For those in the United States, the fourth day in July can mean a lot of things – hot dogs, celebrating a country that repeatedly scars the planet with unimaginable war crimes, and of course, fireworks!
On Krakoa, however, we can do one better.
Jubilation Lee, the mutant Jubilee, first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #244 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, as a lovable runaway mall rat who throws herself into the antics of the X-Men, becoming an integral part of the ‘Outback Era’. Her starring role in the 90’s X-Men cemented her role as an iconic part of the franchise, and even as the comics struggled to find a place for her (hey, I like the vampire era), her importance as one of few prominent Asian X-characters, a Claremont creation, and as the ‘Kitty Pryde of the 90’s’ for many fans never waned.
Her staying power has had much to do with the explosive visuals of her outfit and mutant ability, stretching CMYK printing to its limits. Her look, designed by Marc Silvestri, is nothing short of game-changing – in a world full of intimidating god-like figures like Storm, Rogue, and Psylocke, Jubilee has always been bright and scrappy with her wild pixie cut, jean shorts, and yellow trenchcoat. The yellow, pink, and blue palette of her outfit and her ‘fireworks’ has defined her (we’re not gonna talk about Wondra), as writers and artists have figured out how to balance her growth and maturity with the visuals she’s best known for.
For this Redesigning feature, we tasked artists to redesign the Princess of Fireworks herself, and the explosion of yellow, cyan, and magenta she brings with her.
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Happy Jubilee Day!
Valentine Smith
“A few nods to her signature motif with some new ideas mixed in. Hopefully some pieces to get excited about and interchange.”
Joshua Bruckner
“I wanted to give Jubilee a more mature look than she’s had in the past to reflect her status as a single mom and as a full-time member of Krakoa’s Excalibur team! I tried to break her away from the 90’s mall rat look too, with a more sophisticated and fashionable jacket and modern footwear. She has a backpack for carrying baby Shogo, designed to go with her uniform, just in case she has to pull superhero and mom double duty!”
Calvin Lin
Christian Tomas
“I really loved that Jubilee’s most iconic look isn’t a standard-issue superhero uniform, but rather an outfit consisting of streetwear. So that’s mainly the direction I headed in. I drew inspiration from Asian street fashion and brands like Adidas and Moschino to keep her look fun while still comfortable for maneuverability.”
Josh Cornillon
“My take was based on street fashion, like usual, because I think Jubilation would be too hip to get suckered into a generic X-Team look. Her signature magenta and yellow are there, but she’s got a little more razzle dazzle too. I wanted her to look like an Itzakadoozie popsicle (which everyone looks at me like I’m bonkers when I mention, but google it, they were a moment)”
Héctor Barros
“I wanted my look for Jubilee to fit her many roles: young mom, superhero, gifted gymnast, and a natural leader younger mutants look up to.”
Maxime Garbarini
“My thought behind this redesign was “how to make her feel a bit more like an adult, but still retain her sparkly attitude.I tried to stay really simple in the overall design, sleek enough that she could easily blend into a (night) crowd. I really picture her getting a bit bored on Krakoa sometimes, so she would bring others with her and go around the world to party. I think it would actually make for a great new Generation X that focus on the liberation and celebration of being a mutant, and on how it would contrast with the difficulties the humans would still endure in their everyday life struggles.”
Bradley Clayton
“for my jubilee design I wanted to stay within the “black bodysuit/yellow coat” vein she seems to revel in and still personalize it with some of her flair. Shes got some cool butterfly clips and pink star shaped glasses she picked up from maybe the last remaining mall. Top it off with some good skate shoes and she’s ready to fight crime and/or eat chili fries. Also I couldn’t resist throwing Shogo in with a costume resembling hers(even though he will NOT be fighting crime and a dragon hoodie”
Karen Charm
“I wanted to think about ways to redefine Jubilee, so I focused on thinking what the 90s mall rat would look like after she grew up a little bit. I zeroed in on Chloe Sevigny as my fashion muse for what that might look like. I ended up incorporating some elements of the Generation X uniform after seeing some of the other artists talking about it, and – let’s be honest – I’ll always find a way to refer back to that comic.”
Rosi Guillen
“I wanted to portray Jubilee as both a frequent mall-goer and a mom, so I blended her aesthetics with some baby necessities. Her head cover is inspired by something I remember my mom wearing when I was much younger!”
Sara Fangirl Art
Michi
“I ended up going with a more fashion/utilitarian route with a jumpsuit and reflective fabric idea :”)!”
Mariel Rodriguez
“Jubilee has had a lot of high collared jackets over the years so I elected to go with a bomber to switch up the vibe a little. I obviously took cues from sukajan which are really more Japanese than Chinese and have a complex colonial history to boot but Jubilee is one of the first and few asian x-men who is actually asian-american in a way that felt recognizable to me growing up and I think the mix of asian materiality with americana aesthetics/construction suits her. Also dropping some dragon scale patterning in as a reference to Shogo’s dragon form is too fun to pass up.”
Adam Reck
“My approach here was to give Jubilation something a little more fashion forward, a little more 20s than her teen look. Jubilee is synonymous with her jacket, so this is an update that nods to her Chinese American heritage but hopefully feels modern. I feel like it’s also time for her to get away from the big mall earrings and go for something smaller and more compact. Likewise, I’ve shaved up the hair and given it some color. Just because Jubez is a mom doesn’t mean she can’t look badass.”
Erik Ojo
“Here’s jubes in a sort of decora 90s club kid rave look. layered multicolored hair, bright rainbow colors, shiny materials, stacked bracelets, tamagotchi earrings, platform sneakers you better believe she can run in, and a transparent shoulder bag to hold her Mom Gear. main canon inspos are jubilee’s mall rat era but also that arcade in the gen x tv movie that looked a lot like a rave club for some reason.”
