Phase Two Concept Art

1337’s particular flavor of nonbinary is gender fluidity, and they do like to mix up how they dress. “I want gender to be like clothes in a wardrobe, and I can put on what I feel fits me” is their touchstone. So feel free to go nuts, however you imagine them dressing.

I think there’d be no limit to Alycia’s irritation level if this happens in-universe

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I’m not sure what inspired this design, no clue what-so-ever. This is definitely not an implied character that may show up in the future.

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So one of the inciting incidents in Phase Two was the invasion of the Blot and while we’ve seen them in the Save the Date comic series, I definitely feel that their appearance definitely falls into “best representation given the resources available.” So let’s take a stab.


So one thing I did like was their shadowy appearance. Very alien. Perhaps they absorb solar energy and the black skin helps them with that.

But then we also saw that the Blot can get big (perhaps via bonding, innate shapeshifting, or a specialized member of the species? not sure which) so I needed to cover that.

So many questions about these characters.

While she hasn’t shown up, the ASIST concept made me think of who the frequent users of the app would be and that led to Superchica. Not a huge change between Phase 1 and Phase 2, but I also don’t think there needed to be.


Also had an idea for a short story during the Blot invasion involving her (because Keri always gets involved in alien invasions) but need to ponder on that for a bit more this weekend.

With that done, I have a couple more folks in mind for Phase 2 makeovers/first appearances, but I also wanted to hear who everyone else was interested in seeing designs for. So if you’ve got a character either mentioned so far in Phase 2 or just want to see them after the timeskip, let me know.

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Some are being answered here.

I couldn’t tell you why, but I got the clearest image in my mind of the Fight Falcon while reading Frozen in Time. Something between a member of Gatchaman, Birdman, and just a hint of a Batman redesign that made the rounds in 2012 for its “I made what I needed to and reused what I could” feel.


Highly doubt he’s going to be more than a guest star in long run (unless this is Bill secretly introducing a new surprise villain, but I highly doubt that) but figured I’d make the most of his brief appearance as I could.

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The trident is the traditional/ancestral Atlantean weapon. However, modern wielders have innovated on the basic concept. For example:

This weapon doesn’t have three parallel tines, but rather has spikes in a triangular arrangement. This design allows for a lot of variation:

  • Some tridents have a pneumatic firing apparatus to launch the tines at a target
  • Security tridents carry a net between the tines, then launch it to capture a fleeing target
  • Specialty tridents (for use in air-filled areas) might also fire tines as a grappling-hook system, with the cable stored in the shaft of the trident
  • Hunting tridents (for use against large underwater animals) can collapse the tines together into a single spearpoint, then pop them outward to stay in the wound

Nautilus and Stingray have adopted this kind of trident technology, and their weapons are built using similar principles.

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Heh. That would be funny.

Though, honestly, given the codename “Snowman” I was expecting someone in white, not charcoal. Or is that too on the nose?

He’s mentally 15, it’s black like his tortured soul

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I think it probably also has to do with the sort of work AEGIS has him doing. It also doesn’t hurt that Bill originally pitched him as “Dark Link” many years ago and I still have the art he shared for the idea tucked into my references folder.
image

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Because many of my characters have significant names along multiple dimensions, here’s a rundown of where SNOWMAN aka John Black comes from:

  • “Dark (whoever)” characters, as mentioned, are usually the evil or at least morally questionable version of a character
  • Pearl Jam’s “Black” has been with me for a long time as music, and “I know you’ll be a star
    In somebody else’s sky / But why / Why / Why can’t it be / Oh can’t it be mine” is specifically how he feels about Pneuma (and now by extension Aria & Summer, though he’s still working on that)
  • “John Doe” is a name for an anonymous person. Like Summer, SNOWMAN isn’t supposed to exist. He’s the definition of a character who should not exist, actually. And like Summer, he doesn’t know what his role in life should be so he’s rolling with this spy shit for now.
  • SNOWMAN itself was the code name for the operation to retrieve Rossum. Like a lot of military project names, it sounds random. A snowman is a thing you build that looks like a person but isn’t, and will be gone soon.
  • There’s the 1988 “Jack Frost” movie, where Michael Keaton dies and wakes up in the body of a snowman.
  • Buuuut there’s also “The Falcon and the Snowman”, a 1985 spy drama about some young guys who got in over their heads.
  • Conveniently for me, there’s also “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”, and SNOWMAN definitely occupies the Winter Soldier slot, so I can draw parallels there. Not anticipated when I wrote the character, but there we are!
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I don’t have a neat visual reference for Senior Commander Saito, but if you want to know what he’s all about, jam these two dudes together.

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I’ve taken a stab at Saito and other Atlanteans, but its definitely been a stretch. Will probably get something together soon.

In the meantime, I had some free time this morning and wanted to sketch out what “Shadow Shields, up!” might look like. :wink:


Had the wings in the sketch but forgot them when I went to add effects. Might go back and add them in later, but this was just supposed to be a quick sketch and it’s already gotten out of hand.

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Been inspired to do some artwork for of the key focuses in the latest Phase Two stories.

First up the Chin Spiderbot.


So there were a lot of ways I could handle this. The original inspiration is fairly basic, but iconic in its shape. I didn’t want to do just a straight copy of it though, so I made some choices on its function.

The spiderbot seems like it has a dual role in Chin’s operation: a covert spy and a hunter-killer drone. This could be handled with two models, but I decided to go for something simple. The basic design is such that a spiderbot could find a secluded place, grip the ends of its legs into a surface (like a wall or ceiling) and then retract its legs in to become just become an unsightly bump in the background (even more so if it has some limited color changing capabilities).

In its hunter-killer mode, it’s all about mobility and intimidation. As the title of the story goes, there’s a lot of people with arachnophobia, and having a big robot spider with equipped with some small arms fire capabilities is probably going to increase that. The triangular “eye” is its targeting sensor for some sort of internal firearm mounted in the center of the triangle (I didn’t include detail for this since it was mostly a hasty sketch and I didn’t want that to detract from the overall design). I could see that eye moving the full area of the dome body, tracking it’s targets. I also means the spider could become an impromptu mounted turret in its “blister” mode.

Could do another pass if there’s any major feedback, but I see this being pretty functional design for the story needs.

Now for the Atlantean Blood.


This one I’m a bit more iffy on. I feel like they should be fairly alien in appearance, but not to the point that they could not act as infiltrators (though under some concealing clothing like Ninjess uses).

I’m also of two minds when it comes to their clothing. On one hand, wearing constrictive clothing underwater inhibits the ability to swim and anything that isn’t skin tight will likely cling to the skin anyway as soon as someone leaves the water. On the other, cool outfits are cool and comics can sometimes sketch believability for something that looks good.

For now, consider this a work in progress on both those fronts. Part of me wants to have the Atlantean to have a purple/blue color scheme, but like real squids I imagine they might have some minor color change abilities (Was this already a part of the story? Another excuse to read it again. :wink: ) but whether this is controlled (like a chameleon) or uncontrolled (like blushing) is another matter.

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Let’s say that their outfits can become skintight underwater, shrinking almost instantly, and then loosen for air-wear. They have advanced biotech, no reason why their clothing has to be functionless fabric.

They do, and it’s normally unconscious but they can train themselves to use it consciously and deliberately. This is something the ninja corps definitely learn.

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I think you really nailed it. They also have a holographic projection mode for concealment, but we haven’t seen that in action (on screen).

Works. Simple, evocative, but different enough to be unique.

Which in turn (from the turret perspective) makes me think of a larger (and cruder) version, the Lexcorp/Waynetech bots from “Worlds Finest”.

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Created with Blender. I used Metaballs to make the station, the Inkwood shader to texture it, a nebula HDRI off Shutterstock for the background, and some basic geometry and Realtime Materials plugins to make the Vanguard.

Update: V2

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