Retrograde 5 Superhero-style cereal cards (regurgitated)

 

Another set of character cards again using visuals made 20 years ago for my doomed Retrograde 5 project (see March '26 post below for the sorry details) this time based on the format of Weetabix's two DC Comics promotions of 1979 (the Superman and the Amazing World of Batman & Wonderwoman ranges). I recall having the complete sets of those at the time, keeping them safe in a Golden Virginia tobacco tin that my Grandad gave me.

As with the Asterix-style range the character visuals for these Retrograde 5 cards were generated in 2006 using Hero Machine Classic but this set is limited to the crew of the eponymous spacecraft and their key enemies. Many of the cards feature alternative versions of the visuals made for the other set, and include some different characters, but were subject to the same old-to-new tech kerfuffle described in my previous post.

Again these mockups were mainly to satisfy my own sense of curiosity, mixed with a touch of nostalgia. And of course on the off chance that someone happens upon this page and enjoys them too - especially the fella whose genius fakery has entertained and amused me and I'm sure many others over the years and indeed was the inspiration for these homages.

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Click here to view the full set of 15 characters.

Retrograde 5 Asterix-style cereal cards (reconstituted)

 

Here's a range of character cards based on the format of the Weetabix Asterix: His Friends and Foes promotion from 1975. The characters are from an idea I developed for an animated sitcom in the early 2000s and I was curious to see how they would lend themselves to this format.

Retrograde 5 was to be a kind of British Futurama, pitched as This Life set aboard Deep Space 9, focusing on the lives and loves of a team of time-raiders rather than lawyers and a homage to camp sci-fi of yesteryear - particularly Barbarella, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and the 1980 Flash Gordon. There was some interest from a couple of production companies but, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was never green lit.

The character visuals were generated in 2006 using an online tool called Hero Machine (the first version, later referred to as Hero Machine Classic) which, being Flash-based, no longer functions. Unless you have access to something like an ancient Apple Mac G4, which I do, managed to boot up and ran the program offline to make some tweaks. 

Getting the files to a modern computer was another challenge as Hero Machine Classic had no image export function. You design your character and then take a screen shot when happy with it. On a 1999 Power Mac screenshots were saved as now obsolete PICT files, which bizarrely do open in some modern vector based applications even though the PICT files are bitmap rather than vector images. 

As the G4's cd-drive no longer works, burning the files to disc to bounce over to my PC wasn't an option. It wouldn't recognise phones or usb sticks when attached either. This obstacle was overcome by compressing the collected PICT files into an exe file using that trusty relic DropStuff and copying them to floppy discs (max capacity 1.4MB!) using an external drive which, oddly, it would recognise.

The joys of old tech. Kind of fitting considering Retrograde 5 was envisioned to be set in a nostalgia-obsessed future!

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Click here to view the full set of 21 characters.

Unfiltered 'War Between Land And Sea' promotion (maybe)

Another playful range of character cards using the format of the classic Weetabix 1977 Doctor Who promotion... this time for The War Between The Land And The Sea. I found it hard to get excited about this spin-off and approached it with low expectations, but when I did get around to watching quite enjoyed it.

As with the Ghost Light set (see October '24 blog post) the style is slightly updated and stills used. Again, the character figures have a heavy white outline similar to the style used on the Star Trek The Motion Picture promotional cards. 

The show's title graphic is the version that appears to be planned for overseas broadcast, a very different style of typography to that used here in the UK. I like its 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea vibe.

These mock-ups serve to quench my 'if only' sense of curiosity. I hope you enjoy them too. The visuals shown here are out-takes, see the link below for the full finished set.

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Click here to view the full set of 15 characters.