Electric bear, riding an electric shark, riding a lighting bolt

A redditor named Sparkychacha088 posted this request: "Dear Reddit, my 8yo son drew this on a napkin. It's an electric bear, riding an electric shark, riding a lighting bolt. He says it's our family crest. Can someone with graphic design skills make this a legit crest?" and Misternarwhale obliged with the fab illustration above. Huzzah!

Dear Reddit, my 8yo son drew this on a napkin. It's an electric bear, riding an electric shark, riding a lighting bolt. He says it's our family crest. Can someone with graphic design skills make this a legit crest? Thanks! (imgur.com)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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How about a lemur, riding an elephant, with a cricket bat? No? What, too derivative of the monkey on an alligator? Hey, at least I’m not that Kansas guy …
i_r_beej

Actually, I liked the original drawing by the 8 year-old.

“Thanks son, that’s a nifty drawing, but it’s a little lacking. Let’s see if we can’t get some bored graphic designer/illustrator to turn it into REAL art.”

Bleah.
Anonymous

My middle name is Bear… and I Approve of this Graphic! :-)
jjasper

Machina Ursus Equitat Machina Cetos Equitat Fulmine

Or so google translate suggests. And what better way to give that a motto!
Anonymous

Looks plenty “legit” to me already…
Egypt Urnash

In a similar vein, here is my rendition of a girl riding a shark with a laser beam on its head through space while wielding a ray-gun and a sword, done for a college sci-fi club that posted their simple rough of the concept on Reddit.

Some things you just can’t pass up doing a quick drawing of.
fnc

What, no frikken laser on the shark’s head?

But it is nice to see the Musicians of Bremen updated for modern audiences.
Anonymous

This is great. But the illustrator left out the lightning bolt! Ah well.
Egypt Urnash

er, functioning link to a girl riding a shark etc. I really must start previewing comments that contain HTML one of these days.
kansas

It’s a very nifty design, but it’s so so so far from being legit. In Canada anyway, getting a crest or Coat of Arms is very expensive and fraught with many rules. Here’s a bit about it: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=84
- dculberson
  
  Do you really think we (or the 8 year old in question) are concerned about whether this is “legit?”
  - kansas
    
    Right up there in red it says, “Can someone with graphic design skills make this a legit crest? Thanks!” Did I miss something? And I’m not in Kansas anymore.
- Aloisius
  
  It’s a very nifty design, but it’s so so so far from being legit. In Canada anyway, getting a crest or Coat of Arms is very expensive and fraught with many rules. Here’s a bit about it: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=84
  
  There are still limits placed on heraldry in Canada? Huh.
  - Grumblefish
    
    In England, one may address the Court of Chivalry presided by the Earl Marshal of England. In Scotland you have to apply to the Court of the Lord Lyon – http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/232.html. A snip at a little over two thousand pounds…
    
    Donald Trump famously didn’t. He started plastering a coat of arms he’d had made up to promote his plan for a golf course in Scotland. The Lord Lyon made him stop using it.
    
    In the US, I suspect the only thing you’d have to worry about is copyright…
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      The Lord Lyon is a badass. He can try you as a criminal for heraldic crimes.
- ecologist
  
  And do you want to be the one to explain the rules, and why it’s not legit, to the electric bear? riding on the electric shark? on the lightning bolt? Really? Just sayin.
- mccrum
  
  Yeah, here in the states we don’t really truck with “legit” when it comes to family crests created by children under 10. But then, we had a nastier divorce from the Old Country and still refuse to put the Queen on our money. This thing is too awesome for any government agency to say no to.
  
  ‘Merica: Just Make That Sh*t Up, Yo.
awjtawjt

My family crest is in the form of a bolt of lightning destroying the part of Kansas kansas is in, or wherever that locality might be if it isn’t Kansas.

The electric bear crest is 1,000,000x awesome.
Anonymous

Hmmmmmm… Inverted, awesom-ified variation of the Homestar Runner “Bear Holding A Shark”, anyone?
HarveyBoing

Of course, here’s the image that the original artist found to be the best interpretation of his original design: http://i.imgur.com/sh578.jpg
Anonymous

8 Years? Can’t image how he’ll be drawing when he is 10!…
Anonymous

My family crest depicts a large crest beating the shit out of other family crests.
Rich Keller

I, for one, am anxiously awaiting all of the impending the Axecop/Electric Bear Riding an Electric Shark Riding a Lighting Bolt crossover art.

@HarveyBoing – The one that you posted almost looks like WWII nose art.
Enormo

Bad ass. Still, a monkey with a knife riding an aligator is far more dangerous. x2 if the monkey is a robot.
Robert

SIMILES SVMVS VRSO ELECTRICO QUI PISTRICEM ELECTRICAM VEHITVR QUAE FVLGVREM VEHITVR: MIRIFICVS.

“We are like the electric bear which rides the electric shark which rides the lightning: awesome.”
Robert

Also, the bear’s smile is hilarious.