Here's another sketchbook page. I seem to draw Cassandra Cain, Supergirl and the Hulk pretty often. I did this freehand with a Kuretake Fudegokochi brush pen on a sheet of marker paper. Batgirl on the left is apparently pitching some kind of fit; she's really angry about something. The center Batgirl shows a zen-like calm, but I'm not sure about the weird feathery line I gave her shadowed areas. What inspired that? The Hulk looms overhead like something she's dreaming. The way I attached his hand to his beefy wrist isn't really working. And then there's a cheerful, freckle-faced Supergirl with goofed-up shoulders. All that modeling I did on her right side (left to us!) was my attempt at emulating the awesome Nick Cardy; it came out vaguely Dr. Seussian, though.
Cass is in her DC Batgirl suit rather than the one I made up for her. Slap a pointed mask on her and she's practically Black Bat. I'm happy DC has their sales up, and I'm pretty pleased Cass will "appear in Batman, Incorporated in a very big way" along with Stephanie "Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl" Brown. Whether or not I'll bother to read it is another story. The overall aesthetic of what they're doing these days just doesn't interest me and I find I can't really get excited about it, and we're always a year or two away from a new universe-changing Crisis. I'll be in Japan where American monthlies are hard to come by, but maybe I'll download a digital copy of Batman, Incorporated from DC when Cass reappears. Then again, maybe I'll forget.
7 comments:
Yeah, I can't really get too excited about the Bat-books these days, especially when it's pretty obvious that DC has no real intention of ever bringing Cass to prominence again. I guess OMAC or Savage Hawkman or Hawk & Dove are safer bets than a character who held her own title for five years.
Some of the other titles are surprisingly good, but it's sad that I've pretty much forsaken the side of the DCU that I used to like the most.
Every so often I read a little bit about the new books and storyline just to "keep a hand in," but nothing I've read-- including some glowingly positive reviews-- really makes me feel like I'm missing anything by not buying any of the books. It's kind of like hearing an ex has a great new job in another state-- good for them, but I've got my own thing going.
They keep drawing me back in because almost all of the horror books are really good, and I have a soft spot for that genre. But most of the regular DC Universe stuff seems like business as usual. I just don't have much hope for poor Cass's future when they won't even confirm whether she's been Batgirl or not in the new universe.
What's your favorite horror comic? I could probably get into DC's horror comics more than their superhero stuff-- I like my horror horrifying and my superheroes heroic, not vice versa.
Both the new Animal Man and I, Vampire are worth your time. Swamp Thing is supposed to be good as well, but I only picked up the first issue and was distressed by Superman getting more page time than the titular character.
Also, I don't know how you feel about the fantasy genre, but Demon Knights is pretty cool and almost entirely divorced from the regular DCU except for a few of DC's classic immortal characters. It's got a pretty delightful portrayal of Vandal Savage as an amoral, high-on-life barbarian, and features the Shining Knight, probably the only character that can beat Cass for most criminally underused.
Thanks for those solid suggestions-- that's exactly what I was hoping for. When I'm settled into my new life I'll give them a try!
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