Here are some dope illustrations from our good man Gobi (the illustrator behind our fabulous Tequila, El Panda, and Mini Gobi characters). You can't go wrong with some savage-lookin' scissor blade action and a majestic white owl ninja! As always, you can peak at Gobi's infrequent but always entertaining French mumblings over at the Goblog. Gobi's mind works far quicker than his hands. He's got universes in his head that he's just screaming to let out. It's scary to think that as great as the stuff he produces is... there's plenty more waiting anxiously to be unleashed.

I love sharing as much behind the scenes stuff as possible. There's something very intimate and revealing about seeing the creative process being broken down into its many components. It's kind of like taking apart a watch: you can appreciate all of it's functioning bits and pieces a whole lot more when you see them in their separate parts. Here are pencils and colors by Gobi in their separate and combined form (originally showcased on the Goblog).

After spending time with his recently purchased copy of Street Fighter IV, Gobi (cartoonist and character designer of Tequila and El Panda) decided to reenvision the Street Fighter IV that could have been. Gobi sees the latest entry in the Street Fighter series as a regression in both gameplay and character design in an effort to reach a more International audience.

It appears that Capcom has consciously been homogenizing their style to reach a massive global audience. Calculated efforts have been made to take away the stylings that make their fabulous character designs both Japanese and Capcom-like so that Capcom games can fit naturally next to franchise juggernauts like Halo, Gears of War, and Grand Theft Auto.

I can understand the decision. But considering the great imprint Capcom's art style has had on a global scale, it's all a bit depressing. Before the rapid proliferation of manga and anime, Capcom videogames singlehandedly brought the Japanese big-eyed style to children worldwide. As a child, I wasn't all too familiar with Tezuka's Astroboy... but I knew and LOVED the many amazing robot designs from Mega Man. I had a vague familiarity with Kenshiro and Fist of the North Star, but I thought that FINAL FIGHT was the purest encapsulation of bad-assery!

Obviously, I wasn't the only one to feel this way. Many of the more popular US comic artists of the mid-90s like Ed McGuinness (EMC2) and Joe Madueira (Mad!) openly acknowledge the huge influence that Capcom (and Street Fighter in particular) had on their illustration styles. To this day, both artists have large loyal followings that carried over into their recent runs on Marvel's HULK and ULTIMATES 3 becoming two of the more popular comic series of the past year. Even our Lucha Libre artists give credit to the Capcom artists. Look closely at Tequila and you'll see quite a few design homages to Street Fighter's Akuma.

Included below is Gobi's revision of Ryu for the Street Fighter IV that exists in his brain (as originally posted on his art blog). In Gobi's ideal gaming world, Street Fighter IV would be a HD 2D sprite game that takes the animation nuance of Street Fighter 3 to the next level. Ryu is a bit older in the game (hence the white hair), but continues to train and hone his craft as one of the World's premiere fighters. Even after a debilitating injury to his right arm, Ryu continues to fight in the World Tournament. His adaptation of his fighting style using only his left hand, would result in a new take on the classic Ryu gameplay (it's also a nod to Gobi's favorite SF3 character: Oro).

Here are some sketches of Orville Hendershot, a new villain in the Tequila comics by Gobi. I guess you can call this Gobi and Jerry's attempt at making a Redneck Transformer. Nope, we are not even going to try to make a transforming toy! :-)

As we put the final touches on the English version of Lucha Libre 7, I had to share some of my favorite pages from Gobi and Jerry's latest installment of Tequila. I love the atmosphere that's being created.

Here's an amazing illustration Gobi (Tequila/El Panda artist) posted up on his art blog GOBLOG. Did I ever mention that Gobi is crazy? Well he is. And I want to take whatever he's taking!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO GOBI'S GOBLOG.