Hey, writers. Today I wanted to talk about character design.

Ultimately, I think an ambitious and lofty goal would be to create the next Yoda or Batman.  A character so iconic that even your grandma could recognize him or her.

Today, let’s talk purely about the aesthetics.  Hit the jump, writers, and let’s discuss.

A long time ago I was sitting with a good friend of mine.  I had a comic in front of me and I placed it in front of her and said, “How many of these people can you name?”

Krystal picked up the comic and started thinking.

Quick aside. Here’s the cover. How many of these heroes can you name, writers? Allot yourself a minute or so. I’ll wait.

“Superman,” she said. I tell her that she’s right.  “Wonder Woman… Batman…” And again. She’s right. Then an interesting thing happened.

She pointed at the man on the right (I marked him with a red arrow) and she said, “Thor.”

Before I continue, I want to state why that’s extremely unlikely that that man is Thor.  The comic she was holding was a DC comic. The Justice League is formed up of characters from DC (That stands for Detective Comics, not District of Columbia).  These include characters like The Flash and Green Lantern.  Thor, on the other hand, comes from Marvel. Marvel is a different (read: rival) organization.  No “comic book nerd” would have made that mistake.

(Quick aside: A super comic book nerd would state that Marvel and DC have crossed over before–twice. (Quick aside: yes that’s an aside in an aside. A super mega comic book nerd would say that they’ve crossed over twice, yes, or possibly more I’m not sure. But also mention fanfic as well as Death Battles and possibly other unpublished work.) Man…an aside within an aside. That’s Inception level nerdy. My head’s spinning. Haha.)

So let’s get back to the Krystal Test.  Krystal is a woman who kind of knows comics.

She clearly knows some superheroes but not others. She isn’t, in other words, one of my guy friends who can tell you the difference between The Flash and Flash Thompson or the name of Lois Lane’s dad.

Now, we have to be careful here, writers. It’s easy to dismiss Krystal’s opinion. “I’m not writing for her, Alvin! I’m writing for the hardcore fans!”

I, however, would argue the opposite.  Krystal is the exact type of person I think we’re striving to reach.  Honestly, I often forget how many other people aren’t into the Marvel movies.  It reminds me of a conversation I had with my friend.  He was saying something about how everyone owns iPhones and then he had to catch himself, “Oh wait, you don’t have an iPhone, do you?”

Just like how Apple would want everyone to be using their phones, we would want our IPs (intellectual properties) to be accurately identified.  Writers, I can’t stress this point enough.  Not only did Krystal confuse one character for another, but she actually confused one character with a character from a RIVAL company.  No, just no.

Lurking in the Night

Today I’m going to start off slow.  Look at the left side of the cover, in the center.  This character’s name is Plastic Man.  As per his name, he is able to change the shape of his body.  From a mile away, it’s Krystal Klear (ha!) who he is.

To clarify, even the all-green Martian Manhunter and the all-white angel Zauriel* would be blurry from a mile away.  They’re shaped, for the most part, like humanoids.  Meanwhile, I’ve seen Plastic Man turn into a raft, a Batmobile, and even a woman’s dress.

Regarding the dress.  There was an issue where the Justice League planned to dress up like normal civilians.  Then we’re treated to shots of everyone looking cool in tuxes and business suits.  Meanwhile, Barda comes out looking ravishing in a dress…in a red dress…with…yellow stripes.

Okay, I’m a little boy again, but man that was hilarious.

IRL

But what if you have characters that don’t have the ability to change their shapes?  What if you were trying to pass the Krystal Test for the movie Avengers?  Those characters don’t bend.   So now what?  Hm… Join me next time and we’ll discuss exactly that.

Before I go, one last question:

How many of the characters could you name from the cover?  Be honest!  🙂

Aloha,
Alvin

*Full disclosure here, writers, I legit forgot this character’s name.  I had to debate with myself and even look it up.  Was it Asmodel?  Was it Ezekiel?  Ohhhhh, it was Zauriel.  There’s just a ton of people who are in the Justice League.   Kind of like the Avengers.  Though now I wonder…who’s had more members, the JLA or the Avengers?  Hm…