Originally Posted by
Ascended
I don't think anyone is saying not to evolve the design aesthetic. But the marketing aspect of things, that's not nostalgia or anything else, that's about recognizable visuals you can slap on a t-shirt or lunchbox or whatever and still have the IP be instantly recognizable. Robin's pixie shorts weren't the most defining element of his costume, that example is hyperbole. His "R" emblem is, and you'll notice that every single Robin uses it. The detail will shift a little but it's always a yellow "R" on a black circle/oval.
For most A-list properties, their most iconic visual is their emblem. The "S" shield, the Bat, the "W" crest, the Spider, the X-in-the-circle, etc etc. You can put any of those on merchandise and people know who it is. And you notice that stuff doesn't change? Superman will have trunks, no trunks, t-shirts, armor, whatever, but that "S" shield stays on his chest no matter what. For Vic, he doesn't have an emblem that people know. In fact, the idea of Vic having one at all is a relatively new thing. People recognize him by the face plate.
That can be changed, but it's not a quick and easy thing. It'll take time to burn a Cyborg emblem into the public consciousness as deeply as the face plate is. So if you want to change it, you have to keep the plate, introduce a well designed emblem (which I don't think we've had yet), and then start working that emblem into the merchandise and visuals until it's as well known as the face plate and can "take over" the marketing stuff.
Just as an example, I used to have a poster with about 9 DC heroes on it. It's a minimalist piece, everyone is in silhouette except for a few details like masks, capes, etc, and their emblems. And those emblems are largely how you recognize these otherwise detail-less characters. Vic's on there, and he's got the red circle on his chest but what makes him recognizable is the face plate. Give Vic a good emblem, keep it until it's as well known, and you can get rid of the face plate. But until then, you're just taking away the guy's biggest merchandising element and that is not going to help him. As fans of Vic, we should demand that DC update his painfully outdated design, but as fans of Vic we also don't want him to sell even less merchandise because his most defining visual is suddenly gone and nobody recognizes him.
Or DC could take a gamble, switch it up without any transition period, and hope it all just works out magically. And hey, sometimes that does happen. But those aren't odds I'd be willing to bet on.