Fred Hembeck Vampirella

My posts about Fred Hembeck sketches seem to be pretty popular, so here's another one. He sells his artwork on eBay, and the sketches cover a huge range of pop culture characters. I was able to get this Vampirella sketch card from his eBay store for a little over the starting bid.

It's done in his signature swirly-kneed Hembeck style, and he's got all of the elements that make up Vampirella's iconic look. I think my favorite parts of this sketch are the prominent fangs and Vampirella's huge collar.

Three Fred Hembeck Marvel Sketches

I snagged a few more sketch cards from Fred Hembeck's eBay store, since he listed some characters I like. Right now I think he's got a bunch of combo cards listed, picturing comic book characters standing with Santa. The Punisher one he's got listed is pretty funny, as Punisher is holding a couple of gifts with gun barrels poking out of them.

First up is She-Hulk, a character I apparently already had a Hembeck sketch of. This one is a little bit different, so no harm done. The back features Hembeck's usual self-portrait and certificate of authenticity. I think the purple and white costume works pretty well for She-Hulk and is a bit of a nod to Hulk's famous purple pants, but my favorite She-Hulk costume is her blue and white one from her time as Thing's replacement on the Fantastic Four. There is also a red, yellow, and blue variant from a different stint on the Fantastic Four that is pretty neat.

The second sketch I got was the Fantastic Four's Invisible Woman in her traditional uniform. Hembeck added a little extra to the sketch by showing her leg phasing into invisibility. I thought it was a pretty cool sketch of a character that doesn't get much time in the sketch card spotlight, especially with Marvel's legal battles surrounding the movie rights to the Fantastic Four. It's been several years since the team had a comic in print, although Human Torch and Thing are coming back in a Marvel Two-In-One series soon.

The next sketch features Invisible Woman in a costume that debuted in late 1992, when Marvel was trying to be X-Treme and X-Citing! Susan Storm announced that the old jumpsuit uniforms made her feel frumpy, so she was unveiling this new look. The keyhole swimsuit costume only lasted a few issues before artists started filling in more fabric over time, and eventually her uniform pretty much went back to where it started. I still remember seeing this costume on a comic book cover at the store and being like, "Whaaaat?" so I guess it had the eye-catching effect that Marvel needed to get attention from juvenile male comic buyers. Hembeck added the invisibility effect to this sketch as well, on her left arm.

Those are three of my latest Hembeck acquisitions. I like following his auctions to see which characters he will offer next, and sometimes I bid on and even win a few.

She-Hulk by Fred Hembeck

Fred Hembeck is an artist with a distinctive cartoon art style. He's got a website, but I am most familiar with his eBay sketch auctions. He's usually got a handful of auctions going for artwork as well as a book of his art. I like his work because it's distinctive and because it is pretty comprehensive. He draws all kinds of characters from movies, comics, books, and television. He draws a lot of characters that you don't see very often, and he also draws versions of characters that don't get a lot of love, like alternate uniforms on superheroes.

I was able to get this She-Hulk sketch from his auctions a while back. I've bid on quite a few of his sketches, but I think this is the first time I actually won. It's done in his signature style, and the back features his certification of authenticity, as well as a self-portrait doodle. I'd like to get more of his work someday for my Princess Leia and Power Girl collections, but for now I am very happy that I was able to add this She-Hulk piece to my art collection.