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Published: 2011-08-15 20:54:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 2059; Favourites: 70; Downloads: 96
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TRDL 2011 Series, No. 68 – Dakota NorthThird Rail Thrills No. 66
This piece was done for the Dakota North jam on the TRDL R3 Forum and TRDL-R3-WeeklyJam group on dA.
I have these fond boyhood memories of Dakota North. I didn’t understand the questionable mimicry of Ms. Tree or the way the femme fatale AS private eye would be capable of so much more in the years to come. Sure, she was half model, half gun-toting investigating adventurer, but at a time when all of my comics from Marvel were spandex or toy licenses like Micronauts or what have you, it was a refreshing change, right down to the pop art covers. When I looked back to some of those references for this jam, I was startled at how dated they looked, how unlike my mental image of that material. It’s funny how we rewrite memory. Anyway, my modern appreciation for the character comes from Brubaker and Rucka’s Daredevil run, and so that’s the homage in the piece I put together.
Process notes here:
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Comments: 23
Hey thank you! I don't think I've ever draw her before, even in the 80s when she first appeared...
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Mmm, she certainly sounds like an interesting lady...
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I love female investigators...
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hahaha wait did she date Danny Rand??
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Y'know what? I think she may have!
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Funny--when I first saw her in Brubaker's DD run, I thought he created her.
Anyway--very cool pin-up.
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He might as well have, as different as she was...
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How was she different, may I ask?
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Well, two ways:
The Dakota North as shown in Daredevil was older, long red/black hair, wearier and more like a real person. The Dakota North from the 80s was a supermodel type with short, sharply cut neck length hair, lots of sexy racing around and cleverness. One foll ws the other.
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Great job, Thom.
I'm the same way - I have a certain way I remember the series, but I'm not going to go back and look at the issues before I do my piece. I figure since fashion was such big element to the character, they'll be horribly anchored to the 80s. I'll go back and reread some of my Bru DD trades. That's the cherry on top.
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There you go, great idea.
SOme books DO hold up better than others. But often, the mental image fuses with how it inspired you and it becomes something totally different (in the case of books that actually DID inspire you)... Strikeforce Morituri and Haywire were two books, for example, that inspired my sense of design and my stories for TRDL... yet you go back and look at them and it's like... well... huh. Important thing was that the inspiration occurred, at least for me.
On the other hand, some stuff remains as awesome today as the first time I saw it, ie. Shirow manga.
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I loved Strikeforce Morituri back in the day. Such a great concept. The costume designs I remember being a bit hinky though, you're right. But yeah, if it sets you on your own creative path, then it's all good.
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What I took away from it was the concept of the finite lifespan for supers, the idea that people would put themselves at risk, and certain doom, for the chance to have those abilities and fight the good fight. There's a lot of that in the TRDL Universe: the supers are a manufactured program, and there are risks. No aliens with goiters though. Go Brent Anderson!
Ha, think Strikeforce Morituri was my first (of a very small number) of signed comics. Carl Potts was at my local shop in LA when I was a kid and signed it for me.
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