Sun Wukong VS. The Plantain Fan Princess of the Fire Mountain #2

This was the 2nd in the series of 3 color samples I made as my "test" to work at "Top Cow" (Image Comics) in 2005. This was before I really knew anything about how THEY colored comics.

We actually had 2 tests. 1 that they gave me, and another which I had to create myself. However, since they didn't even read their own rules, they were quite astonished that I even did the whole portfolio, flipped through it briefly and just told me, Yeah OK... you can do art... start sometime next week when you feel like it.

About the picture:

I was doing more design and composition here, with layout and dramatic poses, in a sequence to tell a story graphically.

The story actually comes from the Ancient Ming Dynasty classic Epic "Journey To The West" about the Monkey King Sun Wukong (which actually takes place during The Great Tang Dynasty). (Public domain)

In this story Wukong must entreat the help of his sister-in-law the Princess Raksasi (her Indian-Buddhist name) however, she hates him because of what he did to her evil son, plus the fact that her husband the Water Bull King is living with his other wife an not her, and so uses her enchanted Ruyi plantain fan several times to blow him away to a different continent.

Since she hates him, she often fights him. even tho' she's a great gungfu fighter, she can't beat Wukong and uses her fan.

This frustrates Wukong whom gets blown away many times.

He needs her fan to blow out the fires on the mountain so his mortal master the tang Priest can cross over them to reach India & the Tothigotta Buddha (Rulai Fue).