ComicBase Splash Loader Screen: Christmas Book Store

I created another variant splash loading page for the new ComicBase 2026 that features two teenage boys reading a comic book outside the B.Dalton bookstore located downtown next to Ace Hardware and Hot Topic.

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

The Terminator no.1 (1930s Cartoon Style Variant Cover by TrUzApalOOza)

My version of The Terminator #1 (Dynamite Comics 2024), story by Declan Shalvey & Luke Sparrow, was done in a retro-1930s style cartoon art.

[Workflow: I used Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create my draft work items, and then progressed to the final image with further prompts. A lot of clean-ups, layered Fx, font work, hand edits with custom brushes, and even tested out the new Glitch-layer in the new Canva Affinity version 3.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

Brrrroccoli

I took Cilia's original broccoli image and played around to make things look a bit colder with some ice fog appearing and condensation in the air.

[Workflow: Affinity layers for fog, condensation, and some brush work to add more icicles after stretching the Brrrroccoli vertically a bit so I had more room to play.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

Fallback for Daylight Savings Time

Quick creation for falling back to Daylight Savings Time, or as I see it the end of warmer weather and the start of nasty coldness.

[Workflow: Prompt experimentation using Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create the basic illustrations, then merged left/right together inside Affinity Photo. Added lighting Fx, some texture overlays, and then hand-crafted the fonts and wording.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

That's an un-BRIE-lievable amount (1.4 billion pounds) of cheese!

Snapple Real Facts Illustrated #2088 - The statement about 1.4 billion pounds of government cheese being stored in caves in Missouri is an outdated claim; while a large surplus of cheese did exist in the past and was stored in underground facilities like those in Springfield, the government has since distributed this cheese. The idea of a 1.4 billion-pound stockpile has become an urban myth that is no longer accurate, though the caves are still used for commercial cold storage.

[Workflow: Prompt experimentation using Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create the basic illustration.  Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer were used last month to create the magazine layout, adjusted every time I make a new illustrated fact.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

A Knight of the Green Lantern Corps

A simple Green Lantern action figure styled in a medieval knight's gear.

 [Workflow: Prompt experimentation using Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create the basic illustration.  Affinity Photo to clean up, and added Fx.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

Mercury and Venus Have No Moons (and Here Is Why)

Snapple Real Facts Illustrated #1260 - Mercury and Venus are the only planets in our solar system that have no moons. This is because their proximity to the Sun makes it difficult to hold onto a moon, as the Sun's strong gravitational pull could either capture a moon from them or pull it away from their orbits. 

[Workflow: Prompt experimentation using Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create the basic illustration.  Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer actions to finalize the magazine layout I previously had created (logo, date/issue masthead Fx, designed beaker wallpaper, the future is fruity emblem, etc.)  Fixed up some image errors by AI, then added in additional text elements.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

Quick Video Conversion (ghosts, Frankenstein, Batman, young witch, Charlie Brown, demon,and Gazebrax)

100% AI work here via the free photos.google.com option to convert an image into a quick video clip.  I am especially impressed that I fed some of my previous image work in Gemini Veo 3.1, turned them into these clips, WITHOUT an actual descriptive prompt being added by me.

• Frankenstein source images I used to feed into VEO
• Batman 
• Ghosts 
• Young witch
• Charle Brown
• Lilitha's demon
• Gazebrax

Brainless Jellyfish

Snapple Real Facts Illustrated #1248 - Incredible but true! Jellyfish are Earth’s amazing creatures capable of swimming and hunting without a centralized brain! Instead, they possess a “diffuse nerve net” that controls their actions. 

[Workflow: Prompt experimentation using Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create the basic illustration.  Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer actions to finalize the magazine layout I previously had created (logo, date/issue masthead Fx, designed beaker wallpaper, the future is fruity emblem, etc.)  Created a NO-brain image to fit into the left corner.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

The Crafty Side of Halloween: Building a Ghoulish Graveyard

My new image, inspired by a Mike Hoffman sketch, is of a small Halloween diorama, meticulously crafted and set against the backdrop of an artist's studio. The diorama is a playful scene with Frankenstein's monster shambling behind a group of terrified trick-or-treaters set in a graveyard setting. In front of the monster, we see a costumed kid in a Dracula outfit nearby holding a pumpkin pail, as a frog-masked boy lies comically on the ground nearby. Two other children, one wearing a skeleton mask and the other in a ghost costume, appear to be running away in horror. The special effects, with a full moon, creeping graveyard fog, and blackened bats against the sky in the diorama, contrast with the golden, sunny light illuminating from the real-world workshop.  Tools of the trade: paintbrushes, paints, and a sketchbook are scattered around, implying this intricate scene is a work in progress.

[Workflow: I used Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to generate a lot of bits and pieces to be collaged together, found a ton of creative license images to merge in the background, desk, brushes, gravestone etching, etc.  A bunch of Affinity Photo work: creating the fog within the diorama, importing the book pages, creating the lighting from a lamp, fixing shadows on the figures, Frankie's glowing eyes, updating the headstones, among many others.  A lot of heavy masking layers, and Serif Fx with dynamic filters.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

layout sketch ideas

final image v33, zoom in to see all kinds of hidden details

lots of layers + masks

 

Hoffman's source of inspiration

merging in the various figures

2+ fog layers merged, then texture warped

adding gravestone etchings

texture mapping Frankie into the book

adding another kid, a ghost this time

removing lower layers so you can see pieces

the workshop background

every tree needs a raven/crown

Conflict in the Hall of Justice

I took the original DC Comics Kevin Maguire/Terry Austin artwork from 1987's Justice League no.5 comic book art and extended it out into a larger scene.

[Workflow: I used Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana) to create my draft work items, and then progressed to the final image with further prompts.  Final clean-ups and alterations within Affinity Photo.]

Hi-rez image link [2160px tall]

Guy Gardner ready to attack Batman!

source image by Maguire/Austin

layout drafting

testing colors

more refined colors