The name's Zith (He/Him.) "Moderately Radical" was sort of a joke and I'm finding it harder to justify the first word every day. I'm a 30-something technically-professional artist. Stick around for original comics, creature design, and reimaginings of popular superheroes with a twist!
According to Amazon religious tradition, the island of New Themyscira lay on top of the door to Tartarus. That is why the island was concealed from the world of man. And the gods had led the Amazons to settle it not only for their own protection, but so that those famously fierce warriors could stand guard.
Wouldn’t you know it, turns out the story was true!
After the events of the Godswar weakened the fabric between dimensions, The Titans of Myth burst forth from their prison and attempted to reclaim Olympus. The Amazons stood in the Titans’ way, and were quickly pulled into their war.
It was only young Donna, Princess Diana’s cousin and psilos, who heard the Titans out. She and her friends (also called Titans) had attempted a sneak attack. Although the attack was a failure and Donna was captured, her captors were impressed enough–or at least surprised enough–that they deigned to speak to her. They protested that their continued internment in Tartarus was cruel and unusual, and they had long since repaid their debt for their part in the ancient war that they never really had much choice in anyway. Donna saw their point. With the help of her friends, she stood against the Amazon army and even her own hoplite sister in the Wonder Woman/Teen Titans crossover event, Titanomachy. In the end, she convinced her sisters they were fighting on the wrong side, and helped broker a tentative ceasefire between the Titans and the Olympians.
The grateful Titans declared Donna their champion. They rewarded her with a suit of indestructible fourth-dimensional armor, and a spear that can pierce any material known to man. And they dubbed her Troia for some reason.
For years, Batman and Robin were the closest of comrades. The Dynamic Duo! But, like many teenagers, Dick began to feel stifled by his guardian (and let’s face it, Bruce isn’t the easiest guy to get along with). Between going away to college and his time leading the Teen Titans, Dick was doing more and more crimefighting on his own and less with Batman. But as Bruce continued giving him orders and criticising his methods, Dick realized his mentor would never see Robin as anything other than Batman’s sidekick. After one particularly explosive argument, Dick handed in his costume and quit being Robin.
Using the trust fund Bruce had set up for him before their split, Dick set about starting a new life in nearby Belhaven. Wanting to forge his own identity, Dick recalled one of his finest hours: the now-famous battle in which he and Batman teamed up with Superman to save the world from the Brainiac Swarm. When Batman had been knocked off his mount, Dick had taken over riding the Nightwing, the biggest and baddest bird in the sky.
As Nightwing, Dick has made a point to take the lessons he learned from Batman and temper them with the lessons he’s learned from his other friends. He knows how to take his job seriously, and how to put the fear of god into his enemies. But he is also an effective and inspiring leader, and an open and trusting ally. He takes special care looking after the younger heroes he sees going through the same struggles he did–though he has a complicated relationship with Jason, the younger boy Bruce took in after he left, and who only gradually earned his respect and blessing. His new costume is stealthier and more intimidating than the one he wore as Robin, but with an even greater emphasis on maneuverability for his more acrobatic fighting style. He even added retractable glider wings to allow him to leap between buildings!
Tragedy would later bring Dick and Bruce back together. But as Nightwing, Dick is his own man who combines the dark and the light sides of crimefighting.
When I first heard of Nightwing from Batman the Animated Series, I thought it was the coolest shit ever. Everyone knew Batman and Robin: the boy wonder, the eternal youthful sidekick. But the idea that he actually did get to grow up and be his own hero? That just blew my mind. He’s been one of my favorite heroes ever since.
I like that Dick and Bruce are tight again in the comics, and that Dick has regained a lot of his light-heartedness. But I think it’s important to show that he can be as serious as Batman, and have him go through that angsty phase. I made his (initial) relationship with Jason rockier, as well. I think he’s a little resentful that this punk kid “replaced” him, though at the same time he wants to protect him from Bruce’s… Bruce-ness. He’d feel guilty about this should anything bad ever happen to Jason, leading to him making amends with Bruce and acting much more of a big brother to the next Robin. Not that that would ever happen, of course.
I think Nightwing only had those glider wingies for like, one episode of the cartoon, but for years I thought of those as Nightwing’s Thing, so of course I had to include them. I also figured he’d keep the hood since I already gave him one as Robin. Didn’t see any reason he’d want his face to be more exposed. I made his mask resemble more the one I’d already given him as well.
I don’t personally need the name “Nightwing” to have come from Superman, that could easily be a name he just made up and thought sounded cool. But I do need there to be some well-known connection between “Nightwing” and “Flamebird” in case I ever do Bette Kane. As for “Blüdhaven”, not only is it ridiculously on the nose, but I can’t think of a single city in the US with an umlaut in its name (feel free to prove me wrong in the comments).
After Superman first fought and defeated the Brainiac, the swarm attacked his Fortress of Solitude in retaliation. An EMP field played havoc with the Man of Steel’s powers, and after calling in aid from Batman and Robin, it turned out it wasn’t great for conventional electronics like the Batwing either. The only solution was to mount three of the most dangerous flying creatures Superman had rescued from the Brainiac’s menagerie: a flamebird, a nightwing, and a Kryptonian drakehound.
Long story short, the animals proved essential to the swarm’s defeat. In particular, Superman found a strong personal affinity with the drakehound, and decided to train him as a pet. This would have been a tall order for anyone else; at over six feet tall with the incredibly dense musculature needed to fly, Krypto (as he came to be named) was stronger than any animal on Earth. But Superman is Superman, and soon earned Krypto’s loyalty, if not always his complete obedience.
I think there was one point in the comics where Krypto was an ordinary dog given Kryptonian DNA by Cadmus or someone? That’s arguably a much more elegant solution if (like myself) you don’t like Krypton having dogs just like ours. But I just can’t resist designing a crazy alien creature! The tricky part was keeping him canine enough that we could believe everyone would refer to him as a dog, but alien enough that we could believe he was from another planet. I probably could have gotten away with making him look much less canine were it not for the already hugely un-doglike addition of wings. There’s a lot of examples in sci-fi of aliens that look nothing like dogs but still read as dogs due to their behavior. I imagine that still holds true with my Krypto. Picture the big guy pouncing on Clark the minute he walks into the Fortress, licking his face with his giant tongue and barking excitedly. The ears also help a lot.
(The nightwing and flamebird stuff probably didn’t need to go here, but it’s gonna pay off later, you’ll see.)
For years, Batman and Robin were the closest of comrades. The Dynamic Duo! But, like many teenagers, Dick began to feel stifled by his guardian (and let’s face it, Bruce isn’t the easiest guy to get along with). Between going away to college and his time leading the Teen Titans, Dick was doing more and more crimefighting on his own and less with Batman. But as Bruce continued giving him orders and criticising his methods, Dick realized his mentor would never see Robin as anything other than Batman’s sidekick. After one particularly explosive argument, Dick handed in his costume and quit being Robin.
Using the trust fund Bruce had set up for him before their split, Dick set about starting a new life in nearby Belhaven. Wanting to forge his own identity, Dick recalled one of his finest hours: the now-famous battle in which he and Batman teamed up with Superman to save the world from the Brainiac Swarm. When Batman had been knocked off his mount, Dick had taken over riding the Nightwing, the biggest and baddest bird in the sky.
As Nightwing, Dick has made a point to take the lessons he learned from Batman and temper them with the lessons he’s learned from his other friends. He knows how to take his job seriously, and how to put the fear of god into his enemies. But he is also an effective and inspiring leader, and an open and trusting ally. He takes special care looking after the younger heroes he sees going through the same struggles he did–though he has a complicated relationship with Jason, the younger boy Bruce took in after he left, and who only gradually earned his respect and blessing. His new costume is stealthier and more intimidating than the one he wore as Robin, but with an even greater emphasis on maneuverability for his more acrobatic fighting style. He even added retractable glider wings to allow him to leap between buildings!
Tragedy would later bring Dick and Bruce back together. But as Nightwing, Dick is his own man who combines the dark and the light sides of crimefighting.
After Superman first fought and defeated the Brainiac, the swarm attacked his Fortress of Solitude in retaliation. An EMP field played havoc with the Man of Steel’s powers, and after calling in aid from Batman and Robin, it turned out it wasn’t great for conventional electronics like the Batwing either. The only solution was to mount three of the most dangerous flying creatures Superman had rescued from the Brainiac’s menagerie: a flamebird, a nightwing, and a Kryptonian drakehound.
Long story short, the animals proved essential to the swarm’s defeat. In particular, Superman found a strong personal affinity with the drakehound, and decided to train him as a pet. This would have been a tall order for anyone else; at over six feet tall with the incredibly dense musculature needed to fly, Krypto (as he came to be named) was stronger than any animal on Earth. But Superman is Superman, and soon earned Krypto’s loyalty, if not always his complete obedience.
Some Planeteers to go with this Captain, for the proposed cartoon I think I'm calling The Legend of Captain Planet. Expect me to fiddle around in this setting some more in the future.
Kwame Okyere
Kwame is the de facto leader of the group. As the eldest of his siblings, he places a lot of importance on responsibility, and studies hard to be able to provide for his family one day. He is skilled at both athletics and academics, with a particular aptitude for strategy and battle plans. This is reflected in the way he uses his power over earth to manipulate the battlefield. People naturally follow him due to his intelligence, determination, and calm under pressure. Only Wheeler seems to know how to get under his skin. If Kwame has a fault, it’s that he can be a little too serious, sometimes forgetting in his focus on the mission that his fellow Planeteers are just kids. But the one he is hardest on is himself–his responsibilities secretly weigh on him, and he sometimes doubts whether he is up to the task of leading his team.
James Wheeler
A streetwise delinquent, Wheeler is the Bad Boy of the group. He uses sardonic humor to mask the barely-suppressed rage issues he got from his abusive alcoholic father. Hotheaded and cocksure, with a massive chip on his shoulder, Wheeler isn’t the best team player. He hates taking orders from Kwame and frequently bickers with the all-too-similar Linka, despite his obvious attraction to her, though he does have a certain brotherly fondness for Ma-Ti. He is somewhat less interested than the rest of the Planeteers in doing good for its own sake. He hates bullies, however, and is all too willing to use fire blasts to work out his anger on rich jerks and their goons. Or to use his fists, for that matter.
Linka Novikova
Those who underestimate Linka for her femininity do so at their own peril. As the most wealthy of the planeteers, Linka’s parents demanded perfection from her in all aspects of her life. She is equally skilled in ballet and martial arts, and brings the grace and deadliness they have taught her to every mission. She uses the overwhelming power of air to pummel her opponents, slam them into walls, or fling them across the battlefield, as well as performing wind-assisted evasive maneuvers that are just shy of flight. She longs to break free of her rigid upbringing, and has started dipping her toes into online activism and fighting political injustice (she knows her history). Cold, no-nonsense, and dryly sarcastic, she has a love-hate relationship with the similarly-tempered but much more volatile Wheeler. But she quickly develops something of an “opposites attract” best friendship with Gi.
Hyun Gi
Gi is the smartest of the team, a prodigy with machines of all kinds. Far from an emotionless brain, however, she is also the warmest, kindest, and most caring. As the “mom friend” of the group, she always worries about the others getting hurt, and tries to mediate when arguments break out. She prefers to use her power over water in a support role, putting out fires, transporting equipment, and maybe freezing enemies in place. The sight of Gi unleashing her full power is as terrifying as it is rare, reserved only for those who seriously threaten her loved ones. Despite her appearance, Gi is actually a big fan of all things cute and pretty, and thinks her fashionable friend Linka is the coolest. She just doesn’t usually bother dressing up herself, not wanting her nice clothes to get in the way of her work or get dirty.
Ma-Ti
Between his youth and his relatively sheltered upbringing in an isolated Kayapo village, Ma-Ti is the least worldly of the Planeteers. Although innocent, playful, and even a little mischievous, he longs to be taken seriously as an equal. He always tries his best, and when seen around other kids one can sense a certain emotional intelligence beyond his years. He thinks Wheeler is fun and funny, but also really looks up to Kwame. He hates when they fight, and is often torn between them as he struggles to figure out what sort of man he wants to grow into. Aiding him in his growth is the power of heart, which allows him to read or sway the hearts of all living things.
If superman’s birthing matrix changed his dna to make him look like a human? Then does that mean that Kryptonians were more alien than humanoid?
Not sure how much of my DCZ pics you've seen, but yes! In this setting, Kryptonians were beings of pure energy, their true forms fairly malleable. The birthing matrix didn't so much alter his DNA as much as it grew him a whole organic body to inhabit.
As for what Kryptonians' ancient physical bodies looked like, before they transcended the need for them, no one still lives who could say.
