My Thunder Girl Costume

We've talked about Big Bang Comics here recently, and their slated return next year from Pulp 2.0 Press. Now, let's delve back into the past and look at a couple of artifacts from the days when they were still published by Image Comics.

I briefly maintained a fansite devoted to Big Bang Comics in the mid-00s (OK, that was weird to write). When I wrote to BB editor/writer Gary Carlson to show him the early stages of the project, he wrote me back to tell me that he enjoyed the site. He also had a rather unexpected request.

At the time, the next issue of Big Bang due was the one-shot Ultiman Family #1. As it turned out, Gary wanted to do a riff on those old "reader submitted costume" features like this one showcased at Gone & Forgotten (go read that, really). So, Gary asked me to submit a costume design for Thunder Girl which would be drawn by one of the artists for Big Bang.

Well. As I am sure you remember, I'm not much of an artist. Still, this sounded like a lot of fun! I pulled out some old Supergirl issues of Adventure Comics for reference and went to work on November 12, 2004. I started by mimicking a couple of Art Saaf poses, then moved away from that a bit. I decided I wanted it to look kind of silly, but without too many extraneous details. In the end, after making two or three passes, this was what I sent Gary:

Thunder Girl Costume Sketch by ~celamowari on deviantART

Gary said that was perfect. Flash forward a couple of months and we arrive at the day Ultiman Family #1 came out. In the back part of the book was "Thunder Girl's Fashion Show". And lo and behold, here is one of the costumes drawn by Jeff Austin:

Wow, Jeff Austin made me look so good here. He even drew the wristbands I threw in there on a lark! Thank you again to Gary Carlson, Jeff Austin, and anyone else responsible for letting me be part of a real comic book through Ultiman Family #1. I've had many letters of comment printed over the years, but this is still one of the coolest things ever.