Inspiring!
This is some really magnificent work- that guy really got his money's worth!
He stands out so effectively, and looks so totally BRUTAL it's hard not to just study it for minutes in awe at hardcore he looks. The shading and inkwork gives him weight, the red is powerful, and brown fits, and the sword reminds me of Heavy Metal (this is a good).
The scratches and imperfections in the armor are used sparingly, but just enough to imply density; I like to point that out because I have a bad habit of not knowing when to stop with "battle damage", and it was used well in this. The pose is menacingly cool! The name in the background also knits in an effective way to memorize the name, and it doesn't try to stand out all campy-like...I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this as a pro comic-book cover.
The brown papery texture REALLY works well with it all, too. As a learning artist, I'd love to just pick your brain about this- What was the hardest thing to do about this artwork? How exactly did you manage to pull off that texture in the background and over the cape, and what's YOUR personal favorite detail?
Great job! Fav'd and fived!