You ever notice the fastest heroes in comics are mostly men, what's up with that? I guess dudes in spandex will run out of your life.

Hero number two, Gold Rush.

Before adopting the name she was formally known as Speed Demon, the hero syndicate's advisor believed being associated with such a nefarious being was bad optics for a group that was already under heavy scrutiny for working adjacent to law enforcement. The heroine initially rejected the re-naming but after receiving a new suit from Arach-Kid that resembled an iconic hero from years far gone, she felt an obligation to uphold the legacy of the golden-clad martyr.

Gold Rush is a woman who struggles to break away from the meek girl she once was. She dons such an eye-catching color so she cannot simply sink into the background of the other heroes, as she would before. Her plan is to force herself to be present and work through her social anxieties.

Her super speed excels at intercepting villainous characters who may attempt to flee, more recently she has learned hand-to-hand combat and is now learning to apply her incredible speed to dodging strikes without sliding across the room. Gold Rush is also testing the force multiplier her skill gives her, for now she strikes at regular speeds to avoiding seriously injuring combatants.

I meant to add more detail to the gold armor pieces, but golden, embroidered armor felt a bit overkill for a heroine who already demands attention with a pointy helmet and form-fitting suit. The gold and slight red accents (along with the angular helmet and armor pieces) was inspired by King Kittan from Gurren Lagann, the 'martyr' the in-universe suit is attributed to is not a direct reference to Kittan, however.

Here's the image before blurring the character and background:

I wanted to focus on giving the scene a sense of speed, so I used my limited knowledge of background creation to my advantage by keeping things simple as to not make the blurred elements in the background unrecognizable. (That's totally not an excuse I just made up I swear.) [lol yea it is]

After drawing the initial pose I decided that the story behind it was this: a fan of Gold Rush is trying to snap a picture of her as she is patrolling the city, she throws the young man a bone and poses for a quick photo. Thank goodness for high-speed cameras or else she would've been a complete blur.

Finally here's my initial draft:

I didn't stray too far from the original this time, but the armor definitely needed a rework.

More to come, thanks for peeping this!