| Posted: 08 July 2012 at 7:56am | IP Logged | 9
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John Byrne wrote:
| Which means, of course, that they are almost instantly out of date. Superman's costume is timeless. But the street-clothes influenced "costumes" reflect this week, and will be antique by next. |
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"Street" costumes that incorporate off-the-shelf items often work great. Catwoman is a great example. I never got into the character when she was dressed in a purple leotard with thigh-high waders. When DC started putting her in an outfit suitable for a burglar and street fighter -- starting with: off-the-shelf paratrooper or motorcycle boots instead of stilettos -- she really started clicking. Costume design has always helped to define character.
I think part of the creative statement here is that not ALL heroes would choose to dress garishly. Many would choose something simple and practical, as close to civilian reality as possible. Just as in any party, there are those who wear something simple and black and formal, and some who choose red sequins and a hat filled with ostrich feathers.
It also can reflect a character's choice to have a flexible working wardrobe. I admit that I rather liked the "Avengers jacket" that started showing up in the 90's. A familiar, practical, off-the-shelf civilian item that apparently was hanging in the closets of most members of the team. In each scene, an Avenger might wear it or they might not wear it, depending on their mood or the situation. It allowed the characters to have signature looks while still having a unifying team element.
Anyway. I think it's a positive trend, overall. Artists have been making "fashion, not style" errors since the Golden Age. The difference today is that thanks in part to advances in printing technology, there are fewer limitations to how an artist can choose to render a character and a scene.
Huge mistakes will be made, of course, as some artists choose to ground a character's costume so closely to reality that they burn away all of the fantasy. But overall, it's a case of artists working with fewer restrictions. I'm all for it.
Edited by Andy Ihnatko on 08 July 2012 at 8:05am
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Topic Closed)
I guess it was made of unstable molecules.
