DC talent search entry New 52 Harley intial sketches.

Having never submitted anything, I thought to myself 'getting on a bit now! maybe its time to either sh*t or get off the pot!'
so I began a search through Google for submissions to publishers and downloaded various script and more.
Was gutted to see however that both Marvel and DC no longer take submissions. Then I saw a link for this!
DC comics had a talent search that ended on the 1st of this month (October). So I had a week to produce my first submission and send it in.

The script was simple enough, if a little disconcerting (well I thought it was kind of funny tbh but umm... not really one I could share with my kids).
It was for page 15 of new 52 Harley Quinn and her own (3rd???) solo series. 4 panels. No text was on the sample they posted. Each panel with her in various states of suicidal actions.
Here's the original post on the DC website.

Read the following script page and give us your original artistic interpretation of what those four panels should look like on a single page:

PAGE 15

4 panels

PANEL 1
Harley is on top of a building, holding a large DETACHED cellphone tower in her hands as lightning is striking just about everywhere except her tower. She is looking at us like she cannot believe what she is doing. Beside herself. Not happy.

PANEL 2
Harley is sitting in an alligator pond, on a little island with a suit of raw chicken on, rolling her eyes like once again, she cannot believe where she has found herself. We see the alligators ignoring her.

PANEL 3
Harley is sitting in an open whale mouth, tickling the inside of the whale’s mouth with a feather. She is ecstatic and happy, like this is the most fun ever.

PANEL 4
Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of “oh well, guess that’s it for me” and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen.

 I'm not overly familiar with Harley Quinn except in the Bruce Timm batman animated series and the batman Arkham asylum game
but always enjoyed her character. especially her Brooklyn accent and her cartoonish darting about scenes and posing. So I looked into her new costume, I have no idea how valuable things like the universal guide to the marvel universe must have been before Google!
Also I needed to practice drawing women! ive never had much success with women on and of the page, so this was when I had to sit down and really get to grips with their anatomy...
I'm still very much learning but after this process I do feel a lot more comfortable drawing them.
here's some of my initial sketches.

 
 
getting to grips with the new costume
and then a spectre type character for good measure!
(Do love the Spectre, proud owner of his very first appearance! showcase #60)

got hung up one evening on her 6 knives being like wolverines claws so did the above sketch, but I had altered the forearm section of costume too much so scrapped it and did the following as you can see my earlier post...

 just a taster but here's the rough n final version of my page.

Will at a later date go into the choices that I made on each panel and why....

thanks for reading

Wayne