With the appearance of Gwen Stacy in Spider-man Loves Mary Jane #5, I figure it's okay to post these development pics. This first version I did waaaay back during the inception of the original Mary Jane comic book 2 years ago. You can see the rest of the cast done at the same time in my WORK gallery but this one was kept under the radar due to spoiling the future plot.
To be quit honest I had very little background on the character and sorta winged this one. Mary Jane is portrayed as a sweet and light-hearted teen so, naturally, I pictured Gwen as more of a posher, sheiker MJ. As the series continued the design began to see signs of being outdated so I did the following version for the present SMLMJ.
A little more innocent and a little more casual. I think it fits the tone of where the story is going.
I think everyone is worrying about whether she dies or not but, as far as I know, she seems to be a character that will be kicking around for a while to come. Which brings me to thinking how fortunate we are not to be working within the confines of (dreaded) Marvel continuity. I never understood the need for said continuity anyway since no one truly dies in comics. And speaking of comics and dying, I saw X-men 3 a coupla days ago and was rather puzzled with the fact that a good chunk of the cast gets obliterated. Vaporized. Whatever. I'm not going into details but it made for a very unsatisfying movie seeing it as purely a movie. I hardly cared for the characters (most come and go even before you know their names) and the rest is filled with explosions and CG fluff, making it very abrasive and rather disjointed. The only constants were Wolverine and Storm, both having had plenty of screen time in the past 2 films already. Hell, they should just call the movie Wolverine, Storm and the freaky bunch.
Anyway, maybe it was their way of saying "we're not making any more X-men films". Seeing the direction it's going that's cool by me.
TAK
To be quit honest I had very little background on the character and sorta winged this one. Mary Jane is portrayed as a sweet and light-hearted teen so, naturally, I pictured Gwen as more of a posher, sheiker MJ. As the series continued the design began to see signs of being outdated so I did the following version for the present SMLMJ.
A little more innocent and a little more casual. I think it fits the tone of where the story is going.I think everyone is worrying about whether she dies or not but, as far as I know, she seems to be a character that will be kicking around for a while to come. Which brings me to thinking how fortunate we are not to be working within the confines of (dreaded) Marvel continuity. I never understood the need for said continuity anyway since no one truly dies in comics. And speaking of comics and dying, I saw X-men 3 a coupla days ago and was rather puzzled with the fact that a good chunk of the cast gets obliterated. Vaporized. Whatever. I'm not going into details but it made for a very unsatisfying movie seeing it as purely a movie. I hardly cared for the characters (most come and go even before you know their names) and the rest is filled with explosions and CG fluff, making it very abrasive and rather disjointed. The only constants were Wolverine and Storm, both having had plenty of screen time in the past 2 films already. Hell, they should just call the movie Wolverine, Storm and the freaky bunch.
Anyway, maybe it was their way of saying "we're not making any more X-men films". Seeing the direction it's going that's cool by me.
TAK
9 Comment(s):
Keith Cunningham said...
There are always ways to work around the continuity. I hope so at least. Cause if things work out how I'd like I have a story for the Golden Age Human Torch that would just be sweet.
reemonemo said...
shes spicy
Alex said...
hey tak! love the sketches, as usual...so x-men was a bust, eh? doesn't surprise me. halle berry's always been a miscast in my book...and i never really liked brett ratner's work. figured that this would happen once singer left the film.
TAK said...
Keith - you mean the Torch with the verteical stripes? I think that was the best version too.
Reemo - word.
Alex - Wasn't a total bust. i sound more negative about it than it really was. It just left me unfulfilled at the end I guess. Definitely worth seeing.
Keith Cunningham said...
The android. Pretty much take it from the angle that he is the first Marvel hero, so why isn't he a bigger part of the universe?
Anonymous said...
Why is so many people upset over the deaths in X-MEN 3? Because it didn't follow the comic books? So what? The comic books seemed to have at least 3 or more different sagas.
TAK said...
Keith - ya lost me. There was an android ?
anon(please use a sig) - For me, it wasn't the deaths themselves but the lazy way it went about pushing the plot along. Someone dies and the X-men react. Wow. There wasn't really any emotional weight to something so tragic. I didn't mind that it didn't follow the comic. I actually commend it for not sticking to it. Hell, I don't know much about the original stories anyway. Again, to me, it just wasn't a well told and made movie.
Keith Cunningham said...
Yeah. He was originally introduced in the 1930's. Like I said, the VERY first Marvel character. Pre-Captain America even.
frankwolftown said...
Back to the subkect of gwen stacy...
I like the last page of her "first apperance" she is what a modern Gwen Stacy would like. My friend who sells comcis was complaining about it though because it wasn't conveying the proper "mystique" or whatever. I simply told him "Welcome to the 21st century! Olny 6 years too late!" I'm glad you didn't do the first picture though I'm sure something Paris Hiltonesque will pop in there somewhere. I can't wait to see more!