Superhero toons, how important are costumes?
- Thread starter Vinaika S
- Start date
Depends on the character and the costume.
In nearly every TV appearance of Wolverine, he's wearing the yellow-and-blue costume with the mask, as that's the look most frequently associated with Wolvie. Though I personally prefer the black costume with no mask.
Similarly, I prefer the all-black movie costume on Batman to the black-on-gray suit he typically wears in his animated appearances.
I always seem to prefer Superman's alternate costumes (his Justice Lords suit from "A Better World", his dictator suit from "Brave New Metropolis", his future suit from "The Call", his clone Superman X's costume from Legion of Superheroes season 2) to his original costume. Guess I'm just not a fan of manties (man-panties).
Regarding Teen Titans, I preferred Starfire's comic book look, but they'd have never gotten that look past the PTA.
I was a fan of Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, but I wasn't too thrilled with the mostly-white-with-blue-trim costumes with the '4' logo in an orange circle. They made the team look like walking Rocket Pops. And don't get me started on Thing's sweatpants with a white triangle on the crotch that makes him look like he's wearing low riders and a '4' spray-painted on his bare chest. If Reed Richards can design a costume for himself that can stretch and contort to every shape he can mold himself into, a suit for Susie that can turn invisible along with her and a suit for Johnny that doesn't burn up when he flames on, you'd think crafting a shirt and shoes for Ben wouldn't be that big a chore for the smartest man on Earth. I would've gone for the dark blue costumes from the recent Fantastic Four live-action movies, but that's just me.
In nearly every TV appearance of Wolverine, he's wearing the yellow-and-blue costume with the mask, as that's the look most frequently associated with Wolvie. Though I personally prefer the black costume with no mask.
Similarly, I prefer the all-black movie costume on Batman to the black-on-gray suit he typically wears in his animated appearances.
I always seem to prefer Superman's alternate costumes (his Justice Lords suit from "A Better World", his dictator suit from "Brave New Metropolis", his future suit from "The Call", his clone Superman X's costume from Legion of Superheroes season 2) to his original costume. Guess I'm just not a fan of manties (man-panties).
Regarding Teen Titans, I preferred Starfire's comic book look, but they'd have never gotten that look past the PTA.
I was a fan of Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, but I wasn't too thrilled with the mostly-white-with-blue-trim costumes with the '4' logo in an orange circle. They made the team look like walking Rocket Pops. And don't get me started on Thing's sweatpants with a white triangle on the crotch that makes him look like he's wearing low riders and a '4' spray-painted on his bare chest. If Reed Richards can design a costume for himself that can stretch and contort to every shape he can mold himself into, a suit for Susie that can turn invisible along with her and a suit for Johnny that doesn't burn up when he flames on, you'd think crafting a shirt and shoes for Ben wouldn't be that big a chore for the smartest man on Earth. I would've gone for the dark blue costumes from the recent Fantastic Four live-action movies, but that's just me.
Priscilla Z
New member
he wore the orange and red in evolution
and if vixen could get away with a sexy outfit so could star
and if vixen could get away with a sexy outfit so could star
Teen Titans was originally made with KidsWB standards in mind IIRC, even if it did more or less end up on CN after the first season. Plus I'm sure Vixen being an adult and Starfire a kid makes a difference.
To me, it depends. Emma Frost, for example, despite her costume having no battle practicality and is just for fanservice, at least looks presentable. Someone like Electro, however, who wears bright neon green/yellow with a starfish mask should definately be altered if given the chance. Just because it was like that in the comics doesn't mean shows should stick to it.. especially if the source material is over half a century old. If you can improve on the original comic, then go right ahead. I may dislike Teen Titans, but I applaud them from changing Beast Boy's ugly red and white costume.
To me, it depends. Emma Frost, for example, despite her costume having no battle practicality and is just for fanservice, at least looks presentable. Someone like Electro, however, who wears bright neon green/yellow with a starfish mask should definately be altered if given the chance. Just because it was like that in the comics doesn't mean shows should stick to it.. especially if the source material is over half a century old. If you can improve on the original comic, then go right ahead. I may dislike Teen Titans, but I applaud them from changing Beast Boy's ugly red and white costume.
Tracey Rocks!
New member
I prefer the costumes either be the most famous one (from the golden years of whichever series it's based on) or a modification of it.
For the record though, I really hate the designs of Cyclops in all the X-Men shows aside from the 90s version. He looks odd with no hair showing.
For the record though, I really hate the designs of Cyclops in all the X-Men shows aside from the 90s version. He looks odd with no hair showing.
imcrazy189
New member
Accuracy is essential. Saban screwed up royally with Avengers 10 years ago by deciding to create Beetleborg style headgear for Ant-Man & Wasp. Automatic jump the shark qualifier right there.
The first rule of superhero costumes is: look cool. Everything else is secondary. Sadly, some superhero costumes will never hit that mark (yeah, I'm lookin' at YOU, Hawk and Dove). But if you can have a costume that adds functionality to badassery, it's icing on the cake. John Byrne had a stroke of genius (one of his very few) when he changed Wolverine's costume from yellow and blue to brown and tan. Less flashy, yes, but much more appropriate for a feral, animalistic hero who counts scary stealth among his skill set. And even though fans criticized it, I always thought Marvel's Wonder Man had one of the awesomest costumes ever, and yes, I'm talking about the safari jacket. Imagine, the first post Silver-Age superhero who actually had POCKETS in his costume!
Some costumes (Superman, Batman, Captain America) have iconic costumes that shouldn't be messed with too much. In most other cases, we've seen a lot of animated superheroes whose comic book counterparts have undergone one, or sometimes numerous, costume changes (remember the days of The Avengers when the Wasp had a different costume in EVERY ISSUE? I recall the Beast asking her at point, "Don't you ever run out of closet space?"), so costume changes for animation don't really bother me all that much. Unless they go really wrong, which I admit, hasn't happened often enough for me to make a case against it.
Of course, let's not forget the practical reason behind it all: sometimes superheroes in cartoon have costume that are specifically designed to be easy to animate.
Some costumes (Superman, Batman, Captain America) have iconic costumes that shouldn't be messed with too much. In most other cases, we've seen a lot of animated superheroes whose comic book counterparts have undergone one, or sometimes numerous, costume changes (remember the days of The Avengers when the Wasp had a different costume in EVERY ISSUE? I recall the Beast asking her at point, "Don't you ever run out of closet space?"), so costume changes for animation don't really bother me all that much. Unless they go really wrong, which I admit, hasn't happened often enough for me to make a case against it.
Of course, let's not forget the practical reason behind it all: sometimes superheroes in cartoon have costume that are specifically designed to be easy to animate.
On the subject of bad superhero costumes, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Martian Manhunter's. Don't get me wrong, J'onn is one of my favorite superheroes, but his costume is embarrassing. I wish that the Justice League animators had given J'onn the blue outfit from the comics instead of the red suspenders and the blue Underoos. J'onn looks like a green Chippendale's dancer.
Due 4/20/2010 with # 3
New member
For the first two seasons. Season 3 forward he started going with the black jacket/civilain style look.
Eh, to me, it depends.
Icons like Superman and Spider-Man shouldn't be messed with too much, unless you have a REALLY practical and sustainable reason for doing so. For example, I didn't mind Spidey's Unlimited nano-suit too much because of the fact that he had been tossed into an alternate dystopic universe, and yet the character still has recognizable aspects, to varying degrees, of Spidey's classic appearance; but by contrast, I really did not dig Old Superman's Beyond getup - it was too far removed from the classic suit (although I suppose you could argue that being controlled by an alien starfish might figure into it :rolleyes2: ).
Cap and Thor haven't have much alteration to their suits in the comics until very recently (except for "The Captain" and Thor's masked helmet in the 1980s), and their animated appearances thus far haven't really deviated from this standard. Likewise for Hulk, who almost never has anything left on his body but the purple pants, except for the rare occasions where he's wearing his blues and a tattered shirt. The cartoons thus far have MOSTLY stuck to classic looks, so this really isn't an area where I can judge how effective I think their outfits are.
The X-Men are a little different case because their outfits change in the comics alone at least once every decade. Iron Man has a new suit practically every five years. Batman's outfit has hardly changed in 70 years, but the artistic interpretation of him has varied tremendously. So there's already SOME room for creative license built into those particular characters, depending on what's being specifically referenced and what the intent of the series is.
Now, painting a 4 on Ben's chest is just plain dumb, any way you look at it.
Icons like Superman and Spider-Man shouldn't be messed with too much, unless you have a REALLY practical and sustainable reason for doing so. For example, I didn't mind Spidey's Unlimited nano-suit too much because of the fact that he had been tossed into an alternate dystopic universe, and yet the character still has recognizable aspects, to varying degrees, of Spidey's classic appearance; but by contrast, I really did not dig Old Superman's Beyond getup - it was too far removed from the classic suit (although I suppose you could argue that being controlled by an alien starfish might figure into it :rolleyes2: ).
Cap and Thor haven't have much alteration to their suits in the comics until very recently (except for "The Captain" and Thor's masked helmet in the 1980s), and their animated appearances thus far haven't really deviated from this standard. Likewise for Hulk, who almost never has anything left on his body but the purple pants, except for the rare occasions where he's wearing his blues and a tattered shirt. The cartoons thus far have MOSTLY stuck to classic looks, so this really isn't an area where I can judge how effective I think their outfits are.
The X-Men are a little different case because their outfits change in the comics alone at least once every decade. Iron Man has a new suit practically every five years. Batman's outfit has hardly changed in 70 years, but the artistic interpretation of him has varied tremendously. So there's already SOME room for creative license built into those particular characters, depending on what's being specifically referenced and what the intent of the series is.
Now, painting a 4 on Ben's chest is just plain dumb, any way you look at it.
Absolute Savage
New member
I disagree a little bit on your comments here. While Superman's classic red and blue shouldn't change, I always thought they should have kept Spidey in the black (the cloth version, not the symbiote). They should have just killed off Venom and keep Carnage instead as the main alien threat. The black works better since it would be similar to Batman's in terms of inducing fear into the criminal element, add the fact many people are afraid of spiders (and bats, as well). Also, no spider species are actually colored red and blue (the one that's seen biting Peter in the first SM movie was CGI).
As for the X-Men, I liked the costumes from the Evolution series best mainly because they were more of a uniform style. The dominant color was the dark blue for all of them with each having a slight trim of another color (Kitty-powder blue, Kurt-red, Jean & Rogue-different shades of green, Scott, Spyke, and others-yellow). And Wolverine's outfit from the last 2 seasons was a huge improvement. The costumes from the movies closely resembled the ones from that series. The ones in Wolverine and the X-Men look rather cheesy as here, they're splitting between the blue and the yellow for most of the group. Cyclops in this series is very overdressed as he has the full mask as well as a trenchcoat. And forget about the ones from the X-Men: TAS. In real life, nobody would take those outfits seriously.
As for the X-Men, I liked the costumes from the Evolution series best mainly because they were more of a uniform style. The dominant color was the dark blue for all of them with each having a slight trim of another color (Kitty-powder blue, Kurt-red, Jean & Rogue-different shades of green, Scott, Spyke, and others-yellow). And Wolverine's outfit from the last 2 seasons was a huge improvement. The costumes from the movies closely resembled the ones from that series. The ones in Wolverine and the X-Men look rather cheesy as here, they're splitting between the blue and the yellow for most of the group. Cyclops in this series is very overdressed as he has the full mask as well as a trenchcoat. And forget about the ones from the X-Men: TAS. In real life, nobody would take those outfits seriously.
Thing is that Spidey is a much more lighthearted and upbeat hero then the grim and brooding Bats. Dark and shadowy works for Bruce but bright red and blue is more in keeping with Pete's lively, wise-cracking demeanour.
The black suit works better on Venom because he's supposed to be a scary psycho.
The black suit works better on Venom because he's supposed to be a scary psycho.
choicelucky01
New member
With the X-Men, adapting straight from the comics can result in the cartoon being visually dated. They tend to ride certain pop culture/comic style waves. The suits in the '90s cartoon are pretty much all Jim Lee designs, which is pretty obvious. If you look at the late '80s/Australia era, you've got Longshot in his leather duds and with the Bon Jovi mullet, Dazzler looking kind of like Olivia Newton John in the "Let's Get Physical" video and a crazy, punked out Rogue. Circa 2001, it was all leather jumpsuits and stuff like the movie. So, it's better to come up with something that will maybe age a little better. Evo just crossed the original X-Men's black and yellow uniforms with some personal touches. The current show actually draws some stuff from current comics and creates some other stuff.
Of course, you never know what'll catch on with them. Jubilee's "classic" costume was actually a joke on the classic Robin suit. However, no one's ever given her an outfit more memorable than that one.
Of course, you never know what'll catch on with them. Jubilee's "classic" costume was actually a joke on the classic Robin suit. However, no one's ever given her an outfit more memorable than that one.