Deke’s latest project turns an ordinary mild-mannered gym rat into a classic, if totally made up, Silver Age comic book superhero. Watch the extraordinary video above—-created by the editing heroes at lynda.com and featuring the song "Massive" by Poppy Brothers—-to see this Photoshop and Illustrator-empowered metamorphosis happen in just over three exciting minutes. Yes, it’s an epic saga of heroic transformation.

If you’re ready for a challenge like this, be sure to check out Deke’s new course, Designs dekeConstructed: Retro Superhero, to see how each step in this Jack Kirby-inspired creation came about. You’ll see how to use Illustrator blends to create the Blue Barbeque’s signature human grill marks. You’ll see how Deke incorporated photographic elements (the flames and smoke) in Photoshop to emulate the comic books of his youth. And you’ll even see how Deke went about creating a custom font (used for the words "Fire Up," below) specially for this project. 

If you’re not a member of lynda.com and would like to check out this course, you can get a free week’s trial at lynda.com/deke. Then you can fire up your design superpowers and set off on your own creative adventure.

But remember: Once you’re a superhero, there’s no going back.