Playtime: Made of Fail Liefeldian Redesign Challenge

JensAltmann

As some of you know, I occasionally create a webcomic with the title Made of Fail. Recent developments among the DCU relaunch inspired the following challenge:

Take any of the six Made of Fail regulars (in order of the strip, reading left - right - left down: Don, Amy, Criminal Mastermind, Mefistopheles, Ben and Craig) and redesign them in the style of Rob Liefeld. Post the results here.

pjperez

Oh, man, I need to find a few minutes tonight to do this. Can I call dibs on Ben?

pjperez

Oh, screw it, I couldn't wait. Here's Ben:

pjperez

I don't think I got in enough pouches.

RussellLissau

I won't make a decision unilaterally but will seek support from the other mods: This forum, like P&P before it, is designed to be a positive and supportive place. I don't favor holding another creator up to ridicule/satire.

If any other mod agrees, please take action.

pjperez

Where did @JensAltmann ridicule anyone? He issued a challenge to redesign characters "in the style of Rob Liefeld." He nor anyone didn't say or do anything negative or judgmental! How is this different from, say, "take my characters and redesign them in the style of Jack Kirby" or "take my characters and redesign them in steampunk style?"

@RussellLissau I'm guessing you have a negative opinion of Liefeld, or else you wouldn't have taken it this way.

I thought it was a fun little exercise on the order of Whitechapel's "remake/remodel," but I also don't take things too seriously.

RussellLissau

PJ: I wrote what I did because Rob is, as you know, a common and easy target because of what some people perceive as flaws in his art style. Yet, the guy's sold more comics than any of us here ever will.

If Jens intended the thread to honor the guy, I've got no problems. But if he intended it as a jab or satire, or if anyone responds as such, I'll shoot it down quicker than Shaft can pull an arrow from his quiver. (Ta da!)

JasonAQuest

Well, I do agree with Russell's perception that there's some implicit ridicule in the challenge.  But there's a bit of self-ridicule on Jens' part too, by offering his (ahem) Made of Fail characters for it.  I'd call it even.

In more general terms, I think that there's an element of ridicule or satire in any challenge that says "take _____ and have some fun giving it ____ treatment".  Taking Pj's examples, I can make fun of aspects of Kirby or steampunk even while respecting them.  Even if satire isn't called for in the question, it's probably going to show up in at least some of the answers.  I don't see any real harm in it unless someone really goes off into "jerk" territory in the process.  It says "frank and honest" in the CONDUCT section too, after all.

I admit that I'd probably feel differently if it were my own ox being gored (e.g. "Redesign the Avengers as if they gave the job to Quest"), but that's because I'd be an unwilling witness to my own crucifixion, and I'm an insecure noob.  But Rob Liefeld is a big enough boy to endure some ribbing on a web site he doesn't visit.  So I don't see enough harm in this instance to be concerned about it.

pjperez

PJ: I wrote what I did because Rob is, as you know, a common and easy target because of what some people perceive as flaws in his art style. Yet, the guy's sold more comics than any of us here ever will.

I KNOW, Russell. I just don't think it's a big thing. Maybe SW just isn't the place for this thread, though.

RussellLissau

Jason expressed my concerns eloquently. I'm shutting up now.

pjperez

I'm just upset no one has high-fived me for my AWESOME DRAWING yet!!

JasonAQuest

I'm sorry, but although it is a Maximum Extreme Image, I don't believe it's truly Awesome.

marvinmann

Five high. I'd join the fun if I had a scanner.

pjperez

@JasonAQuest You're right. I should have made the gun bigger!

JasonAQuest

I can't draw like Liefeld, and I mean that as a sincere backhanded complement.  He uses techniques (e.g. crosshatching) that I've never gotten the hang of, so I'm not going to try to duplicate them. Besides, the assignment here was more about design than rendering, right? 

So here is Amy as Mr. Liefeld might have conceived her to appear, with a blend of his drawing ideosyncracies and my own.  (Fair enough, I hope?) 

I chose Amy because I could immediately picture Liefeld's approach to her hair.  And I have to confess that as I referred to a few actual Liefeld pieces while drawing this, I could see that I was overdoing it; I was caricaturing his characters.  To fix this, I had to reduce the size of her breasts. Twice.



@marvinmann: "I'd join the fun if I had a scanner."

"Scanner"? Oh, right, that's one of those things they used to use to convert marks on paper into actual art.

marvinmann

ah well, I never really liked drawing with my wacom that much. i mostly just use it for coloring. still stuck with marks on paper.

Tim12s

@JasonAQuest - The feet don't go off the page enough... Also, needs shoulderpads.

JensAltmann

Russ: If I'd wanted to be mean, in the light of current events, I would have said, "Redesign them in the style of Jim Lee."

Now, I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Rob Liefeld's work. (I've nothing against the man personally, I've interacted with him online and he's a nice guy.) But you're right about one thing: the DCU redesign brought the 1990s style to my mind, and Rob Liefeld is the one whose work I consider most exemplaric of "OTT 1990s," and I used his name simply because everyone would immedately know what I mean, rather than having to explain.

So, Mods: if you'd like to change the thread title into "in the OTT 1990s Style," go ahead.

JensAltmann

PJ: Awesome. But you're right, the gun's too small. I'd thought it was a ping-pong-paddle.

Jason: You nailed it. The ribcage-less waist, the armbands... Gold!