Put a Web On It by Kevenn T. Smith

My local comic book shop holds an annual auction of art created by customers in the form of comic book covers to raise money for the Cleveland Food Bank. In 2022, the theme was "Spider-verse," and my entry depicted Beyoncé as Spider-Woman. I even came up with a glittery logo that said "Spider-Bey" for that version that was sold at the auction. And while that version will always remain unique, I'm now offering prints, t-shirts, stickers, hoodies, and other merchandise with a logo-less version of the artwork at my Redbubble store.

Right now, from July 10 2023 to July 17th 2023, everything on the Redbubble webstore is 20% off! No code needed! Click on the image below to go to its page at the store.
Put a Web On It: Kevenn's Redbubble Store Page"Put a Web On It" by Kevenn T. Smith
Digital Illustration
©2023 Kevenn T. Smith 

Super Friends in Oz by Kevenn T. Smith

I participated in my comic book shop's annual auction to raise money for the Cleveland Food Bank. One person won an exclusive edition of my Super Friends in Oz piece that I created for the auction. The illustration is an homage to the Super Friends episode "The Planet of Oz," where Mr. Mxyzsptlk sends a tornado to transport Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman inside of the Hall of Justice to the planet of Oz. Upon arrival, he transforms them into versions of characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book. The three of them have to find their way through many encounters on the planet until they reach "The Wizard" and of course manage to trick Mr. Mxyzsptlk into saying his name backwards, thus forcing him to set everything right.

As an homage, I didn't want to try to create something that looked like an animation cell from the episode. I wanted to inject my own style into it, three-dimensionalize the visuals, and offer more nods to the 1939 MGM musical of The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland. That meant adding a "Dorothy" to the piece, and while Jayna of the Wonder Twins actually did appear in the original episode, I decided to use Wendy Harris, a character who regularly appeared in only the first season of the Super Friends show. I thought that Wendy's color scheme and design would better meld with Dorothy's and look better alongside the other characters in the piece. And while I'm a HUGE fan of the Oz books, the makers of the movie musical were not wrong when they decided that ruby slippers would "pop" more against the Yellow Brick Road compared to silver slippers that were in the book.

Prints of this piece are available directly from me. Fill out the "Contact Me" form at the left of this page to contact me regarding a print and inquire about pricing. 
"Super Friends in Oz" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil & Photoshop
©2022 Kevenn T. Smith 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Starfire

This is the 23rd entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Starfire is a warrior princess, Koriand'r, from the planet of Tamaran. Her people have the ability to absorb ultra violet light and convert it into energy that gives them the power to fly...which was used as a reason by the character's creators to justify why she and most of her people wear very little clothing. The more skin they expose, the more energy that they can absorb. (Insert side-eye here. I've yet to see Superman fly around half naked, when his powers work on largely the same principle.) She was trained in combat, but also ended up being given to brutal aliens by her family as a peace offering in hopes that they wouldn't be conquered. She and her older sister, Blackfire (Komand'r), were experimented on in captivity, which lead to them being able to project energy blasts called starbolts. Eventually, Koriand'r escaped, made her way to Earth, she demonstrated another of her powers: the ability to absorb language through kissing. She kissed Robin (as in "Batman and...") upon her arrival, and the two ended up in a relationship quickly. She also quickly became a member of the New Teen Titans.

Her relationship with Dick Grayson, the first Robin and now Nightwing, seems to be an on-again, off-again phenomenon, usually based upon which group of fans the comic book editors want to please: the fans who want Dick Grayson and Koriand'r as a couple or the fans who want Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, to be a couple. Currently, Starfire is the head of Titans Academy, where the older twenty-something Titans are training empowered and/or skilled teens how to be heroes.

For the look in this illustration, I pulled mainly from Starfire's current costume that debuted in the Justice League Odessey series and her original costume from the Marv Wolfman & George Perez runs of The New Teen Titans. The current costume features big armored shoulder pads with jewels, and I thought it'd be fun to turn those armored pieces into decorative epaulets. Her earrings are inspired by the design of a pendant from the original costume. The sandals are also inspired by the original costume's boots. Her incredibly long hair and gravity defying abilities lend to creating a wonderful shape around her where her hair can float, almost like she's under water.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Starfire" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Starfire ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Raven

This is the 22nd entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Raven, also known as Rachel Roth, is the daughter of a human woman named Arella and a world-conquering demon named Trigon. She was raised by monks to help her control her emotions, lest they overcome her and she opened the dimensional door to allow Trigon back to conquer the world. Raven originally brought the Teen Titnas back together again in the 1980's to fight Trigon. Raven is an empath who also has many other powers, including flight, magic, and sending her consciousness about in a form called her "soul self." Eventually, with the help of the Titans, Raven defeats her father, Trigon, and is currently a respeced senior member of the Titans.

Raven has had many looks since she was first created in the 1980's by Marv Wolfman & George Perez for The New Teen Titans. Her original look was basically an evening dress, opera gloves and a hooded cloak. Over the years, Raven would get various other looks. When the character appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon with grayish skin and violet hair, visual elements from that design began showing up in the comic books. I tried to come up with a look that incorporates various designs the character has featured into this look.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Raven" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Raven ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy

This is the 20th and 21st entries that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Donna Troy is a beloved superhero. As the first Wonder Girl (not counting Wonder Woman herself as a girl), Donna Troy was a member of the Teen Titans. Donna Troy has ha SEVERAL headache-inducing origins throughout her decades existence, but her original is really the best, simplest, and easiest to understand. She was an orphaned baby/toddler, rescued by Wonder Woman from a burning building, taken to Paradise Island/Themiscyra to heal, and in the process was imbued with Amazon abilities. She was then raised by Queen Hippolyta as an adopted daughter and sister to Wonder Woman - and became a sidekick of sorts. Sadly, we got precious rare actual printed material of Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl actually working together. It was more a thing that was talked about than ever shown. And that's a real shame. As Wonder Girl, Donna had a lot of the same powers as Wonder Woman, but not as much. She even had a lasso as well. Donna's first Wonder Girl outfit consisted of star spangled short-shorts, and a red chiton with a golden eagle emblazoned on the chest and the neck and armholes trimmed with a gold pattern that homaged a Greek key pattern She also had red lace up sandals like Wonder Woman did in the 1950s and 60s. But that changed in the 70s, and Wonder Girl got a new full-bodied star spangled red catsuit with a "w" shaped buckle on her golden belt, a golden eagle necklace around her neck, and a long hairdo, aging her up from the teeny bopper pony tail look that she had been sporting.

My take on Donna Troy is a big send up to her first red catsuit Wonder Girl costume, while using the plunging neckline of her more famous version of that costume that George Perez created for The New Teen Titans. It also references Debra Winger's Wonder Girl costume from the ABC season of the 1970s Lynda Carter Wonder Woman television show with the wrap aspect and the stars on the left side of the chest that are virtually the same color as the dress. I also wanted to visually reference the latter starfield pattern that would show up in Donna's later costumes, that always read as sparkly sequins or beads to me, that created a starfield look.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Donna Troy and Wonder Girl ©DC Comics 

Reality shifted in the comic books, as they seem to do, and Wonder Woman was rebooted as being younger and just arriving to Patriarch's World. At the same time, New Teen Titans was one of DC's big selling titles, and they didn't want to start over from scratch there, so Donna's origins tying her to Wonder Woman were replaced to being rescued by the Greek Titans of myth, and trained and empowered by them...ad then she just happens to call herself Wonder Girl and wear a Wonder Woman-like costume years before Diana shows up as Wonder Woman...And many "fixes" would appear in the comics to try to make that work. When her connection to the Titans of myth was reveled, she received a new costume (the first with the starfield) and a new hero identity, Troia. Her Troia costumes were dominated by the black starfield, and after a while, silver accessories, as opposed to gold. This second version of her look is the Troia version.

From the hair to the dress and shoes, I was also inspired by singer/songwriter Dua Lipa for this look. Dua Lipa embodies the aura of a young twety-something, vibrant, fashionable, and independent woman, and I feel that Donna Troy is that as well.

Thank you for taking the time to experience these pieces.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Donna Troy 2" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Donna Troy and Troia © DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batwoman

This is the 19th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Not to be confused with Batgirl, Batwoman is Kate Kane, DC Comics' most prominent gay and Jewish superhero. Kate Kane's father, Jacob Kane, is the brother of Martha Kane, who married Thomas Wayne and gave birth to Bruce Wayne, Batman. I assume Kate's mother, Gabrielle, was Jewish. When Kate was twelve, terrorists kidnapped Gabrielle, Kate, and her twin sister, Beth. There was a rescue attempt, and Kate was supposedly the only member of her family to survive it. That left her traumatized. She followed in her father's footsteps of going into the military, but was discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. After kicking around the globe a little, she trained under her father and was inspired by Batman to become the crime fighting Batwoman. And surprise, her twin sister Beth was somehow alive and became her arch enemy named Alice, which also lead to a falling out with her father. Kate has had some great romances in the comics, including Renee Montoya and Maggie Sawyer, both women who work in police forces, both established characters in the comics. By day, Kate is a "socialite," but by night, she fights crime and monsters as Batwoman.

Kate Kane has had some great looks in her civilian identity, some dresses, and even an iconic Marlena Dietrich-esque tuxedo look. I wanted to create a look that would easily fit among all of the dresses and skirts in this series, but also pay homage to the tuxedo look as well. Hence this dressy black and red onsie. Kate Kane was also a fan of a smokey eye makeup look, so far be it for me to stray from that. 

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batwoman" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Batwoman ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Barda of the New Gods

This is the 18th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Barda is one of the New Gods characters created by Jack Kirby in the early 1970's. There were two planets, a nice one called New Genesis, ruled by High Father, and a hellscape planet called Apokolips, ruled by Darkseid. Barda was born on Apokolips and raised in and groomed by the sadistic Granny Goodness in one of her orphanages. Barda became the leader of an elite team of terrifying female warriors called the New Female Furies. However, she ended up falling in love with a man who also grew up in the orphanage and became an expert escape artist, Scott Free. The two of them escaped together, and learned that Scott was actually the son of High Father, traded to Darkseid for peace. The two of them settled on earth and operate as superheroes and Scott also as the escape artist performer, Mr. Miracle. The two of them have worked with the Justice League, and Barda with the Birds of Prey occasionally. It wasn't until her appearance in Birds of Prey that I really warmed up to Barda, when it was pointed out that the weapon Barda uses, her megarod, looks like a golden adult toy. I really fell in love with Barda and Scott Free in the Eisner Award Winning Mister Miracle maxi series by Tom King & Mitch Gerads, which really explores the PTSD and trauma Scott and Barda carry with them from growing up in a brutal and violent and pschologically terrorizing environment.

This illustration is a special entry in this series, because it was created in collaboration with the uber talented Kristina Sunshine, a professional makeup artist and lead singer of the band, Bullseye Womprats. Kristina came up with the makeup design for this illustration of Barda specifically for this look and also served as the model for Barda's facial features. Kristina is one of the most talented and hard-working people I've ever met in my life. Legend has it that Barda was originally inspired by Lanie Kazan from her Playboy Magazine shoot around the time the New Gods were created, so I definitely wanted to give Barda a fuller figure in respect to that origin. The look was a really delicious challenge, because Barda's look is a really BUSY design. There's two shades of blue along with red, yellow, and black. When I first encountered the character, I couldn't tell if the big helmet that she wore was a helmet or her hair. There was SO MUCH going on. In light of that first impression, I knew that for my take, her hair needed to be really big to pay homage to the helmet that she wears. The first costume that Barda appeared in was basically a red bikini with a headband that looked like little strung-together gold coins or disks. Although her hair covers most of them, the red straps from that outfit are incorporated into this design, as well as the disks. Barda's usual costume has a blue scale mail base, and I used it for inspiration for her jewelry, with pieces of scale mail as her earrings, necklace, and bracelets. It was an absolute joy and honor to be able to collaborate with my dear friend on this. I offer a huge THANK YOU to Kristina Sunshine for her invaluable contributions!

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Barda of the New Gods" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
Illustration ©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Photograph ©2021 Kristina Sunshine. Used with Permission
Barda ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Catwoman

This is the 17th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Catwoman is a character that revels in her independence. And while she does enjoy a liberal amount of independence from other people, she still needs others and lives in a society that affects her. Catwoman was created in the 1940's to be a villain, but the character really hasn't been portrayed consistently as a villain in around thirty years. Currently, she's practically Mrs. Batman. And while she's known for her expertise at breaking and entering, she's also a formidable hand-to-hand combat opponent. She's always exhibited admiral qualities worth emulating. I should know. In high school, I wrote a thirteen page research paper on why Catwoman was a positive role model. And yes, I did get an A grade on it.

For my take, I took influences from several different looks Catwoman has had throughout the years. For many years, starting in the 1940's, her costume consisted of a purple dress with slits in the skirt and a green cape. In the 1960's, the Batman TV show happened, and she went through a couple different looks before circling back to the purple dress and green cape look in the 1970's, just with a longer skirt and cape, higher boots, and a deeper cut in the decolletage. The purple dress with splits here defeinitely pays homage to that look. Instead of a green cape, I utilized green jewelry to introduce that color into the design. The purple I used was a warmer purple, closer to the color used in her 1990's costume. The corset is a take on the corset worn by Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in the movie Batman Returns. The lace-up sandal boots also nod to that costume. The cat ears on her head are a nod to the Catwoman costume from the 1966 Batman TV series, embellished with black diamonds here. The haircut and makeup are inspired by early designs by Joelle Jones during her run on the Catwoman comic book.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Catwoman" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Catwoman ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Lois Lane

This is the 16th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

In the past few years in the United States, certain superheroes have come to mean more to me because of the particular ideals and values that they stand for. For instance, while the President of the country had an enormous history of spouting misogynist speech, Wonder Woman, a hero who stands for the empowerment of women especially, became even more important to me. Likewise, as that same President continued to spew a mountain of provable lies and call members of the free press enemies of the people, the character Lois Lane meteorically rose in importance to me. Reporters like Julie K. Brown, who did most of the leg work on the Jeffrey Epstein story, and Victoria Brownworth, an independent reporter whose work advocates for truth and justice are real treasures to our society. I see in Lois Lane the same spirit that these women have, and that is a relentless search for the truth and commitment to exposing the powerful who prey, exploit, and harm those with less power. That's what superheroes do, and that's why Lois Lane deserves to stand alongside the other heroines of the DC Universe.

A lot of thought went into creating this look for Lois Lane, which is, I believe, the first time that I've ever really drawn her. It's ridiculous that it's takine me this long to do that. The color purple has become associated with Lois Lane in the last few years, and since purple is my favorite color, of course I was going to use it. Ever since Superman: The Animated Series, Lois Lane has frequently been depicted having violet eyes. I did not want to deviate from that detail that provides more purple to the experience. Details were important, so she has a wedding ring on her finger to visually show her marriage to Clark Kent/Superman. She has lovely "S" symbol earrings to also nod to her status as a member of the "Superman Family." And her mask has a Logo for the Daily Planet on it. For the dress, I imagined that it would be a dress that could be worn to the office in the day along with a jacket or sweater, and then by itself for a fancier red carpet look. I love the pairing of the light lilac purple with rose gold, and gave her a matching phone, which I see so many reporters use nowadays as their recording devices. Her hair is a fresh long bob with a little wave to it. It's nice, but you know she doesn't have a lot of time to spend on her hair - not even for special occasions. I wanted to show that this is a woman who doesn't have the advantage of having super speed to help her manage her busy schedule. It's also a call back to one of my favorite portrayals of Lois Lane, Terri Hatcher on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Lois Lane" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Lois Lane ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Power Girl

This is the 14th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Power Girl is not a household name superhero, but when I tell you about her, you'll feel like you already know her. Power Girl is Kara Zor-L, the "Supergirl" of Earth-2. Remember how Supergirl's rocket arrived later than Superman's by mistake? Well Power Girl's arrived even later, and I guess something didn't go 100% with the suspended animation, because she arrived pretty grown and also *gasp* had ideas of her own. She refused to be defined by Superman, so instead of calling herself Supergirl and wearing his symbol, she called herself Power Girl and left her chest devoid of the S-shield. In her civilian identity as Karen Starr (Yes, a white woman named Karen with short hair - she was created in the 70's. It's not her fault.), she owns her own tech company. As Power Girl, she basically has all of the same powers as Superman. Operating on Earth-2, she was a member of the Justice Society of America (JSA), and was a close friend of the daughter of Batman & Catwoman, the Huntress. Whether on Earth-2 or Earth-1, Power Girl is always a force to be reckoned with.

I really enjoyed working on this design. Originally, I was going to give her a sleevelesss look with a turtle-neck, but I had also been wanting to do a asymmetrical shoulder look for this series, and when I realized that would mimick the line of the rope that her cape is attached to that cuts across her chest on her superhero costume, it seemed like the perfect choice. I also was inspired by the loincloth style skirt that she wore in her appearance as Power Woman in the Kingdom Come series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. I also really like her haircut, because I think it's sexy and youthful while being much shorter than how I've depicted Power Girl in my artwork in the past. I think it suits her perfectly. The charms on her bracelet also contain some "Easter Eggs," like an Earth-2 Superman symbol, and Aquaman symbol alluding to her Post-Crisis origin as the grand-daughter of ancient Atlantian sorceror, Arion, and a Harley Quinn diamond because Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti wrote & drew a wonderful Power Girl series and they also have had her interact with Harley Quinn as a friend during their handling of Harley's stories. Also, since working on my Supergirl design and realizing during that work that the color pink is almost NEVER used on DC Heroines, I couldn't pass up the chance to turn what is traditionally red on her costume into a magenta and bring in the pink to a really fun eye makeup look.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Power Girl" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Power Girl ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Zatanna

This is the 13th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Zatanna is a powerful magic wielding member of the Justice League, currently operating in the magaical division known as Justice League Dark. She was raised by her father, Giovanni 'John' Zatara, a stage magician who actually performed real feats of magic. Her mother was named Sindella, and was from a race of magical humans called Homo Magi, which totally sounds like the name of a bar for gay witches. Since DC Comics hates it when women have a relationship with their mothers if their name isn't Wonder Woman, Sindella faked her death to leave her daughter and husband to go live with the Homo Magi again. (Insert eye roll here.) Zatanna, like her father, is a stage illusionist who usues actual magic. She usually performs spells by saying the words backward (phoenetically, not backwards sentence word order). He stage outfit is usually similar to a stage magician's outfit, a tuxedo (often with a top hat) but substituting fishnet stockings for a pair of slacks. In recet years, her costume has been less formal, and consisting of things like pleather pants, a boustier, and a trenchcoat with some fishnet gloves. Also exciting, the recently announced plans to make a Zatanna solo movie. My hope is that it will rely heavily on the 2003 graphic novel Zatanna: Everyday Magic.

For this design, I wanted to allude to elements of a tuxedo, but instead of short shorts, to include a skirt to dress it up. The skirt shape is inspired by the silhouette of the skirt that RuPaul wore in the Supermodel music video and maxi single cover. And while the tuxedo/fishnets costume is more most well-known look, I've always been a fan of George Perez's "superhero sorceress" costume from the 1980's that was blue, white, and black with red accessory elements. I've borrowed elements from that look to include in this one. For this design, I wanted the boustier to allude to a tuxedo shirt.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Zatanna" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Zatanna ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Green Lantern

This is the 12th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Jessica Cruz survived the murder of her friends in the woods on a camping trip but still had to deal with the trauma of that event. Despite that trauma, she managed to become a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic force that protects the galaxy and its various planets. (space police) Each Green Lantern has a ring whose power is fueled by the courage and will power of the ring bearer. The rings can allow their bearers to fly, shield them from almost anything, provide protection and air in outer space, shoot force beams, create constructs, and more. The rings have to recharge from a power battery that looks like a literal green lantern every so often.

A Green Lantern's costume is usually black, white, and green, but with this look, I wanted to focus on the light aspect of the character and leave out the black elements. Since light is such an important theme in the Green Lantern lore, I wanted to create a garment that was constantly shimmering in the light with all of the sparkles.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Green Lantern" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Green Lantern ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Dr. Light

This is the 11th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Dr. Light is my favorite DC hero from Japan. Kimiyo Hoshi is not only a brilliant scientist, but a superhero and a single mother. The fact the she is a mother as well as a superhero reminds me of the many women that I grew up around and even worked with who were mothers and also in the military. Like those women, Dr. Light espouses that saving the world is also saving her children. She is a powerful member of the Justice League who can absorb and project light(including light energy beams), fly, create holograms, and even make hard light constructs. She's incredibly powerful, and I wish that she was used more often. In recent comics, she seems to be American, rather than from Japan, or at least lives in America, having been previously married to the villainous male Dr. Light.

In designing a look for her, I wanted to incorporate both of her looks. He original look was a black and white costume. In the 90's, her costume became white and yellow. In my opinion, there aren't many interesting costumes with only two colors. I like to use black, white, and yellow when I depict Dr. Light. In lieu of her wearing a cape, I opted to give her a wrap and a lovely back-skirt. For her facial features, I used Japanese actor, model and singer, Ueto Aya, as my inspiration.

With the recent violent and murderous bigotry that Asian Americans are facing, I hope DC Comics uses this version of Dr. Light more in their stories (check out the recent Generations Lost & Generations Found comics). #StopAAPIHate I also hope she appears in the DC Asian Pacific Spotlight special issue coming in May.

Thank you for taking the time to experience this piece.
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Dr. Light" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Dr. Light ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Isis

This is the 10th entry that I've posted in the series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

There are very few Muslim heroes in the DC Universe, and even fewer of them appear on any sort of regular basis. One of my favorites, is Isis, Adrianna Tomaz, whom I really enjoyed in the 52 series. She had strength, flight, speed, toughness, and could control the weather, the earth, and nature. Pretty powerful, yet she still mangaed to get fridged in that story, and then it was terrible story after terrible story about her coming back to life and being a corrupted version of herself. I am willing to bet that if her stories were written by women of color, they wouldn't have gone that way. Fortunately, the TV series Legends of Tomorrow, gave us a new version of Isis in Zari Tomaz, who commanded wind powers via an amulet that looked like the one Isis wears. Zari was vocal and proud about her Muslim faith and a really great character. I liked that her powers were divorced of Black Adam's involvement, and that she was able to stand on her own without his character. My ideal Isis is a combination of the two.

For her depiction, I wanted to visually honor Muslim beliefs. Whether Adriana Tomaz is Muslim or not (I think it's pretty darn likely that she was), it's hard to think that her character would travel throughout the Middle East helping others dressed like she was in the 52 series with the bare midriff and short skirt, especially while Black Adam is fully clothed below the neck. It's a very unequal visual pairing. It's rumored that Sarah Shahi will be playing Isis in the upcoming Black Adam movie, and if that's they case, I'd love to see her costumed to something more like this design, you know, minus the face mask. Visually, she is one of my favorites in this series.
 
Thank you for taking the time to experience my work here!
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Isis" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Isis ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batgirl

This is the 9th entry that I've posted in this series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Batgirl is Barbara Gordon, daughter of Police Commissioner James Gordon, a gymnast, tech whiz and gifted with an eidetic memory, Barbara Gordon became Batgirl out of the desire to do GOOD in the world and for her city. Modeling a costume off of Batman, she set out on her own to fight crime. Batgirl traditionally wears a cowl, which doesn't translate well into formal wear. As of late, she's had an odd pair of bat ears just sticking out of her hair. It's a look I detest, in fact. At least for Batgirl. Instead, I opted to dress for Barbara Gordon, giving her Batgirl elements in the colors and bat smybols. I was hugely inspired by amazing artist and clothing & jewelry designer - and style icon - Stephanie Buscema(you really should check out her work at www.kitschywitchdesigns.com) with her hair and glasses. I wanted to give Barbara a hip look using some retro elements. I couldn't bring myself to use scalloped edges, mimicking Batgirl's cape, or to even use a cape, but I did go with a batwing sleeve design...which would be more noticable if her arms were lifted. *sigh* I also really like taking style elements from different eras, and mixing them together, all with a modern spin on them.

Thanks for taking the time to enjoy my work!
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Batgirl" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Batgirl ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Supergirl

This is the 8th entry that I've posted in this series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Supergirl is a very well-known superhero. She's Superman's cousin who was sent by her parents to protect baby Superman when he got to Earth, but her spaceship ended up going off course and arrived several years after Superman's own ship did. She awoke from her suspended animation to find that baby Kal-El was no longer a baby, but a full-grown Superman...and now she's kinda living in his shadow as a real refugee on the planet Earth.

There were some specific references that I wanted to hit and elements that I wanted to use in my depiction of Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, for this series. I wanted to emphasize her being younger than characters like Wonder Woman by getting away from the long gowns while still keeping a red carpet element to the look. The dress was inspired by Kryptonian crystals and the dress that singer Lisa Loeb wore in her music video for the song "Most of All." The hair was inspired by a couple of looks Taylor Swift donned in her music video for the song "Look What You Made Me Do." It was very important for me to take inspiration from performers whose music has a stong following with female fans and whose work is very feminine-positive.

That also lead to another major design aspect that I felt was very important to use: the color pink. It is very bizarre to me the way that the character of Supergirl has been curated for decades, of being a character that should ideally appeal to girls, but seems to be terribly frightened of scaring its boy audience away by leaning to hard on the "girl" half of her name. Supergirl has sported many different looks throughout the years, and to me, there seems to be a very conscious bias in the tones of red used in costume designs for her. The blue can run the gamut from light to dark, but the reds seem to be forbidden from ever being too light to be misconstrued as pink. (In fact in the weeks of anticipating writing about this, I could only come up with two superheroines in the DC Universe who had pink in their costumes - Crush, daughter of Lobo and a member of the Teen Titans, has a punk design and her pants are maybe magenta, sometime a dark hot pink; and the character Looker from the 1980's Batman and the Outsiders comic, who I think was eventually turned into a vmpire creature of the night, so no more "girly" pink for her either.) It is bizarre to have so many teenage heronies in their universe and for there to be what comes across as an absoulte fear of using pink in their designs at all. As if a color could keep them from being tough or strong. So yes, my Supergirl incorporates pink into her costume, maybe more of a dusty rose, but certainly not "red." She wears "ballet" slippers inspired from her 1970's costume design, and just because she's wearing pink doesn't mean that she's isn't Kryptonian strong. I hope to see these false definitions of strength challenged in the near future in actual canonical depictions of this character. It's one thing that I strive to do in my work.

Thank you for taking a look! 
"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Supergirl" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Supergirl ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Mera

This is the 7th entry that I've posted in this series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

I'd say Mera is rather well known, after having been portrayed by actor, Amber Heard in both the Justice League and Aquaman movies. Her character has been around since the early sixties. She has the power of hydrokinesis, which can manipulate water - especially to make it hard. My favorite scene in the Aquaman movie was when she used an entire wine cellar as a weapon and took out evil Atlantean soldiers with wine because of her powers. She is super strong, tough, can breathe underwater and swim really fast. She is currently married to Aquaman in the comics and has also been Queen of Atlantis at times too.

This look came about because I really wanted to do one of someone's back, and showing off the curving line of her back and then a gorgeous train for this mermaid silhouette for someone who's basically a superhero mermaid. I fell into a whole other world rendering her hair, and I did not mind. I had so much fun creating the pearls that went in her hair and her bracelet and the "straps" of her scaled dress. She's one of my favorites in this series.

Thanks for chosing to spend time with my work!

"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Mera" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Mera ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Black Canary

This is the 6th entry that I've posted in this series featuring "red carpet" takes on superheroes in costume with masks to promote the pro-social & pro-health practice of mask wearing during a pandemic.

Black Canary is not nearly as well-known to the general public as she ought to be. She SHOULD be the second most famous DC Heroine after Wonder Woman, but alas, she's never had a "Bat" or "Super" attached to her name, and she's never had a live-action realization that TRULY did the character justice and accurately depicted her. She one of the best combat fighters in the DCU, but she also has a powerful sonic "Canary Cry" that has even been known to bend steel. Black Canary's origin is...complicated (where she somehow became her own mother at some point - don't ask!). Let's just say her mom was Black Canary back in the day, and Dinah Lance is the Black Canary of TODAY, and often with Huntress and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle), they make up the core of the superheroine team, The Birds of Prey!

Black Canary has been traditionally depicted in dark blue costumes with fishnets or black costumes with fishnets. Sometimes no fishnets (not as fun and visually interesting), but many "black and blue" motifs with some yellow here and there, so that's what I went with for this look. I wanted to have a black leather look that honors her black leather-wearing, street-fighting history, but she's also been depicted as a singer, so I wanted to meld the leather with a "lounge singer" look to get what you see here. 

Thanks to taking the time to view this!

"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Black Canary" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Black Canary ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Huntress

This is the fifth posted entry in this PSA illustration series to promote the pro-social and pro-health concept of mask wearing during the pandemic and depicts superheroes in "red carpet" takes on their superhero costumes.

This is the last one for Black History Month, but I think she's only historically notable on that front for being a character who has been portrayed as white for decades, and in recent years, due to Universe/Reality resets, has become a woman of color. The story is the same - Helena Bertinelli was the daughter of a mob boss who survived her family's mafia execution and trained herself to avenge them. In the Rebirth continuity, we learn that her father was a caucasian Sicilian man and her mother was a black woman. When finished avenging her family, Helena fights crime as Huntress and is a school teacher by day.

Design-wise, I was really inspired by the AMAZING hair a friend of mine has always rocked. I wanted to try to bring that look here. This piece also marked two Firsts for me - the first time I've ever done hazel eyes (I love how they turned out!) and the first time I've ever done French tipped nails. (Oolala!) I was also wanted to bring a little bit of influence from the Huntress costume that Mary Elizabeth Winstead wore in the Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey movie, so there's a *little* iridescence going on with the purple. Violet Vengence! 

Thanks for taking the time to experience this!

"Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Huntress" by Kevenn T. Smith
 Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Huntress ©DC Comics 

Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Bumblebee

This is the fourth posted entry in this PSA illustration series to promote the pro-social and pro-health concept of mask wearing during the pandemic and depicts superheroes in "red carpet" takes on their superhero costumes.

This entry is also tying in with Black HistoryMonth - Bumblebee is Karen Beecher, a brilliant scientist. While Nubia was the first superheroic black woman to appear in mainstream comics in 1972, it wasn't until 1974 when Storm appeared in X-Men comics over at Marvel that the first actual black woman superhero premiered, because Storm was a code name and a persona. In 1975, in the pages of Teen Titans, Bumblebee became the first bonafide black woman superhero in the DC Universe.

Karen was dating a man named Mal Duncan, who worked with the Teen Titans, but for some reason, they never invited him to become an actual member. So, Karen put together an anti-gravity suit with "stinger" beams and dubbed herself Bumblebee, attacking the Teen Titans in an effort to give Mal a chance to be the one who sends her packing - just to make him look good. They discover her identity, and then...yep, they invite HER to become a member of the Titans. (The Teen Titans were kinda' jerks.) Eventually Mal did joint the Titans, and the two were married.

Over the years, Bumblebee has gone through changes. They've made her single again, she's had the power to shrink down to the size of a bee, for a while was STUCK at the size of a bee. In Rebirth, they gave her powers, so she was no longer reliant on technology. Check out the recent issue number 2 of the fantastic miniseries, "The Other History of the DC Universe" by John Ridley, who wrote Twelve Years a Slave. The entire issue is from Karen & Mal's point of view, and it's outstanding. It'll also make you really not like Roy Harper.

For this look, I wanted something less "opulent" and something slightly more "working class." The look homages her second Bumblebee costume, that I feel like she had the longest, and her design from the Teen Titans cartoon, that also ended up being adopted in the comics.

Thanks for taking a look!
 "Masks Are Fashion, Masks Are Heroic - Bumblebee" by Kevenn T. Smith
Pencil, Ink, Photoshop
©2021 Kevenn T. Smith
Bumblebee ©DC Comics