Silly Nate: The Blog of Nathan H. Boyd

Friday, April 16, 2021

Friday, April 9, 2021

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Captain N: The Game Master (1989 - 1991)

Welcome back to the Saturday Morning Kablama Slam! - a segment where I showcase some of my favorite Saturday morning cartoon shows! This next one gets a real 1-UP on some of the other animated series. See what I did there?

The Premise: Teenager Kevin Keene and his loyal dog Duke are transported through a mysterious portal into another dimension known as Videoland. (But… let’s be clear! The dude’s INSIDE the Nintendo!) There, Kevin dons the moniker of Captain N: The Game Master and joins forces with Mega Man, Simon Belmont, and Kid Icarus to save Videoland from the evil Mother Brain!

This is one that I absolutely loved as a kid but, in my social circles at least, is pretty obscure these days. I went as the titular character a few years ago for Halloween and spent the whole day explaining who I was supposed to be. I finally ended up just saying that I was a high school student… from Nathan High School?... who carries a laser gun? Whatever. Can I just have some candy, please?

The show got its start when Nintendo Power Magazine (another cherished relic from my childhood) published a “Captain Nintendo” comic strip. The comic’s creator Randy Studdard pitched the character as the star of his own Saturday morning cartoon, as well as the company spokes-character… I guess if things somehow fell through with… you know… SUPER MARIO??? Nintendo ultimately decided to adapt the property into a cartoon series but supposedly did so without crediting or compensating Studdard. Ah, the sexy but cruel world of video game cartoon shows, amiright?!

My first memory of Captain N is having to get up extra early to watch it. I loved it THAT much! I also remember there not being any merchandise for the show. There were no action figures, no playsets, certainly not any Halloween costumes! I find this odd for a Saturday morning cartoon that ran for three seasons. I guess the product the show was pushing was the Nintendo itself, along with its many games. This is funny considering that many of the show’s characters aren’t exactly on brand. Castlevania vampire-hunter Simon Belmont is a blonde narcissist, Kid Icarus has some weird speech thing where he adds a ‘-us’ suffix to random words, King Hippo is green, Donkey Kong wears a shower cap, and Mega Man is a robot child-man with a tinted visor! I mean… What is that about?!

I guess if the showrunners used more direct adaptations, they would have had to give some credit where it was due, and that’s not a practice they were apparently fond of.

...

Snap.

Kablama Slam! Fun Fact: Kevin Keene earned his Varsity letter jacket for swimming. Probably not at Nathan High School though.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Brainteasers

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Happy VILLAINtine's Day!

I'm probably not the only one who thinks that Batman has the best rogues gallery out there, but as awesome as the Bat's baddies may be... there are a few duds. For instance, the so-called masters of air, land, and sea: the Terrible Trio!

In my opinion, the word 'terrible' is dead on. I first came across these three on Batman: The Animated Series (as was the case with most Batman properties) and every time that iconic intro faded out and the Terrible Trio title card popped up, I audibly groaned.

But NOW, as an artist wanting to redesign Batman characters... What better challenge?

Vulture

Fox

Shark

These guys have been through several iterations. Sometimes they're just dudes in rubber masks, sometimes they're genetically altered animal people. For my version, I came up with this concept of them wearing these high tech holographic masks that basically give them the appearance of having animated animal heads. It may be a little dumb, but I think it's a fun idea, and besides, they were already a little dumb to begin with.

Saturday, February 6, 2021

The Smurfs (1981-1989)

Welcome to the first installment in what I'm calling the Saturday Morning Kablama Slam! On random Saturdays throughout the year, I'll be highlighting some of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons beginning this week with one of that could best be described as...well... smurfy!

The Premise: The Smurfs are a group of little blue people described as “three apples high” who live in a village of mushroom houses hidden in the forest of a medieval fantasy world. Under the leadership of their patriarch, the wise Papa Smurf, the Smurfs get into all sorts of whimsical adventures while avoiding capture from the evil wizard Gargamel.

These famous little guys first appeared in the comic series, Johan and Peewit created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. In the comic, the Smurfs come to the aid of the titular hero and his funny sidekick, but were so popular that they quickly got their own comic… not to mention a TON of merchandise. When the characters finally made their way to the United States, the president of NBC took notice of how much his daughter loved said merchandise and started the ball rolling on a Smurf animated series, produced by cartoon powerhouse Hanna-Barbera Productions!

The Smurfs were officially my first fandom. I’ve loved them as long as I can remember and even still have the Schleich Papa Smurf and Smurfette figurines that I played with as a toddler! When you’ve grown up with something like that, it becomes a thing that you’re just used to and can’t really put your finger on why you love it exactly. Maybe it’s just a comforting sense of familiarity… sort of like a warm security blanket. They’re even a soothing shade of blue!

Kablama Slam! Fun Fact: The original French word for “smurf” is “schtroumph” which Peyo made up during a meal when he couldn’t remember the word “salt.” I wonder if that’s the same way they came up with The Biskitts.

Probably not.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Saturday Morning Kablama Slam!

I’m not saying anything new when I mention the fact that I LOVE CARTOONS! I always have and, more than likely, always will. And for a fan of cartoons, it’s a great time to be alive with tons of groundbreaking new content in addition to every show we’ve ever heard becoming increasingly more available to view over and over again at any given time of day. But let’s go back before all of that, if we can, to a time before streaming services and cartoon networks.

Let’s go back to the time of the Saturday morning cartoon.

From the 1960’s into the 1990’s, television networks in America would treat kids once a week to a programming block of animated goodness that was nothing short of inspirational… and sold a lot of toy advertising, as well. I came in on the tail end of all this and, while things are certainly better now, I still look back on it with an extreme amount of fondness. Because of this, I’m starting a new segment that I call, “The Saturday Morning Kablama Slam!”

Because... these shows had an impact on me... and that's the sound an impact makes? I dunno. I have to call it something.

On random Saturdays throughout the year, I’ll be taking a look at the individual Saturday morning cartoons that I loved the most. I’ll post fan art (obviously) and nerdsplain what these shows were and why I enjoyed them as much as I did.

It all kablamas this weekend, so be sure not to miss it! See you at the Slam!

…

Yeah, I apologize. That’ll be the only time I say that.

Monday, January 25, 2021

Disney's Star Wars Legacy Resort

Walt Disney World is currently putting the finishing touches on their Star Wars: Galactic Cruiser - a 2 night all-immersive adventure that makes guests feel as if they were on a luxury cruise through the Star Wars universe. That all sounds like a fun time, of course, but I think I'd prefer something geared more towards the Mos Eisley-esque masses and less to the Canto Bight elite.

Therefore, because of such wishful thinking, I've tried my hand at imagineering and whipped up some crude mockups of a Star Wars-themed value resort on Disney property. The way I see it, this resort would feature the same layout as the other value resorts and wouldn't be one of these all-immersive things that tries so hard to make you feel like you're somewhere else, but rather a comfortable (and much more affordable) place with an ambience celebrating these movies we all love so much.

Here's a taste of what I envision the main buildings looking like.