Karen Starr: Power Girl Appreciation 2020

**Agent Z** · 07-15-2020, 07:01 AM

by Jeff Chapman

https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/c..._jeff_chapman/

**Ascended** · 07-15-2020, 08:14 AM

Interesting. Heavily armored PG. Well, at least her suit will withstand some punishment and not leave her naked after a fight......

Has a certain MCU flair to it....I like it. The shoulder pad is a little much tho.

**superduperman** · 07-15-2020, 08:57 AM

Where's that tube leading?

**achilles** · 07-15-2020, 10:29 AM

Negatives: The shoulder thing, it's a bit too busy with the little bits of red, and the legging should decide if it wants to be a full leg thing or not. That peek-a-boo leg thing along doesn't work. But I do think it's a good basis for a PG costume, and her classic bit does need to break up the expanse of white...

**Ascended** · 07-15-2020, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by superduperman

Where's that tube leading?

Around her back to the other side of her shoulder I would assume, just like the gold chord usually does.

I'm not digging the divergence in the line work between the white/red parts and the blue. The white/red is mostly made up of hard angles, while the blue is all smooth curves....except from the knee down where it's hard angles again. Pick one and stick with it. And the lines on the shoulder pad don't mesh with the rest either. Not sure what's up with the extra tubes either; there's one that seems to be plugging into her right arm and....I don't know what that's about. The tube on top is, I assume, the one that connects around her back but the placement is weird. If it's not supposed to connect around her back I'm not sure why it's there. Boob window is a tad gratuitous as well; I prefer something a little higher and smaller that falls more in line with "standard" cleavage. Karen can absolutely show off what Rao gave her, I got no problem with cleavage or the boob window, but this one is just a little too low.

But I like the colors, the textures are great, and the overall aesthetic is excellent. The suit has a certain weight to it that makes it seem durable and not just skimpy, thin spandex. And Karen herself looks perfect; I don't know if this was modeled on an actual person but she looks beautiful without looking soft; I'd believe that this woman could stop traffic in the street but also knock your teeth out of your head for staring too long. If this was the base that artists used for Karen's visuals I would not complain.

**achilles** · 07-15-2020, 12:41 PM

Basically, get rid of the shoulder thing, fix the gap in the legging, and turn the grey parts to the blue on the rest of the costume, and you're gold.

I also like the main PG skin from Injustice 2. It's a question of breaking up the expanse of white and adding feature like seams and transitions, which the one above does, as does the Injustice version.

**superduperman** · 07-15-2020, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by Ascended

Around her back to the other side of her shoulder I would assume, just like the gold chord usually does.

I'm not digging the divergence in the line work between the white/red parts and the blue. The white/red is mostly made up of hard angles, while the blue is all smooth curves....except from the knee down where it's hard angles again. Pick one and stick with it. And the lines on the shoulder pad don't mesh with the rest either. Not sure what's up with the extra tubes either; there's one that seems to be plugging into her right arm and....I don't know what that's about. The tube on top is, I assume, the one that connects around her back but the placement is weird. If it's not supposed to connect around her back I'm not sure why it's there. Boob window is a tad gratuitous as well; I prefer something a little higher and smaller that falls more in line with "standard" cleavage. Karen can absolutely show off what Rao gave her, I got no problem with cleavage or the boob window, but this one is just a little too low.

But I like the colors, the textures are great, and the overall aesthetic is excellent. The suit has a certain weight to it that makes it seem durable and not just skimpy, thin spandex. And Karen herself looks perfect; I don't know if this was modeled on an actual person but she looks beautiful without looking soft; I'd believe that this woman could stop traffic in the street but also knock your teeth out of your head for staring too long. If this was the base that artists used for Karen's visuals I would not complain.

The tube looks like it's feeding into her arm. Like it's a cybernetic arm. It's just a bunch of unnecessary cords. Other than that it looks great. She looks like Charlize Theron.

**Robanker** · 07-15-2020, 07:49 PM

I'll be honest: it's way too busy. There's a lot of overdesigned elements and, frankly, you can't keep the window when going armored. It just does not work.

**godisawesome** · 07-15-2020, 09:14 PM

It’s an example of how good textures in a 3D design can make a spandex suit look in some way, how you could probably incorporate more blue into her suit design to break up the white... and how yeah, sometimes costume redesign get too busy.

I *do* think that using blue on her arms and like one of her more over the top 90’s comics has potential... provided you avoid the over-designed elements of the 90’s design as well.

**achilles** · 07-16-2020, 06:18 AM

By way of comparison, here's the Injustice 2 PG skin.

3236680-power-in-girl-injustice-2-1080p.jpg

There's a variant which changes the colors.

**Celgress** · 07-16-2020, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by Agent Z

by Jeff Chapman

https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/c..._jeff_chapman/

I like her outfit design

, except for the shoulder pad and leggings.

**achilles** · 08-04-2020, 10:08 AM

Decided to post back here, as the other thread seems to attract a few of those. Back however to the positive, as nearly tabula rasa, PG has a huge upside for DC should they actually try to do something good with her, and give her a niche to fill, and some real backstory. She's one character who could benefit from a real, definitive origin story with all the details.

**Robanker** · 08-04-2020, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by achilles

Decided to post back here, as the other thread seems to attract a few of those. Back however to the positive, as nearly tabula rasa, PG has a huge upside for DC should they actually try to do something good with her, and give her a niche to fill, and some real backstory. She's one character who could benefit from a real, definitive origin story with all the details.

I think her Earth-2 Kara Zor-L origin is fine as is, and she technically does have an origin story of sorts in JSA Classified #1-4, but a new mini reorienting her would probably be good.

**Ascended** · 08-04-2020, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Robanker

I think her Earth-2 Kara Zor-L origin is fine as is, and she technically does have an origin story of sorts in JSA Classified #1-4, but a new mini reorienting her would probably be good.

Agreed. I think all the pieces are there, but someone needs to come in, put a fresh coat of paint on everything, and refine Karen's mission and purpose....and after the New52, re-define her personality too.

**Robanker** · 08-04-2020, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Ascended

Agreed. I think all the pieces are there, but someone needs to come in, put a fresh coat of paint on everything, and refine Karen's mission and purpose....and after the New52, re-define her personality too.

She's one of many characters I do have a pitch for, but with Karen it's mostly reconstruction. She was in a good place in the late 2000s overall and I think bringing that characterization is key for her.

I did burn that team concept I posted on the forum, though. I was proud of that one.

Thread: Karen Starr: Power Girl Appreciation 2020

Thread Tools

Display

Posting Permissions