The Justice League Redesigned By Femmes-Fatales Watch

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Last year, I started a giant art project for deviantART featuring a series of redesigns of my favourite characters published by DC Comics. This series was dedicated to answering the question of "What would the DC Universe look like if I were to re-imagine it?" The answer came in the form of a rebooted world with a redesigned cast of characters and re-imagined set of narratives. The universe itself would hinge upon the flagship team -- the Justice League!



Formed by the combined efforts of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman, the Justice League are an elite group of superheroes who combat forces of evil that are too great for any one nation to face. Based out of New York City, this team is financed independently by an alliance between Wayne Enterprises, Queen Industries, and Atlantis Industries. They are a team of twelve members, who roster rotates depending on the availability of each hero. My vision for the team was one of unity and friendship. I wanted the majority to be based out of New York and depict them as companions on and off the battlefield. In essence, I wanted the Justice League to be a family.



They are led by Wonder Woman, a highly skilled Amazon from the island nation of Themyscira. Princess Diana, as she is officially known, is an ambassador and delegate in the United Nations. She uses her diplomatic heft to give credibility to the League and uses her tactical skills honed from birth on Themyscira to lead the League with unparalleled genius. She maintains a close friendship with fellow teammates Black Canary and Hawkgirl, as well as a flirtatious relationship with Aquaman.



Batman and Superman are Wonder Woman's right hands. The former is secretly the billionaire Bruce Wayne, one of the League's benefactors. When he is not fighting crime in Gotham City, he lends his support to the League. Similarly, Superman operates outside of New York but puts time in when he can.



The team is rounded out by a diverse cast. Hal Jordan is a test pilot who otherwise operates as the intergalactic hero known as Green Lantern. Barry Allen is a crime scene investigator who possesses the ability to run at super speeds, which has granted him the codename Flash. Hal and Barry are close friends, often partnering up to solve crimes together. J'onn J'onzz is a martian who possesses a wide range of abilities, such as flight, super strength, shapeshifting, and telepathy. By day, however, he works as a police detective in the NYPD alongside Barry Allen. Oliver Queen, another billionaire playboy, was famously stranded on a deserted island and used this opportunity to hone his skills as an archer. When he returned to civilization, he became the hero known as Green Arrow. Since joining the League, he's begun dating his fellow teammate Black Canary. Canary, otherwise known as Dinah Lance, is a secret agency turned novelist. She puts her intelligence and martial arts skills to good use as the team's resident super spy, but the secrets from her past threaten to destroy the League's credibility. Her best friends on the League are Shayera Hall and Zatanna Zatara. Shayera is an archaeologist who uses ancient mystical artefacts to transform into the heroine Hawkgirl. She was once married to fellow archaeologist Carter Hall, but his death during a Justice League mission has taken its toll on Shayera's emotional state. Zatanna is a stage magician who maintains a sold-out show on Broadway. When she can, she lends her mystical abilities to the Justice League as their team sorceress. Aquaman serves as another important member on the team. As one of its founding members, he is a power player who otherwise works as CEO for Atlantis Industries. He is one of the strongest members on the team and has a special bond with Wonder Woman. Lastly, the final member of the team is Vixen. Mari McCabe, a former fashion model, now works as Editor in Chief for SHE Magazine. She possesses the unique ability to channel the natural gifts of whatever animal she imagines. She's joined the team after Hawkman's death and this has created tension among the team members, especially Hawkgirl.



The line-up here was largely inspired by the Satellite era of the Justice League. I wanted to really go for a team that looked iconic and had a lot of notability. I wanted to stick to a large, but even number. For the most part, all these heroes are A-listers and are long-time members of the League. My decision to add Vixen to the team was out of the necessity for diversity. As much as I love the League, they're woefully and overly white washed. This team I also wanted to consider the friendships and relationships. The women are obviously all friends and are a tight knit group. Vixen's presence, however, creates an interesting dilemma. Hawkgirl resents her being on the team, due to her feeling like Vixen is attempting to replace her husband, but the other women have no such issues with her. Similarly, the men on the team are all quite close. Notably, Superman and Batman are close personal friends while the same is said of Aquaman and Martian Manhunter under my continuity. Flash, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern are also best friends. Of course, since Barry is much-maligned by most modern audiences I figured I had the most room to alter him. His sensitivity and compassion lend themselves well to interpreting him differently and his fairly generic love interest (Iris West = a lesser Lois Lane) make it easy for me to shift gears with his personal preferences. Doing so also means adding even more diversity to the League and adds another dimension to his friendship (maybe I should put quotation marks around that) with Hal. Likewise, J'onn is a martian and isn't bound by human concepts, so it's also easy to play with his perception of life and humanity particularly when it comes to relations.



In creating designs for each one, I wanted to give them costumes that would work in real life. In other words, they had to be practical and constructed. I wanted to really accomplish that with each one and I hope that I did. Many of these redesigns ended up being among some of my most popular works in my gallery, so I'm very grateful to those of you who actually took the time to comment and fav them.



I hope you all like this piece and my redesigns, as well as the thought put behind re-imagining the narratives of the DC Universe. Please feel free to leave a comment below to let me know what you think. They're ALWAYS appreciated, especially those that create interesting dialogues. Thanks so much!



Enjoy!!

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