Nobody seemed immune to the wardrobe revolution... Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Superman, Batman, Daredevil and countless others had a new look.
What did you think of the changes? Were they hits or misses? How did you respond to these changes then and now?
12 comments:
I can only speak of changes thru '81 to let you know how I felt when it happened.
I'm usually a snob about only liking uniforms the way they were when I first seen them. One exception was Wonder Man. I absolutely loved the Perez design which took the place of his original suit. Alas it only lasted a few issues until Count Nefaria destroyed it that famous battle. The safari jacket was next, Uggh!
I remember when Valkrie changed into a silver/gold outfit, just didn't look right on her.
And then there was Wasp....
That black Spider-Man costume was crazy exciting to me. This was back when you could convince yourself changes like that would be permanent.
(actually that's not totally true, I reassured myself that the old one would be back, because I was hoping that the price of ASM #252 would come down so I could afford it...a year later it was down to $5...still a king's ransom but worth it!)
I was less crazy about Iron Man's silver suit, and Thor and "the Captain" 's costumes were cool, but by then I knew they were just pleasant novelties before a return to the status quo.
The change that strikes me as the most permanent was Wolverine's change from classic yellow and blue to brown and orange. It was cool, and lasted over a decade. Its retirement back in 1991 felt less like a return to the status quo, which the brown one had essentially become, and more like the type of reboot that would become all-too-common in the 90s and 2000s and sap any remaining interest I had in comic book universes.
Add my vote to that Perez Wonder Man costume! Gone too soon! (but I got used to that safari jacket)
-david p
I liked Spidey's black outfit, though I was glad when the classic costume came back. I didn't mind Captain America's change to "The Captain" either, because the storyline that went with it was interesting.
Ultimately, most of these changes were done away with, likely because fans preferred the originals.
I liked Wonder Man's safari jacket. In fact, that's my favorite look for him.
An interesting change was the FF's uniforms during Byrne's run. While I don't like the idea of fiddling with the classic look, damned if the new color scheme wasn't striking.
Wonder Man's costume during the Nefaria arc was my favorite. When he got the safari jacket, at first I wasn’t even sure he was in costume... but I grew to really like that outfit quite a bit. Everything that came after was horrible ... mullets and ionic beings anybody? Let’s get back to the classics!
I too like The Captain style but in story it was way too close to Cap’s original so when people didn’t recognize him that was stretching it.
Edo- FF- yes that was a nice take on the costumes. I also liked the red suit for Johnny earlier in the Bronze Age.
Kilraven, I really loved that Perez Wonder Man costume as well. It was definitely my favorite look for him. It was also one of the reasons that Wondy became one of my favorite Avengers. I just thought he looked so cool. I was bummed when they went to the more plain clothes safari jacket look.
I usually don't like it at all when they change a character's iconic look, but I actually liked the black costume era of Spider-Man. When it was first announced that they were going to change Spidey's costume I was horrified. But once it was introduced it grew on me pretty quickly, and I came to like it almost as much as the classic red and blue costume. It might have had something to do with the writing and art on ASM at the time. The stories that came out of that era remain some of my all time favorites.
Most other costume changes at that time I did not care for, like armored Thor, and "The Captain". And later changes like armored Daredevil, and armored Captain America, and armored Batman I also did not like. I mean what the heck was this obsession 90's comic creator's had with armor (and leather jackets and pouches)?
Best style direction..? The nice, skin-tights of the '70s (Natasha.., and so on...), just IMHO.
As William mentioned, all the silly armoring of the '90s. Why would Batman be armored.., much less Spidey or DD..? Like the Avengers' leather jackets, it was all a pandering attempt made to introduce more bulky power and intricate design schemes, but none.. of.. it.. made.. any.. sense (as did MOST of the '90s changes...).
Regarding Spidey's black outfit, I did find it very understated and kinda cool, even having grown up with the classic red-and-blue. Not a Wolvie fan, I did like the earth-tone brown and yellow approach the best. No and NO on the FF uniform changes. I was strickly old-school on them, but at the time, I wasn't a big Byrne FF fan.., still not actually, so I was more partial to the Kirby/Buscema look anyway.
I'm with Edo, loved Wondy's "safari jacket". He and the Beast made such a good looking pair...
And, like William, I was at first incredulous that 'they' would change Spidey's classic duds. However, they grew on me ( no, not in the way they grew on Pete). Now both looks appeal to me.
As for Byrne's FF change- I thought they looked great. Another good costume change was Ms. Marvel- the original 'Mar-vell' look was weak, and too obviously derivative.
Now, those 90's changes? You can keep them. Cheesy, Image Comics knockoffs. But lest you think I'm hopelessly curmudgeonly today, I really like the more recent look of Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan...
Mar-Vell is a curious one. The classic red and blue costume is clearly superior to the original green and white. And yet, the green stands out on those early books. The cover of Captain Marvel #3 - for instance - is freakily fantastic.
Colin Bray... Them's fightin words, LOL. The Green and White ruled!
(Though I can't recall where I read it, but the Green / White vs. Red/Blue Marv-vell provokes serious passion in comicdom!)
I'm on Charlie's side on this..., when I first stared collecting in the early '70s, I loved Starlin's take on the red-and-blue.
But once I started collecting the earlier more Kree-centric stories, I switched to the white-and-green quickly. Fret not Colin, the older uniform was blessed with some of the BEST Silver Age covers ever..
Try out those covers on ish 10, 12 and 13. One of my all-time fav covers is Mar-Vell 14, in space against ol' Shellhead. NO word balloons, pure Silver Age awesomeness.
Not sure if anyone is out there...
Look at the first handful of Mar-vell green and white, starting with his premiere and then those first handful of issues by Colan. Superlative! CN#4 fighting Subby is top shelf! The water looks like water... CM's rockets discharging seems particularly realistic.
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