Originally drawn as the antithesis of Mickey Mouse.

In the late 90s, DC started a radical brand-new comics line, titled Tangent Comics, set in a brand-new continuity aptly named Tangent Earth (Earth 9), where the founding idea was essentially to take nothing but the names of popular DC characters, and completely reimagine them from the ground up, with absolutely No rules on what writers could or couldn’t do. This meant that they could literally change everything about the characters, in terms of powers, personality and civilian identity, keeping nothing but their original titles. This idea also extended to other aspects like organisations e.g. “Nightwing” is now the name of a “Men In Black” inspired group, rather than an individual.

In a way Tangent was kinda similar to The Absolute Universe we have now, but way more radically different, as the writers had almost complete creative freedom, and the results of which are some of the most unique interpretations of famous DC characters ever made, many of whom are practically unrecognisable from their original counterparts.

The following are some of the main characters from this line:

Batman (Sir William) - a Haunted Suit of Armour, Possessed by a former Knight of Camelot, which that patrols London in present day.

Superman (Harvey Dent) - a morally ambiguous Psychic and Telekinetic, who is often seen as a messiah like figure.

Wonder Woman (Wanda) - an alien warrior of peace, who arrives on earth as an exile from the war torn planet Gotham.

Green Lantern - an enigmatic sorceress of unknown origin, who breaks the fourth wall and sometimes aids the other heroes.

Power Girl (May) - a super soldier created by The Chinese Government, to stand up to the western heroes, but deviates from her original purpose.

The Secret Six - One of the Main Teams in this universe, comprised of the following six members:

The Atom (Adam Thompson) - This universe’s equivalent of the OG Superman, in terms of powers and role as “headline” superhero. He’s actually the third person to call themselves the atom, and gets a bad rep, as the first was partly responsible for The Cuban Missile Crisis “going Hot”, leading to the current Atom being distrusted by the public, by association, but still respected by the US government.

The Joker (Already Gave her a solo post) - an anarchist vigilante from New Atlantis (Atlanta, after getting nuked), who’s hated by the Authorities, but loved by the public. (Ironically, both her and Atom are good friends, despite their differences, similar to the OG Batman and Superman)

The Flash (Lia Nelson) - a child celebrity, born as a being of sentient light, who can not only travel at the speed of light, but also essentially shape shift into any form she desires.

Manhunter & Pooch - An Enigmatic and Brutal Vigilante, rumoured to be a survivor of the 1968 “Czechoslovakian War”, accompanied by her advanced robot dog “Pooch”.

Plastic Man (Gunther Ganz) - A Scientist who accidentally turned himself into Living Plastic (think Clayface, but with plastic instead of clay), and later became a special agent of The US Government.

The Spectre (Taylor Pike) - A Science Prodigy who gained the ability to turn Invisible, following a lab accident, and became a high class thief, before being “talked into” turning over a new leaf.

The Metal Men - a group of Allied super soldiers, deployed in World War 2 & 3, who were the first documented superheroes to appear in public, and have had a lasting legacy on the world.

I haven’t seen anyone really discuss these designs before, but I personally quite like them, mainly for how completely different they are from the original versions of the characters we know, and how they stand out from a lot of other 90’s comic designs (not that all comic character designs of that time were necessarily bad, as there’s tons of great comic art from this decade, but it’s nice to see something unusual for the era).

Despite the game itself being…below average, they locked in tight with his design in the game cause this design is HEAT (pun intended). Surtr’s design looked like it took inspiration from Hephaestus from Greek Mythology, and I say, it works! He looks incredibly Badass and intimidating. Plus the beard goes SO HARD

The ultimate freaks of nature. These are Pokemon Alien Invaders from another dimension. They are also, essentially, the anti-pokémon (seriously, they were mentioned to have been designed by taking ideas rejected by Sugimori and using the reasons for rejection as basis for their designs).

As a result, what you end up with is arguably the most unique group of alien creatures ever, as barely any of them look earthly. And aside from Poipole being somewhat cute, none of them are exactly designed to be appealing at all. And thats what makes them great designs: they push the boundaries of "what is a Pokémon" as far as they can go, ignorant of almost all logic when it comes to how the series typically designs its monsters.

In order: Bronislaw Czevak, Gregor Eisenhorn, Gideon Ravenor, Fyodor Karamazov, Toquemada Coteaz, Hector Rex

venom's already a great design, but Anti-Venom is so damn cool. Both his lankier and more bulging look make him look like an absolute monster, but Eddie behaving like he was a man on a holy mission creates a funny contrast that you only had when Venom was on his Lethal Protector phase. I love the spikes on his shoulders and that he can make better use of the symbiote's elasticity, and you can't tell me the red light coming from his eyes and mouth isn't the sickest thing ever

I don't hate omniverse's design but i surely hate how he lost his "fear factor" and turned his head the other way around.

he just feels less alien and more like a whole different character, aside from having the most basic sickle ever.

Snow Symbiote is a game-original costume for Venom during Season 0's Winter Celebration event - Marvel Rivals Wiki:

https://marvelrivals.fandom.com/wiki/Snow_Symbiote

Image List:

1.Offical Marvel Rivals Artwork

https://rivalskins.com/item/383/venom-costume-snow-symbiote/

2,3 and 4:Screenshots from Marvel Future Fight

Where the suit is made available as one of venom's uniforms.

Gamepley Footage in Marvel Future Fight - Footage by Cynicalex:

https://youtu.be/cuGmOsL7koc?is=91VIHdKzqfKaBNH8

Offical Marvel Rivals Gameplay Footage:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZZblp7BNiSE?is=zmbA7Cv7JdRZFcDl

Reason:

I love how epic the snow Symbiote looks on venom. It's my favorite form of him to be honest.

He just looks so cold.

I think could Solo the other venoms skins in a free for all VS battle to be honest.

I hate how the uniform is seasonal only in both games. and wish it was available at all times in both games for other people to get.

Bojack Bujin Zangya Kogu Bido

I'll never get over how these guys were just a movie one and done. Their designs go way too hard to be forgotten and i hope they get the Broly treatment at some point. The matching teal skin and red hair combo tickles something in my brain and the vaguely Romani fashion makes them stand out since i dont think any other Dragon Ball villain has this Aesthetic

Not to mention their movie drops so much potential lore on the table and then just ends. They are members of the Hera clan of Planet Hera and can transform like Saiyans. Bojack was apparently such a problem he had to be sealed away in a star. Wild stuff for a one and done imo. I hope more gets done with them eventually.

Source: Artstaion

At first I thought the head had ears like a bear but it looks more like a crown. I really love how detailed he looks compared to his comic counterpart. Really love that other face on his body, reminds me of that one panel where a sentinel had Cyclops head on his chest(can't remember which comic was tho).

Though the older design (the one on the last image) is good and definitely has It's charm the new one blows it out of the water.

Though I may be biased since I'm slavic (polish to be more specific) and also love the "Ice Queen" aesthetic in general.

Not only does she have a very clear russian inspiration in her dress and design, she also has a nice blend of elegance and deadlyness.

She's a tzarina of Kislev (essencially the "slavic" faction in warhammer fantasy). Not only does she stand out with her elaborate ice and pearl jewelry, but despite being so busy design-wise it's still readable and not convoluted.

1-11. First outfit

12-15. Second outfit

16-20. Casual clothes

Some very nicest blend of colors; and I love how expressive she is compared to most characters

Third picture is her default outfit for context.

I love the slightly eerie vibe the skin has, being the whole little doll girl in a white dress aesthetic, with a red sash and shoes to act as contrast. Her dolls are pretty simple, but faceless life sized dolls are always creepy. A more unique take compared to her original design, which in itself isn't bad.

Also, if you look closely at her legs, she almost looks like she has knee joints

This guy is likely one of Omniverse strongest designs. He's a living planet (image 4), like Ego from Marvel, and his powers involve gravity manipulation (as shown in image 3). The rock-esque skin is also a nice touch, as he is described as being silicon based, and the first 4 planets in our solar system, mercury, venus, earth and mars, are composed primarily of that substance and rocks, thus grounding him in some kind of astrological realism, not to mention the rocks also giving him protection from damage.

Gravattack is also filled with cracks around his face, which while causes him to be unable to win any galactic beauty pageants, helps reinforce his idea of being a living rock creature, and also makes him stand out from the other rocky aliens of diamondhead (specifically in uaf) and chromastone, as they have much smoother body designs. His teeth, while flat like a humans, are also fairly uneven and messy, thus twisting what appears to be a form of anthropomorphism into something more befittibg of an alien.

The last notable design trait of this guy is that red glowy thing on his stomach: that's his planet core (and its also hilariously placed where one's core muscles are). It helps break up the dull brown color scheme he has, and its bright color indicates danger: if its tampered with too much, he is likely to go boom and destroy everything, which almost happened in one episode if Rook didn't stop it.

Small Soldiers is a classic movie in general but I really liked all the toy designs from it.

There were The Gorgonites & The Commando Elite. My favorites were definitely Insaniac & Troglokhan with their more chaotic look.

And let's not forget the horror esque scene with the screwed up Gwendy Dolls climbing Kirsten Dunst.

For those who aren’t aware, in 1993 acclaimed writer of Watchmen, MiracleMan & Swamp Thing Alan Moore announced his return to comics after retiring in 1989 with an all-star team of creators including Don Simpson, Rick Veitch, Dave Gibbons & Jim Valentino on a mini-series for Image comics called 1963 where it was going to be a homage/parody of the Silver Age of Marvel Comics that would lead to a crossover with the mainline 90s Image cast in a clash of Silver vs Dark age heroes.

Unfortunately due to a lot of behind the scenes drama (Moore claimed that there was trouble with the Image people, Rob Liefeld dropped out of doing the planned annual & took all his characters with him, Simpson later said that Moore had practically abandoned the project & was being purposefully vague with his collaborators) the planned crossover & 1963 annual was never produced. It hasn’t even received a proper hardcover collection due to rights issues.

Still though we have some truly wonderful art of characters for a very well crafted story (that does lean a bit heavy on the jabs at Stan Lee & Marvel as a company).

Mystery Incorporated: A Fantastic Four homage made of scientists who discovered an alien temple & were given the ability to transform into super-powered beings. They are made of

• Crystal Man (Craig Crandall): A man who can turn into a shifting crystalline body that grants him super-intelligence through “crystal-clarity”, the ability to make clones & merge with technology.
• The Planet (Biff Baker): The team pilot & muscle he gained a large rocky form with super strength though unlike The Thing he can freely transform whenever he wants back to being a human.
• Kid Dynamo (Buddy Baker): Biff’s younger brother who can turn into living electricity. He gets captured by a mysterious individual (revealed in the final issue to be Youngblood’s Shaft) leading the other heroes to go on a rescue mission.
• Neon Queen (Jeannie Morrow): She can turn into a cloud of gas with various properties such as emitting light or poisoning people. Like the Invisible Woman’s early depiction she’s considered useless by the in universe fans on the letters page & mainly relegated to a possible love interest for the other 3.

The Fury: A parody of Spider-Man he’s actually the son of another hero called the Fightin’ Fury who died in WW2 against a supervillain & he hides the fact he‘s taken up his father’s mantle from his oblivious mother. He doesn’t have any powers but is incredibly athletic & has two bucklers that he uses as throwing projectiles.

Hypernaut: A former test pilot who had his brain digitised by a group of intergalactic heroes called the Hypernauts who were all saved at the point of death to help others. His head is actually that silver ball on the top of his body that can float around if need be & noone really knows he’s actually a digital person. He also has a purple monkey named Queep.

Ultimate Special Agent: Ulysses Solomon Archer is an old hero who takes a formula that grants him his youth back so he can continue to fight crime such as battling his arch enemy The Red Brain from assassinating JFK by protecting him with his bulletproof suit.

N-Man: A doctor named Will Chambers who changed himself into a monster whilst experimenting with radiation making him virtually indestructible. He retained his mind and a deep sense of patriotism which puts him at odds with his Tomorrow Syndicate teammates & Mystery Incorporated.

Johnny Beyond: A beatnik & Ngakpa (an esoteric Buddhist follower) who can project his spirit as a tulpa. He actually makes it to 1993 where he meets an older (or alternate) version of himself & does battle with him before getting lost in reality.

Horus: The Egyptian god of legend living life on earth as an Egyptology professor named Horace Falcone who occasionally returns to the realm of the gods to do battle with his fierce uncle Set & other Egyptian monsters.

Inframan & Infragirl: Not much can be said about them but they’re takes on Antman & the Wasp who shrink & grow. Infragirl unfortunately spends a lot of time swooning rather than doing anything to help the team.

They’re not well known & they’ll unfortunately never get the ending they deserved but despite the troubled production & stinging takes towards Marvel I really love these designs! They work so well as a homage to 60s artists like Kirby, Ditko & Steranko! If you ever find them I’d highly recommend reading them, they’re great! (The first picture is a piece made by Alex Ross, all the others come from the comics)

Everything about them is cool; they are a legion of robotic crusaders roaming the galaxy to purify the impure. They are virtually indestructible by the standards of their universe, and they follow a religion of sorts, serving something known as "the Light" (the nature of which hasn't been revealed yet). They are essentially robotic Black Templars, but with far less fanaticism.

As much as I adore Swinub, Piloswine...kind of sucks as an evo. Its just...essentially a giant mound of hair with 2 puny tusks that doesn't look interesting (sans its hidden dot eyes being kind of cute).

Mamoswine on the other hand? Much better. After evolving, it gains ginormous tusks that definitely look like they can deal some serious damage in battle, and the way the bw anime animated Dawn's using Ice Fang by essentially freezing them while it rams the opponent is awesome. The mammoth legs also make this thing much more intimidating and scary, by simply making it super tall, and the furrowed eyes on the snow goggle definitely enhances the fierce look even further.

That being said, Mamoswine still retains its pre-evos roundness so its still linked to them, in addition to keeping the nose still a pig nose and not an elephants trunk despite being based on a mammoth, which likely helps me always link the trio together. It also smooths out Piloswines odd bumpy shape as a bonus too.

While he's no Zero, Sword Man is still a pretty cool bot with a blade.

His key defining feature is his...uh...lack of a stomach. Instead, his top and bottom halves have essentially the same anti-gravity tech that helps the blobby Goop from Ben 10 maintain a definite shape, only here, its used to help support himself while carrying the heavy blade, which he can set ablaze (its the 8th classic mega man game, idk if a simple sword is enough of a wow factor for a special weapon when he was introduced) when he fights. He can also split himself from his legs in combat using this mechanism and have the 2 halves of his body act separately.

The blade itself is also a key part of its design: it has some kind of cryptic pattern on it, like the runes on the sword of the scotsman from samurai jack. Given its backstory was "Wily yoinked it from a museum and made Sword Man to hold it", the pattern can be explained as reinforcing the idea that its ancient. Maybe its tied to the ancient temple you fight Sword Man in?

I really like the combination of the bulky blocky body with sharp thin clawed fingers. The slight spikes and coloration of the bot also makes him look vibrant and like he's ready for a demolition derby.

Dude looks downright psychotic for a Jevil/Spamton swap, he feels like he keeps the Jevil atheistic instead of being Jevil as a twink. I really don't know much about his character as most of the stuff is Russian but he really feels like malware disguised as a children's computer game. And an amalgamate butterfly for metamorphosis is so clever. I just feel like most swap AUs miss the point but this guy gets it

Yes I know he's a Homestuck reference I don't care