I have a question regarding Superman and the red trunks...

[superduperman]

Another trunkless suit I liked was the Eradicator suit from ROS. The black worked well with the blue. Especially the cape attached to the shield. At the time he was my favorite of the four Supermen. I liked him better as an anti-hero instead of a villain. I kind of hope that version makes a comeback.

[Vakanai]

One could just as easily say the cape makes him look like a bullfighter

Maybe if you are from Spain. And even then, outside the animal cruelty argument, bullfighters are cooler than whatever real life example of someone wearing underwear over their pants you could provide.

and the shield looks like a target on his chest,

He is literally bulletproof.

but all are part of an iconic design. Had Superman not had the trunks in the beginning, and someone wanted to add them, you'd get the same negative reaction because you're messing with THE superhero costume.

Here's where I argue with you - if they were really that intrinsic to the iconic feeling of the design, so many people wouldn't make fun of them or argue against them. Few people argue to remove the cape, many would like to ditch the outside underwear.

[Vakanai]

The red breaks up all that blue. We've seen what he looks like without them and something needs to balance it out. Honestly, the only "good" version of him without the trunks was the Smallville comic. Even live action it looks kind of weird. Both MOS and Supergirl feature a Superman without trunks and it just seems off.

Never watched the show, so never looked at the comic continuation. What's the costume look like?

[Black Angel]

I'm a without trucks guy myself most arguments i hear is just like most comic book fans they hate changes to characters that they feel they are not identifiable with.

[superduperman]

Never watched the show, so never looked at the comic continuation. What's the costume look like?

This:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sma...=9781401253455

[Ascended]

I feel like his Reborn suit was DC finally figuring out how to make a trunksless Superman suit work. That said, how do you guys feel about Henry Cavills suit?

I was so sad when they ditched the Reborn suit. It was just about a perfect update. Getting rid of it was such a waste.

I have no real particular issue with the trunks themselves, though they do look wrong to me after so long without them. I thought I'd have adjusted to having them back by now, but so far I still think they look off. >shrug<

And I can't really think of a reason I ever liked the trunks. I just didn't *dislike* them (though as a teen I did think they looked outdated). They were just always there, part of his design the same way the cape is. Other than thinking them old fashioned I didn't think about them. Superman's crotch is not a place of interest for me.

As for Cavill's suit, I like it for what it is. It fits the setting and the world, it has a very alien feel to it; it's the perfect juxtaposition to Cavill's face and the (all too human) emotion he conveys. I like the color scheme. I think it looked worse in Justice League than in any of the other films (BvS being my favorite Cav-El visual, if my least favorite Cav-El film). And I adore that shield.

But it definitely did need some red around the waist somewhere.

[Minerboh]

I feel like his Reborn suit was DC finally figuring out how to make a trunksless Superman suit work. That said, how do you guys feel about Henry Cavills suit?

I liked it. I would add the shield to the back of the cape and short the cape a bit. Apart from these minor adjustments, the suit was fine.

[Jim Kelly]

A lot of remarks about the red and yellow of the trunks and belt breaking up the blue, but I don't see anything about how the Joe Shuster design incorporates V and A shapes into the figure.

If you look at a classic Superman figure in full view, the shape of the S shield and the shape of the trunks and belt is almost the same--and they're the same colours. And since there's a triangular (really pentagonal, but let's not be too fussy) shape to these areas there's a V direction to the shapes. You also have a V in the tops of the boots. At the same time there are subtle A shapes in the form--the rib cage as most draw it has an A form that intersects with the V of the chest shield. And the whole Superman figure, with cape faling down forms one big A shape.

In drawing, when you use these angular shapes in your compostion it creates a dynamism in the image. It's not someithing you would consciously notice--unless you're an artist and you're lookng for that sort of thing in the picture--but it still works on your eye to direct your attention. Shuster clearly understood this as he used a lot of angular lines to give his Superman a dynamic perspective.

As far as one suit or the other looking alien--that always gets my antenna up. Maybe I'm being too fussy, but how does anyone know what looks alien and what doesn't?

Personally, in live action, I am concerned for the actors when I see them in suits that look too uncomfortable. The different Superman suits in MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE look like hell to wear for Henry Cavill. Maybe not as bad as most Batman suits since Burton's BATMAN, but enough to take me out of the movie, because I start to think about the suffering of the actor. Michael Shannon probably had it even worse as his Zod armour looks like he must have suffered for hours on set. I would much rather see actors in simple cloth garments that give them freedom of movement and let them easily go to the bathroom when they're desperate.

[Man_of_Tomorrow]

I like the trunks because every alternative to them (as of yet) doesn't look good. The new 52 suit was a mess for various reasons and the Reborn suit had a very awkward belt. I wonder how the suit would look with a belt similar to the Red Son version instead of the trunks.

I can't say everyone makes the trunks work. Frank Miller, Doc Shaner, Frank Quitely made them look so good, I couldn't imagine their Superman without them. Ivan Reis on the other hand makes them look so tight and even uncomfortable, like Superman fights a constant wedgie.

[DrNewGod]

...makes [the trunks] look so tight and even uncomfortable, like Superman fights a constant wedgie.

The never ending battle.

[Man_of_Tomorrow]

The never ending battle.

Ohhhh so that's what it means XD

[JAK]

He is literally bulletproof.

The shield being a "big target" isn't about him, actually. If they're aiming at him, then whoever is shooting isn't aiming at civilians. It's been described in the books a few times like that, as well.

Here's where I argue with you - if they were really that intrinsic to the iconic feeling of the design, so many people wouldn't make fun of them or argue against them. Few people argue to remove the cape, many would like to ditch the outside underwear.

Arguing against them is one thing, that's a matter of taste. You can like them or not, just like anything else. But the mocking? That's because people haven't outgrown the teenage reaction of mocking what they don't personally like as if they're the fashion police. And if it's good sense to take away things that get mocked, then that means Superman himself needs to go with his trunks. Because with or without trunks, he gets everything from "overpowered" (but Goku and Silver Surfer are fine, for...reasons..) to "too good" or "boyscout" (it's a bad thing to be good? did we not outlive the 90's yet?) to him being stupid (thanks, Miller and DC, for giving people just enough "the S stands for stupid" moments that it stuck).

It's also interesting that the some of the same people who were mocking the trunks when he had them (Nerdist, for example) were also talking about being excited for their return. People are weird, sometimes.

[Shriveling_memo]

Isn't better to draw characters with trunks? Characters look boring and to much like soldiers. Superheroes aren't soldiers, they meant to be something of hope

[Kirby Krackle]

We need a TRUNKS general thread. lol

[Ascended]

Isn't better to draw characters with trunks? Characters look boring and to much like soldiers.

.....we served in *very* different branches of the military.

I don't recall capes and skintight spandex. Which is a shame, really. I'd have looked fantastic.