The Many Looks of Black Alice; The Return

[kamino_neko]

This is a follow up to my earlier post on Black Alice here. The character's background can be looked at there, as well as most of her earlier looks. This post has the most interesting ones I didn't post there (as I hadn't yet read that issue). I'd actually intended to wait a couple more months until she'd had a few more appearances, and thus a few more outfits, but I changed my mind.

OK, let's start with the appearance I didn't include last time...Reign in Hell. Now, I never read Reign in Hell past issue 2...the only reason I have the rest is for Lori's appearances, so...I ended up disappointed. While she apparently takes multiple powers...her powers apparently don't work like they're supposed to. She only has one outfit. This one:



Which...isn't bad, I guess, but it's not really Lori, yeah? (And she's in Hell! Working for Satanus! She should have a much more awesome outfit than that!)

So, let's move on to the more Black Alice-y looks, then.

Next up, a couple revisited looks, because they don't look like they did before...

First, from the Suicide Squad Blackest Night special, written by Simone and Ostrander, art by Calafiore...Giganta! (Did I mention my love of giantesses?)



Much better than in Helm of Fate....at least on the 'looking Alice-y' front. (I like to think that Gail, having seen my previous post and complaint therein about how un-Alice the Giganta design in Helm of Fate was put a note in her script for Calafiore saying 'make her more Alice-y'. >_>) The torn 'nets, I really like...Calafiore seems to skip that part an awful lot. This is the only time she has them under his pencil.

And, Nightshade, from Secret Six 17:



Looks good...the changes are a little subtle, but it's a good merger of Alice and Nightshade's looks. I do prefer the version from BoP, I admit. Calafiore's art gets a lot of criticism, and I'm not a big fan of his stuff...but he really does Alice well. Just look at that grin. (I think the men get the worst of the problems I have with his art.)

On the other end of the scale, here's Alice channelling Dr Occult:



It's, again, a bit disappointing - I'd have liked it if they'd used Alice's colours, and tattered her jacket a bit more, but...it's not bad.

And, finally, a full page from the same issue (I WAS only going to include the panel of the costume, but...then I decided to include the whole exchange. Proof that Gail is not immune to the lure of an absolutely horriffic pun. A bit after the above, Alice randomly decides to wig out...over the most bizarre thing:



Yes. You did just see what you think you did. Oh, Lori...I love you, but even if Scandal were straight...it's Ragdoll, girl...I'm pretty sure you're the only one after him.

Uhm...the Etrigan look, yes. It's a good mix. What I find really neat is Alice's hair flaring to suggest Etrigan's ears.

A shorter installment of The Many Looks this time, but...a fun one.

Comments

[bluejaybirdie]

Somewhat OT, but I really like how Scandal refers to herself with "I'm a gay woman". The wording and delivery of it make Scandal seem very confident and self-assured of her sexuality (like she always has been), a portrayal I like a lot. It's very nice to see a gay character with little to no angsting about their sexuality.

[hurricane-jam.livejournal.com]

...when did Alice start dating Ragdoll? O.o

[darkblade]

Estrogan? It's an okay look but not such a good name or even a rhyme.

[thehefner]

Estrogan? Really? Really?

[tornadotwin.blogspot.com]

ESTROGAN! Come on. guys, it's funny.

Or it may just be the fact that I'm the only one who loves puns cuz I loled at it!

I honestly thought Ragdoll was gay. Dead seriously. Show's how much I pay attention.

[bluefall]

You know, thinking about this more, I realize I actually kinda like Alice when she's crazy. Bitter, troubled, chip-on-her-shoulder Lori wasn't doing it for me as more than an incidental storyarc, but genuinely-disconnected-from-reality Alice is pretty fun even as a potentially enduring character.

[greenmask]

They('d) make a nice couple.

[thebigapricot]

Alice is so crazy that even Ragdoll can't believe it. And I liked when Alice called Scandal "grandma" -- girl likes to live dangerously.

[mullon]

The Dr. Occult one is my favorite.

[shadowpsykie]

i love that Black Alice is the one character that can make Ragdoll seem like he's sane

[ravenous_raven]

Ooh, Fulfillment of Request 2.0! Thanks, I must've had some good karma coming back to me today!

That being said, I'm definitely underwhelmed by the Hell outfit. Come on, it's Hell, that's the best the artist could do? That being said, the other ones look good, but then, I don't know how the regular outfits look, so...anyway, I like them. D.C. needs more cosplaying anti-heroines.

[crinos]

Ragdoll? Really?

Alice, you can do better. Well, okay maybe YOU can't do better, but I don't think you could do worse.

[lea_hazel]

I like the horns and the teeth. Then again, I've always liked my female villains (and heroes!) to look monstrous, creepy and not very human.

[nikeskylark]

i couldn't stop laughing at 'estrogan'

[icon_uk]

I confess I still don't like the character much, but crazy is perhaps the only excuse for her continuing to use such a ludicrously selfish power. She doesn't mimic powers, she steals them outright, so the original user will find themselves completely powerless for as long as Alice wants to use their powers and sod the consequences.

And so what happens when someone dies whilst she's left them powerless?

[gailsimone]

I love these, Kamino. If I may say so, I used the previous such Alice post you did for research recently and it was a BIG HELP so thank you!

Alice's power should always steal the power from the original owner. There is a draining sensation, so I assume flyers would instinctively land. The owners do retain some small trace of their power, but Alice gets the lion's share.

There are some limitations...the more elegant and sophisticated the power, the harder it is for her to control it. So she can grow like Giganta immediately, no problem, but sophisticated Dr. Fate magic, the COMPLEX stuff, would be really hard on her, as we see next issue. The more direct and blunt a power is, the easier she can handle it.

Second, she can only hold onto a power for a very limited time. She can't hold a power for, say, half an hour, under normal circumstances. Some powers, she's lucky to hold for a few minutes.

And finally, Alice does have one innate power of her own, which is that she can sense magic in her presence.

So yes, she's one of the most powerful beings in the dcu, but also one of the most deeply handicapped, and severely vulnerable.