Army Colonel — Animation Character Design Drawing

This drawing depicts a military officer prepared for Pryde of the X-Men, the 1989 animated television pilot produced by Marvel Productions and broadcast in syndication as part of the Marvel Action Universe programming block. The pilot was conceived as a test episode for a proposed X-Men animated series that was never carried forward in this form.

Within the pilot, the character appears in the opening convoy sequence transporting Magneto in a specialized holding cell through the desert. Identified as Colonel Chaffey, he is presented as a military officer with an openly anti-mutant stance and functions as part of the episode’s establishment of conflict between state authority and mutant power. During Magneto’s escape, his gun is destroyed and he is thrown into a canal.

The drawing belongs to Russ Heath’s later period of work in animation, following his move to California in 1978, when he became active in television production design and model work. Heath is specifically credited in connection with Pryde of the X-Men, and surviving design material from the pilot records the translation of comic-derived characters and supporting figures into studio documents intended for animation use.

This example is graphite on paper and measures 8.5 × 11 inches (21.59 × 27.94 cm). It remains in production-used condition consistent with studio materials and production use. The drawing originates from animation production material associated with studio development and has been maintained in archival storage; the sheet retains a photocopied studio production slug at the upper left, and the artist’s initials appear at the upper right.