OMAC and The Jack of Hearts

 

A lot of prep work was required on the original image before I could add out heroes in.  Here's a look at the behind the scenes process:

Black Lightning and The Jack of Hearts

 

Jack of Hearts powers have always seemed a little unstable.  What kind of changes might come about as a result of a collision with an electrically based hero like Jefferson Pierce?

Jack of Hearts and Starman

 

These two space-faring heroes my not be as well known as some others, but I always enjoyed their appearances. They have two examples of awesome costumes as well, one simple yet effective, the other complex but cool in its own way.

Hawkman & The Atom and Jack of Hearts

 

This is another of those covers where the final product looks relatively simple to achieve.  Take a splash page featuring JOH, and then drop in the other two heroes on top of it, right?  This wasn't quite that easy, as I had to do a lot of prep work with the initial image before anything could be added to it.  I thought this would be a good candidate for a little behind the scenes view of a cover in progress.  I hope you enjoy these mid-creation peeks, I'm considering making this a semi regular feature of the blog going forward for whenever there's a cover that has a deceptively tricky element in its creation.

Legion of Super-Heroes and Jack of Hearts

 

Jack of Hearts has never seemed to find a permanent home in the Marvel Universe, maybe he would have better luck in the future.  With that colorful and detailed costume, Jack looks like a long lost Legionnaire anyway! It might be fun to see him mixing it up with the teens of tomorrow.  

Jack of Hearts and The Ray

The Ray is another one of DC's great legacy characters.  I remember his introductory mini-series coming seemingly from nowhere and really impressing me.  Joe Queseda designed two very cool looks for him, both while powered up and powered down.  I always expected bigger things for him, but for some reason he's remained on the C List of superheroes.  I think he was last seen hanging with the new Freedom Fighters, which is a fitting home considering the first Ray belonged to the original group.

Jack of Hearts and Mister Miracle

It's going to be interesting to see how The New Gods and Eternals come to life on the big screen.  Both properties are chock full of Jack Kirby designs, in the costumes and architecture of the worlds they present.  Thor: Ragnarok showed that Kirby's designs can be used effectively and I would like to see them even more prominently displayed in these upcoming films.  Eternals seems to be rolling along nicely, lets hope we hear about some New Gods Casting soon.

Green Lantern and Jack of Hearts in: "Hidden Homeworld"

So, on Arrow, we have recently learned that John Diggle's father was not such a nice guy, and his step father who helped to raise him and with whom he had been feuding had been covering for John's Father to protect his memory and spare John some pain.  His step father has the last name Stewart.  So how long until John takes his uncle's last name to finally become John Stewart?  After the season finale this week, they will only have next seasons 10 episodes before the series ends... I'm guessing they will wait right until the end.  Will it just be an epilogue moment - or could it lead to a John Stewart Green Lantern show?  Probably too big a budget for the CW, but that would be cool to see!

Jack previously met Green Lantern John Stewart (along with Guy Gardner) in STF #2243 and Hal Jordan in STF #587...

New Teen Titans and Jack of Hearts

When I did a recent post poking fun at some truly ugly costume designs, I was surprised to see Jack of Hearts mentioned as another example of an unattractive superhero outfit.  I know that it's always gotten a bad rap, but I figured that mostly had to do with the fact that it's intricate pattern is difficult to draw.  As a visual, I have always thought that it was pretty cool!

Jack of Hearts and Green Lanterns

I really hope that DC can get the Green Lantern Corps movie up and running.  Like Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel, it could be a great way to open up the DC Universe.  A movie about space cops with members from thousands of races is can't help but do so.  They could get caught up in the Rann-Thanagar War, deal with a threat from Mongul's Warworld, or investigate what happened to Mars' once thriving civilization... the possibilities are endless.

Jack of Hearts met Green lantern Hal Jordan in STF #587...

Jack of Hearts Vs. The Royal Flush Gang

I have always really liked The Royal Flush Gang.  I find it cool that the team has gone through so many incarnations, from the old West to present day, often with mysterious leaders/benefactors pulling the strings.  Plus, the family aspect to the group adds a different dynamic than most villainous gatherings.  The DC animated shows did some really interesting things with them as well.

Jack of Hearts and Firestorm

This was a pairing that I saw suggested in the comments a little while back and I have to agree that the costumes do look pretty cool together.  Both outfits look great on their own in the comics despite (or perhaps because of) some odd choices like Firestorm's puffy sleeves or Jack's overly complicated vest pattern.

Black Lightning and Jack of Hearts

Geoff Johns has been hinting at a soon to be revealed new DC TV series, and I hope that it will be the recently rumored Black Lightning.  Jefferson Pierce is long overdue for a live action treatment and I think that he would be a great character to build a series around.  I can definitely see him crossing over into established shows like Arrow as well.

Adam Strange and The Jack of Hearts

I am glad to see that Adam Strange is continuing to find a home in comics, this time in the Death of Hawkman mini series by Marc Andreyko and Aaron Lopresti.  C-List heroes like him and Jack of Hearts may never burn up the sales charts, bet they still have a ton of potential.

The Joker and Jack of Hearts

I remember picking up the Jack of Hearts 4-issue mini-series back in 1983 on a whim because I liked the George Freeman art, and I have been a fan of the character ever since.  It's too bad he hasn't been used very much over the years.  I have read that some artists do not like having to illustrate his complicated costume over and over - I hope that's not a reason for holding him back!

Green Lantern and The Jack of Hearts

I can't believe that it has taken me so long to feature Jack of hearts on a cover.  I've been a fan of this B-list (C-list?) Marvel character ever since his first appearances.  I still fondly remember his self-titled Mini-Series back in 1984 with the great George Freeman artwork.  His costume is crazy and busy, but I have always liked it.  I'll bet it is a pain to draw and maybe that has been a factor in how infrequently he has been used over the years. I know he was killed off when Brian Michael Bendis first took over the Avengers, but I lost track of if his story continued after that.  I think he got better eventually?