Give It A Little Bounce by Yusef-Muhammed on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact

I bounced back and forth (pun intended) between reviewing Yusef's Amanda Waller--which is inspired!--and this delightful Speedball, finding a great deal to admire in both. For reasons that may quickly become clear, I chose this.

I've loved Marvel's Speedball character ever since I began collecting the New Warriors back at issue #1. In those days, Speedball was rarely central to the story, never used to advance the plot or counted on to heighten the drama. He was more jester than knight. Of course, those who read through the recent crossover plot of the Civil War know that his irresponsible leadership later led to the deaths of 612 schoolchildren and several supers. To my eyes, the image Yusef has created here is unambiguously the Speedball of the 90s (or very early 00s, perhaps).

Knowing the artist was working on this character, I wondered how he would translate the countless small, multi-colored circles of varying sizes on several parts of the costume into something producible within the limitations of a minimalist aesthetic. The solution here is inspired: merge the trail of colorful circles he leaves in his wake with the orange circles in his outfit and lay the rest of the character around it. Using his mask composed of two large orange lenses--not the original look, but a fairly early change, I believe--works extremely well.

Despite the image's simplicity, this was obviously time consuming. Just laying in all those circles satisfactorily could not have been a quick or easy task.

Speedball is generally on the brink of losing control when in motion. Translating this extreme, somewhat antic motion into a single still image was difficult enough for the comic artists who created and developed him. By limiting himself to a minimalist's vocabulary, Yusef has set out to do the impossible. The angle of the character makes it clear he isn't standing, but rather is mid-bounce (as the circles around him also suggest). The arms-wide posture, as if he's enjoying the ride or struggling to regain balance, is useful as well toward communicating motion.

It seems to me one more cue concerning Speedball's manic speed might have been taken from the way he's generally portrayed. When in motion, Speedball tends to be contorted into odd shapes as he grapples with his body for some semblance of control. And while this image is kept more simple by hiding the legs and keeping the arms square to the body, if his right leg were bent/tucked up, as is often the case, his knee (or even foot!) could appear in this image, communicating the full extent of his lack of control. Browse through images of Speedball: his legs are almost always up in front of him and his knees are always bent.

There's little else I can think to suggest that might have enhanced this vibrant, joyful piece. He's an under-celebrated character, and he's unlikely to feel much love from Civil War-era fans. With that in mind, I'm especially pleased Yusef has been so generous in his portrayal of Speedball. This instantly became one of my favorite images by one of my favorite Deviant artists. I can see no reason to rate this image below 4 1/2 stars.

I'd urge anyone reading this review to take in the full assortment of Yusef's minimalist output either in his gallery or through the group he founded, #Marvel-DC-Minimalism. There are several other excellent pieces, and his recent output suggests that still more unique, exciting work is on the horizon.

Neil Kristian