Art History: Lanturn

[Tomokazu Komiya]

Well, just thought I would do an art history of my favorite Pokémon: Lanturn!!! Unlike most 2nd-gen Pokes, Lanturn has made many appearances in card sets, due to the fact that it's Lightning-type. Before delta cards came out, Lanturn, Raichu, Magneton, and Electrode were seen in MANY sets because they could easily keep the balance between the number of types of each Pokémon in a set. In fact, there have been only one water type Lanturn and Chinchou ever made, and of course they were printed alongside a Lightning type card. Unfortunately, it said I had too many images to post this thread... so you'll have to click on the links to get the images. So now, with the history... Lanturn first appeared in Neo Genesis:
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/neo-genesis/image/038.jpg
A very nice Sugimori illustration.... One of the best, IMO. Just 2 sets later, Lanturn popped up again:
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/neo-revelation/image/32.jpg
A rather generic Himeno drawing, I must say.... But oh well. It's pretty nice, I guess. Next, we have possibly the worst one:
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/neo-destiny/image/023.jpg
...
Ugh.
Not cute, not pretty, not well drawn... Just... ugh. Very lopsided. Tanaka once again demonstrates his/her inability to illustrate well. Alas.... Well, on to better things:
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/aquapolis/image/020.jpg
Here we have the only water-type Lanturn card ever made. It's also illustrated by Arita, my favorite artist. Where is it, exploring some underwater ruins? Who cares? I like it.
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/aquapolis/image/021.jpg
And here is the clay Lanturn. I'm really not too fond of this one... I just don't think clay works too well in water. Nice background, though.
http://www.sugarshock.net/zeo/tcg/pokemonvs/surgeslanturn.jpg
And here we have the Japan-only (@$#% WOTC!!!!!) Lt. Surge's Lanturn. Can't make out the name of the artist on the scan, but it looks generic to me. Hmm....
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/ex-team-magma-vs-team-aqua/image/28.jpg
Team Magma's Lanturn... the only CGI one ever done. Pretty nice, but again, I don't think it's anything special. Like all TM/TA cards, it shows the hideout in the picture, which I think is pretty neat.... And just one set later we have....
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/ex-hidden-legends/image/038.jpg
Definitely not Kusube's best work (I think I would give that honor to TRR Misdreavus), but not bad. Uh.... yeah. Next, UF...
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/ex-unseen-forces/image/040.jpg
AAAAAHHH!!! Kusajima, I hope you rot in Hell for doing this piece of crap!!!!! That thing looks evil and all dark.... Sheesh.... I need something to put me in a better mood.. How about....
http://www.pokemon-paradijs.com/ruilkaarten/ex-legend-maker/image/19.jpg
Pa-schwow!!!! Is that good or what? Ohhhh yeah.... Yes, Himeno has gotten MUCH better over the years....
Now, the final results are in...
BEST
.
.
.
.
.
Legend Maker Lanturn!!!!!
While Arita is my favorite, his old style just can't beat Himeno's new one... However if he were to illustrate a new Lanturn today, I think it would be better... Eh, let's just let Himeno celebrate while he can.
WORST
It was bound to happen....
.
.
.
.
.
Neo Destiny Lanturn!!!!!!
Yeah, this piece of crap just barely beat the UF one... I mean, those big ugly bright colors just aren't doing anything for me.... Plus the fact that there's NO detail....

Well, that's the show, and I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, I encourage everyone else to make their own Art Histories.... Just no 2 people do the same one!!!
Until next time, Tomo K is signin' off!

 

[Heavenly Spoon]

best:
aye's or ken's, I love ken's old style, but aye always has something special, going to go with ken as always, he is the creator and my fave

worst:
have to agree with tomo, yuk

how am I not surprised to see that you made a lanturn-art-history thread?

 

[Tomokazu Komiya]

How's that Mew history coming along?

 

[S.Suikun]

Try linking to the page it's found instead of the image itself, as I get a 404 Error.

The Yuka Morii Lanturn (Aquapolis) is undoubtedly the best piece Morii has ever done. That gets my vote.

Neo Genesis - Standard Suigimori.

Neo Revelation - Undoubtedly one of Himeno's weakest pieces. But it's still not as bad as...

Neo Destiny - Here's the stink clincher. Putrid.

Arita Aquapolis - Not Arita's best, and not his worst. Good enough.

Morii Aquapolis - Winner. The holo version is particularly appealing.

VS - Bland, and it's pretty much the same pose as the superior Legend Maker one.

Team Aqua vs. Team Magma - We've definitely seen better CG.

Hidden Legends - It's alright, though I'm not too keen on Kusube's work.

Unseen Forces - Excellent proof that Hajime Kusajima's older work kills his newer ones. He was good in the e-Reader sets, but now...not so much.

Legend Maker - When compared to the Neo Revelation one, they look like two entirely different artists. Runner-up for the winner.

I might make one of these topics if I'm bored enough. Maybe Magneton...that thing has nearly as many cards as Pikachu.

 

[Tomokazu Komiya]

RE:  Art History: Lanturn

I might make one of these topics if I'm bored enough. Maybe Magneton...that thing has nearly as many cards as Pikachu.

Yeah, but don't use the same site I used.... I got a warning from WPM telling me that that guy has blocked us because we're (I'm) using up too much of his bandwidth....

 

[Abhorsen]

Closed due to Bandwidth issues, apparently at WPM's request.

 

[bass_forte]

Can I just remind everyone that there's Imageshack, Photobucket and Tinypic to host images on without killing other sites' bandwith...