Defined Green Lantern Comic Rings

[Gregatron]

Finished THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR. On to SECRET ORIGIN and the various GLC issues from that period.

Yeah, Ivan Reis definitely drew the rings as simple signet rings, with no disc. I'm tempted to model them, but his version of the symbol doesn't seem to have an official/trademarked design. He just riffed on the existing REBIRTH symbol, with his versions of the rings featuring a more dimensional take on his symbol design.

My going with the Van Sciver design for this era seems to be the most logical route, especially since A) DC based their collectible ring replicas on it; B) I find it more aesthetically-pleasing that the simpler Reis version.

 

[Gregatron]

Playing around with the V2. Made the symbol-piece exactly 1” (25.4mm) long, and slightly adjusted the width of the band.

 

[Gregatron]

…and, since I reworked the V2, I decided to go back to the V3. Having now had more modeling experience, and since Shapr3D has added some new tools, I’ve now worked out how to subtly adjust the proportions of the model without putting in tons of work.

Here we have the new V2 (left), and two variants of the V3. The size of the symbols and gems on both the V2 and V3s are identical. The height of the faces of both V3s (from finger-hole to symbol/face) is 4mm. The left V3 has a thinner band, akin to some of the Mike Grell art. The right V3 is obviously thicker—probably too thick to be comfortable. It’s a tricky balance in terms of the height of the face and the thickness of the band. Tweaks to either result in either a squat or a tall and skinny appearance. The comic art reference can go either way. As noted in the past, the 2011 movie ring has a VERY tall face, which I’m not so fond of. I’m trying to find that sweet spot—not too thin, not too thick.

 

[Gregatron]

Ortho views of the slimmer model.

 

[JPH]

Nice!

So, this is a ring I had made by Geek dot Jewelry.

Yeah, I am sorta showing off, but this ring is my fave style Green Lantern ring. And it is silver, if you drop it, it might break your toe.

 

[Gregatron]

Gorgeous!

 

[Gregatron]

After the latest round of tinkering with the V2 and V3, I’ve finally gotten around to playing with Shapr3D’s “Visualize” tool, which simulates different materials and finishes. I think this will help with getting the overall look right.

Here are Anodized Metal in glossy (top) and matte (bottom). The gems are Translucent Glass (thick).

 

[Gregatron]

Tweaking the outer ring/flange surrounding the symbol on the REBIRTH design. The official version of that symbol has a very thin outer ring/circle, which would be far too thin to translate into a real ring, so I’d previously thickened it up a bit. That version (top) still seemed a little thin, so I decided that the magic formula would be 2/3 the thickness of the inner ring of the GL symbol itself that is sandwiched between the sidebars. The result (bottom) looks pretty close to the BLACKEST NIGHT promo rings.


I kinda like the thinner ring, but the thicker version looks good, too. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Gregatron]

Tweaking the straight-band V1. Playing with proportions. This version has a 23mm disc that’s 4mm thick. The model on the left has a d-profile/curved band, while the model on the right has a flat-sided band.

 

[Gregatron]

Working on the V1 band. Tweaked the doming of the round-sided variant. I’ve also been doing more research on real ring bands, and made variants (from left to right) in light (1.3mm thick), medium (1.7) and heavy (2.1), which are standard ring thicknesses.

I’m just wondering now about the degree of filleting for the edges, and whether to have a flat edge with a fillet on either side, or go full-round and organic.

 

[Gregatron]

Using the above-mentioned basic bands’ philosophy as a template, I’ve been reworking the V2, V3, and REBIRTH to reflect it, with a consistent 0.50mm filleting on all the edges, and various band weights corresponding to the 1.3/1.7/2.1 model. Easing back on the filleting from 0.75 to 0.50 also gives a crisper look (without creating edges that are too sharp, hopefully).

I actually ended up rebuilding the V3 almost from scratch, and gave the ribs (formed by the sidebars of the symbol wrapping around the bottom of the band) a little more thickness and definition, as well as raising the face of the ring by 1mm to give it a bit more height.

Still going back and forth on whether to even bother filleting the edges on the REBIRTH ring’s symbol, since I presume polishing would knock them back sufficiently. The tweaking has also made it look even closer in overall shape and proportions to the BLACKEST NIGHT promo rings, which measure out at right around 2.1mm thick at the base of the shank. While I’m not trying to duplicate the promo rings exactly, they do serve as a good ballpark guide for that design.


I think these tweaks will provide a more unified look for the different designs.

 

[Gregatron]

Put together some group shots just to get a feel for how they mesh together. Looking a lot more unified, now. All fillets are 0.50mm. The bases of all ring shanks are 7.5mm wide. All signet-type rings have a disc that’s 3mm thick/tall. The symbols/faces/gems on the V2 and V3 are exactly the same size, with the band styling (symbol atop tapered band on the V2 versus the Grell-style, integrated tri-band on the V3) being the only difference between the designs.

It’s a small thing, but this uniformity of detailing gives a sense that these rings all came from the same source, and all employ the same Oan technology. Well, except for that Sinestro Corps knockoff, of course…


Anyway, I’m getting close to the next round of test prints. Just need to give the EMERALD DAWN and the signet ring version of the V1 a fresh look. I also find myself wondering if this new version of the V3 might not be too chunky, and if it should be smaller. We’ll see. Also, as I’ve noted in the past, there are hints in the Broome/Kane comics run that the V1 should have the lime-green crystal negative-space surrounding the symbol, rather than being monotone green metal. Of course, the comics were rarely colored so as to depict a two-tone ring, and then really only after Kane had started drawing the curved-band V1. Whereas the version in the images below specifically represents the early look of the ring from the first few years of the series—a disc stuck on top of a simple band.

I’m also still not entirely sold on the thickness of the signet discs or the height of the V3. Somewhere between 3-4mm seems to be the sweet spot, but certain heights can look off when compared to other details on a particular design. It’s a matter of getting the proportions and overall look right.

 

[nick daring]

Still loving your thought process on all these. Super fun.

 

[Gregatron]

Still loving your thought process on all these. Super fun.

Thanks!

With all due respect to The Ring Foundry and other vendors, I have yet to see properly comic-accurate rings which actually look like the comic art AND also look realistic. Fan-made designs usually skew either too realistic (with lots of artistic license and extraneous detail) or too clunky/cartoony.

As has been chronicled in this very thread, I've really tried to suss out the intent of the various creative teams, then blend that with both the (often contradictory) two-dimensional artwork/in-universe data AND a realistic depiction of these designs to fit them into our real, three-dimensional world.

For example--the 2011 movie rings are chipped and weathered, which makes sense, given that they're passed down again and again to new bearers, but the comic art almost always depicts them as clean and shiny. The latter indicates that, in-universe, they're durable, high-tech, and elegant, rather than weathered and used.

 

[Gregatron]

Skimming through my references again, I found myself thinking about the height of the V2’s symbol piece. Sometimes, it looks almost wafer-thin, and others, it’s big and chunky. Dave Gibbons went with thick, whereas Joe Staton’s take on its thickness varied.

Same with Mike Grell and the V3. Sometimes, the face stood quite tall, and other times, the ring was pretty thin and dainty.

So, I’ve tweaked the models to reflect both 4mm (top) and 3mm (bottom) heights for the symbols and signet discs. The previous images posted upthread were a mix (3mm for the signet rings, 4mm for the V2/V3). It’s a subtle thing, but kind of important to the overall look and proportions. As I’ve noted in the past, the super-high-profile looks of the BLACKEST NIGHT promo rings and the 2011 movie rings is not what I’m aiming for.

I’m open to a mix of heights between the designs, but I’d kinda like to aim for consistency.

 

[Gregatron]

Also decided to split the difference by doing 3.5mm variants (middle).

 

[Gregatron]

Back to fighting with the EMERALD DAWN design. The variances in the art are such that it could go a few different ways. Here’s the current iteration.

 

[Gregatron]

…and here’s a version with a curvier band and a bigger disc.

 

[nick daring]

You are totally right about how all the commercially available ( and most fan made rings) don't nail the correct design vibe found in the comics themselves.

Here was my quirky version of the ring. I kinda went with a chunky man's ring with an a slightly more abstracted symbol in the center.

 

[Gregatron]

You are totally right about how all the commercially available ( and most fan made rings) don't nail the correct design vibe found in the comics themselves.

Here was my quirky version of the ring. I kinda went with a chunky man's ring with an a slightly more abstracted symbol in the center.

View attachment 1612626

That’s some lovely art. And there have certainly been comics depicting the ring in a similar fashion. Reminds me of Cully Hamner’s GREEN LANTERN: MOSAIC version of Jordan’s ring, at first glance.

On a tangentially-related note, I’m digging that huge symbol on Batman’s chest, which reminds me of Joe Staton’s work with the Earth-2/JSA version of the character.