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Description
Hitoshi Zatoichi, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Pencils by RobertAtkins

Digital Inking, Coloring by me 5/20-6/9/2014

Original artwork at robertatkins.deviantart.com/ar…
Additional original artwork at robertatkins.deviantart.com/ar…
* Used with permission

I joined a Mutants & Masterminds game, where the players are agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The game's theme is based on the Marvel cinematic universe including the TV show (Agents of SHIELD). The game starts just before mid-way through the Captain America: Winter Soldier movie when HYDRA becomes revealed. I based my initial concepts on a combination of Melinda May and Grant Ward, the two specialists from the TV show. That concept grew a bit more "ninja-like" as I added advantages and skills.

When I started drawing my character, I realized that my concept and vision was very similar to Snake-Eyes from GI Joe (except that he was Asian (Japanese) and can speak and he's an Agent rather than ninja...). So I began looking for some inspirational Snake-Eyes drawings and found Robert Atkin's great sketch of Snake-Eyes. With some minor modifications (replaced Arashikage symbol with SHIELD logo, replaced head), I colored the sketches using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If you're a fan of GI Joe, I highly recommend you check out Robert Atkin's gallery and his work on various GI Joe comics. I was fortunate enough to meet Larry Hama a few years ago at San Diego's Comic Con just after IDW re-launched the original Marvel comics storyline. I was just walking around the convention center and noticed he was sitting at a table without a line or any crowds. I quickly rushed over and was able to chat with him for several minutes and was able to get his autograph on a bunch of GI Joe comics.

Hitoshi Zatoichi was the operational squad leader for the SHIELD Pacific Regional Office. The strike team was told there were several high value targets from The Hand, HYDRA, AIM, and other organizations at the Madripoor location. However, it was an ambush that resulted in the death of his team. This mission severely unstabilized the SHIELD regional office since most of the top agents died. This destabilization of the regional office was the work of Hitoshi's supervising officer, who was secretly a HYDRA agent working to weaken the office and replace the elite agents with HYDRA agents. After three weeks, Hitoshi was classified as MIA, but then his body was discovered near the fishing docks of the Tokyo harbor. Suffering from post-traumatic stress and other complications, Hitoshi was flown back to the states for high level debriefing and rehab (which is where he joins the other players).

Description
Hitoshi Zatoichi, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Pencils by RobertAtkins

Digital Inking, Coloring by me 5/20-6/9/2014

Original artwork at robertatkins.deviantart.com/ar…
Additional original artwork at robertatkins.deviantart.com/ar…
* Used with permission

I joined a Mutants & Masterminds game, where the players are agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The game's theme is based on the Marvel cinematic universe including the TV show (Agents of SHIELD). The game starts just before mid-way through the Captain America: Winter Soldier movie when HYDRA becomes revealed. I based my initial concepts on a combination of Melinda May and Grant Ward, the two specialists from the TV show. That concept grew a bit more "ninja-like" as I added advantages and skills.

When I started drawing my character, I realized that my concept and vision was very similar to Snake-Eyes from GI Joe (except that he was Asian (Japanese) and can speak and he's an Agent rather than ninja...). So I began looking for some inspirational Snake-Eyes drawings and found Robert Atkin's great sketch of Snake-Eyes. With some minor modifications (replaced Arashikage symbol with SHIELD logo, replaced head), I colored the sketches using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If you're a fan of GI Joe, I highly recommend you check out Robert Atkin's gallery and his work on various GI Joe comics. I was fortunate enough to meet Larry Hama a few years ago at San Diego's Comic Con just after IDW re-launched the original Marvel comics storyline. I was just walking around the convention center and noticed he was sitting at a table without a line or any crowds. I quickly rushed over and was able to chat with him for several minutes and was able to get his autograph on a bunch of GI Joe comics.

Hitoshi Zatoichi was the operational squad leader for the SHIELD Pacific Regional Office. The strike team was told there were several high value targets from The Hand, HYDRA, AIM, and other organizations at the Madripoor location. However, it was an ambush that resulted in the death of his team. This mission severely unstabilized the SHIELD regional office since most of the top agents died. This destabilization of the regional office was the work of Hitoshi's supervising officer, who was secretly a HYDRA agent working to weaken the office and replace the elite agents with HYDRA agents. After three weeks, Hitoshi was classified as MIA, but then his body was discovered near the fishing docks of the Tokyo harbor. Suffering from post-traumatic stress and other complications, Hitoshi was flown back to the states for high level debriefing and rehab (which is where he joins the other players).