Character Designs

[bloodyrosemccoy]

For the record, I would totally dress like this version of Supergirl if I were a superhero.

Well, actually I'd probably stick with T-shirt and jeans. But for formal occasions ...

Comments

[broken-moons.livejournal.com]

I love it! Honestly, I find them 100% more sexy like this than in the skimpy versions.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I do too. Don't look at the comments if you like your sanity, though.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

OH GOD I READ SOME OF THE COMMENTS WHY

I also find it hilarious that for me, just under it in the "You Might Like" section there was a row of four thumbnails, all of which were centered on BOOBS.

I think they look a lot more badass in those clothes, myself. Also, warmer.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I thought that maybe someone in the comments would be being sane about it. I forgot that that never happens. :|

[broken-moons.livejournal.com]

Because the first thing people do when someone says "Don't look at that thing over there", is look at that thing over there? It was my first reaction to that comment, anyway XD

Oh, hang on, I may have an appropriate icon here... Yes, there we go :)

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Heh. Actually, I'd seen it before that, because I enjoy pain. But given that I always tell myself not to read the comments, the icon still holds!

[beccastareyes]

Awesome. And I do think the point that superheroines are recognizable and iconic even in pants and long sleeves is one some people might find threatening since it takes apart one of the reasons to justify the costumes (other than 'I like looking at half-naked women in comic books'). Not to mention that for some heros, pants and some arm and leg protection is practical -- Supergirl might have flight* and super-toughness, but not everyone does, and having a character wear something that looks armor-y (or not) tells you something about the character and her powers.

* Which is another consideration: if you have a flyer or someone who expects to do a lot of jumping and climbing and kicking, and if you want a skirt as part of the costume design, shorts under the skirt are necessary. Look at cheerleaders and figure-skaters.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Exactly! It's kind of the same as ladies in armor--REAL armor looks so much more UNDERSTANDABLE.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I'm not sold on that weird bib thing. I think the symbol would look better just stuck on the front of her dress.

I like this outfit for Power Girl more than the New 52 costume. But that's damning with faint praise.

I don't see Wonder Woman wearing long pants. A while back her costume included pteruges; it was a skirt, but a skirt designed for kicking ass.

Black Canary's outfit there looks cool. Elektra & Psylocke's outfits are good too.

Zatanna at least has kind of an excuse for her usual outfit: it's her stage costume. The only thing I really don't like about this one is where the shirt and pants meet. It looks like the shirt overlaps the pants (there's no belt visible and they meet low) but the shirt doesn't look untucked either. Weird.

Vampirella's outfit here works surprisingly well, considering she's so identified with her slingshot-bikini-with-an-inexplicable-collar buttfloss getup.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

The bib was the one thing I wasn't sure of, either--I don't think it'd lie right. It does, however, look like it's meant to be part of the cape, and frankly I'd like a cape with more points of support than just my neck--if I had to wear one, I'd rather it be a harness than a noose.

Wonder Woman's is my least favorite. The pants do look out-of-place. I think my favorite outfit design for her was the DC New Frontier one, with the skirt. It really seems to fit her personality.

It looks like Zatanna's shirt is untucked, but I do think it'd be better with pointed tails. Her actual stage costume isn't bad, but aesthetically I prefer the "fully-clothed" design. No idea why.

I think overall this series of drawings shows that there are a lot of great missed opportunites for a larger breadth of costume designs in DC women. (And men, actually--the tights get a bit old, too.) Pants-optional is fine for some--it makes sense for Wonder Woman--but it gets a little one-note.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

Frankly, for capes I think attaching at the shoulders makes the most sense. If it gets caught or grabbed, the worst that can happen is it gets torn off.

I think the only DC superheroine who wears pants (not tights) is Renee Montoya as The Question.

[baroncognito.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Wonder Woman design bothered me too. I agree with you that the pants were out of place, but what bothered me the most was the boots.. They looked floppy and wrong. And while I like the shirt design, I think it would look better without sleeves.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

The only one I don't really like is Vampirella's. Not sure why, but that just doesn't work for me.

Black Canary and Zatanna both need their pants hemmed higher, or they're totally going to trip on them. The wide calves on Canary's pants, along with the yellow stripes, kind of make it look like she's wearing moon boots or something, too.

All of them are way better than the "standard" costumes for them, tho.

[mel-redcap.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, Power Girl without the STUPID USELESS KEYHOLE CLEAVAGE!!!!!

*cough* *ahem* Why yes, I do feel strongly about the idiocy of that, why do you ask? XD

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Were I Supergirl I'd want skin-fitted boots, though. Too much wind resistance if they're loose like that. Heck, any character who flies, I'd want something that produced as little wind resistance as possible.

Maybe it's me, but I find loose fabrics hard to move effectively in. Maybe it's the years of ballet, but stuff that's loose, while comfy, gets in my way if I am trying to move in it.