This is something I have been thinking a bit about regarding MUGEN. I know it would be a time-consuming task, and not many people have such time, but it's fun to think about: wouldn't it be interesting to see each character look as they were originally portrayed?
Granted, as I am a superhero fan, I'm aiming square at that type of character, and meaning the character as portrayed by the first artist to draw them (well, the first for public consumption). It's theoretically possible, by tracing the pictures and extrapolating from there, but, again, would take a bit of time (not only doing the tracing/extrapolating, but then turning those into sprites).
It's just that I've been thinking how cool it would be to see a Joe Shuster Superman, Bob Kane Batman, Steve Ditko Spider-Man, Herb Trimpe Wolverine, etc. fighting each other. Sure, the characters might not therefore look uniform, but I would be fine with that. After all, it's been done elsewhere, with the (horribly delayed) Image United, but also with the kids' show The Amazing World of Gumball--both of which don't let the characters being from different sources get in the way of the reader believing the world can actually work with all them in it.
I realize some superhero characters in MUGEN are already like this, to a degree. Bartman, Underdog, Captain Caveman, Son Goku, the Powerpuff Girls, and the like are all in their creators' styles, the first three of which I would assume were sprited from scratch.
Anyways, bringing this ramble to a close, what do you guys think? It would be nice to hear a discussion on the idea, even if it's highly likely it'll never happen due to nobody having free time.
Cinco de Mayo