2012 is winding down, the Mayan Calender doesn't appear to keep accurate time for the apocalypse, the U.S. presidential race has ended without coming to physical blows, and I'm finally recovering from the blogging toll of September and work tolls in October. I curtailed the presentation of our Comicpalooza and Space City Con commissions out of necessity last month, and now I'm thinking we'll save most of the rest for after the holiday season. All three Johnny J. Segura III pieces ran, and given that this year was meant to spotlight supporting players, completing the Lane Montoya hat trick with J'Onn J'Onzz's JLTF sidekick seems highly appropriate.
Lane Montoya, without any conscious forethought on my part, illustrated nothing but friends of the Alien Atlas. The arranged couple of Princess Cha'rissa and Jemm, Son of Saturn each received 8½" x 11" full color pieces, but the third option landed closer to home.
For Montoya's final commission, I handed her a batch of reference pages I'd had printed up, and let her choose her own subject. If I recall correctly, she gravitated toward Gypsy immediately, based on the Sal Velluto art used for her sub-menu at Justice League Detroit. I told Montoya that she could draw Gypsy however she liked, in any costume she chose, or even a mingling of several looks. As you can see, while Montoya kept some of the ethnic flair Velluto brought to the character, there's a lot more of Chuck Patton's original design. Thank Google for that. Cleaned up and streamlined, I think Montoya offers the Gypsy we might have seen had she stayed in the game after Vibe and Steel fell victim to Professor Ivo. It works as a costume, but unlike her comics debut, I can believe a girl would actually wear this. I also like the Latin flavor, and should she return in the New 52, I'd prefer a "Cynthia Reynaldo" to Cindy Reynolds. Pretty and exotic, I was very happy with how Montoya captured the youngest Leaguer.
In case you're curious, there's about twelve commissions still waiting in a queue, and I expect at least a couple to run this December. There's a number of repeat performers, as well as one longtime favorite responsible for artwork on a recent TV show ad campaign and the co-founding of Image Comics. I'm looking forward to presenting them, but for now, I'm happy to end with this sweet piece. For more, be sure to check out Montoya's deviantART page
I can see a woman wearing this, and maybe having Gypsy as Cynthia Reynaldo is a good idea. Lots of family names have been changed as people enter this country and sometimes they get changed back to the original form.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I have not seen any news on a comic just for J'Onn but I hope that in addition to Justice League that he appears in the comics of his team mates. (Some, like Vibe, could use a little support.)
We got a Vibe comic in the New 52. Four waves in. Still no Martian Manhunter. Gives hope to the tens of Gypsy fans, though.
ReplyDeleteIf J'Onn is now a face, I hope that he gets a comic soon. However, I have read some speculation that someone who was promoted to a Face, Cyborg (aka the Thing With Batteries or a hero who is less interesting than such other African-American technological heroes as Steel or Hardware) may get a book after the much hyped Trinity War. (My hope is that J'Onn will knock some sense into the participants, as he always seems to be about getting the job done rather than the Sturm und Drang of the Big Three.)
ReplyDeleteAgreed. And Cyborg needs an ongoing series, because he's still just an underdeveloped background player in a team book after all these years. J'Onn J'Onzz may have been Shemp Howard, but that makes Cyborg Joe Palma.
ReplyDeleteI love the colors in this piece! Really visually dynamic.
ReplyDeleteCyborg is under developed and needs some serious attention. But my choice for technical hero would have been Hardware, for a new series and as the member of the Justice League
ReplyDeleteI'm cool with Hardware.
ReplyDeletewow! gypsy has never looked better. yet again you managed to pick a great artist to improve on a character. congrats on the results.
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