Another contest come and gone! Here are the final submissions for the Doctor Octopus contest!
"Doctor Otto Octavius, brilliant physicist and inventor, is the foremost in clean energy research. To aid him in his experiments he creates a harness that uses electromagnets to control through a cybernetic interface four prehensile plasma 'tentacles' which allows him to work with materials otherwise too harmful or dangerous for humans to handle. Tragically, an experiment gone wrong caused an explosion that left Octavius horribly scarred and physically disabled. Driven mad by his disfigurement and deformity, Dr. Octavius uses his genius to modify his plasma tentacle harness to allow him the freedom of movement and a chance at revenge on those he believes reconsider for his condition, and this Doctor Octopus is born!
"I had a blast with this redesign, it was a challenge to design Ock and the tentacles, as they were a character in and of themselves! I decided his suit should look a little like a hazmat suit, as he was injured working with chemicals and energy, and I could get away with his traditional green and orange color scheme. I always thought it strange that he was in the accident that bonded his harness to him but bore no scars, so I gave him some gnarly face scars and removed his left hand and legs, making him reliant on his harness even more. I didn't want to go with the traditional metal tentacles so I decided to make them an amorphous plasma which he can reshape for whatever use. All in all though I really wanted to keep his rotund shape and some of his earlier characteristics to make him still be Doc Ock."
Editor's note: The next submission comes from Superhero of the Month's youngest submitter, who last entered our Batman contest. We're very excited he's come back with this inventive take on Doctor Octopus!
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| Connor |
"My Doctor Octopus was a scientist who worked for Norman Osborn. The facility Doc worked at was the same facility that made the spider that bit Peter Parker. The spider was Doc's experiment. He specialized in genetic mutation of DNA. So one day, Norman fires Doc. Doc, in rage, locks himself in his lab. When Norman sends the tear-gas bombs in, Doc goes blind and knocks over his creations and chemicals! The chemicals mixed and exploded. The genes and chemicals seeped into Doc's cuts and wounds, thus mutating him into...Doctor Octopus!"
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| Justin DeVine |
"I’m imagining a Doctor Octopus whose snobbery and disdain for physical labor have been pushed to pathological extremes--he’s gone from simply a rotund braniac-type to a corpulent recluse whose superiority complex prohibits him from engaging the world. In temperament, he seems to be equal parts Maxie Zeus and Miss Havisham.
"He’s given up on using his own physical limbs, and operates instead entirely with his mechanical prostheses. This aversion is so strong that he refuses even to step foot on the ground, and as such, I imagine his legs have become withered and atrophied due to lack of use. The garment he wears is a combination of a ceremonial robe, a lab coat, and (as a friend described it) 'the world’s most epically long muumuu.'
The collar operates as a neck guard, but is also connected to some sort of neural network which exchanges sensory information between the Doctor's brain, and the processors of his mechanical limbs. The tentacles also each have sensors on their ends, which process data about the immediate surroundings which is forwarded to the operator, thus allowing him to respond to proximate threats more quickly than he could otherwise."
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| Ross Radke |
"I've always been fascinated by the octopus's ability to rapidly change color and wanted to incorporate that into this design. The inspiration came from this 'invisibility' technology. Other than that, I just sort of dressed him up like a Bloober from Super Mario."
"I see Doctor Octopus as a nanotechnologist and nanophysicist, working both with nanite technology and the fusion of those nanites with laser technology. In the accident that creates him, the nanite-composed tentacles are fused to his body, as well as the control headband, implants, and light generators on his back. His tentacles are actually composed of segments of nanites (whose programming have been stuck in tentacle form with very little variation) that are connected to each other by beams of light. This way, the tentacles themselves cannot be permanently separated unless a light dampener is employed against him. And since Spider-Man isn't a rich man, and probably can't make an EMP from scratch, that makes Doc Ock VERY hard to defeat. His body is covered in light circuits that contain millions of light-power units that fuel the tentacles. The tentacles themselves can extend, both due to nanite duplication and light generation. The claws at the end of the tentacles can also turn into various weapons, with a blade weapon shown."
"The good doctor has seen fit to do away with his frail human form locking it within his new eight tentacle exo-octopus. Inside his body appears dormant but his mind is hard at work, amplified by the octopus' super high-tech processor and protected by a thick layer of armor."
"My basic idea was that although the mechanical arms are permanently fused to him, with his scientific knowledge he would be able to modify and create interchangeable 'extensions' for them allowing him to carry a whole armoury of weapons and devices. In addition to providing him with more energy sources and weaponry options the armour also helps to support the additional weight of the extensions carried on his back through an anti-gravity system ,which also makes the armour lightweight."
"In my version of Doc Ock, the explosion that changed him into Doctor Octopus, his legs and right arm were blown off. He uses his tentacles more as a way of support and as false legs. He also turned his severed hand into a multi-tool for scientific/surgical procedures. He's usually more of a scientific, experimental character rather than a fighter, but when he gets riled up(or when someone insults his bowl haircut), he goes full tentacle. His arm can also turn into smaller tentacles or a myriad of weapons."
"I was feeling sorry for myself when a guy with a prosthetic leg passed me. A prosthetic leg. How inspiring is that? I started looking at the list of villains who've gone bad because they got handed lemons from life, and it made me pretty mad. What does that say about human life? Human will? I have a wonderful sister-in-law who at a very young age was affected with a rare form of spina bifida and was told she'd never walk again. She walks with the aid of crutches, and even though she lives in pain every day of her life, she doesn't become bitter or malicious. She is one of the strongest willed people I know and there has not been a challenge she hasn't been able to beat. So here's to you Miss Montoya: In my world Otto Octavious loses his legs in a car accident in high school. He decides to do something about it and through hard work and no shortage of will becomes a leader in the field of metallurgy, engineering and prosthetics. His crowning achievement being his tentacle suit. The part on his back is actually a personal hover craft, which allows him to get around without having to touch the ground, and the rest of his suit houses a liquid metal alloy of his own invention which give him the ability to make his tentacles into almost any form he needs. To give back to the community, he works at Empire State University where he teaches his field. Upon meeting Peter Parker, he feels kindred to the poor kid whom life keeps throwing lemons at, and chooses to become his mentor. Ta-da."
"I had alot of fun with this one. I was inspired by the comic
Invincible; I love the simplistic straight-forward costume designs of it's characters and I agree with something I read once that said Invincible is what Spider-Man should be. I didn't want to recreate the character, but I did want to give him character, so I stuck ole' Otto in a sort of patent leatherish body-suit, cause what's eviler than the smell of a chubby scientist sweating inside it? I obviously went literal with the name and adorned him with a huge mechanical octopus. It just seemed to make sense. I saw it as sort of a Batman-esque way to put fear into civilians and heroes alike; I mean lets face it, he's not the most fit of villains and his stature leaves much to be desired, so he would want to change that right? Lastly I went with straight tentacles and no gizmos on the tips. Something different."
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| Blair J. Campbell |
"I set out to make my take on Doc Ock fit a few criteria. 1) I wanted his new suit to look like it might be able to protect him from radiation better than just a set of extra arms. I updated his suit into a more realistic take on a radiation suit; 2. I wanted his silhouette to actually be more octopus like. If you saw him in the dark, it would be a lot easier to mistake him for an actual octopus now; and 3) I wanted to keep his original green and yellow color scheme."
And there we have it! What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out the submissions we've received so far while you're at it! The winner of the contest will be announced June 30, but stay tuned: on Monday we'll be announcing our next contest, plus a special fan art post for July!
