Project CBRunway: Challenge 3

[mattbib]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/mattbib/My%20Drawings/Project%20CBRunway/projectcbrunway.jpg
CHALLENGE 3: COMMERCIAL APPEAL

Good morning, designers!

For your third challenge you will be redesigning the look of a cult comic book character: Lady Death (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Death).

Lady Death has long had a core fan following but has never had great mainstream success. You are to relaunch Lady Death with the intention of appealing to a much larger, all-ages audience.

In addition to the standard requirements of the written description, you should include a short synopsis of your character/story concept.

Submission Requirements

Artwork may be done in any medium but should be in color. In other words, if you submit a black-and-white drawing the costume must be black and white.
Artwork may be no larger than 550-pixels wide and 800-pixels long.
Entries must be inserted into your post, as opposed to attached, using such services as Photobucket.com or imageShack.com. If you are unable to use such a service you may e-mail (mattbib@comcast.net) your entry and we will host the image for you for the duration of the competition.
All submissions should include a written description of the costume, explaining, to the best of your ability, material, functionality, design inspiration, etc.

You have only five days, through Midnight PDT of Sunday, July 30, to post your design within this thread. Failure to complete this challenge will result in immediate elimination from CBR Project Runway. There will be no extensions or exceptions.


Post any questions, comments, or concerns about this challenge in this thread, however please do not comment on submissions until the voting thread is posted this coming Monday.

Designers, make it work!

[mattbib]

Just to clarify, designers who are still in are:

.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.
atoningunifex
Gonzogoose
meethraa
ScottDMSimmons
Vegetarian Goat

[atoningunifex]

An all-ages Lady Death, huh?


Interesting. Very interesting.

[Gonzogoose]

Admittedly not one of my favorite challenges as I have never read Lady Death, nor have no interest to, but I'm up for the challenge.

She's been fully clothed in some of the minis if the covers are any indication, so this will be challenging to say the least.

[mattbib]

She's been fully clothed in some of the minis if the covers are any indication, so this will be challenging to say the least.Fully-clothed doesn't equal all-ages. The design you should be submitting should be something parents would not mind their children reading, yet something that adults might equally find appealing.

[Gonzogoose]

Oh, I know that, I was just thinking out loud from a creative standpoint. Keeping the character true to form and making it all-ages without duplicating what's already been done visually with the character is the challenging part I was referring to. ;)

[atoningunifex]

Fully-clothed doesn't equal all-ages. The design you should be submitting should be something parents would not mind their children reading, yet something that adults might equally find appealing.

This is less a visual challenge and more a conceptual one. Tailoring the look to the backstory will be realtively easy. getting the voters to agree that your concept is all-ages is the hard part. Which makes it interesting.

[bakla]

What breast size constitutes All Ages? :confused::confused::confused:

[atoningunifex]

What breast size constitutes All Ages? :confused::confused::confused:


breast size has nothing to do with all ages. Think Power Girl in the 70s. Every issue Joe Staton would see how much bigger he could make her boobs.

[bakla]

breast size has nothing to do with all ages. Think Power Girl in the 70s. Every issue Joe Staton would see how much bigger he could make her boobs.
Naturally, I was jesting. Although Power Girl, well... her breasts are a force unto themselves. Not that that has anything to do with all this.

[mattbib]

Funny thing is Power Girl was one of the characters thrown around to be redesigned for this challenge...

[meethraa]

So you want an update based on what's already there (history and looks) or the creation of a brand new all-ages character who just happens to be called Lady Death?

I know there's a fine line between the two, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how far I can go in terms of changes...

[atoningunifex]

Funny thing is Power Girl was one of the characters thrown around to be redesigned for this challenge...

Do you come up with the challenges yourself or is there a secret coterie that comes up with the challenges?

[bakla]

I used to love Power Girl's outfit.... back in the 70s. She could be a really interesting makeover.

[howyadoin]

Do you come up with the challenges yourself or is there a secret coterie that comes up with the challenges?I think they made them up while they were drunk in San Diego.

[mattbib]

So you want an update based on what's already there (history and looks) or the creation of a brand new all-ages character who just happens to be called Lady Death?

I know there's a fine line between the two, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how far I can go in terms of changes...For all intents and purposes it should be based on the existing character. Any changes/updates you make to the core character should be explained in your synopsis, keeping in mind that you don't want to turn off existing fans of the character either. This should be a fairly difficult challenge.

[mattbib]

I think they made them up while they were drunk in San Diego.Ding Ding Ding!

[atoningunifex]

I think they made them up while they were drunk in San Diego.

That would explain a few things. I wonder that matt didn't just call this the Drunk Boys Like Tits Challenge then.

[ScottDMSimmons]

Maybe someday someone will dress in one of our costume creations at San Diego.

Scott

[howyadoin]

That would explain a few things. I wonder that matt didn't just call this the Drunk Boys Like Tits Challenge then.Wouldn't that be redundant?

[atoningunifex]

Wouldn't that be redundant?

Some boys don't like tits even when drunk.

[howyadoin]

Some boys don't like tits even when drunk.What if they're on Captain America?

[Pól Rua]

Some boys don't like tits even when drunk.

I'll have yours, then.

[atoningunifex]

I'll have yours, then.

I always knew you wanted my tits.

[atoningunifex]

What if they're on Captain America?

Rob Liefeld is a God of Comics.

[howyadoin]

I always knew you wanted my tits.I can't believe he gave you a set-up like that.

[traxler]

What if they're on Captain America?
Please don't post that drawing.

Please.

[atoningunifex]

I can't believe he gave you a set-up like that.

Yeah, me neither. What a good monkey he is.

[Gonzogoose]

I'm going to have to drop out of the challenge. Below is why. Sorry, guys.

http://www.brantfowler.com/blog/2006/07/skateboarding-accident.html
http://www.brantfowler.com/blog/2006/07/update-on-my-brother.html
http://www.brantfowler.com/blog/2006/07/another-update-on-my-brother.html

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

I'm going to have to drop out of the challenge.

That's bloody terrible. Especially since I am on the verge of maybe needing to bow out myself. Sorry about your brother, though.

[meethraa]

Sorry about your brother, Gonzo. It's good to know that he's making a recovery and I'm sure he'll be just fine in no time.

[mattbib]

I'm going to have to drop out of the challenge. Below is why. Sorry, guys.
That sucks, but I'm glad to read that he's improving. And I understand why you may need to drop out, but IF you have the time to come up with anything feel free to post it. I won't count you out yet...
That's bloody terrible. Especially since I am on the verge of maybe needing to bow out myself. Sorry about your brother, though.
You're NOT dropping out.

Oh, and the prize will be announced before the next round of voting.

[atoningunifex]

Sorry to hear about your brother, Gonzo. Sounds like he's on the med. I hope he's 100% recovered soon!

[atoningunifex]

http://alyxchance.com/ladydeathfinal2.jpg

This challenge was to redesign Lady Death in order to make her a more accesible, mainstream character with wider audience appeal.

I have no real connection to the character Lady Death. I'm certainly not a fan of the big-tittied, swimsuit model, violence drones of the 1990s. So I appracohed the challenge with a little hesitation and a healthy dose of amusement.

Reading about the various versions of the character I found a few things that define Lady Death:

She's got big boobs and is albino.

She was once innocent and now kills because of the actions of demons.

She is a questing character (her quest involves much killing, but it's still a quest of sorts).

At that point I had to start thinking about how to take this cult character and make her into a character with a better chance at market appeal. I also had to play to my own strengths as a designer and a writer. This pretty much locked out the anime/manga Lady Death that I'd toyed with originally.

I actually spent quite a bit of time thinking about what constitutes an all-ages comic. These days it seems that all-ages means cartoony and sarcastic. Which didn't overly appeal to me. So I thought about the comics I read as a kid.

Back in the 70s everything DC and Marvel put out had to be code approved and suitable for all ages. This didn't stop Marvel and DC from putting out some spooky and bizarre stuff. Think Deadman- a comic with a lot of weirdness floating around but still appropriate for a kid to read. That was the kind of feel I wanted for my redesigned Lady Death.

What I needed was one of those blurbs that used to be on the first page of Marvel comics. The kind that summarize the book for you in a paragraph. High concept, comic book style.

After a bunch of different ideas I came up with this:

Hope Sighvatssohn was a normal college student until the day criminal demonologist Lucifer Jones ripped Hope's soul into 1,002 pieces! Jones gave one piece to each of his 1,000 demon servants, keeping one for himself. As an act of cruelty, Jones left Hope with a small piece of her soul, the piece that is her namesake, her hope. Now Hope, armed with the demon hunting Spirit Gun and the Cloak of Seeking, hunts down the other pieces of her soul. For every piece of her soul she must defeat a demon set on causing misery and strife in the world. As she hunts her reputation grows! Men and women welcome her with open arms, their liberator from the forces of Evil! But to the demons and their ilk she is known only as LADY DEATH!

In order to put the stories into context, each issue is narrated by an anonymous narrator. Should the series end it would be revealed that the narrator is the 1,000th demon and that he has been relating these stories not only to us but also to Lucifer Jones.

The stories themselves would be fun- there would definitely be a serious tone to them, one that would thrill the kiddies, but there would also be some more esoteric Sandman-esque stuff and a healthy sense of tongue-in-cheek humor to the book. There would be glancing references to the other versions of Lady Death as well, something to create a little texture.

When designing the costume I wanted a mix of a western feel with a 70s vibe and an 80s quirkiness. So Hope is dressed in a shirt and leather pants and a jacket.

The jacket, which covers her shoulders, tapers in back to her waist and then flares out again underneath. This gives the feel of a cape without being a cape. I chose the red lining to evoke the blood that never gets spilled in the comic.

The shirt is white and has a skull imprinted on it. But the skrull is imprinted on the left hand side of the shirt, asymmetrical.

Hope carries a Spirit Gun made out of bone that she uses to defeat the demons. On her left hip she has a holster with a pouch to carry the pieces of her soul that she's recovered.

The look is simple and could be adapted easily to live acton or animation.


So, that's my submission!

[howyadoin]

I'm going to have to drop out of the challenge. Below is why. Sorry, guys.

http://www.brantfowler.com/blog/2006/07/skateboarding-accident.html
http://www.brantfowler.com/blog/2006/07/update-on-my-brother.html
http://www.brantfowler.com/blog/2006/07/another-update-on-my-brother.htmlJesus. Poor kid.

Glad to hear he's improving, though. I can see why that would freak you out.

[ScottDMSimmons]

Brant, I sent you an e-mail this afternoon.
Prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.

Scott

[howyadoin]

I just found out about this contest a couple hours ago and I'm hoping I didn't need to participate in Contest 1 to join.You're a couple of challenges too late, but you could always post here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=134555).

[ScottDMSimmons]

Matt,

Can we post the concept and description before we post the color drawing?

I figure I'll have it colored tomorrow (Saturday late night/early Sunday). So I can post it then.

Naturally, that's before the deadline, but I wanted to ask if the words could be put up a day before the drawing. I'm really excited to get it all typed up.

Thanks,
Scott

[mattbib]

Matt,

Can we post the concept and description before we post the color drawing?

I figure I'll have it colored tomorrow (Saturday late night/early Sunday). So I can post it then.

Naturally, that's before the deadline, but I wanted to ask if the words could be put up a day before the drawing. I'm really excited to get it all typed up.

Thanks,
ScottThe entry and concept should be posted together.

[ScottDMSimmons]

The entry and concept should be posted together.

Okay! I understand. And really, that's what I thought you'd say but I wasn't positive.

And thanks for answering so soon. So far I've been up all night working on it. Pencils, inks, and now colors. I think I'm obsessed. I will never never sleep.

Can't wait to hear what the prize pack is!

Scott

[ScottDMSimmons]

Here is my entry into this round!

http://www.scottdmsimmons.com/ssladydeath.jpg

The challenge of the contest was to make LADY DEATH both all-ages and mainstream, and also still appeal to the fans of the character. I scrapped the first idea I had for what I thought up tonight, and which I feel is a much stronger concept with some cross-genre appeal. I've kept some of the core elements of the Lady Death mythos and twisted them abit for the new scenario.... which brings in videogames and some nature study.

BACKSTORY:

Matthew Kaos was a man who studied nature and took an interest in life. His main field of expertise was studying skeletal remains of animals to see how they were built, how they lived, how they moved, how they survived day to day, and how they died. He was so fascinated with this, he began to share his studies with his family, his wife and their daughter. His wife, Laura, was a distinct opposite from him, and seemed to only care about computers, how they were built, how they worked, and how they could be used to create fantasy worlds. Their daughter, Hope, grew up in the bizarre dichotomy of the natural and mechanical.

After the death of his wife, Matthew quickly became less concerned with nature, and anything he studied in nature only reminded him of the dear wife he lost. With life, comes death, and Matthew began to pull himself away from anything real and perishable. This transition of mood took time to evolve, naturally, and as Hope grew up, Matthew kept her inside their large home where she could be "safe" as Matthew learned and worked to complete projects that were never finished by Laura.

One of those projects was a large gameworld (called “CHAOS!”) where internet users could log on and play 24/7 in a twisted world with dragons, creatures, knights, fierce warriors, kings, and large armies... all populating a world that was mostly bright and lush, but had dark scary corners such as "Darkworld". The game was eventually finished by Matthew, and he was able to release it for subscription on the internet and make money safely from home. So addictive was the game, however, that even Matthew began playing it every day, and within time he became a fierce champion within the CHAOS! "world".

What he started to forget was the daughter he was giving a sheltered life to. She had grown up to be a nice but confused young and attractive woman, albeit with a pasty complexion. As Matthew delved more and more into playing his own game with his subscribers who were paying him a fortune altogether, Hope withdrew from her father and left the house. Matthew didn't seem to care, but he really did, and his addiction to the game became all he did day in and day out. The world within the computer was so realistic in its graphics, which was something Laura was talented in creating. Each person who played could also use a character builder and thus create a new force within the game. Some people even learned that with some effort, they could also expand the playing grids, and eventually created towns, cities, and with the combination of all their efforts, an entire world was drafted into existence in the game. As more people kept playing the addictive game, millions could play at the same time. But life wasn't being tended to; the players were becoming their characters. Matthew recognized the best player, and had his sorcerer character follow the other character into the Darkworld part of the game. Matthew did a dirty trick, and killed the character, determined to have his character rule Darkworld using his sorcery powers to spread the darkness into other areas of the game.

While outside the house, and having moved on with her life far away, Hope now hears about the game's success and its complete hold on pop culture and society. Unable to return home, as the reclusive Matthew has barricaded it off with security systems, she decides to go into “CHAOS!” via a remote link to try to contact him and save him and the other users from the one game that noone can seemingly stop playing.... and worse, a game noone can seem to stop either… it’s gotten too big for anyone to stop.

Hope has entered the game and called herself LADY DEATH. She knows her dad fears death, and thus that is the mantle she takes, as it’s one she isn’t afraid of at all. She has created an outfit using the character generator that reminds her of the former occupation of her father, and that also give her certain skills and abilities in the gameworld.

All of the other players have become twisted by playing the game too long. The only way to save them is to kill their character within the game. Death within the game means freedom to those enthralled and thus enslaved to it.

Eventually, Lady Death is hoping to complete her mission of finding her father within the game, and by defeating his character, free him from the world he created and cannot escape. Her love for her father is so great, that she is willing to accept the fact that once she defeats him, she will basically be sacrificing herself and will have to take his place to rule the gameworld... thus being the one trapped within playing the game forever. And if she has to do so, she’ll make sure she’s alone.


FASHION DESIGN:

Even though the outfit is actually in the digital realm of the game, it is a tight dark blue-grey tight spandex-like fabric with thick wire-like hems where the red (blood color) parts meet. The black armband (a traditional symbol of death) honors her mother as Hope fights her way through the world to rescue her lost father. At the breastbone is a set of crossbones (part of the fabrics). I wanted to keep almost the same color-scheme as the other Lady Deaths (classic and Medival), so she could be instantly recognized as Lady Death to any fans. You might call this “Virtual Lady Death”.

Lady Death has many animal skulls around her costume, An owl skull is on her head, granting her extra wisdom as she encounters danger and trials in the gameworld. The wolf and cheetah skulls on her legs help give her the gift of speed. Fishbones on her legs serve as decorations but could be used against an enemy during kicks. The fossilized bird wings on her right arm and the elephant tusk she is holding act as weapons or tools when she is without her sword or chooses to use them instead. The beaver skull on her belt acts as a great cutting device and has helped get her out of thick ice. There is a small animal skull with large teeth on her arm in case she needs to use it for defense, and they are snake fangs on her belt, to use in offensive strikes. Her pocket (with a string-tie) can carry anything around its size, although she likes to carry a picture of her family inside.

Lady Death's sword is now made of electrical energies (I was inspired by the power within Medieval Lady Death's sword), and this sword can instantly "kill" any other player she hits with it. Its hilt is a fossilized eagle's claw with a gold ball on its bottom.

Thanks,
Scott Simmons

[mattbib]

Scott, getting the red X of doom for some reason...

[ScottDMSimmons]

Scott, getting the red X of doom for some reason...

I just uploaded the image. I'm still working on the post.

Scott

[ScottDMSimmons]

I'm done. It's all up now.
That took longer than I thought.
I'll check for typos later on.

Scott

[mattbib]

Just under 24 hours to go! Get your designs in!

[ScottDMSimmons]

This looks like it's going to be another one of those nights where I stay up until 3AM waiting for everyone to get their entries in! I'm stressing out for you guys! Make it in. I can't wait to see what all the entries look like.

Scott

[Vegetarian Goat]

Ha... ok.... All ages? Mainstream? That's a tall order for a character like Lady Death. (a character of whom i've never read a comic, by the way....)

I had quite a bit of research to do for this challenge. Also, like Chad with the Vision challenge, my heart wasn't quite in it. It took me a few days to come up with a design that i liked, let alone acutally getting it down on paper. (I had a ginormously busy week, this week.. i'm glad it's over.)

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e309/VegetarianGoat/RunwayLD.jpg

Anyways, when i hear "All Ages", my mind drifts towards things like The Simpsons, Justice League, The Muppet Show, and Powerpuff Girls. Yes, I said Powerpuff Girls. There's a LOT in that show that's not aimed at kids. Ultimately, that's the avenue i was heading towards with Lady Death- an animated series that would be visually interesting and appealing to kids,(and also something that wouldn't have the mothers of the kids calling the cable companies to complain) and with enough story to it that their parents/brothers/sisters/pets could also enjoy it.

I figured that the story would be mostly the same as the comics, but altered in those tricky ways that cartoons alter things- instead of calling it "Hell" and calling the character "Lucifer", I figure the names could be changed to something less specific, but lose nothing in translation. The names could perhaps be metaphoric, such as LD's "real" name, Hope.

Most adaptations/reinventions work best when they're kept closest to the core concept- but sometimes details have to be changed in order for it to appeal to the masses. This is almost mandatory for LD to acheive any kind of commercial all-ages success. The idea of a girl who's wrongly accused fighting her way out of a nether-dimension- fighting for her own salvation is a strong concept, and with the right elements could be a very entertaining production. In fact, i'm imagining it right now, and the way i'd approach it is very similar to the cartoon Samurai Jack. There'd always be the goal to LD's quest- but she'd always be one step shy of attaining it (for the longevity of the series/story)

As for the suit, i felt it necessary to keep the same color scheme as her original suit. I find it appealing that a character whose name is "Death" is mainly a white character instead of dressed up in black. However, the large bazooms and biddy bikini had to go. I made her about the same age, but more of a girl than the towering amazon she was in the comics.

I also wanted to keep the same white/black ratio as her comics look, but since i was ditching the bikini (and i wanted to keep her covered up) i had to do something else- So i have her covered in solid white wrappings that go from her neck/shoulders down to the top of her thighs, making a mini-skirt-ish type thing.

Basically, i imagine her being wrapped up in black leather straps upon her arrival into the nether realm she followed her father into.. (for some reason, black leather straps always mean "evil", don't they?) I imagine these straps to be an outward indicator of her soul- black on one side, white on the other. She chooses to wear white, because she's still basically a good soul, and she's fighting to retain that goodness inside of her.

From a design standpoint, this serves to help give her some fluidity of motion, as well as some contrast to the white of her torso. Two of the straps stand up around her neck, creating a "collar" of sorts, while the majority of the straps fall about her ankles, creating a makeshift cape.

Lastly, i put a skull on the handle of her sword because skulls are cool.

Aaaaaaaand... that's it!

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

Hey veggie goat, did you mean to keep your blues in there? The sketchy blues make her look more creepy and it's cool, but I was wondering if it was intentional or not (since I stupidly forget to remove mine all the stupid time).

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

Mine. It's ugly but I had to do it all when I got home from work tonight. I like shinies, can youtell? Everything in life needs to be more shiny.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3267/ladyuglyzx3.jpg

Well first off, I considered the success of comics and cartoons where the main
character is a kid/teen (ie: Teen Titans, X-Men: Evo, Runaways, NYX, etc...)

I decided that making my Lady Death about 16 would give her an excuse to try
and dress "sexy" without being softcore porn. Just a misguided girl trying to
be more woman than she is. It also lets her have normal sized boobs without
the fanboys being able to complain. I mean, what are they gonna say? "But how
can I oggle this little girl if her boobs are so small?" They'd come off as
even creepier than they prolly already are.

She's still pale, but I wanted her to be a little rosey because it's cuter that way.
Even Swedish girls blush. Besides, we're trying to make her more appealing to a general audience right?

Her outfit isn't so much leather as it's a dark, brushed metal. If she really battles as much as she's have you believe, she'd need something a little tougher. She keeps her thigh high boots and loses the full length gloves. She gets gauntlets like a real warrior. She's replaced the string bikini top thing with a slightly modest corset and her thong is now a pair of hot pants. You see less than you would if she had on a sumer bathing suit, but she still has the Dom/sub thing working for her.

Sorry boys, but MY hell ruler likes to indulge in the ornate. She's decorated
her outfit with accessories carved from the horns of the lesser demons who
fell before her, adorned with carbuncle (the crystalized blood droplets/
amulets). I figure this will appeal more to the raw geek crowd who are more
into "fantasy" than "modern" heroes. Also, us girls think this stuff is
pretty. <3333

And no boring old sword for her; She carries a cursed Halberd just crawling
with souls of everyone it's ever killed. It doesn't do much to augment her
strength but she finds it pretty charming.

Other than the age thing I didn't want to mess to much with her story. I think
I was able to update her look without compramising her already popular
background history.

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

Heeeeyyyyy, did I miss something? Where's Meethraa's entry? He isn't even online... Maybe I just dont see it here, but...






(also, sorry for the triple post. Is that against any rules here?)

[Vegetarian Goat]

Hey veggie goat, did you mean to keep your blues in there? The sketchy blues make her look more creepy and it's cool, but I was wondering if it was intentional or not (since I stupidly forget to remove mine all the stupid time).

I did! I wanted her skin to have that cool/deadish look to it. And by the way-- yours... STUNNING! I think you've got this one in the bag.

[Gonzogoose]

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9264/ladydeathcolorslresmr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

First off, thanks, Matt, for understanding the situation and allowing me to still compete. I managed to get about 45 minutes to work on this tonight, so I apologize for the crapiness of the actual artwork.

Now, after researching the original character's background I realized some things would need to change to make her more appealing to a more general audience. Conceptually I started thinking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed for points of reference on how to make Lady Death more mainstream. But of course not everything could change to keep it true to the character.

In this updated version, Hope is the daughter of an angel (her mother) and a demon (fallen angel - Matthias), both disguised as humans prior to the conception of Hope. Hope lives with her mother into her teens until her mother dies. She then goes to live with her father, who has deceived the church, but the people see through him.

As the people hunt him down he disappears, but they corner his daughter, who casts a spell her father taught her, and it conjurs a demon. The demon tricks Hope into giving up her soul in exchange for saving her life. (Here's where the story changes some).

Hope overthrows the demon lord that tricked her, but Lucifer is aware of her existence. Such a union between angel and demon that was between her parents is forbidden, but it also makes Hope an anomaly. She is powerful beyond imagination. She is the key to the war between Heaven and Hell. Lucifer wishes to exploit that, so he charges her to become the angel of death and destroy all human life to regain her eternal soul.

Hope is on a quest to overthrow Lucifer, and so she targets the scum of the earth, evil doers, sorcerors, and those that are deep into witchcraft, or possessed to keep up appearances for Lucifer. But she is secretly killing off demons to get to the head honcho to take him out.

In her civilian life, Hope is a college student who has befriended a clan of students who happen to know a lot about religious practices, so she enlists their help in her war on Hell.

As for the costume, I wanted to stay true to the concept with the leather jacket and skulls, but still make it more realistic and believable. I made it kind of a rocker chick/bad girl outfit with the jacket and boots, and the skull choker and belt buckle. And the shirt I made a deep red with a heart skull to further compliment the motif. Of course she wears normal clothes during her classes and such.

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

I did! I wanted her skin to have that cool/deadish look to it.

And the lines are so clean. Even with the blue pencils (or usually red actually) I am all messy scribbling all over. I'm the only one that can usually tell where I am gonna put my inks. :P You have a confident stroke. How long have you been drawing?

And by the way-- yours... STUNNING! I think you've got this one in the bag.

You have to say that because we'll all hate you if you say "Haha! You suck I am totally gonna trounce you, you fat ho!"

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

First off, thanks, Matt, for understanding the situation and allowing me to still compete. I managed to get about 45 minutes to work on this tonight, so I apologize for the crapiness of the actual artwork.


*squeal!* You made it!!! And it's not crappy. for a 45 minute drawing it kicks so much ass it's not even funny. You even had time to do perfect leather.

Apparently I'm the only one not keeping her perfectly white. :( I hope I didn't just break some taboo nerd-rule about messing with Lady Death's hot goth look...

[meethraa]

Heeeeyyyyy, did I miss something? Where's Meethraa's entry? He isn't even online... Maybe I just dont see it here, but...

I'm still writing the bio. Got behind on the art. Now the bio is taking way longer than expected.

gah!

[Vegetarian Goat]

And the lines are so clean. Even with the blue pencils (or usually red actually) I am all messy scribbling all over. I'm the only one that can usually tell where I am gonna put my inks. :P You have a confident stroke. How long have you been drawing?

Thanks! I've been drawing for about as long as i can remember. But i don't do it as much as i'd like to. I've been so busy this month.. i feel very out of practice.



You have to say that because we'll all hate you if you say "Haha! You suck I am totally gonna trounce you, you fat ho!"

Phh.. I'll be trouncing no one this round, believe me.

[Gonzogoose]

*squeal!* You made it!!! And it's not crappy. for a 45 minute drawing it kicks so much ass it's not even funny. You even had time to do perfect leather.

Apparently I'm the only one not keeping her perfectly white. :( I hope I didn't just break some taboo nerd-rule about messing with Lady Death's hot goth look...

Thanks! :) As for the all white, that just seems to me to be what makes the character stand out, but yours is awesome also! A lot of creativity this round!

Thanks everyone for the comments about my brother also, he's doing much better today.

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

I'm still writing the bio. Got behind on the art. Now the bio is taking way longer than expected.

gah!

Matt, you HAVE to let him have a few extra minutes. The contest is small enough as it is. :( Pretty please? I don't think anyone here would disagree.

Pleeeeeease?

[meethraa]

Hope I got it in time!

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/3801/final01mb1.gif

Hope is a normal teenage girl, who lives in a traditional suburban town. She never knew her mom (who died giving birth to her), and her dad is an ex-marine who became a preacher after Hope was born.
She doesn't have many friends these days and spends most of the time day-dreaming about fantasy adventures where she's the hero and everyone she knows in real life is either a worthless peasant or a deadly enemy. She keeps her stories to herself though... she thinks she's too old for that stuff and knows that other girls (and boys... especially boys) would make fun of her forever.
She also dreams up stories when she's sleeping, but things are much weirder there. In her dreams she's a queen called Lady Death and everyone in her kingdom is dead. She knows all these people walking around from history books and even people she once knew. Maybe her mom is somewhere around that weird place in her dreams...
Hope is kinda of scared of herself when she's Lady Death. It's like she's constantly scheming strange evil plans to conquer some kind of foreign kingdom or something. Hope feels very guilty every time she wakes up from those dreams...

Making a long story short... :p

Lady Death is incredibly intelligent, resourceful and sarcastic. She's actually everything that Hope could be if she believed more in herself (except... you know... evil), and those qualities are put to test when things start changing in Hope's life. Things from her dreams start happening in real life, and even her ex-boyfriend Ernie turns into a psychotic evil zombie who seems determined to pave the way for Lady Death to step from the dream world into the real one.

The main idea here was to create a young character that everyone could relate to, but without making Lady Death the actual hero of the book. Her design (and personality) is made up from Hope subconscious, so I made her dress a bit reminiscent of the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty while her features and body type are almost the opposite of Hope's. Sort of like the ideal image of how she'd like to look.

Hope's looks are not that important for the contest, I guess, but I just put her there to show the contrast. I was just going to paste a photo but didn't know if that was against the rules.

My Lady Death would not be a superhero book, more like a mystery/horror adventure. Not exactly Buffy, but not completely unlike it either. Since Hope and Lady Death two sides of the same person, I figured it could have an interesting message for kids, like "there's always more to us than meets the eye" or whatever, while at the same time not being the traditional superhero comic that (sadly) could turn off casual adult readers.

[howyadoin]

Nice work, kids.

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