Leprechauns aren’t the only creatures clad in green

As St. Patrick’s Day celebrations cover most of the world, we’re nearly overwhelmed with images of leprechauns, or little men that represent fairies from ancient Irish folklore. Yet these aren’t the only magical beings man has imagined clad in green.

Here’s an ode to some of the brilliant sci-fi, comic, and fantasy artists out there who have taken popular characters from books, films, and more and added their own creative spin.

Green Fairy by Brian Froud	Poison Ivy by Kay C
Slimer by Tim Kelly	Green Hornet by Chuck Moore
Frankenstein by Rainer F. Engel	Rydia (Final Fantasy IV) by Unknown
The Incredible Hulk (original concepts)	Green Alien by Keith Trimm
Hal Jordan as Parallax by Tom Fleming	An Orion (Star Trek) by Gavin de Lint
FCBD 2010 Kizoic Presents: Shrek	Army of the Dead (LOTR) by Weta Workshop

Speaking of Lord of the Rings…

Minas Morgul by Stardock

And though this is not exactly sci-fi or fantasy, no St. Patty’s Day would be without the Green Man from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (a show I had the opportunity of being in!)…

Green Man from It's Always Sunny

Clash of the Titans: In memory and anticipation

Clash of the Titans original poster

When I was in grade school, I remember getting an assignment to write a report on any person, place, or thing from history. Being the fantasy fanatic I was, I chose the Pegasus. Funny, though I was quite obsessed with Gods and Goddesses of Greek mythology, I was more excited to illustrate the book cover showing the creature in all it’s glory (or what my artistic skills could produce at the time; and they were actually pretty darn good, even back then).

So it wasn’t a surprise that, along with so many other mythology and fantasy enthusiasts, I loved the original 1981 film Clash of the Titans. Even with its slightly cheesy special effects, it’s still a favorite in my mind.

As most of the world knows, they’re coming out with a remake in 2010. I don’t fully trust that it’ll top the original (yes, I’m one of those people who always love the originals more), but what I am looking forward to are the special effects! With today’s technology and talent, this new film will, well, kick the original’s ass in that department.

The films, old and new

For anyone who hasn’t seen it, here’s the trailer to the original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVcT5YWBzq8

Here’s the trailer for the 2010 remake:

Who’s playing who?

It’s always fun to compare actors from the past to the modern day versions of characters:

Laurence Olivier as Zeus	Liam Neeson as Zeus
Harry Hamlin as Perseus	Sam Worthington as Perseus
Jack Gwillim as Poseidon	Danny Huston as Poseidon
Judi Bowker as Andromeda	Alexa Davalos as Andromeda

And of course, though Hades wasn’t in the original as far as I recall, I look forward to Ralph Fiennes interpretation of the character in the new film:

Ralph Fiennes as Hades

And the creatures!

Medusa - original

Medusa - updated

Kraken - original

Kraken - updated

Scorpion - original

Scorpion - updated

Who’s missing?

Aeromental provides a great article documenting what monsters are missing, along with many still frames from the new film.

Fan art

Check out some of the Clash characters and scenes by über talented artists:

Zeus by Genzoman

Poseidon by Genzoman

Hades by Genzoman

Kraken by Vegas Mike

Perseus by Jordan Ross

Featured Artists

• Genzoman
• Vegas Mike
• Jordan Ross

Wheel of Time: Best fantasy series ever

Death Dealer by Frank Frazetta

When I tell people I’m a huge fantasy nerd and frequent reader, the first question that comes up is, “have you read the The Wheel of Time series?” My lightning-quick response is, “Hells yeah!” (Note: I generally salivate by just thinking of these books). If my boyfriend happens to be around when the question arises, he’ll laugh because he knows just how much I obsess over this series. Picture he and I hanging in our back yard, drinking coffee, and discussing our passions. He talks cars and I talk WOT (when I’m in midst of reading the series). The two of us usually have no idea what the other is talking about, though I did finally get him to read Eye of the World.

After my brother-in-law turned me onto the series years ago, I’ve read (or shall I say listened to; I do books on mp3) each one of the first eleven books several times. Book 12 just came out, so I’ve only got one read in. I want to go on record right now to say that The Wheel of Time is arguably the best epic fantasy series of all time. It combines everything I adore about good stories: fantasy, magic, mythical and dangerous creatures, and two major topics I think every good fantasy series should have: politics and a struggle for power. Yes, yes, I’ve read The Lord of the Rings series too, and oddly found the books a little slow. Perhaps it’s because I watched the movies first and they are brilliant on so many levels.

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Haven’t read this series? Robert Jordan has been writing WOT since 1984 until his death. (Yes, I cried when I heard the news!) At that point Brandon Sanderson took over to complete the final three books of the series, and has done an extraordinary job with book 12: The Gathering Storm. By the way, I’m also reading Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy, another great series.

Jordan’s WOT series is one of the reasons I started this blog. There are hundreds of thousands of fans, like me, who spend hours a day scouring the Internet for news, art, and discussions about the WOT, and I wanted to continue to honor this incredible and still flourishing work of art.

Coming soon!

Moiraine Damodred by Seamas Gallagher

As most fans know, Universal Pictures acquired the movie rights to Eye of the World in August 2008, and the movie is set to start filming in 2011 (produced by Red Eagle Entertainment). So I thought it’d be fun to write, shoot, and produce a short scene from the film for fans! Per the suggestions made by WOT fans on a my blog post Which WOT character am I, I’ll be playing the role of Aes Sedai Moiraine Damodred (pictured to the right). It’ll be more of a “making of,” and we’ll document the entire process from start to finish… for fans!

References

• About The Wheel of Time
• Dragonmount: Best WOT forum-based fan site
• An interview with Brandon Sanderson

WOT artists featured

• Frank Frazetta
• Seamas Gallagher