odditycollector

I stop by the 4thletter! comic blog on and off (We share an interest) and most recently I found, as a case example in a post on useful arguments about race, a paragraph explaining why my recoloured Legion project was dumb.

After the obligatory moment of "no u i's awesome", I was actually pretty pleased to read it. I've gotten a lot of feedback from people who it succeeded with, but pretty much nothing from people who it didn't. (And no, "Maybe you could have made their eyes more slanty?" really really doesn't count.) I mean, I think he's wrong, and I will tell you all about why, but I can see where our expectations diverge.

( Read more... )

Regardless of how it works as an argument, as a story, I honestly believe my version is *better* than the original. Even the moral is no longer, "Sure, you all look exactly the same on the outside, but underneath you may see the world differently because of your different experiences. But underneath *that*, it turns out you really are just the same after all! Like a tuna salad sandwich on Wonderbread!

A few months ago, my reworked Legion of Super-heroes issues were spotlighted in a lecture by Francesca Coppa. The talk - titled Things We Don't Have In The Future...and How Fan Arts Can Help - was required viewing for first year students at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.



(If the embedded file gives you trouble: Streaming on Blip.tv.)

My work's featured from about 15 minutes to 20 minutes in, but it's worth watching the whole thing. Plus lots of it is vids!

There's a very interesting bit (to me) when she moves from the animated Legion pic I recoloured to the original, and there is a audible sigh or gasp from the audience. *That* is why I use photoshop so often to make my point; it is almost impossible to recreate that "Oh!" moment with text, as human beings are extremely good at filtering out arguments they don't agree with. But images get sent to your brain with little red alert flags: what does this mean is it important is it a bear?

I do have a couple issues with the details (about me). Firstly, you might take away that *I* was around in the 1950's and 60's, but this is not the case! You guys, I am not secretly a grandmother here, although "70 year old woman learns Photoshop for great justice!" would have been a pretty awesome story.

And more importantly, I have problems with the context in which she uses "albino" as a descriptor. This actually turned into a several paragraph rant, which I'll probably post in the near future. But the short version: she is either using "albino" as a synonym for "pale white person" which, no; or she is honestly reading the character as having albinism and suggesting erasing that is a pretty cool thing I managed, which again, no; and PS, in a formal situation, "woman with albinism" is better.

At least she's using it as an adjective rather than a noun? But in a lecture celebrating how fans are working against the racism or sexism or homophobia in their culture, that little moment of Fail was pretty annoying.

That is the short version (with most of the How Dare You Impugn My Honour excised).

But other than that momentary lapse, it's a pretty interesting introduction to fan arts as conversation. Worth your time, even the bits that aren't about me!
 

If you're going to read this, you might want to catch up:
Issue One.
Issue Two.
Issue Three.

There will be no issue four, but I felt sad leaving off just as the introductions were made. So many of my favourite moments were yet to come. So many of my favourite characters.

To make concluding easier, here's a taste of the further story the Legion is a part of.

(As always, if you click on a picture, it will take you to an animated gif showing changes I've made.)



( And then, this. )

 
Thanks for looking! I hope you've enjoyed this project as much as I have!

As mentioned, I've been working on another issue of Everyone Makes It to the 31st Century, only it turns out I was more finished than I thought! Woo!

For those who missed it, here's the first issue. This one might make more sense if you've read it.



( I hope you are okay with fisticuffs and explosions and snark and stuff? Because warning: this comic is rated Awesome. )

( Notes )
 
(ETA: Issue Three. And coda.)

Here are a couple "extra scenes" I made along with the Legion of Super-heroes pages of a couple days ago. Characters I was curious to see in the new universe, but didn't show up really in the first issue.

These are even less finished than the pages I posted yesterday, so I made them extra small in the hopes you will not notice too much. (And you'll have to ignore the cos-playing white kids in the backgrounds. I don't know *where* they wandered in from.)

( Nura )

( Irma )

( Garth )

And I also did Brin, but I messed that up entirely and you are missing nothing.