The microhero forms are an easy way to dabble in superhero costume design and recreation, and I've recently completed a casual project of illustrating the members of the My52 Legion of Super-Heroes. If you didn't read the original pitch, the idea was that the Legion of Super-Heroes, after resurrecting Superboy and Kid Flash in 'Legion of 3 Worlds', take responsibility for him and invite him into the 30th century to rekindle his heroic spirit and teach him how to live up to the name of Superman (in much the same way they were inspired by legends of Superman themselves).
I spoke a bit in the original post about the membership of my Legion, but I've since dropped Dawnstar and Shrinking Violet. For Dawny, I couldn't find a way to make her stand out from the similarly-powered Comet Queen, and Violet always felt extraneous in a group with someone who could turn invisible or actually shape-shift into a mouse.
So to make my LoSH lineup official, here are my cartoon doodles of the team:
Brainiac 5: A slight tinker with his purple jumpsuit to make the top cross-button like the classic mad scientist he is. And while I didn't care much for the recent addition of that heavy-looking lab coat, I don't mind the addition of a slighter lab vest he could wear.
Chameleon Girl: This is pretty much the costume she wore when I first met her in 'Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes', but I shaved her head to give her the more alienesque bald Durlan look. I also saw an alternate costume with the wide collar and I liked it so much I added it on.
Comet Queen: I didn't change a thing. Not only does it seem improbable (if not impossible) for her to change the appearance of her mutated comet body, but it completely worked for me when I first saw her and continues to do so now. If anything, I'd like to see her 'comet hair' a little cloudy, especially when she flies, but that doesn't come across too well in 8-bit drawings.
Cosmic Boy: A straight translation of his current uniform as seen in 'Legion of 3 Worlds' and beyond. I did tamper with extending the front grey area down past his belt a bit, that that's just a slight flourish to break up the line.
Duplicate Damsel: Her current costume's a real throwback to her past outfit as Duo Damsel. At first I was unsure why they used the two-tone outfit when she can now create more than two duplicates, but then I said 'meh'. If I were drawing it, I might say that all the duplicates that pop out of her left side are orange and all the ones from the right are purple. That would help single out the original DD in a crowd. I kind of wanted to re-add her old short cape, but didn't. There's still time, I suppose.
Invisible Kid: The current outfit for IK is the most forgettable thing I've ever seen on a Super-Hero and did a total redesign for this project. It's obviously inspired by his classic black and yellow body stocking, but I added some details to break up the uniformity. I also added a hood just because it seemed fitting for a kid who could turn invisible, and nobody else had one.
Kid Flash: To make a fresh start in the 31st century, Kid Flash modified his costume a bit, and I modeled the changes on the character design from the Young Justice cartoon. I think it's hilarious that he keeps the mask, since (almost) nobody else in the Legion bothers with a secret identity.
Lightning Lass: Like Cosmic Boy, a straight translation of her current look in the comics.
Phantom Girl: Around this time I started to notice that none of the women in LoSH have sleeves, so I added some on for Phantom Girl. I wanted to break up the silhouette a bit, since otherwise it's just a colorless body stocking with cleavage windows. I tagged back to her old bell-bottom look, but interpreted them into long-cuff boots rather than bells. Finally, to put some flow into her movements, I added a scarf. Visually I want to see it wafting about on the nonexistent breeze whenever she's intangible.
Polar Boy: Unique among the modern Legionnaires, I hate Polar Boys new look, especially since his classic, Steve Lightle, look was so defining. So I decided to just put him back in that, since the contours and piping actually fit the style of the modern Legion more than many others. I did decide to ditch the silver cap, but rather than give him ice hair (which looked really unimaginative when used recently), I gave him a punkish mohawk of sorts in a frosty white color.
Sensor Girl: Initially I liked that they added some skin to her costume since it makes a neat contrast between the full-face mask and the exposed shoulders and cleavage. After drawing that style, though, I discovered that I missed the angular paneling of her first design and went retro with her. Fortunately the shoulder pads didn't survive, but there may be time in the future to add back some skin for that contrast I mentioned earlier.
Shadow Lass: She's had a lot of costumes over the years, but any attempt I made to move away from her traditional 'bare-minimum' look always left her unrecognizable (which is weird 'cause she has blue skin...) So I tried to keep the bikini look without getting too slutty, mostly trying to achieve this by adding a skirt/butt cape to her costume.
Superboy: Currently he's wearing jeans and a t-shirt and I HATE that look. It really looks like he doesn't care, and that may be the root of the problem the Legion is trying to solve. So step one to get him back on track was to give him a Superman jacket with a little more color to it. A jacket has been part of his costume since his first appearance, but this one is modeled after the one worn by Tom Welling toward the end of 'Smallville.' He's still got the black t-shirt under there, but this is a good first step.
Tellus: No changes here. He's a hulking fish creature who wears a water tank on his face. I can't think of anything that needs changing.
Tyroc: The Legionnaire most in need of make-over from his first appearance and I do declare he got a great one in the pages of the New52 'Legion Lost' series. This is that pretty much verbatim. Why does he have goggles? No idea! Isn't that great?
Ultra Boy: I don't know why I always picture Ultra Boy as kind of a greaser, but there it is. I gave him a pompadour hair-do and took the sleeves off his uniform. Otherwise, this one's mostly inspired by the outfit he wore in the post-Zero Hour Legion.
Wildfire: I came across this version accidentally and fell in love. The visible, churning energy in his body and faceplate say more about this character than anything else. I did add on a fuller chestplate to include the winged star symbol, but otherwise he's all Kirby Dots. Kudos to the designer (as well as the original microhero artist who translated the energy so well).
