Project CBRunway: Challenge 3 Voting Thread

[mattbib]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/mattbib/My%20Drawings/Project%20CBRunway/d029820c.jpg

Hello. Welcome to the Runway! As you know, in fashion, one day you're in and the next you're out.

PLEASE VOTE for the entry you feel best completes the challenge. Voting should not be based solely on art ability. Ultimately, however, voting is completely subjective. Participants may vote for themselves. The designer with the least amount of votes may be eliminated.

The winning designer will walk away with an exciting prize pack, inluding Project Runway -- The Complete Second Season (DVD), How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way (Paperback), and an assortment of professional artist supplies!

CHALLENGE 3: COMMERCIAL APPEAL
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.

Please vote using the poll, then feel free to make comments or ask questions about this challenge or these designs within this thread.

Let's start the show.

[mattbib]

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.

[mattbib]

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.

[mattbib]

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

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.

[mattbib]

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.

[mattbib]

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.

[mattbib]

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!

[Affinity]

You are to relaunch Lady Death with the intention of appealing to a much larger, all-ages audience.

Wow. When I was thinking about what I would draw for the Play Along @ Home thread, nothing could come to mind. Lady Death was such a raunchy, disgusting character, so over the top with the fabulous hair, horribly proportionally body, and that costume was atrocious in its simplicity. I tried some stuff last night but nothing looked good or reasonable, I had no idea what to draw.

And this is why YOU guys rock. ALL of you guys. If I had a month I wouldn't be able to come up with something, whereas most of you did it in 24 hours, I noticed.

OkieDokie, that's just amazing. AMAZING. Everythin about it just blew me away, and my jaw almost dropped. It's just so great to see such professional artwork in a thread like this. She's alive, she glows, and she's still Lady Death. I like that, a lot. When I see this image, I think LADY DEATH. And this from a kid who's always seen Lady Death as the white chick from hell. I think the only thing I didn't like was the teenager thing, but that's simply a personal thing. I love how it's still Lady D, despite having pink skin and being a teen. You captured Hope perfectly.

Atoning, man! That's so awesome! I love the collar, first of all, it totally suits what the task is asking for. Long time fans of Lady D would be a little happy, I think, to get her out of the Barbie art she was in and into this more realistic, noir kind of look. I was thinking Constantine when I saw this. Looks to me like Hope doesn't want IN on any of this, she just wants her soul back. And this is my interpretation just off your post, nothing more. You captured Lady D in her best demon killing form. And the idea that the narrator be the 1,000th demon!? That's just so hot, man.

Ugh, look, I'm out of time.

Gonzogoose, I love the skull on her chest. Totally wicked in the Superman sense!

Meethra, I love how regal she is. She's royalty. She's scary. She's Lady D. Excellent.

Scott, I love the knee pads and skulls everywhere. Your Lady D looks like a LOT of fun.

And then there's Dan. 3 Votes in a row, my friend, I don't know what it is about you. You're wonderful sense of writing and art, I must say, is one thing. I was floored when I saw your design. You got it. Perfectly. This is one thing that would be fun to read, Faded would have it as her avatar, it'd be on pull lists, artists would WANT to draw it, writers would love to take a run with it...this is Lady D for the WORLD. Above all, this is something I can read in front of my parents, something I can flip through whenever I want without worrying about stupid lines or overt pictures.

I love it all. You've got the face down perfect, the body wrapping exactly right (a bit mummy, but it oddly works) and that sword looks perfect for demon plunging and soul retrieving. Another vote from me.

Excellent work to all of the designers! Keep it up!

[Arvandor]

Are any of you aware that Lady Death WAS redesigned for an all-ages appeal, when she moved over to CrossGen? Some of these designs are good, but Ivan Reis' design is better.

http://www.avatarpress.com/ladydeath/LadyDeathMed-01.jpg


Anyway, my opinion: There is no question that 'manga Lady Death' looks the coolest. However, the challenge was to make her more appealing to a mainstream, all-ages audience. I could see many readers saying that she still looks like a 90s whore.

As far as mainstream appeal goes, Meethra's dreamgirl design is also good. Very slinky and sexy, without showing too much skin. I like it. But its not Lady Death.

ScottSimmons 'virtual Lady Death' is a good one too. She definitely looks very much the warrior. Nice background ideas too. But a bit too generic for my taste.

The bandage-wrapped Lady Death isn't too bad. But not as good as the above.

The two 'street' Lady Death's are not appealing at all. She ain't street, and that look doesn't suit her at all.


So it comes down to 'manga', 'dreamgirl' and 'virtual'. The virtual look is cool, effective and practical, but a bit too dull. The dreamgirl look is sexy without being whorish, but it lacks the warrior look.

Which leaves me with the manga design. It's my favourite. It is cool, seductive, and says "Lady Death is not someone you ever want to mess with." All vital elements of her character. I worry that it may not have a more widespread appeal than the old design, which was the challenge, but the designer gives adequate justification for her ideas, and seems to believe the added elements will make it more appealing to girls and manga fans. Considering what I've seen of manga, this is probably true.

So, the 'manga' Lady Death gets my vote.



The original is still the best, however.

http://www.avatarpress.com/ladydeath/LadyDeath-01.jpg

[ScottDMSimmons]

Are any of you aware that Lady Death WAS redesigned for an all-ages appeal, when she moved over to CrossGen?


Yes. Matt provided us with a Wikipedia link to an entry with both versions, and a few of the posts in the round announcement thread refer to this version of Lady Death.

I also mention this version in my design comments, as I was inspired to make the sword electrical based in the "energies" of Medieval Lady Death's sword.

Still, it's nice to see it posted so others can see it if anyone didn't know.

Scott

[howyadoin]

The original is still the best, however.

http://www.avatarpress.com/ladydeath/LadyDeath-01.jpgHighly debatable. At the very least, that picture has godawfully ugly hair.

[Gonzogoose]

Are any of you aware that Lady Death WAS redesigned for an all-ages appeal, when she moved over to CrossGen?

Actually, that was more of a redesign to fit the fantasy audience of Crossgen moreso than all ages. But to each his own.

I for one can't stand the original and have never had the slightest desire to pick it up, so this challenge brings on a whole slew of new possibilities for the character with much more interesting takes in my opinion. And it also gets rid of the Pop queen-esque distasteful (read trampy) costume she usually dawns. :)

[Jaye]

Highly debatable. At the very least, that picture has godawfully ugly hair.


Hardly noticed the hair.

[atoningunifex]

I had browsed through some stuff about the CrossGen Lady Death, but it seemed to me to be in the same vein with less flesh showing.

The challenge was to redesign Lady Death for all-ages and for wider commercial appeal. Despite the ginormous success of the Lord of the Rings movies, sword-and-sorcery really isn't mass appeal inducing.

Lady Death might not be "street", but putting her in a more realistic setting opens up more story possibilities. That was what I was thinking when I was working on my design.

[Gonzogoose]

I had browsed through some stuff about the CrossGen Lady Death, but it seemed to me to be in the same vein with less flesh showing.

The challenge was to redesign Lady Death for all-ages and for wider commercial appeal. Despite the ginormous success of the Lord of the Rings movies, sword-and-sorcery really isn't mass appeal inducing.

Lady Death might not be "street", but putting her in a more realistic setting opens up more story possibilities. That was what I was thinking when I was working on my design.

Well Said!

[Arvandor]

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3267/ladyuglyzx3.jpg

The more I look at that, the more I like it.

I like the way she says she would have kept the origin mostly unchanged for this design. I keep thinking about how the story would have run, and how it could have made the original story much creepier and more horrifying.

She's 400 years old, but in the body of a sixteen year old girl. The dichotomy of such a cute little girl wearing that outfit and slaughtering demons would have been very effective.

But even creepier, what if Ernest Fairchild had also been younger when she came to him. What if he had been but ten years old or so, when she seduced him into killing his parents, and then only being a couple of years older when she transformed him into Evil Ernie, and they embarked upon their campaign of Megadeath.

That's what I keep thinking of: the cute-looking Lady Death above, and Evil Ernie as an undead zombie child. The idea of these two apparent children unleashing a zombie holocaust could have been creepy, disturbing, and very cool.

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

Manga Lady Death? He wasn't talking about mine was he? Mine looks like manga? Really? >_>

Just because I dont use heavy black shading? Or is it something else? I mean... Well I just hope "manga" wasn't used as a slur in this instance. Manga could be a compliment but on a western comic board it could easily be an insult too.

Sorry if I messed it up.

*gets all insecure*



P.S.- 90's whore? Psh... She is clearly a modern medieval whore. Duhhhhhh... :P

[howyadoin]

Manga could be a compliment but on a western comic board it could easily be an insult too.I've never seen it used as an insult here.

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

I've never seen it used as an insult here.

'kay. Most of my friends (*cough*fabian*cough*) who like regular comics give me hell for liking anime/manga. I got the impression it was frowned upon in general. But these boards are pretty friendly so maybe they are different.

Sorry, I'm just insecure today. No offense meant.

[Fabian]

'kay. Most of my friends (*cough*fabian*cough*) who like regular comics give me hell for liking anime/manga. I got the impression it was frowned upon in general. But these boards are pretty friendly so maybe they are different.
You know it's just friendly banter! You want hell, ask these guys to tell you what they think of me for liking Gambit. Or for liking the Clone Saga (even the Scarlet Spider).

And you know I think you have amazing talent.

[Gonzogoose]

I personally don't like Manga, but I understand its appeal...I think...

Anyway, yes, yours has that Manga/Anime influence without a doubt. That's the first thing I thought when I saw it.

And no, generally Manga isn't used as an insult around here.

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

You know it's just friendly banter! You want hell, ask these guys to tell you what they think of me for liking Gambit.

What's wrong with Gambit? I want to have his babies.

[howyadoin]

'kay. Most of my friends (*cough*fabian*cough*) who like regular comics give me hell for liking anime/manga.You must keep in mind that Fabian is a bad, bad man.

[bakla]

Manga Lady Death? He wasn't talking about mine was he? Mine looks like manga? Really? >_>

Just because I dont use heavy black shading? Or is it something else? I mean... Well I just hope "manga" wasn't used as a slur in this instance. Manga could be a compliment but on a western comic board it could easily be an insult too.

Sorry if I messed it up.

*gets all insecure*



P.S.- 90's whore? Psh... She is clearly a modern medieval whore. Duhhhhhh... :P
I definitely thought yours looked like it had a manga/anime influence. I think it's the facial proportion: large eyes and pupils, heart shaped female face and proportionately small nose and lips. It's not a bad thing, and it certainly makes a sexy outfit like yours seem more All Ages because of the almost child-like features. That style of ingenue Manga/anime look (as opposed to their versions of a sexpot) diffuses the sexuality a bit, yet it's consistent with how Lady Death is as a character... well, at least for as far as I know her. I can't stand that whole 90s Bad Girl genre, so I really don't know what the character's about...

[Pól Rua]

For me, this one came down to OkieDokie and Veggie Goat.
But first, let's check the others out...

atoningunifex and Gonzogoose both went for a kind of streetwise, street-level take on the character. Unfortunately, it's just not an approach that works for me. Kinda like the reverse of the Angelic Punisher. Some nice designs but yeah, the concepts just didn't grab me.

meethraa's concept was probably the strongest. I love the idea that the main character is not only the bad guy, but someone who rarely appears 'on-stage' but still has a presence that infuses everything. Tasty good. Plus, I consider a nice evening gown far, far sexier than a bunch of leather straps and cups.

ScottDMSimmons once again turns in some gorgeous artwork, but it just didn't work for this character. A bit too superheroey. Plus, the whole MMORPG angle struck me as a little dodgy. It's like the old gag, the best way to tell a trend is dead is if Marvel is designing a character based around it.

Vegetarian Goat once again turned in a well-thought-out piece of art. I liked this a lot. It was definitely Lady Death, but all-ages. I imagine this is how the character would have looked if she'd first appeared in a Slave Labour Graphics comic instead of a Chaos! one. Reminded me a bit of Jay (Jetcat, Tutenstein, Land of Nod) Stephens.

But man, Okiedokie's artwork just blew me away. Dang. That's some beautiful stuff.

[atoningunifex]

Manga Lady Death? He wasn't talking about mine was he? Mine looks like manga? Really? >_>

Just because I dont use heavy black shading? Or is it something else? I mean... Well I just hope "manga" wasn't used as a slur in this instance. Manga could be a compliment but on a western comic board it could easily be an insult too.

Sorry if I messed it up.

*gets all insecure*



P.S.- 90's whore? Psh... She is clearly a modern medieval whore. Duhhhhhh... :P


Honey, given that you're winning by miles, I think you can have some slight assurance that no slurs are being made to your wonderful piece of artwork.

[Xetal]

As a dyed in the wool Chaos! Fiend my view is if you get her to appeal to all ages, she's no longer Lady Death, almost by definition. That view died of low circulation ages ago, but if you want a different character why not give her a different name?

I find OkieDokieArtichokie's the best take - because she looks unlike the original, is attractive in her own right, and I'd not be too offended if a character looking like that were to be a different person altogether even if nobody thinks of a different name for her.

Just from the comments in this thread I'd question the wisdom of calling her Lady Death, though. Too many people might be put off buying her: not only those who disapproved of her Chaos! persona, but also those like me who revelled in it.

[howyadoin]

Just from the comments in this thread I'd question the wisdom of calling her Lady Death, though. Too many people might be put off buying her: not only those who disapproved of her Chaos! persona, but also those like me who revelled in it.It's a creative exercise. Nobody's actually trying to sell comics here.

[mattbib]

A little over seven hours to vote, art fans!

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

Scott, I voted for you, okay? I think you're the best artist here and I can see how your design would be really mainstream. Good job! Do you draw comics professionally? It looks like it came right out of a professional art book or something.

[Gonzogoose]

Scott has actually been working with me on a project off and on for a year and a half or so, and it looks great! He's the man! :)

[mattbib]

Hello. Welcome to the Runway! As you know, in fashion, one day you're in and the next you're out.

Vegetarian Goat, your design was well thought out and the story was one judges would like to read. You are in.

atoningunifex, your design would please fans of this character. Judges loved the noir feel. You are in.

ScottDMSimmons, your design is fun and evokes the warrior spirit of the character. You are in.

.::OkieDokieArtichokie::., your design is amazing. The manga-influence definitely brings an all-ages feel to a character who has been anything but. .::OkieDokieArtichokie::., congratulation, you are the winner of this challenge.

Gonzogoose, your design has an iconic, street feel to it. Good job. You are in.

meethraa, your design is strong. Sexy, regal and original. But judges weren't sold as strongly as they were on the other designs. meethraa...

You are out. Auf wiedersehen.

[Arvandor]

atoningunifex, your design would please fans of this character.

No it wouldn't. Take it from a Lady Death fanatic. We'd hate it.

It's actually fairly similar to what she wore during the "Alive" saga. We hated that, too.

No offense intended, atoningunifex. It wouldn't be a bad design for anyone else, but it would ostracise her core following.

(Which is why Arti's redesign is so great. It successfully fulfils the challenge of redesigning her for wider appeal, while still maintaining the appeal for hardcore fans.)


Meethra's was my second favourite, though. That should have gone through.

[ScottDMSimmons]

Okie, Brant, and Pol, thanks for the nice comments!
This is a fun contest and it's great to be involved.

Scott

[ScottDMSimmons]

Scott, I voted for you, okay? I think you're the best artist here and I can see how your design would be really mainstream. Good job! Do you draw comics professionally? It looks like it came right out of a professional art book or something.

Thanks, Okie! Congratulations on the landslide win!

I teach art computer programs at the college-level, and do freelance artwork for companies, small business, and other organizations. I used to work for Hasbro Toys as a digital photographer and hung out with the conceptual and marketing artists over in Licensing alot, and tried to get hired on over on that side to help make GI Joe comics and visualize Transformers cartoons, but that didn't happen. And supposedly, I made it in the San Diego souvenir book both years I sent in artwork, but that's pretty much fan art.

I am still trying to make a big break into comics. I have two projects in the works. Like Brant (GonzoGoose) said, he and I have been working together on a project called "Wannabez" for a while now, with big hopes for it. I also have my own series I'd like to do someday. Anyway, another batch of submissions materials are on the way out to several companies. I feel I've improved greatly since last year, since submitting to artists communities like http://www.globalcomicjam.com , and would totally recommend that site to any artist here.

Scott

[meethraa]

Looks like I'm out.

Well, thanks to everyone who voted and commented on my stuff.

It's been fun.

[mattbib]

Looks like I'm out.

Well, thanks to everyone who voted and commented on my stuff.

It's been fun.Personally, I'm sad to see you go. Your stuff has been pretty strong. Hopefully you'll play along in the accompanying thread.

[meethraa]

Personally, I'm sad to see you go. Your stuff has been pretty strong. Hopefully you'll play along in the accompanying thread.
Thanks Matt!

To tell you the truth, before the first challenge I hadn't use the drawing tablet in quite a while, and I was a bit insecure and didn't think I'd last as long as I did, so it's all good.
And really, I'm much more of a write than an artist (and definitely not as good as as these other folks) so I was always spending a lot more time thinking of bios and plots than the actually designs, hehe.

But I'll definitely keep playing. :)

[howyadoin]

I'm much more of a write than an artistPsst. They're called "writers".

[.::OkieDokieArtichokie::.]

Psst. They're called "writers".


You bitch.





:P

[meethraa]

Psst. They're called "writers".
Err.... no hablo inglés..?

[Affinity]

Congrats, Okie!

And Meethra, you did an awesome job. Hopefully you'll continue practicing with the tablet and team up with the writing!

[meethraa]

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

[howyadoin]

.::OkieDokieArtichokie::., your design is amazing. The manga-influence definitely brings an all-ages feel to a character who has been anything but. .::OkieDokieArtichokie::., congratulation, you are the winner of this challenge.I hate to say I told you so.






Aw, who am I kidding? I don't hate it at all.