Forgive the long description, but this is something that's been rattling around in my head for a while.
Something different this week. After seeing Mooney's class Cyclops a couple o' weeks ago i remembered that when i was a kid i used to love to redesign the costumes of the X-Men, Cyclops especially. So, at the risk of being presumptuous, i thought i'd have a proper go at re-designing his costume.
I can't say i really like any of his designs over the years... i grew up with the Jim Lee design so i have a certain affinity for that one and i think the Quitely design was really good, but kinda over-leathery looking. A common design for Cyclops is the 'dome' look, but i always thought he looked stiff and awkward whenever using his powers.
It seems to me, he could use a more iconic costume, one that mixed all the previous designs, so i came up with this. It's got the military trousers/gloves that remind me of the Jim Lee 'pouches' design, and the 'jacket' aspect of the Quitely degign with one added aspect; a hood. With a hood, you have something that is reminiscent of the 'dome', but more contemporary. Plus; it gives you an opportunity to black out his face in shadow and just draw the glow from his optic blast, making him much more graphically interesting to look at. This guy is the leader of the X-Men. He should look cool. This is my *attempt* at doing so.
Dec.
(NB. I actually have a design for a shirt under the jacket, to vary his 'look' but didn't get to show it here)
13 comments:
Nice pic, Dec. It's always good to see Scott get some love, he's always been one of my fave X-Men characters.
First off, I'm loving the fact that you've got the old-school 'X' taking up most of the jacket -- I'm a sucker for the original Jack Kirby costume designs so that's a nice throwback right there. The muted blue with the bright, contrasting yellow on top is a great touch too, very iconic.
I'm also liking how urban you've made Summers look here, it gives the guy a very modern look which is nice. However, I think you could do with losing the hood - it's a nice idea but it makes the jacket look like it's a special Winter-gear costume or something. Perhaps a tighter jacket would have done the trick? Also, I think this costume would be more suited to a teenage/early 20s Scott, the guy is surely in his 30s by now and to be honest I think he looks like one of those guys that doesn't know how to dress his age. Then again, I've always seen Scott as being the 'starch collar' (though that is a huge cliche by now) of the team, so I always imagine him being more suited to stiffer/militaristic looking costumes.
Oh, loving the gloves by the way, nice touch with the bands of yellow.
Anyhoo, great pic Dec, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we'll be seeing your name on an X book!
Great concept, loving the hood. Agree with John, and maybe a slightly tighter jacket would Olderify him about 10%.
He does need a massive X on his crotch, a target for all the ladies.
Hope you post the other ideas for this.
Brilliant stuff.
Really like the pose and 'bad boy' treatment you've given him.
Have you thought about submitting this to the guys at Project Rooftop?
http://www.tencentticker.com/projectrooftop/
I think they usually spotlight stuff like this for industry pros... free publicity can never be a bad thing!
Arctic-Attack Cyclops!
Kidding man, I actually love this. The only crit I'd have is the gear is pretty heavy/cumbersome looking, like he'd only wear the coat as you say in certain conditions.
All that aside - LOVELY drawing. You've really got the coloured screentone thing working the way you'd wanted here.
And also, what's with all the well-reasoned, relevant comments? Where's the scorn, the hate?
Oooh OOOhh Ive got some. "All hes missing is his Skateboard!!" Ah im just kidding, iv had a week to come up with that cz Dec very kindly put his Micks piece back a week to do a symptoms drawing for me. Great drawing
"To the shops, my X-men! We can hang around and intimidate the older villains".
*There's* the scorn...
John; valid points one and all. To be honest, losing the hood is a dealbreaker for me, as it was the whole centrepiece for him to look different to the other designs he's had, but you may be right as regards the winter-y jacket. Seems to be the general consensus.
Glad you like the gloves. I didn't get to show it here but i worked an X motif into the gloves to make the bands of yellow. Maybe i should do another drawing to show them (and the undershirt) off, incorporating a slimmer jacket.
Mansloth; that X crotch now seems mandatory.
Kevin; no, i never thought of it... mainly cuz the stuff on that site is pretty... well... good!
Mooney; Glad you like it as i've been burning your ear off about it for a week or so. Yeah, the screentone worked out pretty well here i'm happy to say.
I'd wear this!
I agree with Mooney,the clothes look way too cumbersome to be leppin about fighting in.I say unbaggy the trousers in the future.
But that`s the only real thing that takes away from this pic and it`s not even that big a problem.
Really liking the tone,it ties it in with the characters "60s"roots(don`t know if that`s what you were going for,but it works).
Nice stuff, I like the colours and the fact his eye beam isn't your standard blast. Sorry if that sounds weird but I'm not familiar with the Xmen. S'cool :)
Really good piece. Would like to see the rest of the team made over too.
Great design. Like something John Paul Leon might have came up with.
Ah Mark, you totally made my day by saying that.
Hell; you made my year.
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