In the late summer of 2006, I got on the phone with Les Mcclaine and pitched him the story that would become "The Middleman: Volume Three."  At the time, I told Les that I had two ideas for endings and wasn't sure which one would be best...by the time I was done pitching, one of the endings had been deemed "too depressing" a coda for the book.  A few months later, with the script finalized and Les ready to go to work on the art, the discussion arose of what special features to include in the Volume Three Trade.  We were both interested in a fan art contest...and I had not been able to get the rejected ending out of my mind.  That's when Les came up with the brilliant idea to not only do a fan art contest, but that first prize should be a published assignment as the illustrator of the "alternate ending" to Volume Three.  You can see the results of the contest below.  We were graced with some truly outstanding work, and are pleased to present not just the winners, but also the many runners up that made our decision so exquisitely difficult...of course, to see the alternate ending -- and to know the story that takes you there -- you're gonna have to buy the book!

Javier Grillo-Marxuach

The Winner - Chad Thomas

Javi: Chad Thomas’s art is clean, with an amazingly strong line and a driving sense of clarity that comes through even in a composition meant to evoke the chaos of the Middleman universe. I was wowed by the inventiveness of the layouts in his sequential sample, deceptively simple, but packing a huge amount of narrative information and energy within the page. Top notch.

Les: I was also immediately impressed by Chad’s super-clear linework, and then blown away by his fantastic storytelling. He showed great character work in his pinup, and also did a great job of establishing a sense of place in his sequentials.

2nd Place - Armando Mendoza

Javi: Mendoza's pinup is just plain spectacular -- reinventing the characters with an animation-inspired flair while keeping their essential nature. His Wendy is preternaturally cute and spunky, and everything here works so well that, if I were not the creator of this series, I might have looked at this and thought "did someone make a cartoon of "The Middleman" before it was a comic book?"

Les: Another great job. I love how the characters have been stretched and remolded but are still instantly recognizable. Wendy especially is a kick with her square little chin.

3rd Place - Jason Cheeseman-Meyer

Javi: Cheeseman-Meyer's work is just plain classy...maybe even classier than we deserve here at "The Middleman." His rendition of Ida is creepy in just the right way -- and serves as an unusual and dynamic foreground element. His Wendy has sex appeal and spunk to spare, and his composition and use of color are spectacular.

Les: The level of detail Jason’s achieved here is just exquisite. I always love drawing all the little noodly details of Ida’s hardware, and I’m guessing Jason did too. He also managed to perfectly capture the characters’ personalities in their poses.

Jones Alves

Javi: Alves delivers what I could totally see as a cover for "The Middleman," and I am suitably impressed by the battle-lust in the titular character's eye -- especially when gouging out the eye of some unspeakable beastie with his bare hands. Having Wendy fight with a gun and a scimitar is also a nice touch (and I hope she winds up using the scimitar on that hopped up evil twin of E.T. sneaking up on her). I also truly enjoyed seeing an alternate version of Les's first intro of The Middleman.

Les: I love the sense of volume Jones manages to get in his figures. There’s a great three-dimensionality about them. The poses are also nice and fluid and the monster design is a treat. It’s also fun to see someone else have to draw that ass-monster from issue one. What was I thinking with that design?

Marco Aurelio

Javi: This brightly-colored action piece puts The Middleman and Wendy in aesthetic territory reminiscent of "Captain Sternn" and the "Heavy Metal," animated feature...and that's a pretty cool place to be indeed. I love the portrayal of a 1980's-style Middleman, and any time we're riding blue-fringed horses and fighting panthers, I'm a happy camper.

Les: Marco does a great job putting together a real frenetic page that doesn’t lose clarity. Major props on drawing a horse, too. Those things are tough.

Nathan Bliss

Javi: If I were giving an honorable mention, it would have to go to this one for the use of Noser. With an epic composition evoking both "Houses of the Holy" and "Who's Next," Bliss truly captures the essence of Noser as the unsung hero of "The Middleman" without compromising his essentially easy-going nature. I can totally see this as the cover of our "NOSER: SUPERNATURAL ROCK AVENGER" spin-off book.

Les: Nate does an excellent job bringing tone and texture to this piece. I also like the hint of fallen enemies that Noser has defeated through his musical virtuosity.

Patrick Buendia

Javi: While I enjoy Buendia's interpretation of the character, what really does it for me here is the conception and composition of his background elements. The obese horned gnarly-beast in its death throes is spectacular and the pillars of concrete and rebar behind that offer not only a perfect perspective (pointing to where the title should be) but also evoke urban destruction in a clear, succinct way.

Les: I really like the level of clothing detail-- it reminds me a bit of Peter Chung’s work. I also like the extra arm growing out of the monster on the right, there.

Uriel Duran

Javi: This one's a nice tip of the hat to one of our influences and I love the narrative quality of the scene (The Middleman, double fisting his weapons and coming in to smite lovesick aliens who nevertheless amuse him). The iPod and Area 102 gags top this one off very nicely.

Les: I especially like the weapon design! It’s always tricky to come up with crazy stuff to put on those guns. The huge crowd of men in black is a great background, indicating something more untold here.

Egg Embry

Javi: I especially like how Embry distills Wendy's attitude into a pose and wardrobe choice reminiscent of a Daniel Clowes heroine. He also gets bonus points for transposing our signature Zip-A-Tone into a background color abstraction of the tentacle creature from Volume One.

Les: I like the use of Wendy’s temp outfit and the Middleman’s confident pose. The background adds a lot of drama to the piece as well.

Keith Howell

Javi: Keith is a friend of "The Middleman," and the shark creature he created for his pinup in Volume 1 will be making a guest appearance in Volume 3. I was especially excited by his sequential sample, not only because of his featuring a Middle Monkey (an idea I'll be sure to borrow) but also because of his copious use of inside references referring back not just to "The Middleman" but also to the Adam West "Batman" and even "Super-Skrull." A lot of fun.

Les: More great weapon design! Maybe I’ll just steal a bunch of ideas from Keith and Cadete. Keith’s sequentials are also a treasure trove of gags. I wonder if Wendy cleared that secret closet with her landlord first?

Raymond Leonard

Javi: Ya know...ya just can't go wrong with ancient tombs, snakes and Mummies. Especially mummies. I love the idea of The Middleman fighting classic monsters, and this really evokes the notion of the character's franchise as being not just sci-fi but also old-timey fantasy and adventure.

Les: I’m also a big mummy fan, but what really gets me is the detail work on the jacket. Very nicely observed wrinkles. Leave it to me to notice the jacket in an action-packed scene like this. I also like the hieroglyphics, which I’ve always found a pain to research.

Michael McClain

Javi: Though not necessarily a slam-dunk tonal match for our book, I was truly amused by McClain's Sunday-strip take on the material -- and the cat's tail gag is genuinely funny (I'd love to know what kind of adventure would culminate in The Middleman grabbing on to a demented feral feline).

Les: I love seeing characters translated into new styles (especially when I’ve designed them!) This is a great bigfoot-style adaptation, and I still find myself chuckling at the gag in the strip as I look at it now.

Derek Peterson

Javi: I like Peterson's use of juxtaposed horizontal and vertical planes in his pinup and especially appreciate Ida snatching a drink from a cute-as-a-button Lacey's tray…not to mention The Middleman's Han Solo-ish smirk. Peterson's sequentials give a good sketch of our character's personalities, especially Sensei Ping -- and his Chinese Dragon design in the back of page 2, panel 5 is priceless. Not to mention that I'd read a story called "Snatch My Pebbles" any day of the week.

Les: For me, the colors really make this piece. The layering and modeling really give a great sense of three-dimensionality to the drawings. I also like the sense of menace exuded by Sensei Ping.

Ed Quinby

Javi: First of all, you can't go wrong evoking Mexican wrestling. I love the details in this one -- the "M" on The Middleman's trunks, Wendy in leopard skin and cat ears (also a fantastic choice), and the arm bands. Finally, as a native Spanish speaker, the literal translation of "The Middleman" ("El Revendedor") has me laughing still. Well done.

Les: Ed brings a clean, classic superhero style to the Middleman. The expression on the soon-to-be flattened wrestler is perfect, and Wendy is cute as a button in her little cat costume.

Jon Siruno

Javi: Major points for the "weathered look" on this one, as well as the use of the supporting characters -- Ida as the drummer and Ben as a put-upon roadie crack me up. Siruno's transposition of our characters to a rock band setting makes sense on the level of their personalities and function in the book. Siruno's sequentials show a great eye for Les's style and formal composition -- and evoking the Winnebagoes restaurant from Volume 2 brought a smile to my face.

Les: Jon did a great job giving texture and wear to the piece, but he also did a lot of really fun character work. Wendy’s agressive singing, Noser’s lackadaisical strumming, Lacey’s little kick, Middleman’s Johnny Cash-style strumming, they all come together to bring out the personalities of the characters. His sequentials are also nice and clear, with some fantastic background work. (Do I recognize the diners at Winnebagoes?)

Nathan Wiedemer

Javi: This pin up has a great amount of kinetic energy -- it doesn't look like a pose, and the use of color really makes the scene pop with action and excitement. Widemer really succeeds in showing the twinkle in the Middleman's eye in spite of his thick-necked, Dirk Squarejaw physique, and brings the cute with Wendy -- and that's always a good thing to bring.

Les: Nathan accomplished something quite impressive with his piece: he drew Wendy so completely adorable that I just want to squeeze her to pieces, and he drew all those intestines so grotesquely that I’d probably just throw up all over the place instead.