Matter-Eater Lad Sketch Card by Derec Donovan

Up next is yet another character new to my collection - Matter-Eater Lad! The pre-Zero Hour Legionnaires run gave Tenzil here a new lease on life, with the same absurd powers but a cool new look and cooler new personality to go along with it. I think Derec's really captured that kind of carefree humour here, with Tenzil's great big grin as he chews through the barrel of a gun like it's nothing (you can almost imagine he snapped it right out of someone's hand like a dog with a chew toy). The gun itself is a funny anachronism for a bunch of characters who live in the age of ray-guns and plasma bolts, but it gives the viewer a chance to wonder what circumstances led to Tenzil winding up with a "vintage" six-shooter as a snack!

Apart from all that, I love the comic-accurate green highlights in Tenzil's glasses, and the fact that we can see his flight ring in detail! Derec's always so careful to get all the little bits just right.