There’s a surprisingly long history of taking existing properties or characters and putting them into outer space or the future. It’s such an obvious suit-think thing to do. I imagine that they think they’re being really clever by, as like to put it, “reinvisioning it for a new generation/90’s/millienium” (ie. giving them a hoverboard). You see, in the future you can have them fly around and use cool gadgets which is, of course, impossible if a story is set in the present.

Some of them are tolerable but most make me cringe. Space Family Robinson, Partridge Family 2200, Gilligan’s Planet, Flash Gordon, Stargate Infinity, Highlander: The Animated Series, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, TMNT Fast Forward,  Speed Racer: The Next Generation, Marvel 2099,  Marvel MC2, Next Avengers, Zorro: Generation Z, Loonatics Unleashed (which spawned these awesome parodies, 1, 2, 3) and probably many more that I’m missing. I must admit, however that I have a soft spot for futuristic westerns and I did enjoy Phantom 2040 (with Peter Cheung character designs), Batman Beyond (mediocre Timm/Dini/Murakami is still pretty good), and Spider-Man 2099 (which is mainly due to Rick Leonardi’s art).

The classic Batgirl’s portrayl always seem to come off as girly and lame despite her being a hero. A kind of second-rate Nancy Drew, if you will. Take this theme song for instance. It made more sense to give her an urban commando outfit with the kicks and escrima sticks like the ones Nightwing carries.

Julie Newmar is the Catwoman I always remember. I went light on the accessories because she’s not a gadgety character. They are heavy on the blacks which I don’t normally do but am starting to like.

It always bothers me that artists typically draw Batman and Superman with the same physique. I know there’s the metaphor in their relationship but considering who they are I imagine them looking very different. Batman is a slick and athletic billionaire. Superman is a big alien farm boy who gets his power from solar radiation so I made him more bulky and organic. The farm boots and the semitic hair give him a little more awkwardness that I think the character should have. I ‘m also addicted to the Liquid Ink tool in Painter. There’s some great inky and brushy effects that I used here.

I made an exercise for myself where I would try to redesign existing characters, giving each one a different style. Drawing old characters is an interesting challenge; all the superficial elements are already there so it forces you to think more abstractly. I started with Batman, of course. I love that the DC characters are so graphic, almost like they’re logos themselves. I made this one pointy and angular but a bit rubbery and goofy at the same time. It ended up more Timm-ish than I had intended but I think it’s a hard thing to avoid when unless you go more realistic.