What's the best comic-book super-hero costume?

[Ura-Maru]

Not sure about best, but my vote for worst has to go to Zaran the Weapon Master, an obscure 70’s era Shang Chi villian. He’s shown up a few times since then, usually to be laughed off by whichever hero is nearby.

Leather pants, a sort of He-Man/bondage chest harness, and a goofy leather half-mask with his bright red ponytail poping out the back. Even among Chi’s fairly goofy rouge’s gallery, Zaran’s dedication to looking like an ass was commendable. He looks like a rejected He-Man villan design.

Wonderman’s green and red integral-sunglasses abomination was way up there in the bad costume contest too. Actually, ALL his many, many costumes have been terrible, except for his “workout gear” look breifly when he got his own series. Which wasn’t actually good, just not terrible.

Bolt Crank definaty gets a vote. How many layers of green cloth can you put on? And that’s forgiving the Buddy Holly sunglasses and that weird watch cap thing.

And, of course, that’s discounting all the costumes that are supposed to be terrible, like Ultra-Man.

Best . . . I liked Nomad’s look when he got his own comic, not spandex, but enough over-the-top touches (Like that big, “N” belt buckle) to it to show his superhero origins. Longshot’s wierd black “I am the 80’s” outfit thing was pretty cool. I liked the simple original X-Factor costumes (solid colors with a big white X over the middle) And Priss’ orignial Hard Suit, of course.

The '90’s were the age of bad costumes - Bulky jackets with too many pockets containing nothing

Hey, Wonderman was very clear on what his pockets contained. His passport, wallet, and keys. No pockets in spandex, so you need belt pouches or whatever.

–
“The slack-wearing superhero!”

[Ukulele_Ike]

*Originally posted by ElusiveMiser *
**the Fantastic Four costumes were so simple, yet so elegant. **

It was the Unstable Molecules. You couldn’t weave patterns.

Ben Grimm wanted his undershorts to be plaid, and he was heartbroken.

[Fenris]

*Originally posted by Ura-Maru *
**Not sure about best, but my vote for worst has to go to Zaran the Weapon Master, an obscure 70’s era Shang Chi villian. He’s shown up a few times since then, usually to be laughed off by whichever hero is nearby.

Leather pants, a sort of He-Man/bondage chest harness, and a goofy leather half-mask with his bright red ponytail poping out the back. Even among Chi’s fairly goofy rouge’s gallery, Zaran’s dedication to looking like an ass was commendable. He looks like a rejected He-Man villan design.
**

I remember him! That costume goes in the “WHAT were they THINKING?!” catagory. Your description of his costume, though reminded me of an equally obscure character, with a possibly worst costume.

In the '70’s Superman had a friend who was the main super-hero of another planet named Vartox. Vartox looked like the world’s most sissified biker or the world’s toughest Village-Person.

Balding and hairy-chested, Vartox had a Fu-Manchu mustache that was out of fashion several years before he was created.
He wore an unbuttoned brown leather vest with yellow Zebra striped flaring shoulder things, a teeny-tiny little pair of underpants again in black-and yellow zebra stripes and brown Nancy Sinatra-esque mid-thigh boots. And nothing else. He looked like he’d just stepped off the set of a porno movie.

This guy has a picture of Vartox, so you can see the horror for yourself.

Fenris

[Cat_and_I]

I don’t read comic books, but I do see the movies. Superman is always a real hero in his costume, but Batman looks like a cheap wrestler.

[JosephFinn]

For those who love bad cheesy costumes, Wizard Magazine has a sidebar of the “Mort of the Month,” where they take some incredibly obscue and usally stupid-looking hero or villain, and you have to guess which of the four descriptions is theirs. Great feature.

Thanks for all the info on the Golden Age Sandman! Had some inklings, but nothing like that.

I do remember Cain hosting “House of Mystery,” as I remember seeing that as late as the late '80s. Great series - wonderful little chilling tales.

Brute, Glob and Jeb were Kirby creations? I’ll have to look for that… As for Matthew, now I have to frickin’ find that Swamp Man issue. I always wanted to know more about his origins. Don’t suppose you know what issues he was in?

[RealityChuck]

Good

Kid Flash’s 2nd costume (Primarily yellow). Love the automatic hair dye!

Spiderman’s original costume was a classic, and Superman set the mold.

The original Green Lantern was quite nice, especially because of it’s origin (Alan Scott already had it hanging in his closet from an old costume party).

The Vision in the early days, when green was the main color.

The Heckler

**Bad **

Any of the “Dial H for Hero” costumes

Woozy Winks

[barton]

Might not quite qualify, but Jesse Custer from Preacher. Same leather jacket, black shirt, white collar, and jeans, in practically every comic. I think he’s superhero enough - even without the Word, he’s practically invincible in a fistfight.

Otherwise, I liked Green Arrow and his perpetual flame, the Black Canary. He didn’t particularly fit in the streets of Gotham in his Robin Hood garb, but it was cool, low-tech like Batman. The Canary was pretty hot - you don’t see too many heroines in fishnets, either.

[bserum]

Anything Alex Ross redesigned for Earth X. Captain America’s costume was absolutely incredible. He subscribes to the notion that the tight “painted-on” spandex costume should be reserved to a select few.

I can appreciate that the more acrobatic types would benefit from something spandexy, until the last decade, you would see that style even on total bad-ass types like the Punisher.

Other than that, I really liked the Spider-Man costume that was later relegated to the Spider-Girl character. I liked that it was an update to the original design rather than a total departure like the Venom costume (which I also liked). I also liked that the web shooters were on the outside (the notion that that kind of machinery could have become totally invisible underneath a thin layer of spandex never isn’t even suspension of disbeleif, it’s just lazy on the designer’s part. Don’t even get me started on the 35mm camera mounted into his belt!!!)

I also like the Scarlet Witch’s current costume…I like that it suggests the romanticized visions of the mystical gypsies of years past.

(looking back on my post) My God I am such a geek! But I’m also a designer by trade, so that accounts for some of my enthusiasm for the topic.

[Indysloth]

JosephFinn :

Matthew the Raven was Matt Cable, Abby Arcane Cable Holland’s first husband, I don’t know if he was a raven before he appeared in Sandman or not, but there were some lines in Sandman that made it clear who he was.

Matt goes all the way back to the Len Wein/Berni Wrightson era, he was either a reporter or a gov’t agent or something. There was always something of a triangle between he, Abby and Swampy.

All:

In terms of bad costumes, there was Dr. Mayavale, a one shot villain from late 70’s, early 80’s LSH. There used to be a web site devoted to his lameness but I can’t find an active link anymore.

[Max_Torque]

*Originally posted by Ura-Maru *
Wonderman’s green and red integral-sunglasses abomination was way up there in the bad costume contest too. Actually, ALL his many, many costumes have been terrible, except for his “workout gear” look breifly when he got his own series. Which wasn’t actually good, just not terrible.

Sad but true, and I really liked Wonder Man, which made his costume choices all the more painful. The “unitard with a big coat” was, I think, the look he used longest, and it just does NOT work for any male; it’s particularly sad on a superhero.

Hey, Wonderman was very clear on what his pockets contained. His passport, wallet, and keys. No pockets in spandex, so you need belt pouches or whatever.

I seem to recall him referring to that multi-pouched jacket as his “Gucci commando outfit”. Personally, I don’t think any superhero should get his primary crime-fighting outfit “off the rack”.

Well, I liked ol’ Simon anyway. Always hard up for cash, poor guy (although he could take a bazooka in the face without blinking).

[Fenris]

*Originally posted by Indysloth *
**JosephFinn :
In terms of bad costumes, there was Dr. Mayavale, a one shot villain from late 70’s, early 80’s LSH. There used to be a web site devoted to his lameness but I can’t find an active link anymore.
**

<ashamed>
I kinda liked Dr. Mayavale. Not the costume or the albino 'fro, but…I dunno. I just kinda liked the story.
</ashamed>

Which, by the way, was around (Used to be Superboy and the)Legion of Super Heroes #268, ca 1982 or so.

Fenris

[Dark_Lord_Davidson]

Azriel, from the New Batman saga.

That costume rocked!

[Broken_Doll]

Anything Tank Girl wears [or doesn’t wear], is the best, in my opinion.

[Clark_K]

Great costumes:

Batman - when done in black and gray, and without the yellow circle.

Spiderman - colorful but with a hint of arachnid creepiness.

Kid Flash - bright, fun and it left his hair free to blow in the wind.

The Legion’s bikinis and bell-bottoms were so ridiculous you just have to love them. (and while Grell popularized them, I think Dave Cockrum designed many of them)

Iron Man’s classic red and gold armor.

Flash/Hal Jordan - two classic examples of simplicity used to great effect.

Golden Age Hawkman _ the wings were good but the helmet made the outfit. It covered his entire face with the image of a mouth-open eternally screaming hawk.

the rest of the JSA - The coolest super-group ever: Dr. Fate’s mysterious golden helm, the Flash’s doughboy helmet, the Sandman’s spooky gasmask, Hourman’s puffy hood, Green Lantern’s every-color-of-the-rainbow-topped-with-the-cape-from-hell approach.

Astro City’s Samaritan - that modified cape/toga idea is great.
Some awful costumes:

Lex Luthor’s old purple-and-green horror.

Brainiac in a pink shirt.

Every other classic Superman villain.

Spiderman’s foe Electro, with the lightning bolts sticking out of his head.

Hawkeye.

Witchblade and all the other big-boobed Barbie-doll-with-an-attitude types populating comics today.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

But, as this quote from an earlier thread indicates, I ain’t unbiased.

The story of Superman is the story of the American Immigrant.
He comes from far away (very far away)
with nothing. No name or family or home, except his new one.

He come to the heartland of America, the Midwest. He is adopted into a family of farmers; people of the soil who love him as if he were their own , & raise him in their values.

He discovers that he has something unique to give to others. He gives this gift, unselfishly & unstintingly; asking nothing in return, other than the chance to help others in need.

He can never go home again-- but , although he remembers his “old country”–Krypton–he is home.

He wears his costume, not merely to conceal his identity, but to become a symbol of hope to those in need. His Clark Kent glasses could be viewed as a mask, worn for the sake of modesty as much as disguise-- he is humbly living a simple life as Clark Kent. He does not wear his costume to be famous–he is , at heart, a simple man (simple doesn’t mean stupid) whose goal is to live in the service of others. As a reporter, he is dedicated to Truth. As Superman, he is dedicated to Justice. As a man is is definitively what Americans wish they were (well, most of us).

On our good days, we occasionaly come close. (I don’t ignore or deny the days when we don’t even try–but they are outside the scope of this thread.)

Yes , Superman is a hero. And a very ordinary man. Perhaps he is the realization & the symbol that ordinary men can do extraordinary things, if they try.

Yeah. That sums it up. I like the dude.

And his taste in suits.