Summer 2002 Manga Art Exchange (MAX) is this site that opened in late December 2001 as a go-between for artists to draw each others' characters. As a charter member of MAX, here's a display of what I've given and gotten out of it. Rounds run every half month, and sign up is open to anyone. Visit their site for details. June 2002 B Outgoing To: Eric Cortes Linear GT Studios "Happy Woman" and other characters. Some of the characters from concept sketches at Linear GT Studios. Not a whole lot was given about the characters at Linear GT Studios, as the studio is quite new. The squirrel guy and insect were from a image titled "anthronessder.jpg". I have no idea what that means, and no explanation was given. The really interesting one was a picture of this woman with a big smile on her face swinging around a pair of numchucks. This picture was titled "happywoman.jpg". Due to the absence of text, I really couldn't do a single character drawing with much meaning, so I merged a couple of the characters into Happy Critter Control. Incoming From: Bunny H. (Kectug) One Hour Axis Agarose Gel from Gel- Adventures in Biology Agarose gel is a type of substance used in biological experiments, such as something having to do with DNA analysis. (Don't ask me, it was a friend of mine who was into biology.) This time, the specialty of the drawing is that it's drawn in crayon. Seems to fit the character quite well! June 2002 A Outgoing To: Bunny "Trouble Magnet" H. (Kectug) One Hour Axis Gelidus Tallinu from One Hour Axis, a series of stories of people on the fringes of space society. One of the main characters from One Hour Axis Gelidus started her career in space as a space geisha, which is shown in one of the OHA stories. There's more information on the Characters page of OHA. This is probably the first ever exchange picture of a back view of a character. Just had to try it. Oh yes, this Kectug character says she hates moles (this being a direct quote-"DIE DIE DIE!!!") Had I read her profile earlier I would have given her a piece of my mind. Maybe next time. Talk about being a trouble magnet! Incoming From: Khanh Mai Meripoble Dumb Egg from Stupid Melon Dumb Egg This one's from a special two-color request. As Stupid Melon Dumb Egg began as a black and white comic strip done with pen, it's interesting to see the emphasis on the lines. I particularly admire how K. Mai has been able to construct Egg's hair, which has baffled me to the point that I made a clay model to visualize it. May 2002 B Outgoing To: Khanh Mai Meripoble Aceronn and Chuck from 54's in Red, an anime satire. Two main characters and buddies from 54's in Red To fully appreciate this picture you need to at the least check out the Characters page for 54's in Red, if not read some of the comic itself. Incoming From: Rebecca H. (Stareyes) Phoenix Dawn Lao Yang from May We Live in Interesting Times Wanting some other characters to get some recognition, I asked for the artist to draw one who had yet to be drawn. Here's the result. Good work, Rebecca! May 2002 A Outgoing To: Rebecca H. (Stareyes) Phoenix Dawn Starship Ankaa from Pheonix Dawn, a comic about psionic-assisted space exploration. A 4-person starship used for exploration. A starship is very much a character in a space story, so the Ankaa became a natural choice for this round. Here, I did a top/front/side series of technical schematics along with a perspective rendering. Incoming From: Xalan Sourkrat The Hideway Crossroads Mei Jing (Egg) from Stupid Melon Dumb Egg The request this time was for something in some sort of folk artish style. April 2002 B Outgoing To: Emiko There Be Elves Yuki Yamashiro from There Be Elves, a comic about elves and Japanese high school students. A hardworking Japanese high school student. With May Day approaching, I went through Emiko's There Be Elves character page (Quite a few there!) and chose a hardworking main character to represent Labor in this commie-styled poster. Incoming From: Reed Hawker (Hawk) Alternate Dimension Mei Jing (Egg) from Stupid Melon Dumb Egg I asked for a picture done realistically, and to my great appreciation, got one from Hawk, founder of MAX. Somehow the face looks familiar, yet I maybe that's just me. April 2002 A Outgoing To: Reed Hawker (Hawk) Alternate Dimension Yvonne from Alt-Ctrl-Dimension, a comic about alternate dimensions accessed through mysterious keyboards. Hawk's site's main character. Appears on splash page, and many pictures of her in gallery. This time, after completing a tour of all other MAXers to date, I revisit Yvonne, this time in an abstraction of her done though a funky colored computer wire. Incoming From: Dot Warner Concept Space Mei Jing (Egg) from Stupid Melon Dumb Egg This round's special request was for an abstract picture. Well, I got one, from Dot Warner. So, here I present Dot's "Doubly Abstract" 'Egg Descending a Staircase'.