Nu-Perspective: Sun-Man

Nu-Perspective, home of the revamps of underutilized Nubian (black) characters is back!!

And we got a lot of catching up to do so let’s go! This entry is a late one that was supposed to drop back in May as part of our unofficially themed “Cartoon/Pop-culture” month, but it’s finally here. We give you: SUN-MAN!!!

Sun-Man original first debuted as an action figure.

And now, our Nu-Perspective twist....

Sun-Man re-design by Shawn Alleyne

Real Name: Sanjay “Sunny” Smith III

Current Alias: Sun-Man
Identity: Secret
Occupation: High school student
Place of Birth: Philadelphia
Base of Operations: Philadelphia
Affiliations: The Sun People; The Bright Ones

First Appearance: Toyline circa 1985
Original Creators: Yla Eason

 

Story: Young Sanjay “Sunny” Smith III grew up in the inner city, surrounded by drugs, violence, crime and poverty choking his neighborhood. Sanjay also had to deal with indifferent or oppressive law enforcement that were at war with local gangs over control of his borough. Through it all Sanjay’s hardworking single mother never gave into pessimism and always encouraged and guided Sanjay to the best future he could have. But life took a bizarre twist the night a bunch of grotesque alien pig-humanoids came through a portal in his apartment. To Sanjay's surprise his mother manifested a strange sword-spear and killed the creatures single-handedly.
It was then that Sanjay’s mother revealed to him his true origins. Eons ago, the planet Trefixa orbited the majestic first sun at the center of the universe. Trefixa was populated by a race of immortal Nubians who lived in peace and prosperity, until evil entered the heart of one of its own. Empowered by the celestial “Moon Cycle”, that “evil one” intended to spread his darkness across the universe and subject all sentient life to his tyrannical dominion. To thwart his maniacal schemes, the sun god bestowed upon the prince of his people, Sunni Ali, the power to become Sun-Man – Champion of the Sun. Reincarnated over billions of years on many different worlds and times, that mighty warrior was Sanjay’s ancestor. With the appearance of the alien Pigkans, servants of The Evil One, it was a sign that Sun-Man was once again needed. 
His mother then bestowed upon him the sword-spear and a mysterious shield heirloom with the image of the sun on it, making him swear to protect them with his life. They once belonged to the original Sun-Man, and when Sanjay grasped the weapons, a voice spoke to him, claiming to be the essence of the sun god.
Now, Sanjay must embrace his destiny to become the most powerful man under the sun, the new Sun-Man – defender of liberty, justice, truth and equality – and bring an end to the blight that has befallen his neighborhood and his city, until the return of the “Sun Cycle”.
The Sun god spirit warned Sanjay that he cannot battle the forces of darkness and corruption on his own, so he must find the other descendants of the “Bright Ones” who also aided the first Sun Man. Thus begins the terrifying adventures of a young warrior who must brave the real dangers of urban life and the menacing threats of space fantasy.

 

Power/Abilities: As Sun-Man, Sanjay’s skin is invulnerable and impervious to almost any harm. His bones are nigh unbreakable and he also possesses incalculable strength and speed. The source of his power lies in the micro-star embedded in his solar plexus (in a quantum state) and the amount of sunlight he absorbs. Via this micro-star, Sanjay has access to the Sun God, and his wisdom and guidance. He cannot be harmed by heat or fire of any kind, the same is true for all radiation. His eyes cannot be overwhelmed by light and he can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum including x-rays and infrared. He can emit light from his eyes to illuminate dark areas or see at night. Due to these powers he has demonstrated the ability to see through illusions. Sun-Man can also temporarily adopt a brilliant ethereal form of pure light energy allowing him to travel at luminous speeds and gain full access to his solar powers. This “sun-state” is highly unstable and cannot be maintained for very long without catastrophically overloading. With his golden ethereal phoenix wings, Sanjay gains the power of terrestrial and interstellar flight, but can also teleport across solar systems, but only via stars (other suns). His powers are severely limited at night, and can be depleted entirely if he over extends himself or he is drained of solar energy.

    

Paraphernalia: The crimson spearhead-sword bestowed upon Sanjay can cut through virtually any material. It can also discharge a power ray of solar energy or a flash of blinding light. It cannot be wielded by anyone other than Sun-Man, or someone also deemed worthy. The radiant shield cannot be destroyed, and can deflect virtually any attack. It also acts as a portal to the Sun Kingdom located in the center of the first sun at the center of the universe.

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And there you have it. Let us know if you like what we did with him. Scroll down a bit for some a little Q&A with me and Fabian, then see ya sooner than later for another Nu-Perspective entree. 
 
Nu-Perspective is a bi-weekly column I started with my writing partner Fabian Wood with the purpose of spotlighting, revamping and updating various underdeveloped, underutilized and all-but-forgotten Nubian comic book and pop culture characters. Our goal is to showcase them in fresh, contemporary and exciting ways both visually and story-wise.  


Fine Print: All characters are copyrights and trademarks of the respective publishers and creators. This column is used solely for artistic enjoyment. We aim to showcase Nubian characters in fresh, contemporary and exciting ways both visually and story-wise.

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Q&A with Fabian and Shawn with bonus sketches and ref pics 

Why is this character so important to you? -Shawn: This character is so important to me due to the origin of how the toys first came to be. Sun-Man is and was the creation of Yla Eason and was produced in 1985 by Olmec Toys. Ms. Eason started the company in the mid 1980’s with the intention to produce and bring to market a black super-hero action figure.  Her motivation was her son who told her at the age of 3 that he could never become a super-hero because he was black and all of his action figures were white.  The first release of Sun-Man was in 1985 in the line called “Rulers of the Sun” which only introduced two action figures. 
With the success of this line, Sun-Man and Pig-Head were to be re-released once again only one year later in 1986 in a new line called “Sun-Man”.  This new line also included four additional ethnic super-heroes:  Holographo, Space Sumo (Chinese), Digitino (Mexican) , & Bolt Man (Native American).  Ms. Eason also released another line called “Butterfly Woman”, a collection of the world’s first Black Super heroines for young girls to play with.

What do you like most about the character? – Fabian: It’s easy to write him off as knock-off “Black He-Man”, but I’d challenge anyone to do a little research into the thought process behind Sun-Man and how he came to be through creator Yla Eason. If only I had a toy like this growing up.

Getting the outfit together

What made you choose this character? – Fabian: Shawn actually introduced me to this uber-obscure Nubian nugget. This guy was the OG of OP characters :P 

Did the character pose a challenge to update and if so what was the hardest part of the redesign? Shawn: The hardest thing for me was a way to find the direction of the character. I wanted to find a balance between a more modern sci-fi feel a fantasy look.

Sketches to get a pose down

What was the most fun part to redesign? Shawn: Finding an updated look for his tunic. 

In regards to the story aspect of the update, what was your main inspiration for the direction? – Fabian: Like He-Man, Sun-Man’s origin and story were easily malleable in terms of lore and continuity. But I didn’t really want to follow in the same vein as cosmic/sci-fi fantasy. I envisioned a more grounded, contemporary interpretation, but still maintain that air of outlandish space fantasy. Striking that balance, while paying homage to the legacy of Sun-Man was a big challenge.

In hindsight is there anything you would do differently now? – Fabian: Well, make a time machine and give young me this toy instead of MotU ones.
Shawn: I would've put more details in the wings. 

Is there something in particular you want to point out? – Fabian: Just goes to show you how racially and ethnically closeminded the MotU franchise was and is. There has never been a Nubian characters (bad or good) in the He-Man toylines, comics, movie or in the cartoon reboot in 2002 (*Netflix new She-ra series bucks that trend though). But at least it had a token one-off Asian character or two (*shrug*)

NP

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