Back in March 2015, Don and I approached Brandon and Jamie to see if they would be interested in designing costumes and characters for a 10 Year Later project tentatively titled
All-Star Academy. Basically, it would be an extension of the All-Star concept we saw in the pre-nu52
JSA relaunch, and other similar heroes-in-training projects we've seen across the years-- but with a DC2 twist, with an older group of heroes mentoring a younger group of legacy characters. There’s loads and loads of creative discussions between Don and I, and loads of concept art also floating about, but today I’ve cut and paste some bits and pieces regarding some of the characters that appear in this issue of
Omega Crisis to share with you.
Obviously… it’s always lovely to see Brandon’s art, and I value getting to revisit his creative genius and share it with those of you who haven’t seen it yet. I said it before, he was so smart, and so savvy, and his art is always a joy to behold. So, without any more of my faff…
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Don: Here's the current cast and art notes for the characters. I'm sending it out once to the two of you and then you two can discuss anything that strikes your fancy. If there's any questions or suggestions, feel free to ask away. I didn't bother making up notes for the faculty, as they're established characters that can be dug up for reference, and the same holds true for Carrie Kelley Robin. As a note, Red Hood Jason Todd might still be Red Hood for the faculty, but he's going to have mellowed out and healed some of the old wounds with the Bat-Family; as a result he MIGHT have an alternate ID. It's something Charlie's playing with. If either of you have a suggestion on that front, cool, but don't worry too much. And now, without further ado: the ALL-STAR ACADEMY.
Don: METEOR Alan Blake, the son of Captain Comet and an unknown alien; Meteor has a solidly athletic build, like a decathlon athlete, bald, with blue eyes and slightly grayish skin; he is able to generate spheres of kinetic energy for various effects
Design by Brandon Herren
Don: SPECTRUM Jessica Jordan, 16-year old daughter of Hal Jordan and Chloe Sullivan, she has taken after her father physically, but with the blond hair of her mother; she seems to have innate GL-like powers, but they also tend to shift colors from time to time, randomizing effects and no one's sure why
Design by Brandon Herren
Brandon: I think the description said her powers shifted between the different lantern hues and energies, so the idea is that her costume has all of the spectral energies swirling and shifting on it. When she zeroes in on using green energy then her overall appearance would become green. If she is using blue then she glows entirely blue. You get the idea. Her symbol is a mash between the traditional lantern insignia and that of the white lantern.
Design by Brandon Herren
Brandon: Sharing a few options. Sorry if there's a second pic. Accidentally hit some buttons. The intended pic shows a few ideas for a mask for Spectrum. A traditional GL mask and then a sleek visor.
Design by Jamie Rimmer
Jamie: I took a little stab at Robin, I'm my head I've always liked her being a bit of a hipster, so I wanted to kinda run with that.its mostly the same as the old design just a couple of tweaks
Don: I'm assuming on the Robin design that the linework implies the leggings stop at mid-calf? Just making sure I'm following correctly
Jamie: I dunno if it's a thing over there right now, but leggings really seem to be a thing(for better or worse) here. And they seem to be staying for some reason
Don: actually, I really LOVE Robin's design. The corset tweak, the scarf, the leggings and bare bottom legs, but a lot of the other classic elements like the swashbuckler sweep to the gloves and boots and all, very cool
Design by Brandon Herren
Jamie: I really like the tunic, scarf and satchel! Reminds me a bit of the new Ms. Marvel which isn't a bad thing!
Brandon: I was going pretty much straight influence from Hakuro/FLCL. But you're right. It speaks very closely of the new Ms. Marvel. Ah well.
Jamie: These characters are coming to life for me. In my head I have all sorts of beats, like I like the idea of really playing up meteors alien - Ness. It always sort of annoyed me how the aliens are basically perfect human specimens. I'd like to explore the differences - also I like the idea in my head of spectrum being friends with him. The alien stuff is going to be nothing out of the ordinary for her with her dad being so linked to the whole galaxy! I could just take the idea of all of these characters and run with it to be honest - all sound intriguing! Costumes: Would we be looking for a sort of retro futuristic vibe here linking into the JSA, or would we be looking for a more modern approach? Like the previous Carrie Kelly basically wearing the original Robin costume, or would we be going off elsewhere?
Don: As for general costuming tips, I'd prefer they each have signature styles that match the heritage they descend from: Stars and Stripes being Soldiers; Minuteman being JSA; Meteor being Silver Age sci-fi; Carrie being Bat-Family; and so on. That's my take, Charlie might have other ideas, and Brandon might have comments too.
