Back when they were remaking Superman (the most recent time), I was working
on creature designs for a movie called R.I.P.D. My boss at that time was
designing for both Superman and Dark Knight Rises, so (being that he had his
hands full with those two mega-shows) I was happy and lucky to get a call to do
some fun monster stuff.
However, a part of me started to wonder what I might come up with if
given the opportunity to design a Super-suit.
Ever since I was a kid, my favorite
Superman was George Reeves (mostly, I assume, because he was the first one
I was exposed to), so I thought it might be neat to 'update' his look from the
cheaply-made felt(?) suits of that era.
(By the way, People have already complained
to me of my that lack of a giant 'S' on his chest already, but I always thought
it a bit silly to have a giant Letter or logo on heroes, especially in light of
more recent incarnations of the Dark Knight.)
I sculpted in a chiseled, angular Zbrush suit in the style of more recent
films, and photoshopped George Reeves into it. When I showed this to a friend,
he receommeded that I do a whole series of these, and my next choice was 1949's
Robert Lowery and Johnny Duncan from the 'Batman and Robin' serial.
I, some time ago, had a dream that I was designing a 'Robin' suit for a
film (yes, I sometimes even am thinking up ideas even in my sleep) and made a quick
color sketch when I awoke. That idea inspired the ROBIN suit shown here (which
I tried to make as badass as possible, since the character's rarely given a
chance to shine), while trying to subtly keep in his trademark colors.
Actually, I learned a lot during my research (I had no idea that there was
a ‘Captain America’ serial!) trying to find some old-time Superheros of the
era, and I have included a few that I ran across in this blog posting.
Enjoy,
Michael
