Does The Suit maketh The Hero?

[poroto678]

I usually dislike costumes very very much. I mean, of course I'm okay with the classics (JL's Big 7, for example), but if the costume for a character is too colorful or ridiculous I usually don't like it. That's why I don't read many Marvel books. Their Avengers have the most ridiculous and lame costumes ever. I mean, I can't even look at (the classic costumes of) Falcon, Hawkeye , Wanda Maximoff and a million others. I usually prefer simpler stuff.

That said, the costume shouldn't be a problem or distraction either if it's done right. How do i know it works? Because the costume makes sense in the character's context, either as a tool for their goals or as part of character growth (plot). Duke did not need neither a suit or a code name, but they gave him a YELLOW costume (doesn't make sense within the context of the books he's in right now) and a lame name (plus, bland character development, but thats my personal take). So, it's a problem/distraction. Ergo, it doesn't fully work. Thats MY PERSONAL OPINION, tho. I dislike his code name and costume very very much.

[The no face guy]

And in some countries, pink is still a boy's color.

But the costume should be a visual representation of the character, at least in some ways. Aquaman has fish scales on his shirt and fins on his gloves and boots, which tells us he's got some sort of connection to water and/or bodies of water. It doesn't have to be painfully direct like "Geo-Force has earth powers and is a king, so his costume has to have rocks and a crown" but the costume should still tell us something about the person wearing it. Superman's bright colors tells us he wants to be seen, his lack of a mask and gloves tell us he's open and honest, his cape tells us that he'll look really cool in dynamic physical poses, like flying and leaping.

I mean, if you see a dude on the street wearing a leather jacket and Metallica t-shirt, you know something about this person. Superhero costumes should do the same thing. It's a visual medium, it works best when the visuals compliment and reinforce the writing.

Sure, no agreement there, Wolverine's costume should look like a Wolverine, the Green Lantern should be green. I was thinking in terms of peronalities, who is to say pink is a feminine colour, or that black must forbid a brooding character.

[Robotman]

A character’s costume design is incredibly important. Look at Bob Kane’s original Batman design compared to what Bill Finger came up with. There’s no way the guy in a red jump suit and domino mask would be anywhere near as popular as Finger’s Batman.

Going back to the OP’s question about The Signal. Duke got royally screwed when it came to costume design and code name.

[Mr. White]

So I've been having the same back and forth with some Duke Thomas fans about his suit as The Signal. While most are either into it or just fine with it, I feel the suit doesn't quite work effectively for the character, and this got me thinking; What makes a character's costume good? How much should a characters suit inform or be informed by the character? and what elements do you look at when determining if a character's character design works or not?

So many perspectives in answering the Thread Question (and these). Overarching answer, it depends. What is a "hero"? Personality i.e. doing good irrespective of odds e.g. Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski OR your suit granting you X powers/abilities Iron Man, Batman Beyond et la?

Focusing more on the design element:

What makes a costume "good"?
This is purely subjective. I prefer simple, streamlined suit - Nightwing (original black and blue), Deathstroke (Icon Suit), Green Arrow (Rebirth), Flash. On Color schemes, simpler palettes as against unnecessary complexities e.g Ric's current "suit".

Should it inform/be informed by the character?
Personally don't think it's necessary for a characters costume should inform on the character. I guess it does assist readers of what they do to an extent. Though things like the GL Corps does serve as a in-universe notice of the character being on the force.

Slightly irrelevant side note - Been watching "The Batman" during this lockdown and it got me thinking - why does he (and other heroes) brand their stuff? Like Bruce Wayne has a flashing bat emblem alert system appear on his phone. Someone looking over his shoulder will know he's Batman. Lol. Also while I get that Batman has evolved from urban legend/ working in the shadows (whether you agree it's a good thing or not), driving around in the Batmobile (or flying in a huge bat shaped plane) shines a huge spotlight. Yeah it can be argued that it's an intimidation factor, sometimes I wonder if it's not more effective to be less conspicuous.

What makes a character's design work?
IMO, primarily, it should match the characters attributes/purpose and/or should be for a function/practical as oppose to an aesthetic design.
- The way Nightwing (and other acrobatic characters) moves, wearing anything other than what he wears won't make sense.
- Think capes are dumb, but Batman's cape has a function (gliding, tricking bad guys as to where exactly he is etcetera).

All in all DC does relatively "well" in the costume department. Especially in comparison to Marvel...