Here's the thing though - there's nothing thematic in our modern society to link the trunks easily with the next generation. Wrestlers? Olympic wrestlers aren't a part of the pop culture. The wrestling that is a part of the pop culture is ridiculous. Strongman? Also not a big part of the pop culture, and their outfits are designed to show off more bare muscles, so if that's the inspiration you'd have to lose the sleeves.
I get you want to keep the trunks and make keeping them "thematic", but the culture is just to different now. The trunks can't be connected to some great strongman theme, the circus isn't a part of our culture in the same way. You can make that thematic connection all you want, but it's going to fall flat to the kids.
The trunks will sadly stay for the time being because of nostalgia, but there's no good point for them anymore beyond nostalgia. Maybe the world will change in the coming decades and trunks will be a thing in our culture again. But right now it's just an outdated relic.
There's no in story explanation that will make it not a joke to modern non-nostalgic people.
I can go for or against trunks, leaning ever so slightly towards against but if you ask me, Superheroes are now a bigger part of pop culture than they've ever been, so their iconic aesthetics: capes, boots, tights, cowls, domino masks, tiaras, utility belts, rings, white eyes, helmets, bracelets, logo and yes....trunks, are their own "link" as you put it.
Though again, if they go away again, I won't miss them but they are a part of superhero iconography and that's all the justification you need to keep them around.
Last edited by OpaqueGiraffe17; 09-12-2020 at 09:41 PM.
double posted, again apparently.
Last edited by OpaqueGiraffe17; 09-12-2020 at 09:42 PM.
Then change the trunks. Find things that do. Superman should be as mythic as they come. There should layers for the character that screams the story of a man who is both the dragon and the knight, a gladiator who rose up to take on the corruption of state, a friend and a champion who lead his people to freedom. Put back the moses, spartacus, fenrir... Etc in superman .Build superman back up. No, that's not clark kent or kal el.People just think superman identity is just an extension of the other two. When it's not, superman is what mattered in goldenage. Not the other two. They were his support. That's how it should be.Go for what works.
Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 09-12-2020 at 10:01 PM.
I am just going to add on another reason why the suit will never work again because they are modern day superheroes stories being told with good costumes. The Boys are killing it with costumes for example Homelander and Stormfront have very good suits. All might in my hero academia has a good suit. Thor has a good suit. In fact everyone you will put around Superman does not have the trunks. Superman is going to standout and not in a good way. As the modern designs stick around get fined tuned, Superman costume looks more and more like a relic to people who aren't hardcore lovers of the character.
Sure go ahead say that but then tell your follow Superman fans don't be surprise and complain when he can't regain his stature in modern era. You can't keep classic and be shocked the fornite gen is really feeling you. The best superhero suits Spiderman, Batman, Flash,etc have evolved with the eras .All those characters I have mention their suits match modern stuff will keeping elements that clearly make them recognizable as "the character".
Last edited by Killerbee911; 09-12-2020 at 09:54 PM.
I want to agree with this, but I suddenly realized I don't know what actually is "mythic". Like the definition and how to apply it to Superman. I want more Smashes the Klan type books, but was that mythic? It was both timeless and timely, one of the best stories in comics ever, but felt more true to life in it's relation to society and ideals. Man and Superman was great, but also a more grounded origin than usual (if billionaires using guided missiles to further corporate goals is "grounded").
What is mythic? Comics are modern myths, but what does that mean?
Closest I can say is that I agree with the desire that he should be larger than life in the best way.
I'm not sure how well those comparisons with Flash, Spider-man and Batman hold up. For starters Flash never had trunks, what he's struggled with are his yellow boots often being left out of modern costumes. For Batman, let's look at that hard for a second here. In all the various mediums. Comics, for all the 80 years these two have published almost all the time Clark has wore trunks, so has Bruce, and whenever Clark doesn't have trunks, neither does Bruce. In animation, I can think of a more times where Batman had trunks and Clark doesn't than the other way. Live action i prefer no trunks for both characters, but damn if Reeve Superman and Kingdom Come Routh didn't pull it off. First 2 Arkham games, Bruce rocked those trunks like a champ. Anyway, most live actiom Batmen have been stuck wearing boring all black rubber like it's still the 2000s decade, so not a win in my book.
Quite a few things may be keeping Superman away from the fortnite kids, I don't think sometimes using the trunks is a particularly big factor, no.
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Last edited by OpaqueGiraffe17; 09-12-2020 at 10:18 PM.
I edited my post.The design of shuster was generally about a physical marvel who protects the weak and it should scream not just strength, chivalry, optimistic idealism , a certain cynicism of technology with reluctant acceptance and confidence in human capacity , an unyielding yearning to get out of the shackles that the structures have become like fenrir, spartacus, moses.. Etc. The chose something that had symbolic meaning at that time.
"i swear to be burned, to be beaten, to be chained and to die by the sword in pursuit of honor"
Ofcourse, these are allegories that shouldn't be thrust into bluntly like what snyder does. But, essentially i want them to find something in real world that has all these aspects and link to the absolute physicality that's the character's m. o from the get go. Superman to be that. For example, if you ask 30s kid what superman is? He would tell you that guy is alien strongman. So, something that's equivalent. What's superman in 2020?an alien martial artist(goku) , an alien powerlifter, an alien boxer,... Etc. Anything. Some that can be said in a sentence. But, can have ethics and philosophy involved. I mean, every thing has its own rules.Surely, there might something or somethings(multiple) that exists in the real world that can be used as inspiration for design and can be used to build mythos around it.For example, batman is linked to ninjas and bat in the nolan movies. Batman is a batthemed vigilante ninja/detective.He is even a allegory to a good black knight like say guts from berserk . Which is another problem. When that happens they shove superman into the role of the two faced white knight/messiah like say Griffith.
That should be put an end to. Superman ain't a white knight. He was inspired by slaves and gladiators. He is something that bruce wayne can only mimick but never be. He is a working class man with ideals.
The thing about just removing the trunks is that.He would be wearing a tights has no meaning. Why does he wear it? What's the symbolism? Essentially, things like superman reborn or rebirth suit. We can't build a mythos around that. At the very least morrison made the new52 suit into knight's armour. There is something tangible there. But, the design sucked, technology and superman have wierd frenemy dynamics. So making it nanotech was dumb decision.
Well, that's the thing naive good isn't seen as real good. Superman is more than just light and wonder. He is more than batman's yang or support character. Stop treating the character as support character and start treating him like a protagonist. Expecting mediocrity from superman has killed the franchise. As said, superman isn't batman's white knight.
Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 09-14-2020 at 08:48 AM.
And I kinda hope that stops. At least for Lois. I don't really care about Lana either way. Part of what makes Lois such an appealing character to me is how she practically embodies the "badass normal" trope. That's why I wasnt a big fan of her New 52 self becoming Superwoman.
Last edited by Blue22; 09-13-2020 at 10:26 AM.
There's not a mythos around the trunks anymore either. The mythos is real men wear their underwear under their pants.
I don't know, it's just weird that every little thing he wears needs some profound reason to be there. Sometimes you just need to wear something to cover your bottom half, and trunks aren't the right choice for that today.