odditycollector: Giant crayon with a airplane tail fin flying over a landscape, dropping smaller crayons or bombs. Icon is calming green. (Crayon Bomb)
odditycollector ([personal profile] odditycollector) wrote2009-08-02 05:42 pm

the alternate universe where *everyone* survives to the 31st century

Recently, I was rereading the first trade of the Waid and Kitson version of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and I was distracted (as I am wont) by how few CoC are in their vision. I wished I could have a book where the Legion was recast from a more inclusive future.

And then it occurred to me that, well, maybe I could. If I wanted it enough.




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Notes:

1. If you're curious about what I changed, click on any of the pages. It'll take you to an animated gif showing before and after. The gif's are smaller, so I'm not sure if everything will show up, but I can't be the only one currently struggling with her internet.

(Bandwidth issues are also why the pages are so small. Hopefully they're still legible! If you want to see a bigger version of any, though, I can do that.)

2. It was important to me, if I was going to do this, it not end up simply as a book full of tanned Caucasians. So instead it, uh, ended up as a war on Barry Kitson's chins. Also, noses. I tried for subtle, but not, like *handwaves*, too subtle, so hopefully that turned out okay.

It quickly became apparent I had no ability to draw African hair anything - or you'd have seen more kinky hair in there - but I did what I could otherwise. I figured I could get away with one (well, two: Ayla is a twin) Storm-style character design, but I wanted the Legionaires to have realistic hair and eye colours. (Though you may have noticed a few dark-skinned, pink-locked people running around in the background. This is a homage to Max Gibson! ...and also a total lazy cheat.)

3. One of my bigger concerns was that I'd not do justice to Lyle Norg's adorable-ness. (Priorities!) Turned out, I did not need to worry at *all*.



4. Dear Sunboy, we both know you were never my favourite, but there was no reason to be quite this uncooperative. Holy crap. Guys, I spent more time fighting with him than *everything else*. In fact, this could *still* probably benefit from more time fighting with him, but at this point I half-wish I had left him as one of my token white people; I don't care that it would have undermined the entire project, I don't even care*.

*That is a lie.

ETA: Deleted Scenes - if you're curious about characters who weren't in the issue.

ETA2: There are more exciting adventures in Issue Two, Issue Three, and a Coda.

Larbalestier's "Liar" gets new cover; odditycollector pwns 93rd century.

[identity profile] pingback-bot.livejournal.com 2009-08-06 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
User [livejournal.com profile] liviapenn referenced to your post from Larbalestier's "Liar" gets new cover; odditycollector pwns 93rd century. (http://liviapenn.livejournal.com/562290.html) saying: [...] cover.) In related news, took issue #1 of the most recent Legion of Super-Heroes reboot and edited it for more inclusivity (http://odditycollector.livejournal.com/207348.html), recoloring and redesigning the characters to make the team more diverse. LOSH, for you non-comics fans, is a ... [...]

[identity profile] fenrisulfr.livejournal.com 2009-08-06 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
This is beautiful! It is total fail that so much fantasy/sci-fi/superhero stuff gets whitewashed, because the characters you get when you delve into the real range of humanity is... well, it feels so much more NORMAL to me.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks. I know which world I would rather live in.

[identity profile] cesperanza.livejournal.com 2009-08-06 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
This is fantastic.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] burntcopper.livejournal.com 2009-08-07 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
...wow. not having picked up Legion since the 90s/v. early 00s (the post-zero hour team), I never thought they'd make it even whiter on re-boot. No, seriously. Back then you had XS, Karate Kid and Kid Quantum which was pretty low turn-out as it was.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
Me neither. Back in 2004, I was actually happy to hear news of the re-reboot, coming as it did with rumours they were switching up ethnicities. I thought, Finally! They will fix things!

inalasahl: angela from bones (angela)

[personal profile] inalasahl 2009-08-08 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
This was so wonderfully done. There were unmistakably Asian people, yet they did not look like exaggerated stereotypes, woohoo! Thank you for this gift to the community.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
Yay, I'm so glad to hear it worked!

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_ocelott_/ 2009-08-14 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
You know, I actually like it better this way. Not only is it a better representation of, y'know, people, it's actually easier to keep track of what's going on because suddenly the characters don't all look exactly the same.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-09-06 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Hah! Yeah, it is a good thing everyone in the Legion comes with helpful identifying symbols, I will say.

[identity profile] bluepard.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Hello, I stumbled on this while wandering around looking at Legion stuff.

This is definitely neat, and it makes me want to go through with actually drawing out some of my re-imaginings of the Legion. The fact I can see more diversity by going outside (in NYC) than in a book about a team representing the whole galaxy is just weird to me. Don't these books have character designers? Did no one put any thought into this?

I am not sure it's actually possible to reduce Lyle's cuteness. It's his secondary superpower. ;)

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-09-06 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
If you do, please link me!

Don't these books have character designers? Did no one put any thought into this?
Yeah. They must have put *some* thought into it, hence Thom being our token not-white-anymore example. And then they clapped themselves for a job well finished and only bothered with one colour for the rest of the galactic population.

[identity profile] jmatonak.livejournal.com 2009-10-08 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
This is really excellent.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-10-08 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!
susanreads: my avatar, a white woman with brown hair and glasses (Default)

[personal profile] susanreads (from livejournal.com) 2009-11-15 11:02 am (UTC)(link)
This is fantastic! I've never seen the original and I couldn't tell what you'd changed on, f'rex, Cosmic Boy, until I checked the gif with the closeups. They're not just all white except for Star Boy, they're ... clones? Wow.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-11-17 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

they're ... clones? Wow.
Well, you know. In the DCU everyone looks exactly the same, except for clothes and hairstyle. That is how Clark Kent gets away with his shtick.

beccaelizabeth: very goth red and black butterfly (butterfly)

[personal profile] beccaelizabeth 2009-11-15 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
These are awesome. I looked and I couldn't remember what was different because it all looked like proper diverse people and then I click the gifs and remember why I Stopped reading comics. Well, one why. Yours are better.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2009-11-18 10:13 am (UTC)(link)
I click the gifs and remember why I Stopped reading comics
:/ I wish this whole project would have been redundant.

(Anonymous) 2010-01-25 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
You know the sad thing? The only difference I really noticed was Sun Boy. I had to click on the images to notice the differences in everyone else. DC could do what you did with the Legion issues in EVERY SINGLE OTHER BOOK they publish and it would not change the content or distract from it AT ALL. But do they do it? No.

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2010-01-25 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
Sun Boy was uncooperative! As well as being one of the most altered characters, and in many, many pages in this issue. It's no wonder he stood out.

And I'd be a lot happier if DC would just do this with the LSH! Instead we're back to the original Legion colour-scheme and it makes my brain hurt.
ordinarygirl: (Default)

[personal profile] ordinarygirl 2010-09-16 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
This is obviously way late, but... man. I think I like your version WAY better, if only because the characters are more... diverse. In that it's easier for me to tell them apart. XD
ordinarygirl: (Default)

[personal profile] ordinarygirl 2010-09-16 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
Also, the fact that you have Christina Yang, the Doctor, the Old Spice Man, and Agatha Heterodyne in one meme makes me happy. Adding you to my reading list, if you don't mind. :)

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