Moral Realignment Challnge: Starfire and Psimon

In the Moral Realignment Challenge, I imagine how a bad guy would look as a good guy, and vice-versa. Currently I'm working my way through the Fearsome Five and the Teen Titans! Hey, Starfire and Psimon! You're up to bat!

From "Quiz the Question Guy (All-Psimon Edition)" in "Direct Currents" on the back pages of "Brainiac Bunch" #218 (February 1982) on Earth-AAA:

Q: Where did Psimon get his powers? A: Orphan Simon Jones was granted his magic mental abilities by the old wizard Trigon the Terrific!

Q: Why does Psimon wear that dome on his head and what is it made of (the dome, not his head)? A: Now that he's a grown man, only Psimon's special diamond quartz helmet can keep his awesome powers in check when he's outside of his containment capsule.

Q: What happened to the Psimon back-up in CLAIRVOYANT COMICS? A: Psimon is busy adventuring with his pals in THE NEW FEARLESS FIVE. But don't be surprised if he guest-stars later this year in CLAIRVOYANT fighting alongside his former mentor, Doctor Psychic!

Q: Why does Starfire have it in for Psimon? A: In DC SUPERSTARS IN SPACE #6 he prevented her from destroying her home planet of Tamaran.

Q: Is Psimon related to Validus from the LEGION OF THE SUPER-VALIANT comic? They both have mental powers, Psimon wears purple and has a see-through helmet and Validus is purple-skinned and has a see-through head! A: Wow! Interesting theory, but nope! Validus is not Psimon's descendant. Besides, can you imagine your child coming out looking like your favorite outfit? That would just be silly!

Evil Psimon is a creepy monster so I made Good Psimon a handsome hunk. He has that Mister Freeze thing goin' on with the helmet so the fact he's a dreamboat just makes it all the more tragic he can't kiss anybody. (And conceptually, Good Psimon owes a lot to Cyclops, Rogue, Jack of Hearts, and just for the heck of it, Captain Marvel... er, the Fawcett/DC one.) I based Good Psimon's costume on the Evil Psimon's original duds... y'know, the hot pink choir robe with the lace collar? That's where the cape came from. So the terrarium helmet wouldn't get lonesome, I added see-through-plastic-over-white gloves and kneepads. The rest of the costume is done up in shades of purple to coordinate with the cape. Finally, his hair is white, because it goes with the whole colorless/see-through head theme. Besides, I just can't resist a good-lookin' guy with prematurely white hair!

Good Starfire's costume is a flimsy purple number with freakin' daisies or some shit on it, so I made Evil Starfire's costume the opposite of that in several ways:

1. It covers everything except her face and hands.
2. The color is hot instead of cool.
   
3. The shapes are geometric instead of organic. Specifically, that goofball flower thing has been replaced by hexagons.
   

Also, her positively gargantuan Tamarafro of sproingy, curly hair -- or rather, the energy that surrounds it and creates the illusion of a trail as she passes by, is confined to a crest of flames atop the helmet. Voila! Curvy cosmic badass!

Next week: I'm not done with Starfire yet! It's Gender Reassignment Challenge time!

Previous Moral Realignment Challenges:

• Elongated Man and Doctor Light
• Jubilee and Apocalypse
• Iron Man and M.O.D.O.K.
• The Flash and Murmur
• Green Arrow and Clock King
• Nightwing and Gizmo
• Wonder Girl and Mammoth

Moral Realignment Challenge: Wonder Girl and Mammoth

The Moral Realignment Challenge has me imagining how good characters might look if they were evil and vice-versa. Right now I'm working with the Teen Titans and the Fearful Five. This time around it's Wonder Girl's and Mammoth's turns.

So here's another glimpse into the topsy-turvy world of Earth-AAA, where the valiant Fearless Five is locked in a never-ending struggle against the perfidious Teen Tyrants!


From previews of DC comics shipping November 8, 2005, on the "Newsapalooza" website:

The Wonder Girl Loves Mammoth Sadie Hawkins Day Special #1

Written by Bob Kane, Bob Haney, Marv Wolfman, Mike Barr and John Ostrnader.
Art by Dick Sprang, Win Mortimer, Nick Cardy, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal and Jim Aparo, Luke McDonnell and Karl Kesel.
Cover by John Romita Sr.

From the DC archives comes this collection of stories featuring everyone's favorite Fiver and the Tyrant who loves him! Features their first meeting in the now-classic "The Amazon Outlaws of Paradise Ranch!" from Blockbuster #97 (1956). Plus many important turning points in their lengthy (if one-sided) relationship, including "The Day Mammoth Betrayed Blockbuster" from Explosive Comics #325 (1964), "The Way-Out Wedding Crimes of Wonder Girl" from Fearless Five #16 (1968), the two-part "Love Hunt" from New Fearless Five #37 and Blockbuster & the Insiders #5 (1983) and "Tender Trap" from Homicide Squad #32 (1989).

On sale November 8 * 120 pg, FC, $7.99 US

Good Mammoth looks younger and handsomer than his villainous counterpart. An elephantine gray replaces the black in his color scheme, and the vaguely S&M straps and studs are gone. After all, what right-minded individual would put a superhero in a gimp suit, Mister Bendis? I designed a stylized "M" symbol for him that looks like a mammoth's head, and put tusk-like curlicues on his mask. His great shock of strawberry blonde hair is meant to evoke the fur atop a mammoth's head, and I think it just begs to be tousled. The long gray boots and gloves are remeniscent of an elephant's legs. He's relatively hairless because that's just how it was done in those days. And yes, good Mammoth is indeed the kid sidekick to a good version of the old Batman villain, Blockbuster. Also? Mammoth and Wonder Girl = Moose and Big Ethel from Archie Comics.

I gave Evil Wonder Girl a cowgirl theme for a couple of reasons. For one, I wanted to avoid the Greek-armored, militaristic bad-ass cliche. For another, I just thought it would be fun. And finally, the lasso suggested it. Since she's bad, I replaced the white-starred blue in her original costume with plain old black. And her "W" symbol is meant to suggest a cattle brand. Not that I pulled it off at all, but I tried to make the evil Wonder Girl beefier than the good one -- not because sturdier, curvier gals are evil, but because I thought it would make her a better physical counterpart for the cartoonishly muscular Mammoth (and all his oversized... appendages.)

Moral Realignment Challenge: Nightwing and Gizmo

In the moral realignment challenge, I imagine how a hero would dress if he were a villain, and vice-versa. Way, way back on July 10th, Big Head Boy suggested I morally realign the Teen Titans and the Fearsome Five, "80s STYLE!!!" It took me over seven months, but I'm finally ready to meet him halfway! How's that for commitment? I'll do entries for every member of the Fearsome Five -- which is way more than five, by the way -- and an equal number of opposing Titans. I just would rather not do them in a 1980's style -- and especially not like the 80's era George Perez. I mean, the man is a storytelling genius and a true craftsman, but back in the 80's his costume designs were a bit... much.

So, here's an index entry from the "Fearless Fortress" website on Earth-AAA:

Best of DC (Gold Star Digest) #18 [1981]: This DC Digest contained mostly reprints of Fearless Five comics from the 60's and 70's. It also offered a full-length Gizmo solo story called "Breakup!" Written by Marv Wolfman with art by Carmine Infantino. Gizmo's romantic troubles continue as his on-again, off-again girlfriend Komand'r dumps him for Dick Grayson, a dashing aerialist. Meanwhile, Gizmo is frustrated by his inability to stop Nightwing, an owlish burlgar, from pulling off a series of highrise art thefts. Gizmo finally learns more than he bargained for about the criminal. Not only is Nightwing in reality Dick Grayson, but Dick Grayson is Gizmo's old nemesis from the Teen Tyrants: the Robin. First appearance of the Robin as Nightwing. Origin of the Robin/Nightwing. Reprinted stories: "The Fearless Five!" from "The Good & the Gallant" #54 [1964] by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani [the team's debut], "A Royal Pain" from "Fearless Five" #17 [1968] by Bob Haney, and Nick Cardy [second appearance of the Reasonable Rocker], "Men Call Her... Eve!" from "Fearless Five" #25 (1970) by Bob Haney, Gil Kane, and Nick Cardy [first appearances of Eve Cloud and Mister Zeus], and "Wrongs Over Europe" from "Fearless Five" #46 [1977] by Bob Rozakis, Irv Novick, and Joe Giella [second appearance of the Flops, first appearance of Batman's Daughter].

...Yes, the "evil" version of Nightwing looks kind of like Batman. I already knew I wanted to go with an owl theme for him, and it worked out nicely that the horned owl's silhouette was similar to a bat's. The hard part for me was devising something that didn't look exactly like Batman's costume, and didn't look too much like Owlman's or even Nighthawk's. It probably looks most like Nightowl (from "Watchmen"). I covered the entirety of Nightwing's face to make him more menacing and ninja-like. The feather-like appendages on the sleeves are an homage to Batman's stylized gloves, but I ran Nightwing's all the way up the arms. This is partly in lieu of a cape. I've done bird-themed costumes with capes before, and I didn't want to repeat myself. Plus, I liked the way this costume looked without one.

Gizmo has traditionally been very covered up -- even his head didn't have much flesh exposed, what with the hood and the goggles and the big bushy beard. (His "Outsiders" appearances, with the goofball fu-manchu and braided goatee and the shaved head was not an improvement.) The Bizarro version of Gizmo had to be more accessible for a young audience, so I made him look more youthful. I kept the beard but I lightened it and trimmed it quite a bit. I figured he still needed goggles, but I swapped out his old ones for a style that exposes his eyes. And I adorned his formerly bald pate with a thick mop of hair. I also got rid of the character's pot belly -- which I only noticed in the recent version with the switch from a baggy jumpsuit to skintight Lycra. Honestly, Gizmo, do you know nothing about hiding your figure flaws? (If I had my 'druthers, I'd put Colossal Boy in a tasteful kurta and some genie pants. You heard me, Gim -- if I want to see a flabby man in a cowboy costume, I'll travel back to 21st-century Wichita, a-thank you very much.)