Welcome.
Today's MISS reveal has been mentioned quite a bit throughout this series, but has yet to be revealed herself. Not fully, anyway. Her birth name and current abilities were revealed a couple of weeks ago. Now it's time to show her completely powered up form.
Before that, the links below will take you to any reveal you may have missed. Including this one, there are ten in all.
MISS Support
Generation One
Team MISS
Meet MISS Ion
Since quite a bit about MISS Ion was revealed previously, I refer you to the link to MISS Lead above to catch up if you have not read it yet.
MISS Ion (Noelani Kekoa) is the ultimate manifestation of human potential. Her mastery of MISS (modesty, intelligence, spirituality and strength), elevated her to become a being one with the universe. For the brief period that she is MISS Ion, she is godlike in her awareness of all things—past, present and future—as well as her ability to work with or reshape matter, space and time. She is immortal and indestructible.
The height of her abilities comes during a test to define her power limits. It is during this examination that all her abilities become fully realized all at once. In doing so, she becomes aware of the entity known as Wrong, which has been behind a good many tragedies and accidents which have occurred previously, and through MISS Ion, it intends to achieve ultimate power and god status.
MISS Ion also becomes aware of something else. Something that, if it were known, would shake the very foundation of the MISSES Endeavor. Because of it, and because she is not yet ready to handle all of the powers she now possesses, she essentially lays down those powers. In do doing, an enormous amount of energy is released, and she is MISS Ion no more.
Concept Art
Once again, credit for what follows goes to Graphics Manufacture for the character design.
As I've mentioned before, sometimes I know more of what I don't want in a character design than I know what I do want a character to look like. That doesn't seem to help much when it comes to conveying a concept or idea. It's much better when the vision is clear, and when it came to the design of MISS Ion, that little fact couldn't be more apparent.
What follows are the sketches I received first for MISS Ion after I had sent the supervising artist my first instructions.
Sketches
These first three sketches were what came back initially, after I basically said I wanted a character that was feminine in nature, with cosmic effects. Space and stars and light and maybe nebulas. As a being one with the universe, MISS Ion should look the part.
As initial drawings go, these were just not doing it for me. I had been way too vague, although the artist did try to incorporate the elements I did give them. None of it bespoke of power incarnate, though. In looking at it, I got a little disheartened that maybe I wouldn't be able to describe what I wanted, and they wouldn't be able to draw it.
These next two were created out of my attempt to get the character back to looking more like Noelani or the MISS Lead character (Polynesian in appearance, a little more recognizable as being or originating as human). In doing so, the cosmic elements were lost, and the hair in either case just wasn't happening for me.
Realizing this back and forth could go on forever, I decided I needed to come up with an actual concept, so I spent sometime deciding what I wanted MISS Ion to look like, which ended up combining some elements from all of these sketches, in a similar way that took place with last week's character reveal, Wrong, as well as adding new ones.
Interestingly enough, this revamp moved us out of the sketching phase to ink.
Inks
I think the transformation is nothing short of amazing. The concept was, use a few things from the anatomy of the human body—heart and main blood arterials, but make them relating to space—a sun and energy manifested in lightning or electrical patterns. She should still look like she was wearing her uniform, and her hair should be dark, flying out from her head in all directions, and reflecting stars.
I also wanted some kind of light manifestation around part of her head.
Aside from the fact that she now looked a little younger than I wanted, and not as physically imposing (though she does appear very powerful to me), I felt we were finally heading in the direction I wanted the character to go.
Colors
In moving on to colors, a few things got lost in the translation. The energy or electrical effects went green, which is generally associated more with a ghostly or supernatural appearance, which wasn't what I was going for. The light circle moved to her forehead, which seemed kind of out of place to me, and her flower seemed to become detached and start to float out into space.
So, for the first time in the color phase, I asked for some changes. This became the final result:
This was much closer to what I was going for, and as has been the case with other characters, I felt we were at a point where we could call it good, even though there were some things that could still be changed.
This is the last of the character concept art I have currently available to reveal. I have yet to ask for more art, but maybe I will attempt to do that in the coming days. Or not. I'm hoping, however, in the process, anyone reading has gotten a good taste of what MISSES is about, and that enough has been left unanswered to elicit interest in more characters and story.
Images courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen