Crackdown Crackup

did up this little number for my City of Heroes character Crackdown. The best part is how awesome it is but the second best part is the fact that this fantastic artist took this request as my reward for hitting his kiriban last year.

Crackdown has been with me for a long, long time - he originally started as a Champions character for the PnP game over 20 years ago. The original version was something more along the lines of 'Shaft meets the Punisher with a dash of Terminator' but when the original release of CoH lacked the requisite dual pistols and cybernetic fixings, I changed the concept radically. In CoH, he basically became a big guy with a big honking mace.

My basic idea is that Crackdown is a totally normal human and a bit of a zealot in his fight against crime, battling it on two fronts as a cop and a superhero. I wanted a piece that showed some reality to a "normie" getting caught in superhuman crossfire - a moment of painful reflection and a single tear while holding an ice pack on his battered leg. The setting - rather than a sleek and sophisticated lair - is his rundown King's Row apartment. I kind of figured that most of Crackdown's meager income probably went for new costumes and medical bills - not a lot is left over for luxury living.

I'd shopped this commission around and usually got quotes a little out of the price range of what I was willing to spend at the time. Having the good fortune to get this from Ardian for essentially not having anything better to do than reload his page is some of the best fortune I had in 2010.

If you dig the character or City of Heroes, this is the place to comment and fave. doesn't yet have him up on his page but if you are all about the art and the artist, please visit him and sing him praises. The guy is aces.