I had a ton of freedom when creating the book, Marvel Mazes. The only guideline was that the mazes be based on the Marvel comics, not the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Asgard was a maze I definitely wanted to include, but it could not be based on the “pipe organ” style of the films. Instead, I went to the source Jack Kirby comics.
The original pencil sketch on the left continues to the final maze on the right. The maze in the book also includes characters and seek and find elements.
1) Pencils 2) Black line work is done in the computer. The isometric grid keeps things straight, but the lines are freehand. 3) Final “ink” lines 4) Final color. All my colors are flat, never gradients.
MCU Asgard from Loki on left, Jack Kirby Asgard on right.
Lots of Marvel comics Asgard references!
The full pencil scan. This was drawn 8”x16”. The out of focus bit in the center is because my scanner is too small to fit the whole piece.
All the mazes are filled with characters and seek and find items. The heroes have to be simplified, since they are printed quite small in the book. For Asgard, I wanted to stick with the classic outfits. Here are my references, sketches and finals.
Thor shows up in a lot of the book!
This is a recolored version of the “Map of Asgard" from Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (1965) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Many of the buildings here also show up in my maze!
The original published colors can be seen here-->
Marvel Mazes will be out October 4. You can pre-order now:
Bookshop.org
Barnes + Noble
Amazon
Or, best, order from your local bookseller!