Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Starfire

This is the 23rd 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.

Starfire is a warrior princess, Koriand'r, from the planet of Tamaran. Her people have the ability to absorb ultra violet light and convert it into energy that gives them the power to fly...which was used as a reason by the character's creators to justify why she and most of her people wear very little clothing. The more skin they expose, the more energy that they can absorb. (Insert side-eye here. I've yet to see Superman fly around half naked, when his powers work on largely the same principle.) She was trained in combat, but also ended up being given to brutal aliens by her family as a peace offering in hopes that they wouldn't be conquered. She and her older sister, Blackfire (Komand'r), were experimented on in captivity, which lead to them being able to project energy blasts called starbolts. Eventually, Koriand'r escaped, made her way to Earth, she demonstrated another of her powers: the ability to absorb language through kissing. She kissed Robin (as in "Batman and...") upon her arrival, and the two ended up in a relationship quickly. She also quickly became a member of the New Teen Titans.

Her relationship with Dick Grayson, the first Robin and now Nightwing, seems to be an on-again, off-again phenomenon, usually based upon which group of fans the comic book editors want to please: the fans who want Dick Grayson and Koriand'r as a couple or the fans who want Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, to be a couple. Currently, Starfire is the head of Titans Academy, where the older twenty-something Titans are training empowered and/or skilled teens how to be heroes.

For the look in this illustration, I pulled mainly from Starfire's current costume that debuted in the Justice League Odessey series and her original costume from the Marv Wolfman & George Perez runs of The New Teen Titans. The current costume features big armored shoulder pads with jewels, and I thought it'd be fun to turn those armored pieces into decorative epaulets. Her earrings are inspired by the design of a pendant from the original costume. The sandals are also inspired by the original costume's boots. Her incredibly long hair and gravity defying abilities lend to creating a wonderful shape around her where her hair can float, almost like she's under water.

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Raven

This is the 22nd 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.

Raven, also known as Rachel Roth, is the daughter of a human woman named Arella and a world-conquering demon named Trigon. She was raised by monks to help her control her emotions, lest they overcome her and she opened the dimensional door to allow Trigon back to conquer the world. Raven originally brought the Teen Titnas back together again in the 1980's to fight Trigon. Raven is an empath who also has many other powers, including flight, magic, and sending her consciousness about in a form called her "soul self." Eventually, with the help of the Titans, Raven defeats her father, Trigon, and is currently a respeced senior member of the Titans.

Raven has had many looks since she was first created in the 1980's by Marv Wolfman & George Perez for The New Teen Titans. Her original look was basically an evening dress, opera gloves and a hooded cloak. Over the years, Raven would get various other looks. When the character appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon with grayish skin and violet hair, visual elements from that design began showing up in the comic books. I tried to come up with a look that incorporates various designs the character has featured into this look.

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy

This is the 20th and 21st entries 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.

Donna Troy is a beloved superhero. As the first Wonder Girl (not counting Wonder Woman herself as a girl), Donna Troy was a member of the Teen Titans. Donna Troy has ha SEVERAL headache-inducing origins throughout her decades existence, but her original is really the best, simplest, and easiest to understand. She was an orphaned baby/toddler, rescued by Wonder Woman from a burning building, taken to Paradise Island/Themiscyra to heal, and in the process was imbued with Amazon abilities. She was then raised by Queen Hippolyta as an adopted daughter and sister to Wonder Woman - and became a sidekick of sorts. Sadly, we got precious rare actual printed material of Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl actually working together. It was more a thing that was talked about than ever shown. And that's a real shame. As Wonder Girl, Donna had a lot of the same powers as Wonder Woman, but not as much. She even had a lasso as well. Donna's first Wonder Girl outfit consisted of star spangled short-shorts, and a red chiton with a golden eagle emblazoned on the chest and the neck and armholes trimmed with a gold pattern that homaged a Greek key pattern She also had red lace up sandals like Wonder Woman did in the 1950s and 60s. But that changed in the 70s, and Wonder Girl got a new full-bodied star spangled red catsuit with a "w" shaped buckle on her golden belt, a golden eagle necklace around her neck, and a long hairdo, aging her up from the teeny bopper pony tail look that she had been sporting.

My take on Donna Troy is a big send up to her first red catsuit Wonder Girl costume, while using the plunging neckline of her more famous version of that costume that George Perez created for The New Teen Titans. It also references Debra Winger's Wonder Girl costume from the ABC season of the 1970s Lynda Carter Wonder Woman television show with the wrap aspect and the stars on the left side of the chest that are virtually the same color as the dress. I also wanted to visually reference the latter starfield pattern that would show up in Donna's later costumes, that always read as sparkly sequins or beads to me, that created a starfield look.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Donna Troy and Wonder Girl ©DC Comics 

Reality shifted in the comic books, as they seem to do, and Wonder Woman was rebooted as being younger and just arriving to Patriarch's World. At the same time, New Teen Titans was one of DC's big selling titles, and they didn't want to start over from scratch there, so Donna's origins tying her to Wonder Woman were replaced to being rescued by the Greek Titans of myth, and trained and empowered by them...ad then she just happens to call herself Wonder Girl and wear a Wonder Woman-like costume years before Diana shows up as Wonder Woman...And many "fixes" would appear in the comics to try to make that work. When her connection to the Titans of myth was reveled, she received a new costume (the first with the starfield) and a new hero identity, Troia. Her Troia costumes were dominated by the black starfield, and after a while, silver accessories, as opposed to gold. This second version of her look is the Troia version.

From the hair to the dress and shoes, I was also inspired by singer/songwriter Dua Lipa for this look. Dua Lipa embodies the aura of a young twety-something, vibrant, fashionable, and independent woman, and I feel that Donna Troy is that as well.

Thank you for taking the time to experience these pieces.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy 2" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Donna Troy and Troia © DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batwoman

This is the 19th 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.

Not to be confused with Batgirl, Batwoman is Kate Kane, DC Comics' most prominent gay and Jewish superhero. Kate Kane's father, Jacob Kane, is the brother of Martha Kane, who married Thomas Wayne and gave birth to Bruce Wayne, Batman. I assume Kate's mother, Gabrielle, was Jewish. When Kate was twelve, terrorists kidnapped Gabrielle, Kate, and her twin sister, Beth. There was a rescue attempt, and Kate was supposedly the only member of her family to survive it. That left her traumatized. She followed in her father's footsteps of going into the military, but was discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. After kicking around the globe a little, she trained under her father and was inspired by Batman to become the crime fighting Batwoman. And surprise, her twin sister Beth was somehow alive and became her arch enemy named Alice, which also lead to a falling out with her father. Kate has had some great romances in the comics, including Renee Montoya and Maggie Sawyer, both women who work in police forces, both established characters in the comics. By day, Kate is a "socialite," but by night, she fights crime and monsters as Batwoman.

Kate Kane has had some great looks in her civilian identity, some dresses, and even an iconic Marlena Dietrich-esque tuxedo look. I wanted to create a look that would easily fit among all of the dresses and skirts in this series, but also pay homage to the tuxedo look as well. Hence this dressy black and red onsie. Kate Kane was also a fan of a smokey eye makeup look, so far be it for me to stray from that. 

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Barda of the New Gods

This is the 18th 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.

Barda is one of the New Gods characters created by Jack Kirby in the early 1970's. There were two planets, a nice one called New Genesis, ruled by High Father, and a hellscape planet called Apokolips, ruled by Darkseid. Barda was born on Apokolips and raised in and groomed by the sadistic Granny Goodness in one of her orphanages. Barda became the leader of an elite team of terrifying female warriors called the New Female Furies. However, she ended up falling in love with a man who also grew up in the orphanage and became an expert escape artist, Scott Free. The two of them escaped together, and learned that Scott was actually the son of High Father, traded to Darkseid for peace. The two of them settled on earth and operate as superheroes and Scott also as the escape artist performer, Mr. Miracle. The two of them have worked with the Justice League, and Barda with the Birds of Prey occasionally. It wasn't until her appearance in Birds of Prey that I really warmed up to Barda, when it was pointed out that the weapon Barda uses, her megarod, looks like a golden adult toy. I really fell in love with Barda and Scott Free in the Eisner Award Winning Mister Miracle maxi series by Tom King & Mitch Gerads, which really explores the PTSD and trauma Scott and Barda carry with them from growing up in a brutal and violent and pschologically terrorizing environment.

This illustration is a special entry in this series, because it was created in collaboration with the uber talented Kristina Sunshine, a professional makeup artist and lead singer of the band, Bullseye Womprats. Kristina came up with the makeup design for this illustration of Barda specifically for this look and also served as the model for Barda's facial features. Kristina is one of the most talented and hard-working people I've ever met in my life. Legend has it that Barda was originally inspired by Lanie Kazan from her Playboy Magazine shoot around the time the New Gods were created, so I definitely wanted to give Barda a fuller figure in respect to that origin. The look was a really delicious challenge, because Barda's look is a really BUSY design. There's two shades of blue along with red, yellow, and black. When I first encountered the character, I couldn't tell if the big helmet that she wore was a helmet or her hair. There was SO MUCH going on. In light of that first impression, I knew that for my take, her hair needed to be really big to pay homage to the helmet that she wears. The first costume that Barda appeared in was basically a red bikini with a headband that looked like little strung-together gold coins or disks. Although her hair covers most of them, the red straps from that outfit are incorporated into this design, as well as the disks. Barda's usual costume has a blue scale mail base, and I used it for inspiration for her jewelry, with pieces of scale mail as her earrings, necklace, and bracelets. It was an absolute joy and honor to be able to collaborate with my dear friend on this. I offer a huge THANK YOU to Kristina Sunshine for her invaluable contributions!

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Barda of the New Gods" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
Illustration ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Photograph ©2021 Kristina Sunshine. Used with Permission
Barda ©DC Comics