Gory Goomba guts gush, we giggle gleefully
by Ross Miller 
{ Sep 11th 2006 at 3:15PM }
Handre de Jager strikes again! The artist whose previous game interpretations include disturbing humanized versions of Kirby and Burger Time enemies has moved on to Mario 3. Although not visible in the adjacent image, a bloated Mario is seen smashing a helpless Goomba to a bloody pulp while onlookers (Lakitu, Luigi, and a couple of koopas) leer at one another. Skilled visionary or disturbed individual? We're on the fence about what to call him. Check out the full picture below, or click here for the super-sized (1024x1448) variant. You can view (and purchase) de Jager's other works here.
The full picture, in all its glory.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ptrix @ Sep 11th 2006 3:20PM
damn, Mario's got a mad package.
RDX @ Sep 11th 2006 3:23PM
Holy nuts. Someone didn't get hugged enough when they were young. Did you see the Megaman one? I really don't think Mega should be wearing that little thong without doing some serious man-scaping first.
mykie @ Sep 11th 2006 3:27PM
I don't think that's his "package"...
I think that's an enlarged prostate, possibly caused by smoking.
ShMgS @ Sep 11th 2006 3:29PM
lol, it says "naughty words" just behind mario's leg.
Lorben @ Sep 11th 2006 3:29PM
Love the taped on ears.
Yes, that is Mario’s package. All of the drawings by this guy include huge packages.
Arena08 @ Sep 11th 2006 3:40PM
why are all the blog sites getting boners over this? Its garbage.
The ZeroCorpse @ Sep 11th 2006 3:44PM
At first I hated it, but now I see that this is something rich people will frame and place in their foyer.
This guy is what I would call a mad genius. Heavy, heavy emphasis on the "mad" part, but quite a good artist and clever to boot.
The image disturbs me, but then, I think it's probably a pretty good depiction of what Mario Bros. would be like if they were a bit more real, and inhabited the world that is also occupied by Ranxerox.
EdogLost @ Sep 11th 2006 4:54PM
This Gallery in L.A. called, gallery 1988 has this show from time to time called "I am 8 bit" and they always have cool stuff like this, another artist to look at is Bob Dob, cool stuff if your into that sort of thing.
Steven @ Sep 11th 2006 3:45PM
Hey, You can purchase prints of some of Handre's art from, Somethingawful.
The image shown here, is not available though.
https://www.awfulmart.com/index.php?crn=210
IanC @ Sep 11th 2006 3:47PM
that is terrible.
Tull @ Sep 11th 2006 3:45PM
nerd + mario = boner
Didn't you learn that during math class?
Steven @ Sep 11th 2006 3:45PM
Wait I noticed you linked that already sorry.
Agent MOO @ Sep 11th 2006 3:48PM
I agree with #6, these paintings are like watching a really bad movie based on a game or book you love. These are vulgar homoerotic renditions of games that were better art in their 8 bit versions.
http://agentmoo.com
Xan @ Sep 11th 2006 3:54PM
I think they're hilarious...Not sure which is going to give me the most nightmares, however.
Gideon @ Sep 11th 2006 3:55PM
Is it just me or is it that's Wario in Mario's "uniform"? :D Wario
socrates @ Sep 11th 2006 3:59PM
Oh no! Mario jumped on Al Sharpton!!
Wolfkin @ Sep 11th 2006 4:00PM
"why are all the blog sites getting boners over this? Its garbage."
I totally agree. Its interesting idea but the end result is in no way pleasing. I also agree this is the sort of things rich people would hang up.
cringer8 @ Sep 11th 2006 4:00PM
Those are some fancy shoes, Mario. You better hope that eyeball doesn't spray ocular fluid all over them (it looks like it's about to burst).
nick @ Sep 11th 2006 4:04PM
Okay. So Summa posted this fella's art over on his new site (name withheld to protect the innocent) a day after he got canned. Then Kotaku picked it up, and now it's on Joystiq.
That's pretty funny, if you ask me.
Tush @ Sep 11th 2006 4:09PM
I think it's sort of a statement. Maybe the artist is poking at realism in videogame.
The piece is provoking thought, so I guess it's doing its job.
=[`] @ Sep 11th 2006 4:23PM
rubbish.
Its just like all that terrible fantasy art that you get in my local comic bookstore.
I quite like the Koopas though
Duncan Koss @ Sep 11th 2006 6:15PM
The art style of all the characters reminds me of MirrorMask. Has anyone seen that movie? Trippy shit.
friedgreenmushrooms @ Sep 13th 2006 6:40PM
Luigi looks so thin and white. But I love the piranha plant. As a request? I'd love to see Banjo-Kazooie in this style.
Pikachelsea @ Sep 11th 2006 5:15PM
"This guy is what I would call a mad genius. Heavy, heavy emphasis on the "mad" part, but quite a good artist and clever to boot."
What exactly is so clever about this painting? Somebody gives Mario a giant ugly bulge and everybody's dying to dub him the next Picasso? This picture is just gross to look at and extremely uncool; there is no way you would ever find that hanging on my wall.
If you want a "gritty", stylish re-imagining of the Mario universe, this one is MUCH more worthwhile:
http://norante.net/stuff/weblog/evil_mario.jpg
HotShotX @ Sep 11th 2006 5:45PM
"I think it's sort of a statement. Maybe the artist is poking at realism in videogame."
I agree, goes to show that not all "heroes" are muscular, clean-shaven, and "kid-friendly".
The dude seriously has some pubic hair fetish though.
~HotShotX
Jonn @ Sep 11th 2006 5:50PM
Holy crap, I know that guy. He posted it on a forum I freqeunt.
PapaChabre @ Sep 11th 2006 8:48PM
I like how the raccoon ears are taped to Mario's hat.
oe @ Sep 11th 2006 6:35PM
#12: I don't really see where the homoerotic angle is. The package? Just disturbing, and maybe indicative of Mario's prediliction for violence. The phallic shrubbery? Maybe you're reading your own issues into the painting.... Maybe not, I haven't seen his other work.
#22: While cool looking, and certainly more pleasing to put on the wall, the image you link to does not cause even close to as immediate and visceral a response as this one. This one is much more surreal, subversive and memorable, in my opinion. Freaky and vicious. I also think it is much richer, thematically. So yes, I'd rather put the one you link to on my bedroom wall, but I'd rather write a paper on the one above. Take that how you will.
trent @ Sep 11th 2006 6:18PM
i think a lot of people are missing the point. its a joke about how disturbing mario really is. hes a hairy plumber going around smashing the guts out of little creatures. its a satire, a joke, and at the same time dark and morbid.
if you dont like the art style, thats fine, but if you dont "get" it, then youre just ignoring the message in the piece.
sphrog @ Sep 11th 2006 7:15PM
All of the pictures in this series are intended to parody the hideous, stomach-turning box art found on such games as the original US Mega Man, wherein our lovable blue bomber was transformed into an unshaven middle-aged man in frightening spandex underoos. Handre's art is obviously an exaggeration of this. It isn't "high art" by any stretch of the imagination, but it's really amusing as a parody, and does its job well. I wouldn't hang it up in my bathroom, though.
bluebren @ Sep 11th 2006 8:01PM
I happen to think those topiaries with eyes on them are genius. And the Koopas. And the Lakitu.
That's it, though.
Dansk @ Sep 11th 2006 8:12PM
That guy is great, i love his stuff, and can't really see how people don't like it. They are supposed to be funny as well.
Ahms @ Sep 11th 2006 11:38PM
Someone needs a big hug
Savok @ Sep 12th 2006 12:05AM
"What if the Doom 3 artists had made Mario..."
He does seem a tad obsessed with crotches though.
Covarr @ Sep 12th 2006 1:05AM
A close inspection shows that Luigi most likely threw the green koopa at the red one, thus Luigi's hands and the collision between the shells.
Waccoon @ Sep 12th 2006 6:24AM
I don't like Mario as a furry.
Pikachelsea @ Sep 12th 2006 12:30PM
"All of the pictures in this series are intended to parody the hideous, stomach-turning box art found on such games as the original US Mega Man"
OK, I will grant that the original box art for Mega Man was pretty scary and I can see the parody there. But no way did the box art for Mario, Kirby, or the others he has depicted in his art look so depraved and... hairy.
I think the guy just has a big-time pubic hair fetish.
Anyway, it has been said that art is meant to disturb... well, mission accomplished then!
just a random guy who is not Handre, the artist at all @ Sep 13th 2006 6:49AM
"OK, I will grant that the original box art for Mega Man was pretty scary and I can see the parody there. But no way did the box art for Mario, Kirby, or the others he has depicted in his art look so depraved and... hairy."
You know, sometimes in parodies stuff is taken to the very extreme for the fun of it.
Sure these pictures are supposed to be a bit disturbing, but it's mainly focused on absurd comedy, really. Just because it contains pubic hair and disgusting bulges doesn't mean this person (who is not me at all) has a fetish. It should be quite clear that those elements (which incidentally are not the only elements in the images and thus need not take up all your attention)are intended to be kinda disgusting and humorous, not sexually stimulating.
Do you think people who direct slasher movies go around killing people after a hard day at the set? Well, it might happen but it's certainly not a given!
So in short, stop being so anal about things that are not intended to be fine art and merely entertainment.
RiemannMeetLebesgue @ Sep 16th 2006 8:55PM
Everyone is focusing on Mario's "bulge". Look closely at Luigi's crotch.
beeper @ Sep 26th 2006 12:06AM
Freakadellic
adam @ Oct 6th 2006 7:16PM
DAMN NICE PACKAGE MARIO BETCHA PEACH IS HAPPY BOUT THAT