Project Description

INKTOBER 2023 Day #15: DAGGER.

“’Thunder! Thunder! Thunder Monkey, HOOO!’ I watched a lot of cartoons in the 80s that not only shaped my youth but influenced me as an artist and creator in big and small ways. I have probably forgotten more shows and intellectual properties than I can remember, and to be fair, many of the cartoons from that time period often piggy backed on one another to cash in on what was ‘hot’. In my view, ‘Thundercats’ was perhaps a clone of He-Man, but it was definitely different and unique enough to stand on its own. It was a mashup of science fiction and fantasy, swords, sorcery, and technology. The Thundercats were a group of anthropomorphic cat-humans, each character representing a different type of big cat (lion, cheetah, tiger, panther, etc) and each with a unique weapon (sword, staff, whip, nunchaku) or ability. They also had machines and vehicles. In fact, the ThunderCats themselves were aliens, having fled their dying planet of Thundera and crash landing on a planet they called ‘Third Earth’ after being attacked by their enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr. Eventually, the demonic, mummified sorcerer Mumm-Ra awakens on the planet, sides with the mutants, and the battle for control of Third Earth begins.
The leader of the ThunderCats is Lion-O, who possesses the legendary, magical Sword of Omens. It is actually a dagger, but when Lion-O holds it up to his face and calls out ‘Thunder! Thunder! ThunderCats, HOOO!’, the blade transforms into a sword. It was another fun 80s franchise that had a really cool foundation and has had a few attempts at being remade, but could probably stand more.
It’s also a show I really should have shown my cat-loving youngest son when he was little. Missed opportunity there.”

Are you enjoying these monkey-filled pen and ink illustrations? Would you like to see even more of them, and be able to hold them in your very own hands? Then grab yourself a copy of my Inktober art book INKLINGS: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733734716?ref_=ast_author_dp