Sock-supported – Chapter 8 Epilogue, Strip 16

Another design that didn’t quite make it, this one was an idea for Snuka’s first stage transformation.

The guiding idea was that his transformation should in some way be connected to Snuka’s rogueish/impish nature, and before ultimately settling on the Impmon outfit, I seriously considered something along the lines of this Robin Hood style.

Had I done this, I would have stuck closely to the classic movie version of the character, as established with Errol Flynn. Including the pantyhose. And including the sock stuffed down the pantyhose. >_> I mean, without really being an expert on medieval dress, I could have come up with something way more authentic than that Hollywood outfit, for either the late 12th or 14th century. But really, why bother? You don’t mess with the classics.

What caused me to scratch this idea was, ultimately, the same classic image of Robbin Hood created by the Errol Flynn movie (and, to a lesser degree, the Douglas Fairbanks movie that came before). It’s a rather sanitized version of the original legend, and makes Robin into a completely unambiguously heroic character – as was the style at that time (the 1930ies, I mean, not the 12th century). This clear-cut and clean-shaved (save for the small mustache) hero has just too little of a rogue in him to really mesh well with Snuka – Impmon’s penchant for anarchy just seemed a lot closer to Snuka’s true nature.

More on Thursday.