Monday, July 20, 2009

You Could Do Worse, Cassie

Cassie's Wonderful Threads, 2009, ink with digital color.

Summer's a great season for superheroes and superheroines. Something about athleticism and primary-colored costumes, perhaps?

Cassandra Sandsmark, the current Wonder Girl, celebrated the new year (2009) with a new costume. Image above and words below I composed in response ...

... Oh, Cassie. I see you've changed your costume again.

You've conjured a new pair of jeans, donned an armored collegiate sweater, and dropped the bracers, even. There's a colloquial charm in these (arguably) street-ready threads but are they appropriate dress for superheroics?

Consider your predecessor's clothes: Donna's costume in NEW TEEN TITANS was a wonder of economic, elegant design, truly a heroine's costume. Her current starry suit ain't half bad, either.

We'll spare you an all-red get-up; you tried that and, I must agree, it didn't always work. Also, we must control the blue, lest we mistake you for Kara, and temper the star motif, lest you remind us of Courtney. We'll respect your decision to omit the bracers, despite my uncertainty regarding your motivation for that decision.

Just wear it on your next couple of adventures, Cassie. Should it fail to wow friends and foes alike, we'll try something else.

Fondly, Jonathan McNally

Cassandra Sandsmark created by John Byrne. Wonder Girl, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and related elements are trademarks of DC Comics.

13 comments:

  1. some really sweet work man. you make it look so easy to draw girls. on a side note i had order the fannie firecracker mini comic a week ago. is there any way i can track it ?

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  2. Thanks, Jasreet! I dig what you've posted on the ol' DB.

    I fulfill my Fannie orders a week at a time, so I dropped yours off at the post office this morning. I didn't request tracking but I think other folks in Canada have received their copies within a week of the post date. :)

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  3. hey Jon
    i LOVE your style! deceptively simple yet utterly badass.
    supergirl's a winner!

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  4. Hey Jon - got my books today- thanks for the chuckles and the inspiration :)

    My final verdict was that Ayn Rand is in fact 50% full of it, like every other philosopher really. Of course, unlike their heroes, the philosophers themselves are all too human, eh? I mostly like what it has to say about artistic ideals and integrity, but not so much about the human condition. Any thoughts on it yourself? I even watched the movie, but I don't want to waste too much comment space here just spouting my mouth off.

    And, also, great Wonder Girl. Your shapes are magical, sir - as is your penmanship - I can't even bring myself to toss the envelope.

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  5. Thanks, Ben and Brian, for your compliments, both of which contain the word ass. Is there a message here?

    Ben, your work is both enticing and unsettling. Whom do you consider to be your primary influences? I'm guessing there may be Japanese artists I don't know, but Manara and F. Solano Lopez also come to mind.

    Glad you liked the mini-comic, Ed.

    I, too, was left with mixed feelings about The Fountainhead. I was certainly engaged through most of the book but there were some parts that really didn't sit well with me. As pure fiction, I thought it frequently ham-fisted.

    Look for e-mail with a recommendation. :)

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  6. hey jon just got the firecracker mini comic. it is so cute. i was wondering if you printed it yourself or did you get it done professionally ? but any way thanks for the comic

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  7. Glad you think it's cute, Jasreet!

    I printed it myself and, to my chagrin, it wasn't much less expensive than if I'd had one of the local shops do the job (with possibly snazzier results).

    Live and learn!

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  8. Your drawings are like a big sigh of pleasure.

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  9. Fantastic costume, even more fantastic shapes and line work. You are still tops sir.

    JV

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  10. Thanks for the visits, Joey, Andy, and Jeremy!

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  11. Sorry to disappoint you, Ben. Still, you can safely anticipate at least a few posts in the coming weeks. :)

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