Firebird - OHotMU Redesign

Have you been following "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (REDUXE Edition)" site ohotmuredux.blogspot.com/ run by Calamity Jon Morris calamityjonsave.us/ ? If not, you're missing out on a fun comic stop on the Interwebs, so really, do yourself a favor and check it out. A wide range of artists are recreating every single character entry in the original Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe (Deluxe Edition) in their own style. And it's all been awesome so far.

I was lucky enough to request my way in, and this redesign of Firebird is the first of my two submission.

I tried to incorporate actual fire into her outfit, but everything ended up looking like Phoenix (I kept hearing the kids on South Park chanting "X-Men did it!"). So then I went with Plan B, which I titled: "Wing/Flame Tattoos Would Be Bad-Ass."

Brushing up on the character, I remembered that her "West Coast Avengers" days portrayed her as a social worker and devout Catholic who found herself gifted with abilities that more-or-less made her immortal. I have to think that would mess with any one's head, so my redesign finds her when she's in full-blown "Existential Crisis Mode." A little bit of "crisis of faith," sure, but mostly someone trying to find her place in the (much, much) bigger picture once the canvas gets expanded exponentially.

The original art was drawn by the great Jerry Ordway and Joe Rubinstein. You can check out my redesign next to the original here: ohotmuredux.blogspot.com/2012/…

PITT Pens, Adobe Photoshop CS 5.5