Throwback Thursday: Supergirl Nu Redo

From June 2011

"SupergirlNu Redo
Pencil Sketch, Inked and colored in Manga Studio EX 4.0, Renders and background in Adobe PSE 2.0

So a lot of my art lately has been influenced by the announced relaunch of the DC Universe. In the earliest days of the interweb frenzy, there was a rumor circulating that the DC editorial bigwigs had required pants for all the female characters, following on their revamp of Wonder Woman.

I'm all for more practical costumes for female characters. I'm one of the few who prefer Dinah Lance's grey jumpsuit from the Chuck Dixon era of Birds of Prey over her more famous fishnets, for example. But for some characters it just doesn't work, and the big one that sprang to my mind is Supergirl.

Supergirl has worn a skirt in most of her incarnations, though there have been exceptions. (The most notable is the red hot pants and poofy-sleeve blue top from the 70's.) The most recent incarnation has drawn some (somewhat justifiable) criticism for her barely there miniskirt, which I can totally understand.

The thing to me is, the big hook about Supergirl is that she is very much a girl--but with Superman's powers. It's right there on the cover of her first appearance. Superman's all "It's a girl!" as the Girl of Steel flies out of her rocket, and Kara's like "Yup--and I have ALL your powers!" Supergirl was introduced to bring in female readers--and how cool is that for a little girl to see? "She's a girl, just like me, but she can do anything Superman can!" So I think it works that Supergirl's costume be a little, well, girly. The other thing about Supergirl is that she's younger than Superman, which is why her costume keeps changing with the times. She wants to pay tribute to her famous cousin, but she's gonna keep her own identity as well.

Anyway, all this thinking about Supergirl prompted me to take a spin at giving Supergirl a costume that was a little more practical while still being "girly" and fashionable. (Because clearly I know better than the professional editors and artists at DC. </sarcasm>) I was pretty happy with the outcome, so I scanned it, colored it up and posted it here. If nothing else, I think it has a lot of joyous energy, which is something else I associate with Supergirl.

(In the meantime, we've seen that the "pants" rumor has been exaggerated--and Supergirl herself is a prime example of that. The direction they seem to be headed with her, which I admit is interesting, also makes the Earth fashion inspired costume I drew much less appropriate, as this Supergirl relates more to Krypton apparently. Sadly that will probably suck some of the joy out of her, too. At least the costume isn't bad--open-kneed boots notwithstanding.)

*Supergirl copyright DC Comics."

*****

This one holds up better than some of my older stuff, and I still kind of like this design.