wonder woman suit redesign - part iii, final

Wonder Woman Suit by Phil O'Brien, 2021

 

Here's what I came up with. click on the image to bigerize it I actually did this drawing and one more version, which I'll put in down below so you can see why I decided against it, just recently.

I worked on the original design drawings late last year, and I'm just getting to the posts on these things now. I'm not sure why, but its been fun to do. After working on the posting of the drawings I did a while ago, I got to thinking about some fine tuning. I had some favorites in the Wonder Woman sketches I did and so I took those and worked on adding back a little bit of that iconography that helps identify Wonder Woman. Even tho I don't like the tiara, I can see why the numerous folks that have redesigned her suit have kept it; its a really strong icon.

If you take a peek below, you'll see an image of the lorica musculata or muscle cuirass I talked about in my earlier post redesigned with the eagle similar to Gal Gadot's from the movies. I tried to incorporate that better into the breast plate and tried to avoid the eagle's head sticking way up over her chest, which seems a little dumb to me. I was bale to pull that off, but ended up with an eagle design that is just too... eagley?

My other favorite design from my earlier versions is the red armored top, so I took that and incorporated a stylized eagle wing design inspired by the Linda Carter TV version; the later one. The early design of that top is horrible. Here's a picture of the later design from the 70s TV show with the stylized eagle wings I used for inspiration for mine.

Its a subtlety in my design, but I've also picked up on the interlaced Ws used on the Gal Gadot suit. I didn't use the Ws myself, because why would the amazons fabricate a suit with WW on it when they had no idea Americans would call Diana Wonder Woman. My design just picks up on the weaving idea.

Here's that other design with the eagle armor that is over the top. Fun, but a little campy.

Let me know what you think, nerds!

wonder woman suit redesign - part the second

You can read about some of the recent history of Wonder Woman's super suit, and my problems with it, in a previous post. In that post, I planned to write a few quick thoughts and then get to my design efforts, but I guess I had more to say than I thought. 

My redesign efforts are driven by improving on Wonder Woman's suit; to make it better, more usable (and user friendly) and perhaps a little more dignified. I won't repeat what I don't like here, you can read about on my other post. I did have some goals I set for myself for the redesign, which you may or may not agree with, but I felt it was important for the task I set myself to understand those goals.

Design a suit for Wonder Woman that:

• Is flexible, usable, and comfortable to wear
• Is suited to the tasks and challenges the user may undertake
• Is robust enough to withstand the wear and tear expected
• Is identifiable and iconic, appropriate to the wearer's status as a hero, both in reality, and within the reality which the wearer is extant
• Is dignified. In other words, evocative of the wearer's heroism foremost, as opposed to her sexuality

I think there is room in a design challenge like this to keep a lot of what we think of as Wonder Woman's iconography. Part of that image IS her sexuality, and I would argue that is the case for most superheros, male and female alike. the ladies in my life are like, 'oh, Thor!' As part of this endeavor, I've tried to think of it this way: If Wonder Woman was to design her own suit, even assuming she is aware of the history of her suit design over the years, what is she likely to want to improve upon? What would her goals be? I have a hard time thinking her goals would include things like: 'more thigh,' or the irreconcilable 'armor here, but completely naked there.' *

I tried a series of things--some are just variations--so I stuck them in a simple movie so you can see what I did and how it evolved. [UPDATE: The movie was a bust, Blogger potatoed it, so I junked it put in pics] started with a two part suit, long sleeve red top, long blue pants, red boots, gold trim. Simple, but I thought it could be simpler, so I removed the gold star and the boots. [CLICK on the images for a larger view, and you can scroll thru them]

Next I added a gold breast plate that extends over the shoulders, as most armor breast plates do. A variation of that is the armored breast plate without the red long sleeve shirt.

The last three are variations, showing a lower cut breast plate built into the top. Tactical clothing or armor integrated into the clothing, so its red with a faceted red breast plate, red with faceted gold breast plate,and last is a gold breast plate, sleeveless, with a red tint on the some of the gold plating.

I'd still like to look into how to incorporate the eagle insignia, and I have some ideas about simplifying that similar to what I did with the Superman logo. I would also like to think a little more about lariat carrying and storage. A rope hanging at your side seems like a hazard, and because its used pretty rarely, I think storing it in suit on the lower back or something may be better.

And the sword and shield? Those are a newer developments, and tho a sword has been used occasionally in the comics, it didn't really show up consistently until the New 52, in 2011. And of course the movie from a few years ago figured them prominently, but not in the newest one. My biggest problem with them: Wonder Woman doesn't need them, so in keeping with my simplification ideal, I'm going to ignore them and assume that if needed, she can strap on a sword belt, baldric, or back sling as needed.

 So... more to come...?

* You're right, I'm not a woman, and I'm not a super hero, so maybe I'm not the best person to make decisions like this on Wonder Woman's behalf. Moreover, Wonder Woman's creators may have written the character with the personality traits that embrace the design of her suit as it is. Its hard to argue with an author, but, as with Superman, these heroes have so long been a part of our pop culture, that I feel some ownership.

wonder woman uniform re-design

Why is Wonder Woman naked?

All the men get to wear clothes.

I actually had ideas about Wonder Woman's uniform* before I started working on Superman's suit redesign. It seems to me that the 1941 Wonder Woman was dressed as a hero which reflected the time in which she was developed, regardless of how forward thinking and empowering the ideas behind her development were. Diana's suit has been updated over time, and the flowing, star-studded skirt has taken on the appearance of a Roman centurion's cingulum militare; those straps of metal studded leather or baltea, worn hanging down over the lower part of their tunic. The eagle adorned bustier has become a gold lorica musculata or muscle cuirass; the Roman decorative breast plates with muscles (and other decorations) formed into the metal. These were normally only used for parades and other showy events, by folks really high up, like the Caesar. The bullet deflecting bracelets have become vambraces. And the high-heeled red boots, have become a combination of centurion sandals, or caligae, and greaves. they still have high heels, but they're 3 or 4 inch wedges now, so much more practical for crime fighting

The Wonder Woman movie of a few years ago and a lot of the current comic book art mostly agree on these updates to the suit, and depending on what issue you're looking at they're pretty consistent, altho there are some variations. I haven't seen the current movie, but I have seen an image or two that lead me to believe there is a special suit that is different there, and the comics have certainly had suit variations as well. There has even been some versions of the suit with pants, from Jim Lee's 2010 version with what looks like a bolero coat with the sleeves magically pushed up, and the ill-fated 2011 TV pilot.

Now in 2015, a new suit rolled out that picked up on the pants idea, and ran with it, adding an apron looking (loincloth?) thing over the pants, and some gold pauldrons to the breast plate, and some wicked, Conan-esque, stabby looking things that shot out from her bracelets (vambraces) and some thigh-high boots. All in all, not bad, in that it does check off some of the boxes for me: the most import being getting her out of a bathing suit and into a super suit. The 2010 and 2011 efforts did that as well, but what they all have in common is that they are too complicated, and they all include the tiara. Call it a headband if it makes you feel better nerds, the whole 'every little girl wants to be a princess' trope is not what we need now.

What we need is a super suit designed for a woman that provides what she needs, and eliminates what she doesn't.

What she doesn't need is her arms and legs hanging out there. I know she invisible, but so is Superman, he's got pants. She also doesn't need sharp, pointy bits of metal poking up at the top of her armored breast plate. And I'm pretty sure she doesn't need 4-inch wedge heels.

What I think Wonder Woman does need is a simple, dignified super suit, which recalls her history and iconography so that she is identifiable. Why is that important, out may ask, even if you are playing devil's advocate? I think its important because in both reality, AND in Wonder Woman's fictitious universe, she is a symbol; of peace, and standing up against evil and violence. As such, her symbolism needs to be acknowledged. speaking of violence, if you're standing up against violence, I'm not sure the aforementioned punching knives are most peacekeeping or elegant weapon for Wonder Woman to wield.

So what did I come up with? Actually, I came up with some options. Its kind of a kit of parts, which can be changed out depending on the task, or the weather.

Wonder Woman Suit redesign by Phil O'Brien, Option 6

More to come.

*Costume? super suit? kit? PPE? Lets say suit, mostly what I see on the interwebs seems to say suit.

superman uniform redux 2

My Design - Click for larger view

As I mentioned in recent post, I've had these ideas about redesigning--and simplifying--Superman's uniform for a while. Its an idea that's been rocking around in my head for a while but I think it may have been the collective nerd whine that went out following the recent movie version of Superman that eliminated the traditional red short pants from Superman's suit. is suit better than uniform? proly more standard [this shrug is for you, nerds]

I've always thought the short pants looked like super-tightey-whiteys, or something,  so my earliest thoughts were about getting rid of those. Just looks like he got dressed in the dark. The little yellow belt helps a little, but its still a little like a European style swimsuit, you know, hot pants for gentlemen.

 

1947(?) comic, used w/o permission

I've also had some other issues with the suit, that are really based on usability and practically. Yes, I get that Kal-El is an alien, and I'm projecting my petty human fashion sense onto his more advanced cultural ways, but come on, I'm not sure it was absolutely clear to his parents what his powers would be when he got to earth, so the cape idea seems a little odd to me, and what has bothered me for a while now is not the idea of a cape. This isn't one of those "No Capes!" mandates laid down by Edna from The Incredibles, this is a design issue. The cape makes no sense, and adds no value to the uniform. Actually, where the cape meets the collar of the suit, it just kind of tucks in, all bunched up on either side, like... no other cape, anywhere. A cape is an article of outerwear, like a coat. Its not just tucked into your crew-necked jersey. 

Its like sewing your scarf onto your shirt: dumb.

Christopher Reeves Superman used w/o permission

The Superman played by Tyler Hoechlin on the Supergirl* TV show tries to solve the dumb cape connection with some heavy straps to anchor it to the suit. Henry Cavill's Superman also has some anchors built into the collar for the cape to engage the suit in a more sensible way.

Why do I point out these examples of other cape connection ideas, simply because other designers have noticed that the cape jammed into the shirt is dumb, and they've all tried to solve this problem. I've eliminated the problem. what holds the cape inside the shirt, safety pins?

Lastly is the red boots, with the pointed tops. Not sure why they're necessary, and they just complicate the overall design. I've streamlined the boots out, integrating them into the suit. And streamline is the word,  the driver, behind my redesign. I've tried to recall the idea, or flourish of a cape by pulling the red down over the shoulders and engaging the El crest. I envision this front and back, by the way.

I've also added a mandarin style collar instead of the boat neck that has traditionally been used, probably because they needed the extra room to jam in the cape. Boat neck just doesn't say uniform. No boots, no cape, no hot pants, no make-pretend belt Henry Cavill suit, I'm looking at you just a simple, identifiable supersuit. More about my redesign of the Superman crest is here.

UPDATE: While working on my recent Wonder Woman suit redesign post I ran across this article from DC which shows a superman suit redesign with a very similar red triangular section on the chest which incorporates the insignia, and eliminates the cape. Still looks they've got him in underpants and red boots but its hard to tell. This also looks like one of their different universe editions, but I'm not a comics guy.

*The original uniform (with the skirt) that Supergirl wore in the current TV show still had the cape-collar-jam, which was even worse than Reeves, given that her collar was more open because shes a girl and we need to see some collar bones? but the current suit (with pants)** has a similar cape anchor strap design to her cousin's in the more recent seasons.

 **I've also been looking at Wonder Woman's uniform, and I have been since before Supergirl got pants. When I saw that Supergirl got pants, my first thought was, hey, I was thinking the same thing for Wonder Woman. Its just looks odd when she stands next to Superman and Batman, and she's half naked, and they are dressed head to toe. More soon...

boooooo

January 6, 2021

Boooo!

Boo on terrorism on your own front lawn, dressed up as patriotism.

Boo on violence as a vehicle to deliver your message.

Boo on disrupting the work of our elected officials, and maybe more importantly, the regular people that work as public servants for all of us everyday.

Boo on asking armed militia to stand down and stand-by, presumably to "stand-by" for a day like today.

Boo on lies and incitement to violence by a sitting president.

Boo on a halfhearted, recorded message from the president that led with more lies, and buried the most important part of the message, which is to disburse.

Boo on the obvious glee the president feels--and showed in his video message--at the unrest he incited, and fools himself into believing has spontaneously arose in the people. (It didn't)

Boo on the end of peaceful transition of the power of the presidency, created by the pettiness and insecurity of the president.

Boo on the toxic fusion of bottomless fear, dread, and ego that drives the president's actions.

Boo on thinking that you, personally, are more important than the office you hold, the people you serve, or the nation whose very freedoms allow you to achieve what you have thus far in life.

Boo on those foolish enough to follow fools no wiser than themselves.

Boo on those who allow themselves to believe it was their own idea to terrorize others.

Boo on those who allow themselves to believe that their protest is patriotic when it it is not peaceful.

There is no such thing as a violent protest. As soon as violence begins, protest is no longer possible. Once violence begins, or is even contemplated, protest is long longer possible. Once violence begins, you are a rioter, a terrorist, or an enemy combatant.

Boo on insurrection. yeah, thats you

Go home. 

And apologize to your family and your neighbors.

superman logo redux

superman logo redux by Philip O'Brien (c) 2021

 

I've had some ideas about re-designing Superman's uniform for a while, and I even did some sketching a few years ago. More recently, while on on vacation between the holidays, I downloaded a new application: Sketchbook by Autodesk, and decided to give it a go. Sketchbook was pretty easy to learn, reasonably powerful, and best of all, its now free! so I'd go get it if I was you

I used Sketchbook to try out a few of my re-designed uniform ideas, and one of them included a more streamlined version of Superman's logo. its, um... actually his family crest, durp * so I took a look around the internet to see if any of these ideas had come to life elsewhere, because who wants to be the guy that spends an afternoon fooling around with Superman's insignia only to find that he's independently created what someone has already done. Its also possible that someone HAS done this already, or something very similar, and I just failed to find it.

One of the logo re-designs I found was this one by Daniel Beadle, who not only did a great job, but went into the reasons why a re-design was needed. I have a lot of the same reason's Daniel Beadle does, so I won't repeat them all, you can read his post here. In summary, I'll say that the S shape in the traditional Superman insignia looks like a capital typeface letter S, with serifs on it (a slash at the top, and a round at the bottom.) These serifs make the insignia read like the letter S, rather than an alien crest for the House of El. Superman, as storyline, is essentially science fiction, so my idea is to create a family crest (and a new uniform design) that is more alien, modern, and wouldn't be confused with a capital S. It was also important to retain the elements that make Superman's insignia so recognizable, so that when you see the redux I've done, you can tell what it is without being told.

I feel like I've achieved the goals I set for myself. In fact, when I finished, I felt that that someone must have already came up with something very similar. If at some point I find that to be true, I'll post that information here in an edit. If you know of another design similar to this, please let me know!

I'm also planning on posting my drawings for Superman's re-deigned uniform, soon. And I also have some ideas for Wonder Woman's uniform as well!

* The S originally stood for Superman in the comics. The change to family crest came about during the 1978 movie 'Superman.'

Pinnacle at White Hill

Here goes some horn tootin' (and then I'll give an update on why I haven't written anything here in a while.)

So I spent some of my spare time recently putting together a drawing <yeah, that's it right there based on a science fiction (SF) book I've been writing over the last... 20 years? The drawing is for the One Drawing Challenge put on by Architizer, which is an online journal about architecture and design.

My wife found this juried contest in a newsletter and its their second annual outing, so I took a look at what did well last year, and the rules are pretty relaxed. From the FAQ section on their website: "Your drawing(s) can take the form of a plan, section, elevation, perspective, sketch or abstract. As long as it portrays part or all of a building or group of buildings, it is eligible." Any part of a building, so a still life, in a room, would do it.

When I looked at last year's submissions though, there were a fair number of the entries that included speculative and/or abstract architecture and design, and that led me to my domed city. Over the years, I've sketched some images, and I even drew up some plans in CAD of the city, including some of the sub-levels below the city. Come on, what futuristic city ISN'T under a dome, and of course its got miles of piping and basements drilled into the earth.

There are 100 finalists in The One Drawing Challenge; that was announced earlier today. The winners--there will be two, a student winner and a non-student winner--as well as 10 honorable mentions will be named on September 28 (or the 29th, depending on where on the site you look.)*

SO where have I been for the past year? Well I've been busy with some other projects,** but what really messed up my blogging was that we cleaned up around the house last year around this time, and a handful of books I had read but hadn't written about went to the donation box at my library. I tried to remember what they were, and piece together list, while continuing to read other books until I got hopelessly lost and enough time had gone by that I didn't think I could recreate what I'd read.

In the recent past, here's what I've read, in order:

Skylark - Sheila Simonson

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2015 - Adam Johnson, Editor

Robopocalypse - Daniel H. Wilson

Blue Moon - Lee Child

The Day After Tomorrow - Allan Folsum

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand

Warlock - Winbur Smith

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon during which I learned the term 'self-insertion'

The Order - Daniel Silva

The Way of Kings (Part One) - Brandon Sanderson

This is not everything in the past year, just what I can put my hands on and reasonably reconstruct in order (based on my piling system.) I'll try and write about these soon, but I'll probably write short summaries and combine a few together at a time.

* FAQ section says 28th, the new splash page posted today announcing the finalists says 29th.

** Making Youtube videos about tool making and restoration is one of the things I've been doing. My channel is here.

magician king trois

According to an earlier blog post, the first time I read The Magician King (book 2) I was a little disappointed when I compared it to The Magicians (book 1). Where the first book was vibrant and new, the second was a combination of catching up with a character--Julia, who had fallen off the page in the first book, and was now back--and following Quentin through the next stage of his life. Quentin is on a quest to save the world, or something just as critical, but he wasn't exactly sure what his task was until he neared the end. and neither were we

Quentin and Julia both grew as people in this book, and while it wasn’t as exciting as the first book, it was entertaining. I was also interested to read (in the earlier blog entry) that I suspected, but wasn’t yet sure, that there would be a third book.

The second time a read book 2 was just after book 3 came out and I may have rushed thru it. At that point, I still saw it as a 'middle book' of a trilogy, in the ways I’ve described that about other books in the past. This time through (the third time) I didn’t feel that; this time The Magician King read as a stand alone and moved the characters and overall storyline forward in a way that was hard to see without the benefit of the foreknowledge of book three that I now have.

Julia’s life, and story of the keys (Quentin's quest) read like a well formed adventure of its own, similar in to the individual books in The Chronicles of Narnia, which is one of the obvious inspirations for this series.

Read this book. yay, you got a promotion! who's a good book?

the magicians tres

So it its been a few years, and I decided to re-read Lev Grossman's Magicians Trilogy. This is partially because they made a Syfy series from the books (you can see it on Netflix) that I have found entertaining, but a little too 90210-ish for my tastes. They've also gone a bit off the rails in terms of following the books, but then again, different possibilities or storylines, is specifically discussed in the books, so I guess its just a different timeline/universe the Syfy show is about.

I'm not going to dive too deep into these books, as I've written about them before, but I did get a slightly different sense this time of the overall story arc, and the growth and maturity of Quentin Coldwater, in particular. I will also say that Grossman's dialogue is spot on, the banter and sarcasm of the young characters is hilarious. This is the third time I've read The Magician's since 2011, so your boy Lev is doing something right.

It holds up! I was not disappointed.

You can read my 2011 thoughts on this one here.