*BRRRING*
“Hello?”
“Vidar? It’s the Norsemen. We need you to return to battle — right now!”
“I’m on it.”
“And don’t forget to bring the power that you alone wield!”
“Of course not! I’ll bring the Power of Turning People Upside Down.”
@David Below the neck it appears to have the body of a human male (nipples peeping out from underneath the tastefully understated leotard). The head, however… there’s hair, there’s a brow, I think I can even see some abnormally big teeth.
I guess even Vidar didn’t know what to do with it, and he’s turning it upside down to inspect the anatomy a bit closer?
The artist is not incompetent as regards anatomy, lighting, spatial sense, or color. He or she had problems in this painting with balance, motion, and atmosphere.
That is a white skinned ape-man, looking a little like a buff Trickster Monkey God. Our Hero is all yellow and pink and neon blue jeans. It’s an oddly distasteful contrast.
It’s made more Uncanny Valley by the main character’s total lack of a sense that he’s in motion, or dealing with anything in motion (such as the struggling monkey god), or actually off balance. He could just as well be holding a sponge mop, scrubbing a sticky spot on the floor. It’s a weirdly static image.
@Alessandra: I would take issue with spatial sense and colour. When I first looked at the cover, I got my negative and my positive spaces backwards. I thought they were tussling in front of some kind of cityscape with a plethora of peaked roofs! Now I see, of course, that it’s some kind of burgundy cave with yellow stalactites.
@Dead Stuff With Big Teeth: The artist does indeed have trouble with figure-ground reversal at the top of the painting. I think that’s a consequence of simplistic, flat painting in an area that was intended to be covered with text.
I was speaking pretty briefly before. By “spatial sense” I meant that the bodies make spatial sense, that they seem to be in the same space as each other, and that they seem to be in an actual space, albeit an odd one. By “color” I meant that the artist uses color dynamically to help the image. I don’t agree with the color choices, but if you look closely you can see how the colors reflect and affect each other.
The more I look at it the more that weirdly hairless white monkey man bothers me.
The color use, and in particular the skin tones, make me wonder how the original looked like, and how much the colors on this copy have suffered since 1985, lighting conditions while taking the picture, quality of the camera etc.
@Jaouad: Thanks for the link — that shows how a bad reproduction (cover printing and/or effects of the photo) can make things look worse than the original. I think Our Hero’s right leg still looks longer than the left, given the way he’s leaning over and the left is barely bent. But the colors are much better and I can actually make out the monkey-man face now.
@Jaouad: Wow, that’s an eye-opener. With the original to compare to, you can see how Questar intensified the colors, repainted the monkey’s armor that nasty nail polish red, and crudely painted out Rowena’s signature.
I think the title is a metaphor. Vidar is the “hammer”, and he thinks that the monkey guy is the “horn”….He obviously looks like he is about to try to make some sound come out of him!
November 25th, 2011 at 9:22 am
I don’t understand why this is funny, I love ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
November 25th, 2011 at 9:55 am
“Honest, I don’t have any change – this leotard has no pockets!”
November 25th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Awww, I wanted to post a comment about pocket money, but THX beat me to it.
So instead I’ll say, er, beardy bloke seems to be enjoying whatever it is he is doing.
November 25th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Damn, now I want me a heart-shaped codpiece.
November 25th, 2011 at 11:34 am
“Come on, give it back — or I’ll shake it out of you!”
“Honest, man, I didn’t take your Snickers bar!”
November 25th, 2011 at 11:36 am
*BRRRING*
“Hello?”
“Vidar? It’s the Norsemen. We need you to return to battle — right now!”
“I’m on it.”
“And don’t forget to bring the power that you alone wield!”
“Of course not! I’ll bring the Power of Turning People Upside Down.”
November 25th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
That bearded bloke isn’t actually leaning to the side… he just suffers from one-leg-longer syndrome.
November 25th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
“I’m gonna shake the ugly out of you!”
November 25th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Is Blondie wearing jeans?
November 25th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Donald, yes and hiking boots. He is a son of Odin (aren’t we all?) who has been passing his time on Earth for a few centuries.
November 25th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
I see Grizzly Adams but where is Ben?
November 25th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
“Curses, I am powerless to weild my sword when upside down”. Wait; What?
November 25th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
I have to say, this looks way better than “Thor”.
November 25th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
I can’t tell if that’s a boy or a girl in the red leotard. Or even human.
Do I need new glasses, or is the artist incompetent?
November 25th, 2011 at 7:03 pm
@David Below the neck it appears to have the body of a human male (nipples peeping out from underneath the tastefully understated leotard). The head, however… there’s hair, there’s a brow, I think I can even see some abnormally big teeth.
I guess even Vidar didn’t know what to do with it, and he’s turning it upside down to inspect the anatomy a bit closer?
November 25th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Vidar: “Why can’t I quit you?!?”
Or
Vidar: “VIDAR SMASH!”
November 26th, 2011 at 3:15 am
@David: The face looks like some sort of gorilla, but the hairdo makes it hard to tell…
November 26th, 2011 at 6:28 am
I heard viking wrestling is fake.
November 26th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
The artist is not incompetent as regards anatomy, lighting, spatial sense, or color. He or she had problems in this painting with balance, motion, and atmosphere.
That is a white skinned ape-man, looking a little like a buff Trickster Monkey God. Our Hero is all yellow and pink and neon blue jeans. It’s an oddly distasteful contrast.
It’s made more Uncanny Valley by the main character’s total lack of a sense that he’s in motion, or dealing with anything in motion (such as the struggling monkey god), or actually off balance. He could just as well be holding a sponge mop, scrubbing a sticky spot on the floor. It’s a weirdly static image.
November 26th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
@Alessandra: I would take issue with spatial sense and colour. When I first looked at the cover, I got my negative and my positive spaces backwards. I thought they were tussling in front of some kind of cityscape with a plethora of peaked roofs! Now I see, of course, that it’s some kind of burgundy cave with yellow stalactites.
November 26th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
@Dead Stuff With Big Teeth: The artist does indeed have trouble with figure-ground reversal at the top of the painting. I think that’s a consequence of simplistic, flat painting in an area that was intended to be covered with text.
I was speaking pretty briefly before. By “spatial sense” I meant that the bodies make spatial sense, that they seem to be in the same space as each other, and that they seem to be in an actual space, albeit an odd one. By “color” I meant that the artist uses color dynamically to help the image. I don’t agree with the color choices, but if you look closely you can see how the colors reflect and affect each other.
The more I look at it the more that weirdly hairless white monkey man bothers me.
November 26th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Two observations:
– Between the sequined leotard, the cute sandals and the single opera glove, that has to be the most FAAAABULOOOOUS! gorilla (?) swordsman ever.
– Vidar’s skin looks like it would make “squeak-squeak” noises every time he moves.
Good Show, Sir!
November 26th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
The color use, and in particular the skin tones, make me wonder how the original looked like, and how much the colors on this copy have suffered since 1985, lighting conditions while taking the picture, quality of the camera etc.
Update: ooh, look at this:
http://lcart3.narod.ru/image/fantasy/rowena_morrill/Rowena_Morrill_The_Hammer_and_the_Horn.jpg
November 27th, 2011 at 8:04 am
@Jaouad: Thanks for the link — that shows how a bad reproduction (cover printing and/or effects of the photo) can make things look worse than the original. I think Our Hero’s right leg still looks longer than the left, given the way he’s leaning over and the left is barely bent. But the colors are much better and I can actually make out the monkey-man face now.
November 27th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
@Jaouad: Wow, that’s an eye-opener. With the original to compare to, you can see how Questar intensified the colors, repainted the monkey’s armor that nasty nail polish red, and crudely painted out Rowena’s signature.
November 30th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
I think the title is a metaphor. Vidar is the “hammer”, and he thinks that the monkey guy is the “horn”….He obviously looks like he is about to try to make some sound come out of him!
September 30th, 2016 at 1:12 pm
After seeing the original art, that ape-man-beast still looks a little soft to be a cave dweller.
September 30th, 2016 at 1:32 pm
‘Kong, if you break out into song in your thong once more, I’ll pitch you off of this cliff. Stop.’
‘IN THE NAME OF LOVE! BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART…’
September 30th, 2016 at 1:36 pm
He could be a One Punch Man hero. Tank Topless Lumberjack.
September 30th, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Bum fight!
September 30th, 2016 at 4:30 pm
In a throwdown between a pallid gorilla/gladiator cosplayer and a bearded, blue-jeaned biker; bet on the biker.
September 30th, 2016 at 5:14 pm
@DSWBT—what, Kong breaks into thong? Thastsh’s dethshpicable!
September 30th, 2016 at 6:12 pm
Methinks Vidar has a problem with gaudily-dressed circus performers.
September 30th, 2016 at 7:19 pm
Vidar, I know you’re just trying be the hero you are, but you really should learn the Heimlich maneuver.
September 30th, 2016 at 8:50 pm
“Ok for the last time, what’s under that pouch, the hammer or the horn?”
September 30th, 2016 at 10:12 pm
Kong fell gently to the seashore, turning into an arthropod and appearing in alternative, alliterative artwork as he did so.
October 1st, 2016 at 6:47 pm
Let’s turn that frown … upside down
October 1st, 2016 at 8:35 pm
@TW:
‘……………………………………………………..hm.’
–my wife