How to make a character look unique?

When someone reads your comic, the one thing they're most likely to notice first (aside from hopefully stunning artwork and design) are the characters. The characters are one place where you need to hook your audience in right away, and if your superheros and villains are merely stale regurgitations of previous famous comic book characters, you might as well kiss your readers goodbye.

So how does one make a truly unique character?  Well, part of the answer lies in their personality (how they act, why they act, what decisions they make, etc.), but another piece comes from how they look on the page.  Both are important, but for now I'd like to take a look at how to come up with a truly unique look for a character:

Have strong one word descriptions

Every character should be easily summed up with a few words. These few words create a juxtaposition within the character that lead to an original, complex character. They suggest your character's ambitions and challenges, and hint at a inner conflicts that s/he needs to resolve, thereby making him/her instantly interesting, identifiable, and accessible to us.

In my creation process I usually create two main conflicting descriptions (e.g. bestial and intellectual) and two secondary conflicting descriptions (e.g. lonely and witty).

The Beast (X-men) as example:

The Beast could be summed up in two words that illustrate the paradox in his character: Bestial and Intellectual. In his many iterations, this has been perfectly achieved by making him look furry and having him wear glasses (I know this has changed over time, but I am using this version of the Beast for our example):

His secondary attributes are lonely and witty. The Beast is a human, but his fur sets him apart from humanity. He is an intellectual, this sets him apart from most of his teammates, often putting him in conflict with them. On top of this, his bestial looks complicate his abilities to succeed with the opposite sex, further setting him apart and adding to his loneliness. All this is further accentuated by his blue color, which sets him apart even from beasts.

His amused expression further deepens the character, by defining him not as a dry intellectual, but a witty observer.

Make it unique to the character

If your story contains a team of characters, it's vital to make sure each character has their own unique descriptions (i.e. that they don't share any main and secondary (1-word) descriptions). For example, if your book features heroes and villains, those defining words cannot be "heroic" or "bad to the bone." It is not a unique feature for this specific character.

In those instances where character roles overlap (e.g. Cyclops and Professor Xavier were both leadership figures in the X-men title), you'll need to find an interesting qualifier to add that describes each character's unique take on leadership.

As characters grow, their appearance can change to reflect their new attributes. The Beast in our example has gone through many iterations as his character adapted to the changing times.

But these are stories for another day.