Project CBRunway 3: Challenge 9 Voting Thread

[mattbib]

Welcome to the runway!

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(s) with the least amount of votes may be eliminated.

As the winner of the last challenge captainbosh cannot be eliminated in this round.

Affinity forfeited this round and is out of the competition.

CHALLENGE 9: ABRACADABRA

For your ninth challenge you must reimagine a popular Marvel mutant as a modern magic-user. While their personalities will remain the same, their essential powers are now a result of specialized magic. Their costumes and looks should reflect their new sorcerous origins instead of their scientific ones.

You will be judged on originality and creativity and how well your redeisgn evokes "magic" while maintaining the character's recognizabiltiy.

In addition to the required written description explaining material, functionality and design inspiration, you may include a brief new origin for your character if you wish.

Please vote using the poll, then feel free to make comments or ask questions about this challenge or these designs within this thread. Now let's start the show...

[mattbib]

Accountant Bobby Drake lived the quiet life of a stuffed suit; work 9 to 5, hang out with co-workers at the local bar on Fridays, unsuccessfully try and pick-up on Saturdays and then waste Sunday on videogames.

Until an unmarked package came across his desk one Tuesday morning. He always got the miscellaneous mail no one else wanted to deal with, those bastards. Inside? A couple of old-looking silver rings, some bizarre symbols in a language Bobby couldn't read inscribed on the inside.

"No note, of course not," Bobby muttered. "That'd be too easy. Maybe I can sell them or something."

On a lark, Bobby slipped the two rings on each ring-finger, and promptly froze his computer. Boy, was that hard to explain to the boss...because he was fired soon after. Unemployed, broke ("I can't believe I had to pay for that damn computer"), unable to take the rings off or keep from freezing everything in sight into a block of ice ("I am NOT hitting the head for awhile"), Bobby went to the one place that might give him insight into his strange new bling: Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted.

There, it was revealed the rings were mystical Norse artifacts, only able to be removed when the wielder fully mastered their powers. Bobby has a ways to go, but in the mean time he's joined Xavier's team of X-Men as Iceman.

Hell, he hasn't got anything better to do.

Costume
The modern mystic comes in all sorts and sizes, from plain-clothes (the new Doctor Fate, Tracey 13, Black Alice) to the blatantly 'I'M A MAGIC-USER' (Doctor Strange, Zatanna), so I went with a subtle blend of the two. It's not exactly armoured uniform, but it's not giant-collar-top-hat either.

Bobby can't turn to ice or anything like that, so he's just a man dealing with SUBZERO TEMPERATURES constantly. He's gotta be warm, so I went for the modern cold-weather look. Mostly 'ice' colours for the main visual, so a thick white long-coat with blue buttons and piping, a blue scarf. Black matte leather boots with blue highlights, as well as black soft-leather pants and gloves. And of course, the 'X' belt.

His abilities are all still the same. From what I've learnt, Bobby had never reached his full potential, and has been further investigating his powers, which works quite nicely with what I have here.

[mattbib]

Siryn is the result of the ill-conceived communion of the Lady of the Lake and an Irish Banshee known as Cassidy. As such, she has inherited the water-based spell casting of her mother and a variation of the death-cry of her father. A banshee is said to wail when he senses death approaching, but poor Siryn is in fact drawn to only those deaths of a violent nature and her wail more like a beautiful sad song. Banned by the rulers of magic to interfere in the death or retribution of these poor wretches, she instead wandered the mystical lands and realms of the UK in deep sorrow. That is until a pact with the Selkie king of Scotland releases her from the bind of non-interference...

I wanted to give a contemporary edge to this character. I wanted to avoid dating her or having her come across as some kind of touchy feely wiccan stereotype- you know, all naked dancing under the moonlight with twigs in their hair. I tried to imagine how she could fit into a modern comic, something I've tried to do with all my designs so far. People often comment on how I don't go far enough with my designs, but in my opinion, in the comics industry its important other artists can use your design. I've seen so many brilliant designs that are filled with individual designer's style that just go horribly wrong when handled by anyone else- the Dodson 'TLC' Storm being a prime example. More importantly, I tried to keep it so that it was obvious this was a magical analogue of the Siryn we all love, hence the greens and yellows and high collar!

[mattbib]

Origin
Pietro Django Maximoff received his mystical powers the old fashioned way... he inherited them. Awesome magical power runs in Quicksilver's family; his Father, Magneto and his twin sister, The Scarlet Witch. Pietro's skills manifested in the ability to move his body at supersonic speeds. As a sorcerer, Quicksilver is constantly refining the presentation of his gifts.

Costume
Not only is Quicksilver able to battle his foes with incredible speed, his magical flair for the dramatic requires clothing to match. He selected a simple cape and collar in a rich midnight blue tone. In the dark he cuts a shadowy figure which incites fear in feeble minds. The cape can easily be removed to reveal a sleek body suit whick allows Pietro very little wind resistance. Again, to suit his need for visual impact, his dark action wear is detailed with (quick) silver striping that evokes a dragon's skeletal striping pattern. Often, while his foes are recovering from their apprehension by him, they think they were attacked by an animal.

Inspiration
Quicksilver already looks like a wizard with his distinctive platinum hairstlye. A cape and collar were mandatory to achieve that magic-user look. I thought of Merlin from that movie in the early 80's. I thought of dragons and I thought of Batman as other influences on how a magician might use super speed to apprehend wrong doers

[mattbib]

Rachel Summers is determined to find out the truth behind her parent's death. Having known that Jean, her mother, descended from a long line of powerful witches, she had herself learn every magickal stuff there is to know from her Aunt Sara and grandma Katherine- who then reluctantly informed her of the existence of a Grand Grimoire. This grimoire contains the most powerful spells in human history, said to have been written by the Grigori themselves. Unfortunately, it is now in hands of a vicious coven known as The Hellfire.

On the night she successfully stole the grimoire, with the help of her aunt and her very concerned grandma, she saw a woman who looked just like her mother - roaming the halls of the Hellfire mansion. That woman turned out to be a homunculus in the service of a certain Lord Sinister.

It would be several weeks before she could track down and confront this Lord Sinister...but he wielded such tremendous power - forbidden magicks and the knowledge of the old gods. She was nothing but a mere insect compared to him, even when she used the attack spells infused with her telekinesis or anti-magick spells in the Grand Grimoire. Her power is simply not enough.

But before she got hit by a death spell, her mother's gold bangle started to shine and vibrate. The bangle has the essence of the legendary Phoenix, the mythical creature had a contract with her mother when she was still alive. Rachel was completely engulfed in flames. She was screaming in pain for what seemed like an eternity...and then it became silent. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by light. She was not with the Lord Sinister anymore, she was in a place of pure light, boundless and eternal. And from behind her someone spoke...

"Rachel..."

the look.
goth, a Balenciaga dress i saw before, sailormoon, an old Rogue picture, Bakla's Marvel Girl redesign...all of these helped and inspired me to create this magickal version of Marvel Girl.

i had second thoughts of using the green and yellow color scheme, but i guess Marvel Girl wouldn't be Marvel Girl if it weren't for her trademark colors. i just added black here and there to make it more interesting.

and if you would notice that nice shade of lipstick and gorgeous blush she's wearing? i'd like to thank my friend and housemate, Prince, for helping me pick those colors. hahaha!

i obviously tried a different way of coloring stuff...it looks quite nice, so i guess the gambit paid off.

[mattbib]

In giving Storm a magical background, I decided to look into the locale of her origin, Cairo, Egypt; where she lost her parents and spent her youth. I thought it would be interesting if the source of her ‘magic’ came from interest in cults that followed ancient Egyptian polytheistic religions (which I found do exist!).

Origin
As an orphan living her childhood as a thief in Cairo, Orora Monroe never trusted people enough to create friendships or have substantial parental figures in her life. Instead, through spiritual exploration, she found comfort and guidance in the study of Egyptian gods and goddesses. As she immersed herself in the study of Gods like Ra (Sun), Amunet (Primordial Air) and the goddess Anuket (the Nile/Water) she found that she could gain connections to the aspects of the world that they represented. The greatest connection with a god that Orora made was with SET, the god of storms. Through intense study, meditation and eventually communication with SET himself, Orora started to be able to affect and control the air around her. To create a greater connection, Orora adopted the name, STORM and created a staff that mimicked the staff of SET to help her gain even more control of the weather.

As Storm developed her new found spiritual powers and used them to aid in her thief lifestyle, she started to develop a connection with a mother and protector goddess known as LUSAASET. This connection drove Storm to rethink the use of her powers to help and protect those around her.

Costume
Storms outfit combines modern costuming with traditional, ancient Egyptian attire. Her leather body suit is tough and protects her. The head-dress is based after the crown of Cleopatra, however I replaced the cobra head with the hieroglyph head of SET. The neck cuff was decorative armor from the time that was mostly worn to be ceremonial but I thought would be something she would wear to feel connected with the time. The half skirt, staff, arm cuffs and boot cuffs are garb of the hieroglyph representations of SET. As for color, It ended up that the color schemes of Storm’s outfit were only a step or two away from matching the schemes of SET himself.

[mattbib]

Origin
Jeanne-Marie Beaubier is not a mutant in this universe. Instead of being born with her powers, Jeanne-Marie received her speedster ability when she realized the place she was sent to, Madame DuPont’s School for Girls, was actually a school for witches. The nuns that run the place were all in disguise while practicing and mastering the dark arts. And while the majority of them would fail and never get any special powers, Jeanne-Marie quickly became the most powerful young woman in that old castle. Crazy as she is and suffering with her personality disorder, AURORA (as she baptized herself) actually believed she was now an old-school witch. So she always carries a broom and a poor cat named Balthazar around, whenever she’s flying through the Canadian sky as super-human speeds and blinding the normal folks with her light.

Costume
I wanted to make AURORA more like a witch, so I put her in a dress and changed the normal white she usually uses to dark blue. But Jeanne-Marie is also really… er, liberal with her clothes. Sometimes. That’s always been her struggle. That’s why I added the fishnets (torn) and the non-covered legs. I also thought she would be great under a hood, like the old one she used once.

[mattbib]

Making Jubilee Magical
I wanted to have Jubilee’s plasmoids be living creatures that Jubilee summoned and controlled. Everything kinda builds around that.

Instead of manifesting mutant powers when being chased around the Hollywood Mall, Jubilee was whisked away to Limbo by a stepping disc. A demon wanted to use her to recreate the Darkchylde. But he underestimated how mouthy Jubilee could be. Or how fast she could run. Instead of being turned into a demon Jubilee took off and another stepping disc landed her in Faerie.

For a short time Titania and Oberon of Faerie kept Jubilee at Court as an amusement. But they grew tired of her and made her a kitchen slave. It was in the kitchens that Jubilee met an older gentleman who rescued her form the drudgery, took her under his wing, and taught her about the various intrigues and powers at the Court of Faerie. He also taught her some hedge magics and some glamours. He and Jubilee spent much time wandering in Faerie having adventures.

The demons of Limbo decided to annex Faerie and gain control over its powers. Jubilee’s mentor, Robin Goodfellow, was summoned back to the Court to help plan Faerie’s defense. Jubilee left a kitchen slave on the run but returned as the protégé of the Puck. Puck and Jubilee were sent by Titania to the edge of Faerie where they were to persuade the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or, very powerful pixies, to help the Lords and Ladies defend Faerie from the legions of Limbo.

The demons had also tried to woo the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or. When the pixies refused the demons attacked. Puck and Jubilee arrived in time to help the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or. Jubilee nearly died saving the Queen of the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or. In gratitude the Queen promised that Jubilee would always have the services of the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or. Jubilee was given four gemstones and was taught a series of summoning spells.

Jubilee and Puck journeyed back to the Court and Jubilee used her new powers to save Faerie from the demon lords. Titania, wary of Jubilee’s new abilities, banished Jubilee from Faerie. Using a pair of enchanted shoes, Jubilee wished herself back to Earth, returning mere seconds before her younger self was whisked away to Limbo. Jubilee herself summoned the stepping disc that took young Jubilation to Limbo, setting in motion the chain of events that led her back to the Hollywood Mall.

Jubilee has some minor natural magical ability, enough to enable her to perform spells. But she needs objects to do any major magic. She has the four jewels of the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or , which she uses to open a path from Faerie to Earth so that the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or can come through. She also has a pair of magical shoes that she can use to travel anywhere she wants.

The P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or
Jubilee’s pixie friends, the P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or, are very powerful. They are made of pure magical energy. When they translate into our universe they glow bright and move quickly, enjoying the wild feel of our mostly scientific plane. When they translate back to Faerie they leave behind a lot of rather explosive energy. The P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or are fun-loving and always smile. They basically think of their trips to Earth as an amusement park ride.

Jubilee, unable to pronounce P’a’tr’ealis Aman’e’or Fash-et-m’or, calls the pixies Pafs.

The Costume
I wanted Jubilee’s costume to resonate to her original costume but also bring in some other influences. I kept the red, green, and yellow color combination. I made green the more dominant color and used the red and yellow as accents. The jacket is meant to be more playful and fey, hinting at Jubilee’s time in Faerie. The red shoes are a Wizard of Oz movie reference. I wanted a little bit of a manga feel to the costume as well, hence the spiky hair and the stockings. The fishnet/diamond pattern is a nod to Zatanna. The designs on the jacket resonate to the tattoos of the Pafs (and also are my nod to Steve Ditko’s odd little geometric flourishes). I wanted the costume to be funny and spunky and slightly trashy.

You know, like Jubilee.

[mattbib]

Costume/Inspiration:
I wanted to approach this assignment in a way that wasn’t going to be a “put a robe and cape on her approach” and make Shadowcat look more like a mystical character within the Marvel universe. I wanted to take a Steve Ditko approach to the design, since he developed the look of Doctor Strange and many of the early Marvel magic-based characters. I retained the blue color from the original Shadowcat uniform to connect her to her original identity, and added in some grays and black to help establish some tones and asymmetrical patterns. The material is typical spandex, and meant to be reflective of something a dancer would wear (to connect to Kitty’s early interest in dancing). I incorporated the paw prints to give a little bit of a pattern to the design that reflects the character’s identity (indirectly influenced by thinking about the circle pattern on Clea’s leggings). In this mystical incarnation, Kitty’s skin turns gray whenever she’s in her phased mode (In the face, and arm/hands only – the main gray in the body is still an actual part of the costume) All of the grays are also translucent, so that you can somewhat see through those bits. I did this to play into the “shadow” aspect in her name. I’m not sure what to call the blue triangular sections of material coming from the arms (tendrils?), but visually they felt like something natural that Ditko would incorporate into one of his designs, so I went with them. These tendrils only appear when Shadowcat is phased, and will stun/slow an opponent if they pass through a person (I’ve set this up to act as a alternative side-effect to the original Shadowcat’s electrical disruptive capabilities while phasing).

I added a magical familiar to the character as well. in the form of Lockheed the cat. I could have kept Lockheed as a dragon since dragons are mystical, but once again I wanted to keep Shadowcat more grounded to the cat identity. So as a magical familiar, this felt a little more natural. Lockheed can also phase through objects like his master, walk on air, and in addition can change his form into a panther to provide protection to his master.

[mattbib]

Origin
Anjelica Jones had always been fond of magic, but as she matured her interests turned toward the occult’s darker side.

Demon resurrection and possession became her new focus. After years of research, Jones was finally able to open a doorway to another dimension… the Realm of Fire. Terrified, she quickly closed the portal. Jones continued her magic studies and discovered ways of viewing this new world as if through a window and began to chart its secrets.

By the age of 13, she was convinced she was ready, and determined to try the unthinkable. Jones entered the Realm of Fire once again by re-opening the gateway. Using a variety of spells and incantations, Angelica shielded herself from the Realm’s inhabitants and the environment itself till she found what she was searching for–a Methane-Demon. Jones assaulted the creature with all her knowledge of sorcery, and finally succeeded in capturing it… depending on your perspective.

Angelica imprisoned the Methane-Demon within her very own body. Using a self-possession spell, the demon was drawn into her, and simultaneously coupling that with a five corners chant, it became trapped within her body indefinitely. As she suspected, Anjelica immediately inherited all of the Methane-Demon’s powers. She was now capable of generating vast amounts of heat and fire as well as being able to wield it in a variety of ways. Because of the bright blue aura she now generated while using her powers, she dubbed herself Firestar.

Powers
The biggest difference in Anjelica Jones’s powers are the hue. Rather than the traditional glowing orange and red of fire, the flames Jones emits are blue because they are primarily composed of methane gas. The powers she inherited are very powerful, and wildly inconsistent. The Methane-Demon is constantly trying to effect it’s escape, and while it’s efforts are always unsuccessful, the build up of power during these attempts borders on overload. Often Jones will need to fly to an area free of life, and release the excess energy. It is not known what would happen if she did reach critical mass, and if it would destroy or her or not… or perhaps release the demon. She’d rather not find out.

Inspiration
Because of the nature of her powers, I thought it might be interesting to play with possession rather than straight up spells. I wanted to imagine what she would be like if a demon was the engine behind abilities… thus the methane version of Firestar... which for the record, would unfortunately be a little rough on the nostrils.

[mattbib]

Alison Blaire was born on Long Island, New York in 1680.

When Alison was 16 years old, she was caught dancing and singing in the forest, free and naked, claiming to hear beautiful voices that came from dancing lights. Promptly, she was accused of witchcraft by several male elders of the village and sentenced to hang by none other than her own father, Judge Carter Blaire.

On the day her execution and at the hanging tree, a short prayer was uttered and the stool was kicked away. A brilliant flash of light blinded the crowd, and as their vision cleared, they were dumbfounded to see an empty dangling rope where Alison Blaire’s body should have been.

She had been rescued by her mother: Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Titania, while posing as a human on Earth by the name of Katherine, had fallen in love with Carter Blaire and given birth to his child. Judge Blaire had discovered her secret not long after Alison’s birth and had furiously cast out his wife. He had resented Alison her whole life because she was not only a reminder of his beautiful wife, but she was also half-fairy.

As the Princess of Faerie, Alison was granted eternal youth and beauty as well as schooling in fairy magic. However, Alison never forgot that she was also half-human and wanted to return to the human world to fight the prejudice that had nearly taken her life. She returned in the modern age, only to find humanity in need of love, hope, and beauty. She quickly began spreading her message. She became known as an inspirational messenger (although the press would refer to her as a Cult Leader) of peace that the disenfranchised that flock to her call The Dazzler.

The Dazzler does not want to get involved in heroics, and instead wants to focus on preaching the subject of harmony. However, she also realizes that occasionally, for the greater good, she must get directly involved to stave off more violence with violence.

Powers
Fairy magic is based off of balance (some would say thievery), and part of that means that nothing can be created without taking from somewhere else. The Dazzler’s special magic means that to create fairy light, she has to “steal” the sounds around her. Most often, she prefers to steal hateful words that are being spoken to replace it with beautiful, soothing light.

Costume
I found that Dazzler’s costume kind of lent itself to looking “magical” already, so I opted to heighten the collar and show off as much skin as possible, since the light emanates from her skin. I added the mask, which serves the purpose of allowing her to stay on Earth without strain, because after several centuries in Faerie, she has become more fairy than human. She needs an enchanted piece of her home realm to prevent herself from being whisked back at any moment. I added the baubled, light-catching necklace as part of her royal history. The wrap was added to bring in some more color as well as being a sort of “princess train.”

[mattbib]

Born without vision, Scott Summers was recruited by Xavier early on, because he seen a certain gift in him.

After a year at the school Xavier gave Scott the cycloptian sphere which only Scott was able to use. The sphere grants its holder the power of sight, future sight; which is a dream like vision of a potential future and the ability to "hold" a person with it's paralyzing "ruby gaze". The gaze is like an electric current and does no damage to anything else.

[mattbib]

Magnus Mandrake, now known as Magneto (The Magnificent), spent his early teen years imprisoned in a Nazi Death Camp in Poland, where he was forced to help run the ovens, gas chambers, and fire pits of the camp. In his later years, he wrote: “At the time, seeing the elementals of metal, I thought they were just part of a fevered mental state, caused by the horrors around me. Little did I know that they were trying to reveal to me my birthright of power. Had I understood my mystical abilities then, the Nazis would not have succeeded. As it is, I know all too well the oppression of humans, and will never allow them to usurp or destroy our rightful place. We WILL survive, and we WILL triumph.”

Magnus suffered many losses over the years: his wife, his children, his home: all due to the machinations and power games of conflicting governments. Finally driven to the brink of insanity by loss and the recurrence of his “visions,” he sought help from the mystics of the Himalayas. There he learned that the strange creatures in his visions were real: elementals of metal, and of magnetic energy. He learned to befriend them, to control and direct them, using them to aid his ever-growing power and skill.

But the bitterness in his core put him at odds with his mystic teachers, and one day he set out on his own, to hone his skills and to change the world. His new goal: further the cause of the mage-gifted, and ensure that, as the next step in human evolution, they were armed to fight for survival against normal, fearing humans. Knowing the darkest heart of the human soul, Magnus knew in his own mind that someday, humans would try to destroy the mage-gifted---and Magnus wasn’t going to wait around for that to happen. To him, it was, and always would be, War.

Costume & Abilities
Magneto has always had a certain arrogance to him; therefore I put him in the formalwear attire of a stage magician: tophat and tails, etc. However, his suit and hat are made of a metallic mesh, because Magneto is entirely comfortable in metal, and it provides both protection and also gives him greater physical contact with the elementals he works with.

The tophat is also spelled to protect him from the intrusions of a certain mentalist, Charles Xavier.

He also wears metallic accoutrements, including some very shiny and nifty spats on his shoes. Magneto always carries a cane sword; in the pic he’s drawn the sword (with the cane sheath in his other hand): that’s because he uses the sword as a focus for casting magical energies. Also in the pic is his familiar: a special dual elemental formed by combining one from the metallic plane of the aether, and one from the magnetic energy plane. This elemental also helps focus spells and lends power, it can fight with terrible force, and (unlike a stage magician’s dove) it takes the form of a metal hawk, though it can go fluid or unseen as well.

He carries a bag of tricks (metal objects) and one of ground iron dust for spot spells, and also carries coins and lodestones stamped with various magickal sigils which he can toss down and use for foci in doing more complex spells.

Magneto is capable of drawing energy from the “magnetism” and “metal” levels of the magical aether; also in using those to cross between this world and others and back, including the astral plane. He can also uses magnetism energies from his elementals to fly, and to manipulate any metal object.

Inspiration
Lots of stuff on magic, but also Mandrake the Magician character.

[mattbib]

Piotr was a gentle soul who loved the arts, but one day, he discovered, hidden in a painting, a dark secret. Now whenever Piotr ushers the magical words, he begets an ancient mythical armour, thus he became Colossus.

Inspiration
I wanted his basic costume to be simple. None of that crappy sword-and-sorcery garb, as if the wielders of magic are somehow stuck in medieval ages.

I took Red and Yellow accents for the costume as those are the colours I tend to identify with Colossus as an X-man.

The armour is like that of a knight, a crusader perhaps, since I wanted something that wasn't too outlandish. Sleek and simple, for a modern age, an almost liquid organic armour.

[The Tyrant Virus]

My initial favorites are Siryn, Marvel Girl, and Quicksilver. Haven't read the concepts for any yet, but look-wise those are my quick glance faves. I like Firestar too, but it doesn't scream "magic" to me.