Wonder Woman Week: Wondergirl

Sorry for fizzling out on the "whole week" of WW; my day job and book production got in the way.

Long story short on Wondergirl: she originally appeared in the pages of WW's comic as simply WW as a girl (in non-continuity stories). The editors of the Teen Titans series was asleep at the wheel and made her a member (in continuity stories), creating a long history of trying to explain her existance.

My drawing is after Gil Kane's famous revamp of her in the early '70s. Her costume was a marvelous blend of practical (pants! no cleavage on display! low-heeled boots!) and impractical (magic lasso as her belt! necklace and medallion! and matching wrist bracelet—not pictured). I love the field of gold, silver, and black stars wrapping around her body.

I had drawn a similar one for a fan @ NYCC which turned out horribly, so I had to do it right. Looks like I need another silver star on her hip though.

I'll also use this when I re-make my packaging for my custom Mego Wondergirl. If you're not familiar with Mego action figures, or the fervor for customizing them, I really can't get into that here and now. It would probably require a whole blog devoted to it.

Wonder Woman Week: bullets and bracelets

Drew this @ Comic Con during a signing, which helps attract attention.

Wonder Woman Week: transform

While I think the twirl-change from the TV show is great, this sketch is inspired by the way WW would transform herself in comics in the late 70s.

Looping her lasso around herself, or leaping through it would complete the transformation from Diana Prince to WW. I liked always seeing part of each outfit, as you can here.

Otherwise, the sketch is inspired by the 50s bathing beauty WW (original series #s101-104).

In the 40s, even with the bad art, WW had an in-style hair-do and a costume that said "I'm not going to stay at home and cook for you".

Just when she was feeling dated in the 50s, she began looking more and more like a bathing beauty. Starting with #84, and reaching a pinacle with #s 101-104, she looked quite nice.

But with #105, even with the same artist, she was instantly transformed into an ugly, stern prison matron, and remained so for most of the 60s. She was so far out of fashion for the period, it's fascinatingly ridiculous. I'd love to know the editorial decision behind that.

Sure, the de-powered mod WW from the late 60s isn't quite my scene, but at least it was a modern take on the character. And, I do love Mike Sekowsky!

Anyway, practice leaping through a lasso at home if you get tired of twirling.

Wonder Woman Week: WW vs. Cheetah

I've been criticized from time to time because I haven't given enough airtime to Wonder Woman. So here we go—a whole week of Wonder Woman!

It's the time of year for the annual Wonder Woman Day charity art auction. This is the 3rd year I have participated. Here's how it works: artists (including many past WW artists) donate original art for an auction benefiting a women's shelter in Oregon. There have been some great pieces in the past (do your own Google search!).

After I've submitted my line art, I've colored the drawings, and posted here to Blogspot and occasionally sell as prints. I colored this year's with Painter, again, practicing with the chalk tool. I'm far from great, but I can definitely see improvement from my earliest manglings.

The inspiration for my WW vs. Cheetah is a poster I had as a kid, of the pair wrestling high above skyscrapers. Presumably NYC, as there was a New Year's ball-looking thing on one of the rooftops. For years, I thought, "what is that thing?!?" as it was really tough to tell what was; so I don't feel bad that you will be saying the same about my drawing.


UPDATE: the poster was kindly found for me on the internet. See, kind of tough to tell what's going on.

A thing of beauty

Finally posting this sketch from May. En route to the airport for TCAF, I encountered this fellow on the silver "T" line. He was mid-30s, 5'9", built and scruffy. Very much a man. As the car jostled him about, I suppose the friction of his sweatpants against his presumably naked nether region produced a visable reaction. He had to reposition and stand in such a way to disguise his erection. But inevitably, he could not hide it forever: as he prepared to disembark at Courthouse Station, my suspicions proved accurate. It is a memory I will cherish for some time.

Umbrellacist

Bewteen its short distance between point A and point B, and the thousands of bike-friendly foreigners here, Boston is a walker-biker town.

I myself bike most days to work, year-round. Yes, including January and February. And August. Except if the roads are really awful, then I am too fearful of the conditions to take that risk. I've been knocked off my bike in traffic twice in good weather...I don't need even more negative factors against me!

In June we saw much rain, and I relied on the subway and foot. But one day, I saw this fellow in a horribly busy intersection biking in a terrific downpour, wearing a suit, with a backpack, and holding an umbrella.

Insane! I hope he survived his trek to work.

Mom's garden

I drew this a few months ago and never posted. In recent years, my mom has taken to gardening, and she has a few very nice displays, blooming from spring through late summer. This one surrounds a lovely old birch tree. I was up in NH this past weekend, and was enjoying the gardens again. I like to go up there as much as I can in August. June is very busy for me due to my day job, and July tends to be busy because of comics. That leaves August for some summer relaxing, and escaping the nastiest of city weather. This weekend, I actually helped with a little yardwork! Very unlike me. I also read some comics, and did some drawing. A nice weekend overall. Although, usually on these summer trips, I indulge myself in some extraordinarily light reading (Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, etc.). But this time, I had no such book to read. Maybe I will pull some classic entries from my old blog discussing Nancy Drew. You can find my Dana Girls entry on this blog.