Thread by @jasonlatour

Since we keep getting asked-- here's a very basic look at how we conceived of #spidergwen's design. Like all creation I'm certain a lot of this is assigning reason & rationale to instincts & impulses. But this is the nuts and bolts of how I remember it: (1)

https://twitter.com/whoisrico/status/1083333462839476224

Let's basically center on the 3 things that drove her design primarily. 1. Our re-imagining of Gwen's character. 2.The story. (and context for where & when & how it was published). 3. The desire to keep Robbi's enthusiastic for drawing it again & again. (2)

1. Character: Gwen's entire personality shifts when she's in costume. She goes from being the steady back beat of a band & the responsible daughter of a morally rigid police chief-- to being the focus. A full mask, initially allows her that release. But the hoodie-- (3)

The hoodie was a (possibly misguided) attempt to speak to how clothes don't make someone a criminal, & co-opted from Scarlet Spider (who I always loved the simplicity of) but it also allowed visual method/reminder that despite her freedom this is a brooding, tortured person (4)

2. Story: Gwen is branded a criminal. So a full mask. That way, any reader could see themselves under it , & any character on the street has no idea who or what is under the hood. Mystery, in the way Spider-man was in the 1st Ditko issues. (5)

So with that in mind we had a lot of conversations about the costume being stark. Popping in a way that might reflect someone hitting it with a bright light in a dark alley. Ultimately Robbi, with consultation by Rico, landed on flat white. (6)

3. Fun to draw: I cannot stress to you how important it was to Robbi that we stay away from webs. He hated them, and though it kinda killed me it was easy to see that he was right. He was the artist, and his strengths mattered most. (7)

That meant shape & negative space. Taking a cue from from an old design I did for an unpublished character named the STEEL CITY HAWK (below) we blacked out her legs to simplify. Important on a comics page where the composition of images is unpredictable & often in competition (8)

The color of the shoes was also initially drawn from the HAWK above. But the conversion to Chuck's was ALL Robbi, & perhaps the best character builder for her & our impression of her early on. (9)

But eliminating the webs as a focus also made her easier for other people to handle. Sure feeling NEW was important-- but since our comic started with the impression that we'd been in this world for some time, we needed to think about how it might work without us too. (10)

Which leads me to some of the crazy abandoned ideas, like a wire waist harness instead of web shooters. Crazy things that were cool- but competed far too much with our story's central ideas, & wouldn't fit at all in the context of her participation in the larger Spider-verse (11)

This take: for example (one of the few surviving texts) literally has wings. You can also see the first version of Robbi's ingenious solution for a spider-motif. (12).

That Spider-motif-- which a lot of people fail to notice: looks like a white spider tear dropped on a black suit. Spray paint eyes to imply a do it yourself element Chucks Taylors to imply some self repair or CHARACTER preference. (13)

Color: Robbi has said the intent was to homage Charlotte Hornets colors as nod to my hometown (home to Heroes Con which Rico helped run at the time). I believe Rico pushed the idea that purples are typically tied to villains in classic comics (perfect for a wanted menace!) (14)

That said, being an old nerd, I kinda of got cold feet & started leaning more traditional red instead of purple. Fortunately Robbi was insistent, so when I saw a custom Scarlet Spider cosplayer in Gwen's scheme at C2E2, I instantly realized I was wrong & reversed my vote (15)

So with our design 95 percent we done turned it in feeling really good. Editor @nick_lowe_ loved it but had one problem: NO WEBS!? -- (which was a really good note)-- Hey, no sweat. Robbi pulled an early take back out & fixed that in 2 mins adding them arms or in the hoodie (16)

And there you more or less have it. Artists building a character's design with a concern for STORY, CHARACTER,& for the practical concerns of the world she'd go out into & what she might represent in it. A horse by committee that somehow didn't turn out a complete camel.

"adding webs UNDER the arms and in the hoodie" that is.

NOTE: If I remember correctly, this design was initially a full purple body suit. It was blacked out later. (12.2)

Let me add: in the past I have often said “Robbi did the hard work”. Meaning- He literally, patiently put up with me putting my hands in. I have no idea how many cool designs he did on his own that didn’t make it bc of story criteria. But that push & pull all shaped our final.