I've been a fan of Ramon Villalobos's art for years, ever since I first saw it online. Later, I discovered what a great sequential artist he is, with Original Sins, E Is For Extinction and Nighthawk. He drew the best D-Man story ever in Secret Wars, Too. And now Ramon's rocking it like never before on Border Town! Anyway, I've been wanting a commission from him for a long time and I finally set one up through Felix Comic Art (who were a pleasure to work with). For this commission, I asked Ramon to draw Shen Kuei, The Cat, as Karate Kid's opponent. I know that Ramon likes to put his own spin on costume designs, and so I gave him the Cat's 90's costume to work with. Ramon turned it into a 90's Michael Jordan Bulls outfit, which was a fantastic idea! Check out that jersey vest and those Jordan shoes! I also really dug what he did with Val Armorr's costume, updating it to make it more futuristic (look at that belt!), and even moving Val's Legion Flight Ring to his thumb. Also, I love the way Ramon drew the hair on both characters, and the energy and movement of their combat. Then I sent it over to Simon for coloring and he made it look GORGEOUS. I love the background colors, the shading and how he rendered the costumes. Huge thanks to Felix for setting this up, and to Ramon and Simon for the stellar work they put into it!

The Cat is one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe, and in fact he may just be THE best. He has fought Shang-Chi many times, but neither has ever gotten a true victory over the other. But the Cat HAS defeated other great fighters such as Iron Fist and Deadpool, and even went toe-toe with Spider-Man. So yeah, Shen Kuei is not to be underestimated. HOWEVER, Val Armorr IS definitely the best fighter in the DC Universe, and Val knows martial arts styles that the Cat would have no way of knowing, so ultimately I think that Val comes out on top. But the Cat is sneaky, so Val better make sure he's really down before he turns his back on him.

If you like this piece then please do go buy some books featuring Ramon's work in either physical or digital format and/or go commission him yourself.

Social/Sharing