Creator Profile: Mark Pennington
Mark Pennington worked at Hasbro on G.I.Joe as the second full-time figure designer from December 31st, 1985 to August 1988. In that time he helped develop over 75 figures. Having scratched the G.I.Joe itch, Mark decided to leave Hasbro in August of 1988 to pursue a career in illustration. Mark "wanted to do comics, and illustration and fantasy art." Mark quickly found success in comics, earning an Eisner Award nomination for best inker in 1993. Read on to learn more about this incredibly productive artist!
But first, some thanks.
This Creator Profile was created by Carson Mataxis and Chris Murray. We would like to thank Mark Pennington for the hours spent in interviews with 3DJoes. Also, we would like to thank Chris Murray, and Dan Moore for their contributions. All photos, scans, videos and audio files are used with permission and ©2012-2023 3DJoes. All Rights Reserved. No usage is permitted without written permission.
The Road to HasbroBorn in 1959, Mark Pennington started showing artistic prowess at a very early age. He jokingly recalled being "the best artist in kindergarten." After graduating from High School in 1977, he immediately volunteered to serve in the US Army at 17 years of age. He served his three year commitment, got out, got married within a year, and entered the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 1982. During his third and final year at the school, he was recruited by Hasbro to come join the G.I.Joe team as the primary figure designer.
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The Art of Figure Design
Mark Pennington used the same general process for creating action figures at Hasbro that was established by Ron Rudat. The first step in the design process was the R&D brainstorming sessions with Gregory Berndtson, Kirk Bozigian, and "a couple of other guys." In these meetings, the team would determine which kind of specialties need to be represented - for example "a flamethrower." Once Mark left those meetings he was free to begin research and ideation, or sketching, for each of the characters he was assigned to develop.
Mark would complete 5-10 sketches of each character and review those with the Greg Berndtson (and potentially Kirk Bozigian). They would go through several sketch revision cycles before arriving at the final design of the figure. Then a final pencils illustration would be created.
Once the final pencils were complete, Mark would run 10 copies off and then create 5-10 color options using markers. These are referred to as color studies or color roughs. They would go through several revision cycles before arriving at the final colors for the figure.
Then a larger ~11x17" final marker rendering illustration would be created. This would be an entirely new illustration, putting the figure in an environment, usually with some action in the scene. This illustration would be used for presentation purposes within Hasbro. These meetings would feature dozens of people, from Marketing, to Sales, all the way up to the Hassenfeld brothers. Greg or Kirk usually presented Mark's work in these meetings.
Once the presentation art was presented, and IF the figure was approved to move forward, then Mark would move forward with creating sculpture sheets for the figure and accessories.
Once those were done, they were sent off to Hasbro's advertising art department to create a new, final piece of presentation art.
Mark would complete 5-10 sketches of each character and review those with the Greg Berndtson (and potentially Kirk Bozigian). They would go through several sketch revision cycles before arriving at the final design of the figure. Then a final pencils illustration would be created.
Once the final pencils were complete, Mark would run 10 copies off and then create 5-10 color options using markers. These are referred to as color studies or color roughs. They would go through several revision cycles before arriving at the final colors for the figure.
Then a larger ~11x17" final marker rendering illustration would be created. This would be an entirely new illustration, putting the figure in an environment, usually with some action in the scene. This illustration would be used for presentation purposes within Hasbro. These meetings would feature dozens of people, from Marketing, to Sales, all the way up to the Hassenfeld brothers. Greg or Kirk usually presented Mark's work in these meetings.
Once the presentation art was presented, and IF the figure was approved to move forward, then Mark would move forward with creating sculpture sheets for the figure and accessories.
Once those were done, they were sent off to Hasbro's advertising art department to create a new, final piece of presentation art.
The Process of Designing Action FiguresAbove Mark recalls the action figure design process: from the initial R&D brainstorming meeting, to sketching, color studies, presentation art, sculpture sheets, and final presentation art.
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Working with Greg Berndtson and Kirk BozigianAbove Mark recalls working with Greg Berndtson, Kirk Bozigian, and "the bearded guy." He recalls Greg running around like a madman: "he was very enthusiastic about doing Joe, and why wouldn't you be?"
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Sculpting Challenges:
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Sculpting Challenges:
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Prolific Creation (1986-1989)
Mark and I went through the "Collecting the Art of G.I.Joe" books and the "3DJoes of the 80s" poster to try to nail down exactly what he worked on over his tenure on G.I.Joe. These are 30 year old recollections, so many additional contributions might have been overlooked. When Mark came into Hasbro he was relieving Ron Rudat as G.I.Joe's primary figure designer. As a result, many figures were in progress and were handed off to Mark for completion, including 1986 BATS, 1986 Dial-Tone, 1987 Big Boa, 1987 Chuckles, 1987 Cobra La Nemesis Enforcer, Royal Guard, and Golobulous, 1987 Crazylegs, 1987 Croc Master, 1987 Falcon, 1987 Fast Draw, 1987 Gung-Ho v2, 1987 Ice Viper, 1987 Jinx, 1987 Law and Order, 1987 Raptor, 1987 Sneak Peek, 1987 Slaughter’s Renegades Red Dog, Mercer, and Taurus, and 1988 Voltar. For the most part, these figures had already been designed and approved to move forward with creating sculpture sheets for the figure and accessories. This is where Mark took over. Many of the figures and accessories underwent revisions in this process, so these figures and accessories are clearly the product of Ron and Mark's combined efforts.
Beyond finishing up Ron's in-progress designs, Mark created 1987 Backstop, 1987 Battle Force 2000 Blaster and Dodger, 1987 Gyro-Viper, 1987 Hardtop, 1987 Outback, 1987 Payload, 1987 Rocky Balboa (unreleased), 1987 Sea Slug, 1987 Steam-Roller, 1987 Techno Viper, 1987 The Fridge, 1987 W.O.R.M.S., 1988 Astro Viper, 1988 Blizzard, 1988 Budo, 1988 Charbroil, 1988 Destro v2, 1988 Ghostrider, 1988 Hardball, 1988 Hit & Run, 1988 Hydro-Viper, 1988 Iron Grenadiers, 1988 Muskrat, 1988 Nullifier, 1988 Repeater, 1988 Road Pig, 1988 Secto-Viper, 1988 Shockwave, 1988 Skidmark, 1988 Storm Shadow v2, 1988 Wild Card, 1988 Windmill, 1989 Alley Viper, 1989 Backblast, 1989 Darklon, 1989 Hot Seat, 1989 Night-Viper, 1989 Recoil, 1989 Scoop, 1989 Snake Eyes v3, 1989 Stalker v2, 1989 T.A.R.G.A.T., and 1989 Wild Boar.
For a brief period, Hasbro brought in some new artists that resided in the basement. One of them was assigned to G.I.Joe and helped Mark with several figure designs, including: 1987 Battle Force 2000 Blocker, Knockdown, Maverick, and Avalanche, 1988 Lightfoot, 1988 Spearhead & Max, and 1988 Toxo-Viper. Mark recalled that Dave Bilyeu created the initial concept for 1989 Gnawgahyde, including a Dreadnok with a Warthog. Mark finished the design and added some accessories. Mark also recalled that fellow designer Bart Sears contributed designs to several figures that he finalized, including 1989 Battle Force 2000 Dee-Jay and 1989 H.E.A.T. Viper.
Mark found inspiration everywhere, but most memorably from movies. He cites The Mark of Zorro (1921), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Battlestar Galactica (1978), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Aliens (1986), and Predator (1987) as inspiring. Mark was kind enough to walk through several dozen figures with me, and those recollections are below. A HUGE thank you to Mark for sharing!
Beyond finishing up Ron's in-progress designs, Mark created 1987 Backstop, 1987 Battle Force 2000 Blaster and Dodger, 1987 Gyro-Viper, 1987 Hardtop, 1987 Outback, 1987 Payload, 1987 Rocky Balboa (unreleased), 1987 Sea Slug, 1987 Steam-Roller, 1987 Techno Viper, 1987 The Fridge, 1987 W.O.R.M.S., 1988 Astro Viper, 1988 Blizzard, 1988 Budo, 1988 Charbroil, 1988 Destro v2, 1988 Ghostrider, 1988 Hardball, 1988 Hit & Run, 1988 Hydro-Viper, 1988 Iron Grenadiers, 1988 Muskrat, 1988 Nullifier, 1988 Repeater, 1988 Road Pig, 1988 Secto-Viper, 1988 Shockwave, 1988 Skidmark, 1988 Storm Shadow v2, 1988 Wild Card, 1988 Windmill, 1989 Alley Viper, 1989 Backblast, 1989 Darklon, 1989 Hot Seat, 1989 Night-Viper, 1989 Recoil, 1989 Scoop, 1989 Snake Eyes v3, 1989 Stalker v2, 1989 T.A.R.G.A.T., and 1989 Wild Boar.
For a brief period, Hasbro brought in some new artists that resided in the basement. One of them was assigned to G.I.Joe and helped Mark with several figure designs, including: 1987 Battle Force 2000 Blocker, Knockdown, Maverick, and Avalanche, 1988 Lightfoot, 1988 Spearhead & Max, and 1988 Toxo-Viper. Mark recalled that Dave Bilyeu created the initial concept for 1989 Gnawgahyde, including a Dreadnok with a Warthog. Mark finished the design and added some accessories. Mark also recalled that fellow designer Bart Sears contributed designs to several figures that he finalized, including 1989 Battle Force 2000 Dee-Jay and 1989 H.E.A.T. Viper.
Mark found inspiration everywhere, but most memorably from movies. He cites The Mark of Zorro (1921), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Battlestar Galactica (1978), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Aliens (1986), and Predator (1987) as inspiring. Mark was kind enough to walk through several dozen figures with me, and those recollections are below. A HUGE thank you to Mark for sharing!
Figure Commentary (1986-1989)
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Mark Pennington designed Backstop, the driver for Guy Cassaday's Persuader, on his first day at Hasbro.
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When Mark came into Hasbro he was relieving Ron Rudat as G.I.Joe's primary figure designer. As a result, many figures were in progress and were handed off to Mark for completion, including 1986 BATS.
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1987 Big BoaRon Rudat created the Big Boa figure design. Mark Pennington created the figure sculpt sheet and also designed his accessories. To the left you see the 1987 Big Boa punching bag input drawing by Mark Pennington. This 2:1 scale drawing shows final measurements for the accessory.
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1987 Chuckles
Ron Rudat created the Chuckles figure design. Although Mark barely recalled working on Chuckles, the four documents below show that he worked on the Figure Sculpture Sheet, Figure Source Sheet (or color chart), Accessories Sculpt Sheet (including the Colt .45 and shoulder harness), and the color breakdown for Chuckles' Hawaiian shirt. Three of the four are signed by Mark and dated February 6th, 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Crazylegs
Ron Rudat created the Crazylegs figure design in October 1985. He created the figure sculpt sheet, accessory sculpt sheets, and the figure source sheet. Four months later, Mark Pennington created a new accessory sculpt sheet that changed the parachute pack from the 1985 Parachute Pack (mail order) inspired design to a new, non functional but more streamlined design. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Croc Master
Ron Rudat created the Croc Master figure design. Mark Pennington recalled working on the accessory sculpt sheets, and potentially the figure sculpt sheet.
1987 Dodger (Battle Force 2000)
Above, Mark Pennington recalls going to see the 1986 film Aliens, and coming back to Hasbro to dig in on his Battle Force 2000 assignment (initially dubbed Future Force). He recalls that for a brief period in the fall of 1986, Hasbro brought in some new artists that resided in the basement. One of them was assigned to G.I.Joe and helped Mark with several figure designs, including: 1987 Battle Force 2000 Blocker, Knockdown, Maverick, and Avalanche, 1988 Lightfoot, 1988 Spearhead & Max, and 1988 Toxo-Viper. The Dodger Figure Sculpt Sheet below is signed by Mark Pennington and GW: George Woodbridge, a contract illustrator most commonly known for creating presentation art for G.I.Joe.
1987 Falcon
Ron Rudat created the Falcon figure design in October 1985. He created the figure sculpt sheet, accessory sculpt sheets, and the figure source sheet. Three months later, Mark Pennington created a new accessory sculpt sheet that changed the backpack to accomodate a new knife accessory. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Fast Draw
Ron Rudat created the Fast Draw figure design. Mark Pennington created the figure and accessory sculpt sheets, as well as the figure source sheet in March of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Gyro-Viper
Gyro-Viper was designed by Mark Pennington in June of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Hardtop and Payload
Payload and Hardtop were designed by Mark Pennington in August of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Jinx
Jinx was designed by Mark Pennington in February of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
The Figure Sculpture Review Process
Below you'll see documents related to the figure sculpture review process. The first two-page "Figure Sculpture Review Sheet" was completed by Mark Pennington. This document was completed for Roger Avery, who managed internal and external sculptors. The second is a memo that recaps Mark's feedback and adds more feedback from Roger Avery to Bill Merklein, one of Hasbro's most prolific external/contract sculptors.
1987 Mercer
Above Mark Pennington recalls taking over design work for the G.I.Joe: The Movie figures from Ron Rudat. Below are the Figure Sculpt Sheet, Figure Source Sheet, and Accessory Sculpt Sheet for Mercer. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Outback
Outback was designed by Mark Pennington in January of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Raptor
Ron Rudat created the Raptor figure design. Mark Pennington created the accessory sculpt sheet, as well as potentially the figure sculpt sheet. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Rocky (unproduced)
1987 Sea Slug
Sea Slug was designed by Mark Pennington in April of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Sneak Peek
Ron Rudat created the Sneak Peek figure design. Mark Pennington completed figure and accessory sculpt sheets in March of 1986, as well as the figure source sheet. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Steam-Roller
Steam-Roller was designed by Mark Pennington in July of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Taurus
Ron Rudat created the Taurus figure design. Mark Pennington created the figure and accessory sculpt sheets, as well as the figure source sheet in June of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 Techno-Viper
Mark recalled being assigned a Cobra Mechanic as his second figure, and he describes where he found inspiration for Techno-Viper's unique tools.
1987 The Fridge
The Fridge was designed by Mark Pennington in May of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1987 W.O.R.M.S.
W.O.R.M.S. was designed by Mark Pennington in June of 1986. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1988 Astro Viper
1988 Astro Viper Figure Sculpt Sheet signed and dated 2-10-87 by Mark Pennington.
1988 Blizzard |
1988 Budo |
1988 Charbroil |
1988 Hardball
Above Mark recalls the struggle of designing a baseball playing grenadiere.
1988 Hardball Figure Sculpt Sheet signed and dated 2-4-87 by Mark Pennington. Notice the preproduction name for Hardball was Blooper Man.
1988 Destro v2 |
1988 Ghostrider |
1988 Hit & Run
Above Mark describes how his childhood play patterns inspired Hit & Run's accessories, and why Hit & Run was his favorite design.
Hit & Run was designed by Mark Pennington in February of 1987. Roll over the images below for more info, or click them to enlarge.
Hit & Run was designed by Mark Pennington in February of 1987. Roll over the images below for more info, or click them to enlarge.
1988 Iron Grenadiers
Above Mark describes bringing his love of the swashbuckling actors of old like Douglas Fairbanks (Zorro) and Basil Rathbone (actor and British Army Fencing Champ), and how he brought that into the Iron Grenadieres.
1988 Iron Grenadiers Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington and George Woodbridge.
1988 Iron Grenadiers Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington and George Woodbridge.
1988 Hydro-Viper |
1988 Lightfoot |
1988 Muskrat |
1988 Nullifier |
1988 Repeater |
1988 Road Pig |
1988 Secto-Viper |
1988 Shockwave |
1988 Skidmark |
1988 Spearhead & Max |
1988 Storm Shadow v2 |
1988 Toxo-Viper |
1988 Wild Card |
1988 Windmill |
1989 Alley Viper
1989 Alley Viper Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington
1989 Darklon
1989 Darklon Figure Sculpt Sheet by Mark Pennington. Notice the preproduction name for Darklon was Warlord.
1989 Dee-Jay (Battle Force 2000)
1989 Dee-Jay Figure Sculpt Sheet signed and dated 10-27 by Mark Pennington.
1989 H.E.A.T. Viper
1989 H.E.A.T. Viper Figure Sculpt Sheet by Mark Pennington. Notice that before Hasbro created the name H.E.A.T. Viper, the character was referred to as Cobra Bazooka Man.
1989 Backblast |
1989 Gnawgahyde |
1989 Night-Viper |
1989 Hot Seat
1989 Hot Seat Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington. This figure was referred to as Brawler Driver before he was given a name, and before the vehicle name Raider was created.
1989 Recoil
1989 Recoil Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington.
1989 Snake Eyes v3
1989 Snake Eyes v3 Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington.
1989 Scoop |
1989 Stalker |
1989 T.A.R.G.A.T.
1989 T.A.R.G.A.T. Figure Sculpt Sheet signed and dated 10-19-87 by Mark Pennington
1989 Wild Boar
1989 Wild Boar Figure Sculpt Sheet signed by Mark Pennington.
Looking back on life at Hasbro.
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Mark worked at Hasbro on G.I.Joe from December 31st, 1985 to August 1988. In that time he helped develop over 75 figures. In the clip below he discusses some "stinkers," some ideas that hit the cutting room floor, and still having "a desire to do a couple more."
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In the clip below Mark recalls some of his friendships at Hasbro and where they'd go to find inspiration and stay creative.
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Life after Hasbro.
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Mark did not have ambitions to design anything other than G.I.Joe for Hasbro. Having scratched that itch, he decided to leave Hasbro in August of 1988 to pursue a career in illustration. Mark "wanted to do comics, and illustration and fantasy art."
Mark became a prolific professional comic book artist. He is probably best known for his work on Shade, the Changing Man, which earned him a nomination for best inker in the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards in 1993. He has worked on countless titles for Dark Horse, DC, Marvel, Image, and Valiant – including Batman, Catwoman, Death, Detective Comics, Hellblazer, JLA, Sandman, Spawn, Wetworks, X-Men, and many more. In addition to creating comics, Mark taught life drawing at the Kubert School for a couple years before comics really took over his professional life. Since then he's also created painted card art for the Legend of the Five Rings, and other pirate-themed and samurai-themed card games. |
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At your service!
Bellow are a selection of G.I.Joe character illustrations by Mark Pennington. Mark is currently accepting commissions via Facebook. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
Mark has also been creating some striking hand lettered comic cover style commissions, and he's funded a book of commissions via Kickstarter that shipped September 2021. Mark is currently accepting commissions via Facebook. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
Diversity of imagery
Mark's illustration expertise goes well beyond pen and ink. He uses various media to bring a wide variety of breathtaking images to life: from portraiture, to nature, to fantasy scenes. Mark is currently accepting commissions via Facebook. Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
Illustrating Native American creation myths
Mark has created captivating illustrations of Native American creation myths for young audiences for years. His illustrations have been featured in Anita Yasuda's acclaimed children's books: “The Sky Woman and the Big Turtle,” “Warrior Twins,” and “How the World was Made.” Roll over these images for more info, or click them to enlarge.
Additional Resources:
Mark was recently interviewed by Scott Romine for Gwatney Unplugged. This interview covers his education, his career and the importance of being in the right place at the right time. It originally aired on August 16, 2022.
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Be sure to check out the G.I. Joe Discussion group on Facebook, where fans and former Hasbro vets hang out and talk Joe. You are sure to see some interesting pre-production and behind-the-scenes items posted there.
Thank you!
A sincere thank you to Mark Pennington for a lifetime of great memories of playing with his creations!
