"External Panties" or: Does Superman's costume need a contemporary makeover?

Crap, I forgot Batman still wears external panties. But he looks perfect in Batman Begins without them.

I think it's a matter of what looks better on film doesn't necessarily look better in comics, and vice-versa.

That said, in Asia, big bright costumes like this are loved.

I also think the overpants remind me more of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the circus strongmen and bodybuilders of the early 20th century. I think that connotation is important to keep.

When people remove the overpants he seems, at least to me... less. The serendipity, the mythical innocence of the character fades and he becomes neo and stylised and 'cool'. But I don't think a cool, modern costume is what Superman, as a character, would want to wear, and I don't think it's appropriate for him to do so. I think whenever Superman appears he shouldn't become a 'cool' guy - his presence should make you feel like an excited kid again. All the redesigns of Superman seem to lose this, while people who stick with the old one seem able to capture it (though, not always).

It might be possible to improve on it, but I dunno. I really like it, and I don't honestly find it stupid. Little kids who dress up as Superman don't care about it either. I think people make a bigger issue of it than it really is.

But back to my point about film - one of the reasons an unknown was cast as Superman back in the 70s was because Warren Beatty spent a day in the Superman costume and turned down the role. It became apparent no star could wear the costume without looking stupid. An unknown however, seems to work. On film, redesigning Superman's costume to remove the overpants is like getting rid of Wonder Woman's star panties. It can work quite well - but because live-action films are a wildly different medium to comics. While a change would suit the film, it doesn't mean that change should automatically be spearheaded into the comics medium unless its warranted.

So, I like the overpants a great deal. Just on a colour scheme, it breaks up the costume really nicely.
 
I disagree. The underpants are pretty stupid.

The Last Son of Krypton from the Death/Return of Superman - THAT costume was perfect.

Totally agree. Or the costume from Wizard's Ultimate DC idea.
 
I just walked outside in my underwear...I lost a tooth and a lot of blood....that **** doesn't scare anyone!


YOU CALLING MY PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH A LIE! HOW DAY YOU!!!! :x :x



:lol:

As a true comic fan, I take comic books seriously.

I think Everyone on this site is a "true comic fan" but we don't all sit around thinking about superman's undies .

I'm a huge fan of a lot things (e.g Star wars) but I don't take them seriously. By seriously I mean , I like Star wars , collect figures , got the films multible times , got nearly every book (missing latest 2-3) got all the comics (again except for latest 2-3) , BUT I don't think "Hmmm why was ET in episode 1" as I know it's just a film

Or I like Toy story 1+2 but don't seriously think "If Buzz lightyear doesn't know he's a toy , then why doesn't he speak when human are around" though I use that as a joke comment (thank to "my family")
 
Another thing is how its drawn, sometimes it can look really great, or really stupid, depends if the artist can pull it off
 
Another thing is how its drawn, sometimes it can look really great, or really stupid, depends if the artist can pull it off

But that's true about anything in comics , even faces.
 
Or I like Toy story 1+2 but don't seriously think "If Buzz lightyear doesn't know he's a toy , then why doesn't he speak when human are around" though I use that as a joke comment (thank to "my family")

Toy Story is geared towards children. They don't go into that thinking that little kids are going to be analyzing Buzz Lightyear's psyche. But that just happens naturally....Kids wonder about things. Everyone wonders. I don't know, all my babbling is probably making me contradict myself.

The same reason Supes shouldn't wear external panties is the same reason super heroes are now having more....fitting costumes (I guess that's the way to put it). Like, Batman's costume originally didn't have Kevlar and armor and stuff. It was just a casual bat-themed costume. But his costume evolved, to make things more realistic. Superman's costume has barely changed. He always has different costumes, but....ah, I'm just babbling here.
 
The same reason Supes shouldn't wear external panties is the same reason super heroes are now having more....fitting costumes (I guess that's the way to put it). Like, Batman's costume originally didn't have Kevlar and armor and stuff. It was just a casual bat-themed costume. But his costume evolved, to make things more realistic. Superman's costume has barely changed. He always has different costumes, but....ah, I'm just babbling here.

They tried with things like :




But fans prefer the original feeling , like Spider-man they got rid of his webbing wings and stuff but the basic concept is still the same and when they do change it again people prefer original



It's not hard to get , It's like that because that's close to original , Is it cheesy or whatever is irrelevant , Does it serve a purpose? No. It just is what it is.
 
They're different because they started out that way. They didn't take existing characters and "real" them up.

Technically, yes they did. Ultimates "realed" the Avengers up and Watchmen "realed" the Charlton characters up. Even though Watchmen is only inspired by the Charlton characters.
 
Technically, yes they did. Ultimates "realed" the Avengers up and Watchmen "realed" the Charlton characters up. Even though Watchmen is only inspired by the Charlton characters.

Well, technically, they have no relationship whatsoever to their still-existing counterparts and you're wrong.
 
Well, technically, they have no relationship whatsoever to their still-existing counterparts and you're wrong.

That's correct, Watchmen wanted to use the recently aquired Charlton characters, but some characters were going to die in the story and DC still want to use those characters so Moore decide to just about completely rip them off, or something like that, wasnt a revamp
 
Well, technically, they have no relationship whatsoever to their still-existing counterparts and you're wrong.

Hahaha I'm wrong? That's all you have to say is I'm wrong? I said they were inspired by the Charlton characters.

And the Ultimates are as real as they come.

Back on topic though....
 
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Hahaha I'm wrong? That's all you have to say is I'm wrong? I said they were inspired by the Charlton characters.

And the Ultimates are as real as they come.

But they're still different than the original Avengers characters on which they're based. Those characters still exist and are more or less the same as always.
 
His costume is a relic of his homeworld, I get that. The "S" symbol and whatever. But that doesn't justify his external panties. I don't know what external panties have to do with his homeworld. I don't know of any other Kryptonians who wear external panties.
How many Kryptonians have you met?

Because I've met exactly six.
 
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