Casual Rogue illustration (Mike Maihack)

Mike Maihack has done some fashionable takes on superheroes (mainly Batgirl and Supergirl, of course) wearing ordinary clothes that capture the look/spirit of the character. And last year, he also showed off a series of 80s era fashion X-Men commissions on Patreon, which helped cement the idea that I want more pieces of art like that from him.

When he opened up watercolor commissions to his Patreon subscribers last year, I requested Rogue with whatever fashion look he felt inspired by (80s, casual, high-end, etc), and I love how it turned out. The outfit looks like a cute yet realistic outfit a woman might wear, and Mike put in all these little touches that are nods to her usual 90s superhero outfit- the denim jacket with X-patches, the green and yellow in her gloves and purse. The playing cards are just the icing on the cake, as a little Gambit easter egg. This is a bit sexier than Mike tends to go with his pinups, and I dig it. I have no idea how far I'll go with this theme, but I can see a series of commission requests that build upon this idea (Gambit seems like the obvious next choice, to complete the pair).

Thanks, Mike!