Put your hands together for the fabulous Frenzy! Joanna Cargill has never been the biggest character in the annals of X-Men history, but her towering frame and determination make her a standout in any story she’s in.
Frenzy has always been committed to a better world for mutants. Formerly an antagonist and member of the Acolytes, she slowly aligned more with the X-Men’s philosophy. She got a big push during the Krakoan age, appearing in S.W.O.R.D. as the mutant ambassador to the Galactic Council, and then as one of the elected members of the flagship X-Men team in Dead X-Men. She can currently be seen in the pages of Mark Russell and Bob Quinn’s X-Factor.
Frenzy’s costumes are often simple, and her very brief stint on the X-Men saw her in the traditional black-and-yellow training suit. Our team jumped at the chance to give this vibrant character a makeover.
See what our team came up with, and follow them on social media for more designs like this!
Joshua Bruckner
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I studied the costumes of Black female wrestlers when redesigning Frenzy. I wanted to pay homage to her past costumes by showing off her powerful arms and shoulders, but veered away from her two most common color schemes: all black, or black and silver, or the black-and-yellow training uniform. An intense orange made her stand out nicely. I also decided to give her a whole new haircut, as great as she’s always looked with braids. The buzz cut says she’s ready to mix it up and rumble!
Dia Falconer
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Frenzy isn’t a character I’m super familiar with, so I used this round to read a bit into her and look at some of her old costume designs for inspiration. This is my take on how I’d reimagine her for a modern animated show. My design pays homage to a few of her different costumes from the past, while incorporating some design elements of my own.
Haydn
I had one simple thought for this design: What if Frenzy had the powers of the Juggernaut? Incorporating various design elements from both characters, like Juggernaut’s stone red armor and Frenzy’s black-and-blue leather, this was the ultimate outcome.
Trae Middlebrooks
The fit is very WWE inspired. It’s never been fully explained, but Frenzy’s size and shape fluctuate wildly. Sometimes she’s depicted as shorter and lean, while other times she’s a 7-foot-tall glamazon. I know that’s just different artists’ interpretations of the character, but it gave me an idea to make a costume that adapts to those changes and also shifts. So the costume looks a little different depending on how muscular she is at the time. Frenzy would probably never wear baby pink, but I think it looks great on her. Finally, I chose Bantu knots because I wanted a hair style that sort of resembles an X from above.
Joe Pryde Art
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I wanted to pay homage to previous design elements from Frenzy’s past, but also tie in new elements like her hairstyle and jacket!
R.L. White
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Inspired by the Spider-Verse-like design I’ve studied on my own, my take on Frenzy feels more like a combination of her S.W.O.R.D. outfit from the Krakoan era and something that looks more like a wrestler suit with armored boots. Instead of long locs, I looked for different types of styles on Pinterest that would definitely fit her style. The hairstyle was weird, but I love it at the same time. All in all, it was extraordinarily fun. I feel like I’m making an X-Men series with this type of art style.
Paisley Zook
I don’t know much about Joanna, tragic but true. So in my research, I simply decided to combine previous looks with my own little flair. I wanted her to wear something that would be easy enough to fight in but still looked stylish. All I can hope is that I managed to provide something decent for the real Frenzy fans.
Joshua Bruckner
Joshua Bruckner is a lifelong artist, X-Men fan and scientist, in that order. He lives in Massachusetts and spends his free time reading comics, redesigning X-Men, drawing comics and arguing about X-Men. Follow him at @joshington_bear on most social media.
