Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Hawkgirl

This is the 15th 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.

Hawkgirl is one of those characters who had been burdened with a complicated origin for decades - until recently. Her origin is tied to Hawkman's. In another life, Hawkman was an evil guy doing bad things for an evil godlike being. Then he fell in love with an angel and changed his ways. The angel was punished for falling in love with a mortal and fell from Heaven. As penance for his deeds, Hawkman would reincarnate across time and space until he could make restitution for what he had done. The angel would incarnate alongside with him as his soulmate. Pretty easy so far. The two would incarnate, be intensely drawn together, and oftentimes die an early death in trying to do good. 

And then along comes Hawkgirl. Because the souls are incarnating throughout time AND space, the angel incarnates twice at the same time - one as a woman named Shayera Thal (the red-headed Hawkwoman) on the planet of Thanagar, and second as a woman named Kendra Saunders on earth. Kendra is Latina and formally lead an elite squadron of pilots called the Blackhawks that had its origins in WWII. However, because she's incarnating twice during the same time period, the romantic soulmate draw to Hawkman doesn't seem to exist with Hawkgirl (Hawkwoman has that covered). She's now left to explore herself in a lifetime completely untethered to Hawkman. So far, it seems she and J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter, have developed feelings for each other.

For her look, I was inspired by red carpet music awards looks by Christina Aguilera, and mixing that kind influence in with the crazy costume design that Hawkgirl has had through the years. Her Hawkgirl look was created in the early 1940's and modelled off of Hawkman's look, so that's why there are SO MANY COLORS in it. And like with Supergirl and Power Girl in this series, I'm really interested in using pinks and magentas in the design instead of red and dark reds. The top is an homage to the harness that Hawkman wears as part of his costume, and as Hawkgirl's costume often features a bare midriff, I opted to continue that design element into this look.

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Power Girl

This is the 14th 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.

Power Girl is not a household name superhero, but when I tell you about her, you'll feel like you already know her. Power Girl is Kara Zor-L, the "Supergirl" of Earth-2. Remember how Supergirl's rocket arrived later than Superman's by mistake? Well Power Girl's arrived even later, and I guess something didn't go 100% with the suspended animation, because she arrived pretty grown and also *gasp* had ideas of her own. She refused to be defined by Superman, so instead of calling herself Supergirl and wearing his symbol, she called herself Power Girl and left her chest devoid of the S-shield. In her civilian identity as Karen Starr (Yes, a white woman named Karen with short hair - she was created in the 70's. It's not her fault.), she owns her own tech company. As Power Girl, she basically has all of the same powers as Superman. Operating on Earth-2, she was a member of the Justice Society of America (JSA), and was a close friend of the daughter of Batman & Catwoman, the Huntress. Whether on Earth-2 or Earth-1, Power Girl is always a force to be reckoned with.

I really enjoyed working on this design. Originally, I was going to give her a sleevelesss look with a turtle-neck, but I had also been wanting to do a asymmetrical shoulder look for this series, and when I realized that would mimick the line of the rope that her cape is attached to that cuts across her chest on her superhero costume, it seemed like the perfect choice. I also was inspired by the loincloth style skirt that she wore in her appearance as Power Woman in the Kingdom Come series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. I also really like her haircut, because I think it's sexy and youthful while being much shorter than how I've depicted Power Girl in my artwork in the past. I think it suits her perfectly. The charms on her bracelet also contain some "Easter Eggs," like an Earth-2 Superman symbol, and Aquaman symbol alluding to her Post-Crisis origin as the grand-daughter of ancient Atlantian sorceror, Arion, and a Harley Quinn diamond because Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti wrote & drew a wonderful Power Girl series and they also have had her interact with Harley Quinn as a friend during their handling of Harley's stories. Also, since working on my Supergirl design and realizing during that work that the color pink is almost NEVER used on DC Heroines, I couldn't pass up the chance to turn what is traditionally red on her costume into a magenta and bring in the pink to a really fun eye makeup look.

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Zatanna

This is the 13th 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.

Zatanna is a powerful magic wielding member of the Justice League, currently operating in the magaical division known as Justice League Dark. She was raised by her father, Giovanni 'John' Zatara, a stage magician who actually performed real feats of magic. Her mother was named Sindella, and was from a race of magical humans called Homo Magi, which totally sounds like the name of a bar for gay witches. Since DC Comics hates it when women have a relationship with their mothers if their name isn't Wonder Woman, Sindella faked her death to leave her daughter and husband to go live with the Homo Magi again. (Insert eye roll here.) Zatanna, like her father, is a stage illusionist who usues actual magic. She usually performs spells by saying the words backward (phoenetically, not backwards sentence word order). He stage outfit is usually similar to a stage magician's outfit, a tuxedo (often with a top hat) but substituting fishnet stockings for a pair of slacks. In recet years, her costume has been less formal, and consisting of things like pleather pants, a boustier, and a trenchcoat with some fishnet gloves. Also exciting, the recently announced plans to make a Zatanna solo movie. My hope is that it will rely heavily on the 2003 graphic novel Zatanna: Everyday Magic.

For this design, I wanted to allude to elements of a tuxedo, but instead of short shorts, to include a skirt to dress it up. The skirt shape is inspired by the silhouette of the skirt that RuPaul wore in the Supermodel music video and maxi single cover. And while the tuxedo/fishnets costume is more most well-known look, I've always been a fan of George Perez's "superhero sorceress" costume from the 1980's that was blue, white, and black with red accessory elements. I've borrowed elements from that look to include in this one. For this design, I wanted the boustier to allude to a tuxedo shirt.

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Green Lantern

This is the 12th 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.

Jessica Cruz survived the murder of her friends in the woods on a camping trip but still had to deal with the trauma of that event. Despite that trauma, she managed to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic force that protects the galaxy and its various planets. (space police) Each Green Lantern has a ring whose power is fueled by the courage and will power of the ring bearer. The rings can allow their bearers to fly, shield them from almost anything, provide protection and air in outer space, shoot force beams, create constructs, and more. The rings have to recharge from a power battery that looks like a literal green lantern every so often.

A Green Lantern's costume is usually black, white, and green, but with this look, I wanted to focus on the light aspect of the character and leave out the black elements. Since light is such an important theme in the Green Lantern lore, I wanted to create a garment that was constantly shimmering in the light with all of the sparkles.

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

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Dr. Light

This is the 11th 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.

Dr. Light is my favorite DC hero from Japan. Kimiyo Hoshi is not only a brilliant scientist, but a superhero and a single mother. The fact the she is a mother as well as a superhero reminds me of the many women that I grew up around and even worked with who were mothers and also in the military. Like those women, Dr. Light espouses that saving the world is also saving her children. She is a powerful member of the Justice League who can absorb and project light(including light energy beams), fly, create holograms, and even make hard light constructs. She's incredibly powerful, and I wish that she was used more often. In recent comics, she seems to be American, rather than from Japan, or at least lives in America, having been previously married to the villainous male Dr. Light.

In designing a look for her, I wanted to incorporate both of her looks. He original look was a black and white costume. In the 90's, her costume became white and yellow. In my opinion, there aren't many interesting costumes with only two colors. I like to use black, white, and yellow when I depict Dr. Light. In lieu of her wearing a cape, I opted to give her a wrap and a lovely back-skirt. For her facial features, I used Japanese actor, model and singer, Ueto Aya, as my inspiration.

With the recent violent and murderous bigotry that Asian Americans are facing, I hope DC Comics uses this version of Dr. Light more in their stories (check out the recent Generations Lost & Generations Found comics). #StopAAPIHate I also hope she appears in the DC Asian Pacific Spotlight special issue coming in May.

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