last few battles were set in a similar location. I understand that Mammon's thing is boxing but, I still believe the universe VOID leaves numerous locations for him to face off against the unique cast of characters other artist have provided. For example: in the match against Jiko, Mammon ended up duking it out in the cafe itself. It's an unconventional sparing location which made the comic more interesting. As much as I enjoy your ability to play with colors I am still having a rather lackluster feeling towards the red scheme being utilized. The characters, though a white/yellow, blend far too much with the red/purple backgrounds so I get a muddy feeling from the overall coloring. I do wish that the contrasting colors found on the last page, where Greece and Mammon are fighting over the mirror, were dabbled with more so both the background and the men fly off the panels. One last comment about backgrounds is I am seeing lots of square or rectangular furniture, even though you fill up the backgrounds sometimes they appear plan and with little character. Not every couch is a square shape and not even toilet is built of squares so try to switch up the shapes some. Overall, I loved the emotion behind Greece and Mammon's interactions, the clean anatomy, and the dialogue choices! Awesome Job!

JCee's avatar
JCee
Inker
8 years ago
You two are simply fantastic! I loved both these comics equally and just downright amazed by them that I cannot help but re-read them over and over. So far, best comic battle of 2016. And for all the hype you two made for this battle, it definitely lived up to it! Keep at it, guys!

Darius Corry's avatar
Darius Corry
All-Rounder
8 years ago
Great job, guys. I think this will definitely make the Best of 2016 event. Not sure if you all were coincidentally on the same page with Greece joining the squad, but it was awesome none the less.


PyrasTerran's avatar
PyrasTerran
Writer
8 years ago
hey you guys really did wonderful, 150% efforts are clearly seen and you both should be proud of what you did. Shen: As a man who loves his explosions I really must say that explosion is just beautiful! Rewinding--I think that the way you draw big toothy grins (with the individual teeth getting really enlarged like in the cover) is holding you back; this thing works in some animes that have done it cause they keep it really simple, just a big zig-zag on white to keep with the kinetic nature of the style. But when you start adding shadow, hilights, gums, it's no longer giving off a stylized look and suddenly you've got your character's teeth really more inconsistent than they should from scene to scene. In page 4 i got a little confused with the first panel on who was saying what, cause they both warrant an autograph technically, I had to re-read it a few times to get it right in my head. The jokes about Mammon's chest scar really made me laugh! Your action is great though your anatomy stumbles a little here and there. As far as body types it's clear you're having fun with the muscles but I wanna see you 1) get thicker (often Greece and Mammon look a bit emaciated/skinny with the muscles makes it look like they're really not eating properly despite how much they work out) and 2) add more variety (Greece is a wrestler and Mammon is a boxer, those types of bodies workout different muscles and have different muscle sizes in different places) really that'll get more polished out studying some great action and you are getting better with each comic so just keep your head up and keep practicing Magistelle: continuing your tour of making us all look bad now you've got this monster of a comic down! I'm still not a diehard fan of the limited palette being used but your use of lights and your strong lines just carry the whole thing up and beyond. Watch out though as your work gets more polished, some errors may become more obvious; there are some panels where you forgot to add their shadows across the ring floor. Also like Shen, you wanna get more variety in the body shape/type/sizes between two shirtless muscled men duking it out, for the same reasons~ Didn't go into the writing cause IMO you both produced equally exciting stories so thumbs up on that~

Animeshen's avatar
Animeshen
All-Rounder
8 years ago
Uploaded. I'll work on some thumbs tomorrow. if I'm not dead from exhaustion. please read my comic first~ =D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtKJ3CtmXOM

JCee's avatar
JCee
Inker
8 years ago
Still ultra-hyped for this XDD

Animeshen's avatar
Animeshen
All-Rounder
8 years ago
Cracking Skulls: mysteryyyyyyyy We're still getting out homoerotic comics tho right?
oh gosh, yes, they'll be super gay XD

Cracking Skulls's avatar
Cracking Skulls
All-Rounder
8 years ago
mysteryyyyyyyy We're still getting out homoerotic comics tho right?

Animeshen's avatar
Animeshen
All-Rounder
8 years ago
*awkward collar tug* this has always been a five week match I dunno why it says two weeks up there thats super mysterious I wonder what happened gosh