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The first time we saw this guy, he was running from a gang of pitchfork and torch-wielding villagers, across the rooftops of a Bavarian village straight out of an old Universal "Frankenstein" or "Dracula" movie. This was in Giant Size X-Men #1 and his name was Kurt Wagner, better known as Nightcrawler.
Nightcrawler sprang from the mind and sketch pad of artist Dave Cockrum, while he was still working to revamp the Legion of Super-Heroes, in the pages of Superboy (and the Legion of Super-Heroes). Over the years, the Legion had fallen in popularity, eventually winding up as a sometime backup feature in Superboy. The Legion was foundering, when Cockrum came aboard and he, and the writers on the feature got a free rein for some time. The result was new life for the Legion. They quickly moved from the back pages to take over the whole book. Cockrum's aesthetic fit the Legion perfectly, while bringing a touch of modern science fiction art style to the series, merging with the "Flash Gordon" style buildings and costumes. One thing that Cockrum thought could stand changing was to bring in some less human-looking characters. That's where Nightcrawler came in.
Unfortunately, editors at DC thought that Nightcrawler was too "strange looking" to be accepted by Legion fans. Then, they made one very serious error, they pissed off the guy whose art was helping to make a phenomenon of the Legion.
In Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #200, Chuck (Bouncing Boy) Taine and Luornu (Duo Damsel) Durgo were married. It was the first Legion wedding, signifying that the Legion was growing up. Dave Cockrum drew this beautiful two-page splash page, of the wedding ceremony on Mars. There are dozens of familiar characters in attendance, including the Martian Manhunter and Tars Tarkas (from Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" books). First, to save a page, they printed it sideways, on one page, instead of the way it was intended. Second, the editors refused to return Cockrum's art to him. I'm sure there were other issues, but this was the last straw for Dave Cockrum and he left DC to work for Marvel. As an artist, I can understand Cockrum's ire.
Nightcrawler languished in Cockrum's sketchbook for awhile, until he got into discussions with Len Wein about putting a new X-Men series together. Wein wanted the new team to have a more "international" flavor and was looking for characters who were not the usual mix of white, middle-class, good-looking super-heroes. Cockrum had just the thing.
Prior to that night with the mob of frightened villagers, Kurt Wagner's life must have been a lot of fun. Kurt was found on a roadside in his dying mother's arms, his father, dead of a heart attack, nearby. Kurt was taken to live with Margali Svardos in the circus where she worked as a fortune teller. He grew up to be quite an acrobat, in an environment of acceptance, which, considering his blue-furred skin, pointed ears, glowing yellow eyes, tail and unusual hands and feet, is quite surprising. Of course, we're told, circus folk are tolerant of "freaks".
It was Professor Charles Xavier who rescued Kurt from the angry mob, that night. He offered Kurt a chance to make a difference in the world, to join his X-Men and protect the world. Of course, he took it.
In the next few months, Kurt learned that the wide world held some greater dangers than angry mobs with pitchforks. His team-mate Thunderbird died in battle with Count Nefaria, in one of the new X-Men's earliest cases. They would fight aliens and Sentinels, another team-mate would die and be reborn. Nightcrawler and his friends would be hounded and kidnaped and generally mistreated and through it all, he kept his sense of humor. When things were at their worst, he could be counted on to lighten the mood, to remind the others that there was something worth fighting for, to be a friend. His mood was so infectious that he cracked Wolverine's facade, with a snowball.
Even so, there was more there than a funny-looking funny man. Nightcrawler proved his worth, time after time, and always with a swashbuckler's style. He would even get the chance to do a little "swashbuckling" for real, in a spin-off mini-series, where he got to play pirate for awhile.
He's spent time abroad, as well, joining Kitty Pryde and Captain Britain in the British super-team, Excalibur. The guy get's around.
Through all these changes, he's had the same outfit, though. While everyone else was changing every few years, Nightcrawler was left in his red, black and white circus costume. What the hell, it's a good design, but who's to say he might not like a change?
A few years back, when the X-Men were going through a team uniform phase, (where everyone wore the same basic uniform, with a few personal touches) I came up with this design for Nightcrawler.
Color it red and black and you can see how it might suit him.
Of course, Nightcrawler has had animated incarnations, as well. Most recently as one of the mainstays of X-Men: Evolution. Of all the characters, his costume is closest to the comic book version.
Not a bad version. All the characters are younger in X-M:E than they are in the comics.
Of course, now there's a whole new "New X-Men", the Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely version, but I haven't seen Nightcrawler pop up in that version, but here's what I thought he might look like.
But, that doesn't work for me. Nightcrawler doesn't belong in black leather. I mean, add flamboyant swashbuckling style to black leather and you get quite a different sort of character!
When I sat down to design a new costume for Kurt, I wanted something that captured his personality. Something that keeps elements from his old costume and adds a new flair. I couldn't see Nightcrawler in somber colors. This is guy who belongs in a flashy costume, something with a touch of Errol Flynn, in "The Sea Hawk". It may seem overly flashy, to some, but I thought it would suit him.
That's it, for now. Thanksgiving is coming up, for those of us here in the U.S., which is just about my favorite holiday. Good food, family and usually a convention over the long weekend. It's going to be a good month.
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