Project Description

INKTOBER 2023 Day #8: TOAD.

“Plunger Monkey asking the important questions, as always. One of the first things I thought of for this prompt was the sort of B-list Marvel character, and member of Magneto’s ‘Brotherhood of Evil Mutants’, Toad. He may not actually be considered B-list, but he always felt like it to me in the comics. Although I guess he was a big enough deal to show up in the very first X-Men movie in the 90s, played by Darth Maul himself, Ray Park. Toad was created by comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ‘The X-Men’ #4 in 1964. As with most superheroes and villains, the character has changed over the decades. Ray Park’s version is quite a bit different than the original comic version, for example. Toad sports superhuman strength, endurance, agility, reflexes, coordination, balance, and insane jumping ability. Because toads, I guess. In later years he gained additional powers like being able to stick to surfaces, adhesive saliva, and a prehensile tongue. Again, because toads, presumably. I’m not quite sure about his costume, though. The frilly bits have been pretty common in his different incarnations, but I’m not sure why. Not very toad-like if you ask me. I guess it kind of has a medieval court jester kind of vibe, which sort of plays into the whole ‘toady’ kind of thing, which is sort of the role he played for Magneto. Given that he’s a bit of an oddball character, you’d think he wouldn’t be quite so upset about the addition to his attire, courtesy of PMD.”

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