What IS Nu-Perspective you ask? Well, it's a bi-weekly column I started with my writing collaborator Fabian Wood with the purpose of revamping and updating different underdeveloped, underutilized and all-but-forgotten Nubian (black) comic book and pop culture characters.
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| Night Thrasher original appearance. Art by Mark Bagley |
With this repost, you get the same full bio, art and our storyline concept, but also some behind the scenes thoughts on how and why Fabian and I went about doing what we did.
And today's post features one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite teams of ALL TIME-- Night Thrasher!!!
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| Night Thrasher Nu-Perspective revamp by Shawn Alleyne |
Real Name: Dwayne Michael Taylor
Current Alias: Night Thrasher
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Businessman, Engineer, Philanthropist, Vigilante
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois
Base of Operations: New Warriors headquarters
Affiliations: Taylor Foundation, New Warriors
First Appearance: Thor #411 1989
Original Creators: Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz
Story: A self-made man living in a world of super-powered
individuals and cosmic beings, Dwayne Taylor was always about protecting the
common man from these incredible threats as the vigilante, Night Thrasher.
Founding a team of super-powered teenagers called the “New Warriors”, Night
Thrasher’s life followed the ebb and flows of vigilante/superhero life with
many adventures. However, this road took its’ most drastic turn for the worst
when the New Warriors ended up as reality show stars and wound up at the
epicenter of the infamous Stamford incident that sparked the first civil war
between Earth’s greatest heroes. Night Thrasher was presumed dead, but in reality,
he was snatched from death by the Collector to be an unwilling participant in
his “Contest of Champions”. Only recently been brought back to Earth, Night
Thrasher learnt how far the New Warriors and his legacy had fallen in his
absence. Steeling his resolve once again to build himself back up, Dwayne
reveals himself to his former teammates, hoping to reunite the New Warriors
with the goal of rising above their past mistakes and shortcomings and becoming
a beacon of inspiration in a new generation of super-powered teens and
vigilantes. But first, they will have to contend with opposition from the
S.H.I.E.L.D. sanctioned Secret Warriors who do not want a repeat of history.
Powers/Abilities: Aside from his
passive ability that makes him immune to psionic attacks, Night Thrasher is a
man in peak physical fitness. Having trained in various forms of martial arts, Night
Thrasher’s time in the “Contest of Champions” has further enhanced his
hand-to-hand, firearms and weapons combat proficiency to match enhanced humans.
Night Thrasher is also a highly skilled skateboarder and an efficient hacker.
Paraphernalia/Weapons: Battle Amour –
As an expert engineer and weapons designer, Dwayne’s Night Thrasher armour is
of a military-grade light-weight bullet resistant and fire retardant material.
It is also outfitted with a high-tech thermo-optic camouflage lining. The
armour suit also comes with two multi-purpose wrist gauntlets that can, among
other functions, launch a grapple line, discharge a powerful electric current
(mimicking his brother’s former mutant power), a hacking interface, retractable
blades, as well as fire bullets. The mask and goggles on the armour have
various audio and visual enhancements, breathing apparatus, and more. The suit
itself has hidden compartments for caltrops, smoke pellets, mini explosive and
other devices and gadgets. Night Thrasher is never without his trademark
Escrima sticks and a hi-tech customized skateboard that has reverse-engineered
repulsor discs of mobility and speed.
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| Night Thrasher design sketch by Shawn Alleyne |
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| Old piece of Night Thrasher I did. You can see I kept many of the aspects for his final revamp. |
Q&A with Fabian and Shawn
What do you like most about the character?- Shawn: Night Thrasher has secretly been a favorite character of mine for many reasons. He's tenacious, super-skilled, brilliant, has a great back story, he's a leader, he's Nubian, he's an underdog (and who doesn't love an underdog?) But the thing I like most about ole NT, is the fact that he's a NINJA!! And all I ever wanted to be growing up was a ninja.
What made you choose this character?- S: Ummm...everything I listed above. lol
What was the creative process like for this
character?- S: Due to my love affair with this character the creative process for him started loooonnggg ago, before there was even the idea of a Nu-Perspective. My dream is to one day draw a New Warriors comic book, and I've been revamping these characters for a while. I came with the look and Fabian slam dunked the story. I added my touches and voila.
Did the character pose a challenge to
update and if so what was the hardest part of the redesign?- S: No challenge whatsoever. I just modernized his original look. Some influences of Masumune Oshirow are in there.
In regards to the story aspect of the
update, what was your main inspiration for the direction?- S: Correcting the BULLSHIT that was done to him as a character. The New Warriors are now considered a joke and that's one of Marvel's biggest mistakes. My main intent was to return NT to his roots.
In hindsight is there anything you would do
differently now?- S: Not a thing. Ok, that's not quite true. Maybe give him back his skateboard. lol
Did this character resonate with you in anyway? - S: He's everything I would want to be.
NP
Fine Print: Nu-Perspective is a column focused on revamps and updates of various
underdeveloped, underutilized and all-but-forgotten Nubian (black)
characters specifically. We aim to showcase these chosen characters in
fresh, contemporary and exciting ways both visually and story-wise to
show just how awesome they can truly be. All characters are copyrights
and trademarks of the respective publishers and creators. This column is
used solely for artistic enjoyment.
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