Upperdeck’s Marvel Masterpieces 2018 cards

This year I was honored to work in the Marvel Masterpieces 2018 card set put out by Upperdeck with 59 cards. I can’t tell you how much I squeed the second I got the cards, and how hard it was to pick JUST 59 characters because Marvel is probably my favorite Superhero comic universe of all time.

So here are 27 of those 59 cards (c’mon, I have to leave some to surprise anyone who gets them in their packs!) that I hope you like as much as I loved doing them.  And, just for curiosity sake, which one is your favorite?

Sugar Skull Erin

And here’s the last of the Elemental Squires in full Sugar Skull make up.

Funny thing, Erin is the one that has changed the most since I started planning and publishing the other Robin versions. I will tell you all about that in a future post.

For now, I hope you had a great Halloween last month, and today, an amazing Day of the Death.

Sugar Skull Dew

I have to admit, Dew is probably my favorite Squire to draw. She hasn’t had the chance to shine much yet, but I adore her. She loves her job, she loves her powers and she will never, ever back down from a fight.

If you want to know how I colored her, the process is available on Patreon for anyone who donates $5.00 USD or more per month.

Sugar Skull Blaze

Since I was a little girl, I’ve loved Sugar Skulls. I remember mom buying the biggest, most decorated one for our altar for Great Grandpa Manuel, and that it would last for DAYS if I took it later to school, even sharing it with my classmates. But I really didn’t like eating it as much as looking at it. The decorations always made me smile and wonder how they were made.

Two years ago, I made a series of some characters as sugar skulls. It was REALLY fun. But that was two years ago, and now I thought… why not give the Elemental Squires of Dream Keeper Robin a chance? So here we are with the first one, Blaze, the passionate squire of Fire.

Alberdeen Tolbooth

Next in my haunted houses series, is the Alberdeen Tolbooth. It may be a bit of a cheat, as it’s not a house now, and it never was. It was a prison, and now it’s a museum. Hence, he’s a guy. And well, he has the reputation of being the most haunted place in all of England. Sure, most of the hauntings are pretty tame, and it’s mostly to scare people away, but given how violent the story of old England prisons is, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was more bloody than we all imagine.

Gradients Too

I’ve talked about Gradients (previously Abre Una Ventana), very recently. Just when I was announcing the beginning of the strips on Patreon, I made a series of most of the main cast for Instagram, that I am sharing here again.

Aria, Henry, Moonbeam Honesty, Luisa, René, Romeo, and Xolotl look a bit different when I make them in traditional techniques, but they’re still my beloved kids.

Steven Universe’s Crystal Gems

I adore Steven Universe. It’s one of my three favorite cartoons right now, because of the gorgeous colors, the amazing characters and more importantly, because the main message is that communication is key for everything. So of course, when it won my weekly poll… I just couldn’t choose just 7 characters, I had to do EVERYONE. But the main ones are the Crystal Gems.

I will probably do this again one day, correct some of the ideas that, by doing a full image by segments, didn’t translate perfectly. But for now, Here, We are the Crystal Gems, and we always save the day.

 

La Casa de los Tubos

 

 

This particular playful house is from the city of Monterrey. She was built by a single father for his daughter, who, according to the legend was wheelchair bound. Thus, the house was fitted accordingly with ramps and not stairs. Unfortunately, one day when he and his daughter were checking the house, she slid down one of said ramps and out of the window, dying instantly. Since then, legend says, anyone who spends time inside the unfinished house will end up jumping out of the window, pushed by the house.

But come on, look at her! She only wants to play with you.

Casa de la Tía Toña

La Casa de la Tía Toña, or the Tía Toña House, is a very intriguing house down here in Mexico City. It’s in the middle of the Chapultepec Forest, and entering there is forbidden. It’s also the focus of at least four contradicting stories, from the age of the Tía Toña (Some say she was elderly, some say that she was in her 40’s), to the nature of what happened there (Some say she killed some kids that were bullying her, some say that she killed the children she had adopted, all say she killed herself afterwards), and what happens if you actually manage to enter her.

That’s why making her design was so fun. Because she’s beautiful, but shrouded in mystery.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a series that changed my life. I’m not kidding, it came on just as the first issue of my first pro-comic came out, and while not the same thing, they had somethings in common (In particular, the main character was a chosen one, and her best friend was a witch. Oh, and her sort of mysterious mentor a Vampire). So of course I loved the hell out of Buffy.

It also had some great characters, like my absolute favorites, Xander and Spike. And helped a lot of my friends to find themselves, and was one of the very first series that had real representation for LGBT+ characters that I saw (Even if I still have some issues with it’s bisexual erasure and I still think it would’ve been more logical for Xander to be Bi. But whatevs)

Nowadays, I don’t consider Joss Whedon the best director in the world, nor the best writer. But I still have a soft spot for Buffy and the Scooby Gang. Because for me, they were always there to make me feel like I was not alone.