Martin Hsu‘s booth at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con was a veritable wonderland of one of a kind paintings, drawings, and custom figures. His works exude a sort of warmth that just make you feel all light and happy inside.
A corner of the booth was dedicated to Martin’s Kindreds figures, the ones on the above picture’s left were customized by other artists: Jeremiah Ketner, Mark Nagata, Emma SanCartier, nimasprout, and Kozyndan. Kozyndan’s entry, the figure encased in the golden globe, had glow-in-the-dark accents! The smaller Kindreds were part of a 10-piece series called “Poppies,” with each figure in the set was hand-painted by Martin. As you can see by the pink “sold” tags, all of these figures were big hits.
Perhaps the biggest news coming from Martin’s booth was the debut of his upcoming figure, Dragon Boy Super. Attendees couldn’t purchase him at the show but you can pre-order the little guy here. He will be part of a 2-piece set with his beloved Dragon Dog, Blacky, whose figure was sadly not available for viewing at this time. I loved how distinct Dragon Boy’s features were. Dragon Boy is one of Martin’s original characters, often portrayed in paintings and sketches, and I am happy to see him in a three-dimensional medium (this will be the second figure of the character made).
I have always loved Martin’s art and his style shines through in these watercolor paintings celebrating powerful women. There were some in the “Little San” set, depicting the heroine of Princess Mononoke in a more child-like, whimsical reimagining. To match San’s were those of a younger Wonder Woman in “Little Diana.”
Mermaids are a theme that Martin had touched upon before but I was glad he chose to revisit it for his “Fairy Tails” set, which mermaid-ifies beloved Disney princesses, like Rapunzel, Merida, and even Elena of Avalor.
I bet you didn’t know that Martin had a pop-up art show in Hawai’i earlier this year. These pins match the some of the art that was created for that event.
My personal favorite art piece from the booth was the one seen above, in which Dragon Boy’s faithful companion, Blacky the Dragon Dog, takes on the role of Snoopy. The playful concept just brought a big smile to my face. I am also a huge Blacky fan (I purchased the pin also seen in the photo) and a proud owner of his plush.
You can find updates from Martin on his blog. More of his goods along with the pre-order for Dragon Boy Super can be found here.