Strontium Dog - Max Bubba's Revenge

Something a little more unusual today. A return to the pages of 2000AD, specifically Strontium Dog. What we have here is a rendition of poor Johnny Alpha on his worst day ever. Ambushed by Max Bubba's gang, his partner Wulf is gunned down and Johnny himself staked out and left to die.

This event kicks off the epic Strontium Dog story, Rage, in which Alpha hunts down Bubba and his gang. I was only a lad when I read this one, and it's one of those stories that sticks with you.

This little gem is a limited promotional miniature for Warlord Games' Strontium Dog game, handed out at the 2018 San Diego Comic Con, if my research is correct. Warlord Games have released a starter set based around this very tale, The Good, the Bad and the Mutie. It's most tempting.

The mini came to me via the most excellent Cheetor, a fellow 2000AD fan. It felt good painting something to mark the passing of Carlos Ezquerra, the co-creator of and main artist on Strontium Dog (also co-creator of Judge Dredd) who died just under a year ago.

Oh! A slightly different angle.

Of course, now I have a want to paint Alpha, Wulf and the Gronk. I can't really leave Johnny like this, can I?

Strontium Dog - Middenface McNulty

Something random from The Mumblings today. Those of you who are fans of the venerable 2000AD might recognise this fellow as the Strontium Dog Middenface McNulty, sometime pal of the main character in the Strontium Dog series, Johnny Alpha.

I've always been a fan of Middenface. When I were a very wee lad I used to love how he spoke in the comic. It was only when I got a little older I realised this was because he was a Scot, from Shytehill, in fact. Here's a wee taste of Middenface in action.

He's no gonnae go doon easy eh? 

At BoYL this year one of  my pals is running a Strontium Dog game (the schicklgruber grab) where the stronts attempt to carry out a warrant to arrest Hitler to bring him back to the future to stand trial. How could one resist a nuts game like that? So as I had picked up Middenface when Foundry were selling off their 2000AD range, I had my man.

I picked some quite vibrant comic book colours for Middenface initially, then dialed it back to give him a little more realism. I wanted to make him look a bit more like the seasoned guerrilla fighter and bounty hunter he is, so I gave him a fairly heavy five o'clock shadow as well, and just a touch of redness on his nose. He is pretty fond of the gargle.

Painting his tartan shoulder pad turned out way easier to do than I expected, though I have simplified it down some to work at 28mm. 

I'm looking forward to seeing Middenface in action at BoYL along with the other stronts the rest of the players have been painting. I'll try my best not to talk in a bad Scottish accent the whole time, but I can't promise there won't be at least one 'Take that ye scunners!' or 'Get that stitched ya bam!'