Here we have the ancient Egyptian Lord of Order, Nabu the Wise, as he appeared in Doctor Fate's Origin in More Fun Comics #67. I've always been fascinated by the symbiotic relationship between Nabu and Kent Nelson as the Doctor.
In his early adventures, Doctor Fate encountered the Fish-men of Nyarl-Amen with their electro-dart-shooting tridents.
Here we have a Norn Giant from one of Doctor Fate's early adventures. These guys are several stories tall. I made him appear more angry than the giants appear in the original strip. I also neutralized the colors just a tad to make them more palatable.
In his secret origin story, Doctor Fate confronts Negal, the giant ruler of the Underworld of Charn.
In one of his early adventures, Doctor Fate journeys to Hell in search of the soul of Wotan and encounters the Ferryman and a group of the dead. Doctor Fate bullies the Ferryman into allowing he and Inza to cross the River Styx into Hell.
The first time I saw Wotan was in Doctor Fate's origin in Secret Origins #24. There was something unsettling about his skin tone that frightened me. I think perhaps I was flashing back to the Wicked Witch of the West. When I saw the Wizard of Oz as a kid, she scared the crap out of me. In the More Fun Comics Doctor Fate stories, Wotan seemed to be a charismatic cult leader as well as master sorcerer. 
Closing in on the end of the Magik set, here we have Illyana Raputin the first time she manifests as the Darkchylde. Shortly after manifesting her Soulsword, Illyana battles Belasco and morphs into her Darkchylde aspect. This aspect of Illyana goes through several variations during the run of the character. I'll be looking at those later on.
Continuing the Magik set, here we have a classic version of the demon S'ym. He acts as Belasco's main muscle in Limbo until the end of the limited series. It was not until recently that I found out that S'ym's original conception was a tip of the hat to comics creator Dave Sim. It had never occurred to me before I began doing research for this piece that visually S'ym is Cerebus.
Here we are continuing the set of the Marvel Comics characters in the Magik limited series. This is the Shadowcat who was left behind in Limbo and initially saves Illyana Raputin from Belasco, but in the end meets a terrible fate. I placed her in the landscape where we see her most in the limited series, the warped desert wastelands of Limbo.
Here's another in the Magik set. I hadn't really planned on giving this one it's own post, but the stepping discs play a fairly pivotal role in the tale of Illyana Rasputin.
There are very few shots of Belasco's citadel within the issues of the Marvel Comics limited series Magik. Drawn by several different artists, each version they drew of the citadel was different. I took several images of the citadel as reference and married them all together. 
Here is a second object of power for the Saturday Sketches, the Soulsword. I hadn't planned on drawing this as a Saturday Sketch or next week's piece either. However, after missing one Saturday Sketch, I just couldn't bring myself to leave another Saturday empty during the hiatus. Also, these two pieces were fun to draw. 
Here we have the next character in the set from the Magik limited series from Marvel Comics. This image is of the elderly Storm trapped in Limbo. Her powers waning from age, Ororo used her powers as sorceress to combat the corruption of Belasco's influence.
Here we have a study for some future piece. A digital sketch painting from Photoshop of a skinless body. I have to admit a certain level of pure play here because I have fallen in love with the painting brushes in Photoshop. 
I've decided to do an entire set around the characters involved in the Magik limited series from Marvel Comics. Here we have the Nightcrawler left in Limbo who was corrupted by Belasco's influence and became his evil slave.
This piece was part of the development for the Night of the Cauldron event, but it never become more than this interesting sketch of lurking spirits. I wanted some kind of fantastic fiction to go with it, but nothing ever developed. I really enjoy the ominous feeling here. I may still make a story from it eventually.
Here is my first object of power for the Saturday Sketches, the bloodstone medallion. Belasco used the bloodstones to bind Illyana Rasputin to his evil intentions. I've rendered it as it appeared at the end of the Marvel Comics limited series, Magik, with three of the five bloodtsones in place.
I was originally developing this piece to be included in the Night of the Cauldron event from last Halloween, but it never coalesced into anything more than this sketch.
