Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Artemis

This is the 25th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

At the time of this posting, the Delta Variant of the COVID-19 virus is posing a real threat upon the world. It is even more contagious than previous iterations of the virus, and the World Health Organization recommends mask wearing regardless of vaccination status.

If this writing had an audio option, this is where I would cue up Mariah Carey saying, "And now for the deluxe." This entry is one of the last six entries in this series that I had planned and considered "bonus material" of "deep cut" characters. Artemis of the Bana Mighdall Amazons was created in the mid 1990's, thus she's a redhead with an impossibly long flowing ponytail that never seems to hinder her in her adventures. The Bana Mighdall tribe of Amazons had split off from the Themiscyran Amazons thousands of years ago, before they were lead to Paradise Island. The Bana's (as they became known) were unwilling to give up their desire for revenge against men. Eventually, they ended up settling in Egypt and developed a worship of some Egyptians gods, who erected a mystical sandstorm around their city of Bana Mighdall (which translated to "The Temple of Women"). The Banas became a very warrior-like and violent tribe, adopting modern weapons and kidnapping men to use as breeding stock. Their tribe's champion was call Shim'Tar. As Artemis grew, her best friend and love, Akila, competed against Artemis for the right to become Shim'Tar, but Akila ended up winning that title before eventually meeting her death. Eventually, the Banas agreed to help the evil sorceress Circe attack the Themiscyran Amazons. Artemis was 14 at the time and was the only Amazon who protested the decision before the Bana Council. They should have listened, because they were betrayed by Circe, and all Amazons were cast into a demon dimension where the two tribes were forced to join forces fighting off demon hordes for ten years.

Eventually, Wonder Woman convinced Circe to return the Amazons to their own dimension. However, Queen Hippolyta began having visions of Wonder Woman dying, so she arranged to have a new Contest for the title of Wonder Woman and she secretly had the Amazon sorceress Magala cast a spell that siphoned Diana's powers off to Artemis when they were near each other. This caused Diana to lose the Contest, and Artemis won and became the new Wonder Woman for a time. Artemis was brash and had no patience for complex situations and problems that she blamed Diana for not fixing in the world. Her time as Wonder Woman was short, as she ended up dying fighting the White Magician. With her last breath, she gave Diana the Gauntlet of Hermes, which she used to increase her strength, thus giving Diana the power that she needed to defeat the White Magician. Since it's comic books, Artemis ended up returning from the dead, and she maintains an uneasy and sometimes slightly antagonistic relationship with Diana. Currently, the Bana Mighdall are back to being based in Egypt, and Artemis, seems to be their champion, or at least a trusted agent, as she is currently appearing in the new Wonder Girl title.

This look pulls mostly from Artemis' current "DC Rebirth" costume, which in itself is a black, red, and gold rework of her Requiem costume, a look she wore when she was first resurrected and joined a group of demon hunters. the footwear is a callback to her time wearing the Wonder Woman costume. Her mask pattern is a variant on the theme that the other Wonder Woman characters in this series have featured.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece. 
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Artemis" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Artemis ©DC Comics