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Favorite Redesigns of the New DC?
EarthGBilly
Posts: 362
(I decided to create this as a new thread instead of hijacking another.)
In another thread, discussing the redesign of the Blue Devil in the New DCU, there was discussion about the general like/dislike of the new designs that have popped up since the reboot/relaunch/whatever.
I starting thinking about the designs as a whole, and I'm hard pressed to find any that I look at and immediately think, "wow, that is awesome." I'm sure if I thought long and hard, I might come up with one, but I'm lazy, and I don't want to think long and hard.
Instead, I'm going to ask you, fellow forumites, what you like, and maybe your reasoning can help me to see it your way.
I'm not saying it has to be better than the original look (but if you want to say that and explain why you think so, have at it), but I'd like to know which designs you've seen and really liked, and why. Maybe it is just a small change that you really like (maybe you like the Flash's chin guard and think that makes the costume), or a massive overhaul. Either way, I'd just like to see what people think, and why they feel the way they do.
Commence to gushing over your favorites.
(Oh, and images are always good in these types of threads. Just so we know what the designs are!)
In another thread, discussing the redesign of the Blue Devil in the New DCU, there was discussion about the general like/dislike of the new designs that have popped up since the reboot/relaunch/whatever.
I starting thinking about the designs as a whole, and I'm hard pressed to find any that I look at and immediately think, "wow, that is awesome." I'm sure if I thought long and hard, I might come up with one, but I'm lazy, and I don't want to think long and hard.
Instead, I'm going to ask you, fellow forumites, what you like, and maybe your reasoning can help me to see it your way.
I'm not saying it has to be better than the original look (but if you want to say that and explain why you think so, have at it), but I'd like to know which designs you've seen and really liked, and why. Maybe it is just a small change that you really like (maybe you like the Flash's chin guard and think that makes the costume), or a massive overhaul. Either way, I'd just like to see what people think, and why they feel the way they do.
Commence to gushing over your favorites.
(Oh, and images are always good in these types of threads. Just so we know what the designs are!)
Comments
I liken your question to being asked "What was your favorite time being raped in the locker room?"
:-<
Supergirl - Not only do I like what they're doing with her in the book, I like the outfit. Like Gates and Igle, I was a bit put off with her re-boot from last time where she pretty much existed for fanservice and upskirts...she's a girl, for pete's sake. I like that her uniform looks more "alien" than previous ones, because that's kind of what they're playing up in this book.
Speaking of aliens and fanservice, I love Starfire's new threads. Stripperware, improper for impressionable minds, nothing like the cartoon...whatever. Every single last one of you who were hand-wringing and pulling a Maude Flanders about her portrayal in the first Red Hood and the Outlaws book and didn't bother to give her time to develop are cordially invited to blow me. Or get raped in the locker room if that's Tonebone's thing. :)
Red Robin. Now this one's kind of funny because I *didn't* think I'd like it based on the very first cover images they'd shown. Over time, and in the hands of the right artists, though, it's really cool...feathered cape and all. Kid Flash's new duds are growing on me. Wonder Girl's are petty nice though...
And then let's jump into the book you're all sick of hearing me talk about - Demon Knights. Exoristos - the proto-Wonder Woman. Madame "Legs and knows how to use them" Xanadu. Al Jabr - the techno-wizard I'd love to see someone cosplay as. Vandal Savage as (according to Word of God) portrayed by my main man Brian Blessed! Seriously, this book is GORGEOUS, well-written, and arguably one of the best books being printed by ANYONE right now.
There is SO much to enjoy about the New 52 right now, it's said that we're spending so much time worrying about what's wrong with it...
That said, I kinda like the Wonder Woman duds. Especially in her own series.
After that, they're all terrible. Flash's outfit has lost that wonderful sleekness it used to have with the inclusion of the lightning streak along the costume's seams; it doesn't look cool, it looks ugly and unnecessarily busy. Superman's costume is one of the most befuddling: why is he wearing armor? He's Superman! I don't care what the suit's origin or purpose is, it's contrary to the nature of the wearer: he's invulnerable and doesn't need armor; if he does, then he really isn't a Superman. And I also don't care what others might think, the costume just ain't right without the red trunks. Some things you just don't change.
I miss Animal Man's orange outfit. I'm hit and miss on the new JSA thus far, in that I'm okay with Atom and Green Lantern, but that stupid crash helmet on Flash really has to go. Kid Flash's outfit is one of the most eye-hurtingest costumes I'd ever seen -- until the recent revelation of the new Blue Devil.
Really, the biggest offense in most of these outfits has been that they're noodled to death with all kinds of visual spinach, ranging from unusual texturing to ornamental doodads to neon fiberglass effects along the seams (as noted in Barry Allen's Flash costume). While some costumes might need some specific additions in terms of armor or whatever, the majority of these really didn't anything beyond the traditional shirt, pants, gloves and boots that superheroes generally wear. The mistake here is in changing all of the costumes when what they really needed, at most, at best, was some minor modifications.
I have to agree with folks that have mentioned Wonder Woman. It may very well be the one costume I can firmly say improves upon the original. My favorite aspect of her updated look is the loss of most of the gold elements from her costume. I don't know exactly why, but I've never been a fan of mixing silver tones with gold tones. Sticking with the silver has "cooled" the tone of the costume, along with the darker red and blue. At first I wasn't too sure about the blue boots, but I've come to find that keeping the darker tones from the waste down helps to strengthen the base of the costume, make it feel more "grounded." Wonder Woman is also one of the only designs that is improved by the extra "lines" in the costume. I pretty much find the extra lines in Superman and Green Lantern's costumes unnecessary, but with Wonder Woman, they are... what? Fashionable? They break up the field of red, in an appealing way, so that it doesn't come off as flat or "lines for lines' sake."
Admittedly, though, the costume looks best when drawn by the hand of Cliff Chiang. Other artists fall into the habit of "cheesecaking-up" (look, ma, made up a word!) the look overall, which kinda weakens it.
I'll give this to the Supergirl costume - at least there is no skirt. Skirts on underage flying superheroines? Dumb. Plus, the costume looks more in line with something you'd see from The Legion of Superheroes, which is fitting.
Can't get behind Starfire, though. Her original costume was kinda ridiculous. The new one? Moreso.
With Red Robin, I just wish they would clean up the costume a bit. I'm not a fan of the feathered cape, but I can deal with that. What I really hate is all the straps. It really pushes the design back into the 90's. They bother me.
I'm also digging the new duds Hawkgirl has in Earth 2.
Im ok with Aquaman, Green Arrow and Green Lantern I guess, and Starfire (this is the first Ive seen the new her). Everything else, well if you cant say anything nice....
My problem with the Nightwing design is the same I had for the previous version - It just isn't that distinctive of a costume in my eyes. And, I find it kinda boring.
By not distinctive, I mean that it kinda looks like something generic soldiers/henchmen/ninjas/fighting forces could put on.
And by boring... well, solid black with a "V"/bird shape on the chest lacks interest to me.
I'm not suggesting that he should go back to the old "Disco Collar" costume he started with. I mean, that thing was pretty awful. As awful as it was, though, it was distinctive.
Post-"Disco Collar," though, there was a costume that wasn't too bad. It wasn't perfect, but it had potential.
That costume didn't last long.
In animated form, I found that I didn't like this costume at all:
It came off very Native American to me... and didn't make sense, given that Dick Grayson, to my knowledge, was not Native American.
I do kinda like the Young Justice version, though.
I'm not sure why. It is still almost entirely black, but maybe the spots of gray and the actual, distinctive emblem push it higher in my mind.
Let's face it, though... Nightwing has generally gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to costumes. When I find myself saying "best" costume for him, it is completely relative, because none of them would rank more than a C or C+ in my book.
I like all of the teen titans outfits as long as they're getting the Tron over. Except for bunker his powers/costume lend themselves to getting a little Tron-ness.
I'm new when it comes to most of DC but I'm also enjoying the Earth 2 costumes. But I didn't have much if any investment in the old versions.
Oh well. Another day of Internet comics fandom. You can always depend on the negative to be halfway around the world before the positivity has got its boots on.
To answer the question being asked-- I also like Wonder Woman's new look, as it is much more warrior and less campy, as well as Red Robin. And I think Power Girl benefits from losing the boob window.
I miss the boob window.
However, this would be a great Fan Art Challenge, "You Design the New 52".
I just find it a boring costume, whether it is blue or red.
I don't even mind Superman wearing armor. I look at it as not to protect himself, but to protect his outfit. I'd imagine normal clothes would tear apart at the speeds he flies. I know there have been explanations before about energy fields surrounding Superman and the like, but I don't have a problem with the armor. As mentioned, it's only the lines I have a problem with.
Agreed. It was the most offensive redesign for men everywhere that read comics. Superman without the red tights & collar still don't like it. As for what I do like in the 52 redesigns, Catwoman not that you changed much but it was very pleasing to my eyes.
Matthew
For the record, I do not feel the big two are raping its readership. Each person decides whether or not to reward them by buying their products. I buy almost nothing current from Marvel and nothing from DC. I do buy trades and reprints of their older material, and support their publishing material I enjoy and my kids can read.
That does not disqualify me from taking an active role in the discussion of what they publish. I want comics to be as good as I know they can be, and choose not to support what I consider to be crap. It's not a stretch to assume that if you settle for this, and continue to support it, they will continue to go in that direction.
But, so it goes. I'm not saying your post raped my day. It merely reinforced my expectations- that general negativity will show up immediately, including in threads looking for the positive, or to discuss something specific.
As for the costumes....
Supergirl: Like her costume a lot, its more dynamic. But for those of you praising it for the lack of a skirt like @EarthGBilly uh.... WHAT. So its ok for her to wear skintight clothing that basically looks like a bathing suit... but a skirt is out of line? Really?
I also like Wonder Woman's for a lot of the other reasons mentioned... it resembles the traditional look while still looking more functional, and I like the darker coloring with the silver instead of the gold accents.
Gotta admit, Power Girl's costume has really grown on me. The initial look we saw looked too much like Supreme, but the tweaks they made prior to publication work, I think. And I actually think the haircut is really cute. It all looks more "grown up Supergirl" than Power Girl, admittedly, but I kinda like that.
Kinda dig the subtle update for Aquaman, too, even if it is just the collar. The collar actually works here. It's like when they added collars to the Starfleet uniforms in TNG... before everyone looked like they were wearing pajamas, but the collars made them look like actual uniforms. Same thing with Aquaman, I think.
"Hmm. Let's see. One of my major powers is to fly over people. Should I give 'em a show or not?" :)
/And I read manga, so believe me when I say a normally have no problem with fanservice. It just seems an impractical choice for a heroine when figuring out her costume. It's even a trope: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MiniDressOfPower
And look, with the way the costume is now, if an artist wants to he or she can it even more revealing by just trimming away even more of the costume ever so slightly.