The custom version of the living bio-weapon known as Huntarr (from the original Micronauts comic) shown above was sculpted back in 2000 and tinkered with for a few years after that, eventually landing in the original Microshow booklet we did in 2004.
I was, and still am, crazy about this character. Huntarr was sort of boring in some ways, looking like a lumpy orange alien with gray boots (why he needed those boots is anybody's guess) and no real distinctive details. He could shift his shape to deal with different situations and for some reason just seemed awesome to me. Later in the story, Huntarr transformed into a very Alien inspired form, which I tried to capture by having a removable outer head that could plop onto the first form's noggin.
The actual 3 3/4" custom is sculpted with Oatey Plumbers Compound over a twist tie armature that was wrapped in layers of electrical tape. The eyes are melted "stained glass" plastic pellets and the paint is Tamiya and auto finish.
I played with this figure for years, eventually snapping most of the wires inside due to excessively rough play. Huntarr saw some serious action and has lived to tell about it, now resting with the rest of the Microshow cast, exchanging tales of being abused by some giant bearded geek.
The cruddy drawing was done today, and is a little extra dedication to one of my favorite Micronauts characters of all time.
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Maybe the boots kept him in a relatively humanoid shape? Or maybe he just needed some support for his arches with all the shape-shifting.
ReplyDeleteEither way, thanks for sharing, Matt! The Micoshow stuff has always been intriguing, especially with the early blog posts about Ranic and his partner. It's good to see some of it start to emerge from the archives.
Thanks Roy!
DeleteThe Microshow days still personally remain a special time in my mind. I worked on so many customs back then, spending loads of time standing at the workbench out back, chopping and combining classic old toys deep into the night.
A strange toy making adventure that continues to this very day! Ha!
Were they jet boots? I seem to recall they were jet boots...
ReplyDeleteMaybe they were Jet Boots. Bry? I do know that they were second in coolness only to Acroyear's!
DeleteYep, they were jet boots, as featured in his first appearance, which also was the same issue in which the Micronauts met Nightcrawler. :D
DeleteNice !!! Gotta bust out my Microshow book again, it's been years since I've seen it. Micro-Help...
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark! That old Microshow book must be dust covered by now! Ha!
DeleteThere are some funny designs in there that morphed into the current Glyos line up.
These rock! Loving these walks down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nate! Digging through the stacks and boxes has been fun. Some more crusty sculpts should pop up late tonight.
DeleteHave you ever drawn and Micronauts stuff?
I don't know why it never occurred to me that you got a lot of inspiration from the old Marvel Micronauts comic... it should have been blindingly apparent, but I somehow glossed right over it this whole time. Makes perfect sense looking back now. When I was a kid my best friend and I would read and reread those books... I was always fascinated by Huntarr was well... he honestly creeped me right out, but he always was the most dynamic and rich character because of his shifting allegiances during the series and his tortured psyche. Never really found him boring at all... exactly the opposite, actually! ;)
ReplyDeleteHa! I think you and I are Huntarr's only fan club members (well maybe Microbry likes him a bit).
DeleteI would kill to see you sculpt him in the OMFG size. Maybe an "evolved" version, with growths matching the Micronauts aliens line up (Antron arms, Membros brain, Repto wings). I imagine a version created by you would be the best, Charles!
Wow, awesome Matt! I always liked Huntarr from those later issues, too.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Huntarr just made a reappearance recently with most of the old team? Marvel no longer has the rights to the name Huntarr or Micronauts (among others such as Fireflyte...but we still have Arcturus Rann, Mari/Marionette, and Bug) but the newly renamed "Enigma Force" team was featured in the recent "Minimum Carnage" graphic novel/mini-crossover series from Marvel (recently compiled into a single TPB). Huntarr was renamed "Quark" but is still clearly the same guy (or another very, very similar Body Banks veteran in any case). I didn't care for other recent revival attempts of the characters but this one was pretty fun. A very Karza-like egyptian-themed centaur Microverse leader named "Lord Gouzer" also appeared around the same time in one of the Avengers storylines that crossed over briefly into the Microverse, too.
That's crazy Bry! I'll definitely look into the new stuff this weekend.
DeleteStill hoping that Hasbro rolls out something special with the Micronauts sometime soon. The Unit E stuff was fun, and a little taste of what could be, even if just a little Micro-magic dropped back into the master mix.
Thanks for the info!
Matt, that is a wonderful custom!
ReplyDeleteI loved Huntarr too, And If Charles makes a sculpt I'll be in line to get one! My favorite story was "Huntarr Hunts Alone"
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