It’s been a while since we’ve had a costume controversy poll, so let’s have one now. While Superman #1 doesn’t arrive until next week, we have seen the new costume in action in the pages of Justice League #1. Now that you have had time to see the costume in action, do you like the new look, or do you prefer Superman to wear his skivvies on the outside?
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24 Comments
I see why the Man of Steel would wear armor, more specifically lead armor, he has two weaknesses: magic and radiation poisoning, why not have something for the one he can do something about? That been said, I don’t care either way, the new costume is close enough to the old one to be recognizable anyway.
wouldnt the fact that his face is exposed negate any benefit the armor gave him from Kryptonite
And his hands.
I gave my vote to the new one because I think it updates the look without going crazytown on Supes basic look. I’m still on the fence about removing the red briefs. I think it helps break up the mass of blue, but I’m down with the basic design.
-c
I don’t mind the new costume in that it is more modern and sleek, but I really feel the color is unbalanced without the trunks. Every time I see it, I feel like the art is unfinished, the colorist made a mistake or Clark left the house in such a hurry he forgot to put something on. I also miss the ‘M’ shape at the top of the boot, evocative of the word ‘Man’ in the same way the ‘S’ on the chest evokes the ‘Super’…Maybe I’m over thinking it.
I’m with Bruce and diagnull; I like the new costume really well, but I miss Supes wearing his red underwear outside of his pants. It’s a small thing, but oddly enough without it he looks sort of naked. Too much un-broken blue.
The new costume looks good when Lee and Perez draw it, though I’m not too sure others will be able to make it look as good.
Overall I think the new costume has some good ideas, but needs to be simplified (i.e. fewer lines). And I do think the belt needs to be different (just a straight-line red belt with a yellow center of some kind.
Close, but I still went for the old design.
I voted for original, but honestly, the new costume is the original costume with a few very minor changes. There have been much greater changes throughout Super Man history. Super Man Red and Super Man Blue for example. This isn’t much greater than the Earth 1 vs Earth 2 difference in costumes.
They are similar enough to not make the diference, it’sa meh change
While the new one is not bad by any means (unbalanced coloring yeah), it doesn’t have the recognition of the classic: Underware on the outside=superhero. Thought whether that’s good or bad depends on the person.
I think the new costume is a decent update to the “classic model”
It kind of reminds me of when they relaunched the Ford Mustang in the ’90s.
It’s a cool design but not the icon of the original.
It’s weird. I never thought wearing red underpants on the outside of your costume would be missed, but for some reason, it is. So I voted I liked the new costume better.
However, I haven’t yet received my issues of the new 52 for last week in the mail yet, and my only exposure is JLA #1 . . . so maybe I’ll grow to like it seeing it used by the right artist.
But for now, its Supes’ classic duds for me.
i don’t really care as long as the story is good, but no Red and Blue Superman costume.
I think the new one is close enough to the old one that it really shouldn’t matter. I think some people like change for change’s sake, while others hate change. 10 years from now will this just be a blip on comic history as the Man of Steel is back to his traditional garb?
I have to agree that color scheme of the new costume seems at bit of balance without the red briefs. However, the new costume is way better than the jeans superman was wearing in action comics.
I like the new costume. It still has some of what made the old one classsic, but makes it modern and hip.
No silver and blue option? Or maybe the red? (Before I get flamed off here, I am being sarcastic.)
I don’t like superman so it really doesn’t make a differnce to me.
That’s really hard. I love that classic image of Superman. When I think of Superman, I still see the red and blues, the low-cut neck and the underwear on the outside. It’s so iconic. Yet, there’s something very, very cool about Jim Lee’s redesign. I really like the low cuffs and the collar. I like the red belt. I don’t feel like we’ve seen it enough, really, to be able to vote on it. Yet I voted for the new suit because I often find myself voting for change.
I prefer the classic costume. I am not against change or updates, but the removal of the briefs was a bridge too far for me. The issue is that Superman, beyond simply being popular and a progenitor, he is an archetype who defines a genre and even an entire class of characters, knock-offs, tributes, imitations, pastiches, and copies who struggle to define themselves against the original. Superman’s constancy gives those spin-offs and the genre meaning… even when you have zero idea who a character is, if he pops up in some random TV commercial in a cape and briefs you instantly know he’s a superhero; “No capes!” has no resonance without THE cape. By compromising on the briefs, Superman is reacting to himself and ceasing to be that constant, classical standard of comparison.
The costume, at a minimum, is the cape, shield, and colors… the briefs and boots acting as fields for those colors and have become timeless and classic. It’s not a question of functionality, practicality, or the whimsy of style… it’s a matter of established collective tradition… what he looks like historically and in our collective minds. What is a VW Beetle without curves? What is an Enterprise without a saucer section and two nacelles? If you give ground based on style or rationality, what’s next to go? The cape, the bright colors, the secret identity? Yes, losing the briefs isn’t the end of the world, but it hardly represents a move in the right direction. The very same criticisms levied at the briefs apply to nearly all other trappings of Superman, not to mention the superhero genre period. Yes, they served as a lightning rod for criticism, but in Superman like fashion he just took it and stood fast… now he’s on a path of bending to the whims of those who would erode what makes superheroes super at all. NBC’s Heroes was fun and all, but it’s a drab future when everyone has to wear black and earth tone street clothes just to “fit in”. The briefs could be indicted as an inability to change, but they could be praised as proof of an immutable man of character who damns conventions and fickle styles to merely be who he is.
All that said, just in practice I have three additional problems:
1. Limiting Art Styles – The classic design can be drawn by anyone with as much or as little detail as one desires. From incredibly textured- like Superman Returns, Bermejo, or Guedes might draw- to incredible minimalism like Sale or Samnee might. The current design favors, heavily, more detailed drawing while putting more cartoony or minimalist artists at a disadvantage compared to draftsmen or those who enjoy busy lines. In fact, the briefless look is so troublesome the movie version has had to resort to all sorts of additional piping just to balance out the costume aesthetically.
2. Temporary – With nearly century long history, whatever changes you might say Superman’s costume has gone through, it has remained more constant than changed. Every “evolution of Superman’s Costume” timeline still features the cape, shield, colors, and briefs- barring a few temporary event blips- and thus the problem with this current costume, lacking the briefs, is that it makes it feel as temporary as those blips (be it Regeneration Suit or Red and Blue). Throughout seven decades of history there have been slow, organic, styling changes but no dramatic costume shifts to the primary “permanent” costume. The briefless “robot armor” does not follow that pattern making it seem all the more illegitimate and temporary. Against the weight of 70+ years of public consciousness, one can’t help but feel that this is a New Coke stunt, akin to movie Bat Nipples, providing us a Superman detour until Superman Classic can come back….
2. Unnecessary – What really bugs me is that if they were going with the brightly colored armor look with tons of extra lines, detail, and angles, why NOT briefs? Iron Man 1 and 2- and the massive franchise that is Halo- has proven that audiences don’t care if armor has colored codpieces. No one calls out Tony for yellow leggings and Ferrari Red briefs / unitard look because armor mitigates the effect almost entirely. You absolutely could have kept the color, continuity, and nod to the briefs while disguising its effect through the armor once you had decided to go in that design direction. It just seemed like caving into pressure without a plan, rather than trying to design the best possible look for Superman.
Maybe it’s a little weird, but the classic costume reads “old” to me after seeing the shiny new one. Maybe everybody ought to get a no-briefs costume update.
I love the old costume, so that’s my vote, but I still like the new look and hope it sticks, as long as they tone down the collar some. I just wonder how long it’ll before some artist gets tired of drawing all those extra lines and simplifies things.
The classic look is just that…classic. The iconic simplicity of Superman’s costume was a plus to his persona. I miss the unique open neck costume with the cape tucked in. I remember noticing, and disliking, that the Superman Returns costume also omitted this unique design. Now he has the generic high collar like almost everyone else who considers him/herself a badass. And as for the Kryptonian armor? Way too busy for someone like Superman. And, why wear armor? Every wonder why beat cops don’t walk around in SWAT armor or army gear instead of slacks, dress shirts and black shoes? So that the public don’t equate a police officer as some unapproachable armored goon. For public trust…like Superman. The armored suit alienates (no pun intended) Superman from the people he protects. Red trunks? That’s Superman, like the lighter blue suit and the “S” emblem. Why the darker colors anyway? We already have a Batman. Batman needs armor, not Superman. And does Superman look too lean and young?
I’m probably the only guy out there who liked the jeans/t-shirt outfit. A little too Super-Boy? Perhaps. But were I an invincible superhero, it’s what I would wear.