ARTISTS’ ALLEY
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t’s not easy to stand out in a sea of Instagram accounts packed square to square with never ending amounts of art, advertisements, and cosplayers tussling for attention. All the whirls of color and clashing costumes can really start to mess with your head after a while. Just when you thought you’d seen every last Avengers interpretation on the planet, you notice that Iron Man has sprouted two pointy cat ears at the top of his maroon-andgold helmet. He also seems to have paws balled into fists and a long, armored tail hanging from his booty. No, you’re not seeing things. Iron Man has turned into IronMeow — at least in illustrator Angie Hu’s nook of the internet. Iron Man is not the only familiar face who Hu converted into a cat. Captain America, Batman, and Wolverine are also among the superhero mainstays onto whom Hu imparts her signature feline makeover, transforming them into Captain AmeriCat, BatMeow, and Catverine. She doesn’t limit herself
to superkitties, either. Some of her recent Instagram posts on @hupaints are dedicated to whiskered, cat-eared versions of Dumbledore, Sailor Moon, Gordon Ramsay, and Bob Ross. For Hu, 76 | Issue No. 10 | THE POP INSIDER
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the paws-ibilities are endless. It all started with Hu brainstorming ideas about how to turn heads with her art. “I knew that people love superhero fan art, so I was thinking about what I should do for superhero-related works. I am not a fan of doing other people’s character designs, so I wanted to recreate the characters in my own way,” Hu says. “Since I am a cat lover, I designed this cat fan art based on cats’ behaviors, starting from the superhero characters that I am more familiar with.” Hu was shocked to receive her own booth at her first Artists’ Alley at WonderCon Anaheim in 2014 and found herself surrounded by professional artists. She didn’t let that intimidate her though, and she held true to what she loves: cats. While all of the comic book artists around her were showcasing more serious versions of Marvel and DC art, Hu’s work shined through because it was different. She caught the attention of the crowds with her postcards and prints featuring cat adaptations of famous characters in humorous scenarios. In fact, the fan reactions are what keep her coming back. “It’s really fun to have a table at conventions because people often scream when they see my work,” Hu says. “I love seeing their expressions, Top to bottom: IronMeow, BatMeow, Catverine | Source: Angie Hu
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