A few weeks back, artist J Scott Campbell caught a bunch of flack for a variant cover of Invincible Iron Man #1 that showed what many deemed to be a "sexualized" version of 15-year-old Riri Williams, who will be taking over the Iron Man mantle as Ironheart. At the time, he didn't shy away from critics, but after Marvel pulled the variant cover from its listing, there wasn't much he could do... until now.
In the image above, you'll see a "Riri Rethink," in which he draws the character more in line with what many who were sharing the #TeensThatLookLikeTeens hashtag deemed more appropriate for a character of Riri's age.
Riri Redux pic.twitter.com/nKHvZ1G8uB
When asked, he explained this wasn't a piece he was commissioned to do, saying it was "Nope, not an official cover. Just did it to do it." Who knows if the criticism got to him, and he decided to try his hand at depicting Riri in a better light. Either way, he's getting a lot of positive feedback from the image.
Thank you @RyanStegman Appreciated man 👍🏼
@JScottCampbell This is really good! Thank you for listening to the criticisms and working with trying new approaches! :)
@JScottCampbell @Breznican Hey, she seems like a real person here. Nice.
See what happens when you draw everyone equally? Invincible Iron Man #1 (and all of its variants) will be released on November 9.
