If I rebooted Superman
For background on Superman’s look, try SupermanPage and Superman’s Symbol, Shield, Emblem, Logo and Its History!. Part of what I like about them is they disagree. For example, was the original Superman meant to have red boots, and the printer or the colorist screwed up? No one seems to know. Blue boots are plausible:
So are red:
What’s clear is that Superman was meant to resemble a circus strongman. And that’s what’s wrong with DC’s current attempts:
The amount of blue and the high neckline makes it look like a he’s wearing a uniform, and the hints of armor make it worse: a superman doesn’t need armor.
The fact is that the basic Superman costume is surprisingly delicately balanced. Get rid of the cape? It works too nicely in flight. Get rid of the panties? He becomes too streamlined. I considered giving him red pants and blue boots:
Make fun of his panties. I do. It doesn’t matter. Superman is perfectly comfortable with his sexuality, thank you very much. I hear men mocking his look, but I can’t remember ever hearing a woman saying there’s something wrong with calling attention to his crotch.
As for powers, he should be able to fly into space, but he shouldn’t be able to move planets and he shouldn’t be faster than the Flash.
If I was rebooting Superman, I would start with a set-up like this:
Clark Kent finds work for the Daily Planet as an investigative reporter. He doesn’t worry about the deadlines that come with TV or radio reporting. The Planet has a web presence that’s giving the New York Times a run for its money.
Romance? Complicated. Lois Lane is simultaneously a best friend, love interest, collaborator, and, on some stories, competition. Clark and Lois should see other people while they’re working that out.
Best friend? Jimmy Olsen, the only reporter with less experience than Clark, and the only reporter who is as gutsy as Lois.
Boss? Penny White, a black woman.
New character? A Korean-American male reporter and former Marine who works with Lois and Jimmy, and is Lois’s current romantic interest.
Clark’s current romance? His relationship with Lana Lang is getting rocky. His work has taken him to Metropolis, and she’s on an archeological dig in South America, where she’s falling for a local.
Related articles
- MARTHA THOMASES: Must The World Have A (Mrs.) Superman? (comicmix.com)
The first problem is that we refer to them as underwear at all. Calling them panties doesn’t help (no offense). Also no character in a comicbook should be refering to their costume as “spandex”. That’s like a Stormtrooper in a Star Wars film refering to his armor as high-gloss plastic. Might as well have Han say “This is the fastest well detailed model in the galaxy!”
The whole “he’s wearing his underwear on the outside” thing is a ancient tired old joke that the fandom and the industry have used to build an inferiority complex around Superman’s costume and costumes in general that they’re now over-compensating for. Maybe the bigger question is why are we apologizing for how these characters look?
I just hate, hate, hate the new costume, and for one simple reason: It’s not a Superman costume. I could go into the design problems as others have, but ultimately it comes down to the fact that it’s just not a Superman costume. It’s a blue costume with a red cape and an “S” on it, but it’s not a Superman costume, any more than the Lightning-Supes costume from 1996 was.
Oddly enough, I have less of a problem with the Action Comics #1-could-just-as-easily-be-#905 version, being the latest version of “The beginning of Superman’s career,” but part of that is that I see my own character wearing a similar outfit in year 25 of his career (reasoning that silk-screening a bunch of shirts is cheaper than buying multiple head-to-toe costumes).
Anyway. Boo to the body armor. Bring back the trunks–because that’s a Superman costume.
Essays like this are so imptonrat to broadening people’s horizons.