Why can't characters keep their classic look?

[marshal99]

Well , Wasp changed her look entirely during the crossing to a bug wasp. Ugh !



And Dracula , marvel didn't just change his look , they changed his character entirely. Ugh !

[oasis1313]

Well , Wasp changed her look entirely during the crossing to a bug wasp. Ugh !

Yuck! This is worse than the pointy little helmet.

And Dracula , marvel didn't just change his look , they changed his character entirely. Ugh !

That sucked, didn't it? Dracula was CLASSIC.

[the4thpip]

I am an old fashion guy.

I see what you did there.

[Exciter]

Some of the classic costumes are just so dated and impractical. Cap's buccaneer boots? If for nothing else, DC's new 52 deserves kudos for removing the "underwear on the outside" look. I cannot possibly fathom why anyone would dress like that today. And why would a character who is written like Wolverine ever think bright yellow spandex was a good look? (Of course, they lampshaded this in the film).

Personally, I prefer my comic characters to have more grounded and practical attire that looks more like a uniform or armor. A good example would be the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. books. Those characters never really wore any ridiculous outfits.

[gurkle]

Most of them do keep their classic look, just like they keep their classic status quo, but sometimes the editors and writers change things up. Characters almost always wind up going back to something resembling their classic look, and any attempts to change it radically - like giving Wonder Woman pants - doesn't last. The purpose of changing the costume is to shake things up and get readers talking about the new look, but eventually they go back to the classic look, sometimes leaving out the most impractical stuff (though I wouldn't rule out Cap getting his booties back someday). Think of it as sort of a vacation from the status quo.

And yes, "underwear on the outside" will come back, because it always comes back. It's such an iconic part of the Superman/Batman image that it will come back someday.

[Zero Hunter]

No character look is 100% the same as when they started. Not even Spider Man. Some changes are just more drastic than others.

[Qwathings]

For the same reason we are not all running around in animal fur.

Because PETA would throw red paint on us?

[basbash99]

Because the story sometimes calls for new looks and merchandising.

I agree that in addition to the need to update looks part of it is about selling action figures/posters/t-shirts. Look at all the versions of Iron Man figures out there with variant armors.

[shellpresto]

Do you seriously want Luke Cage running around in that yellow satin shirt with the 1970s era wide butterfly collar, afro and metal headband???

I would just like to state that my first exposure to Luke Cage was that particular version, in an issue of X-Men where he teamed up with Storm (in her original costume, which is arguably one of the most awesome costume designs ever), fending off drug addicts in New York, and I thought those two were the epitome of bad@$$. So I understand the desire for characters to keep their old looks.

But it just doesn't resonate with new readers. It would be suicide for Marvel to do it. I mean, can you imagine if all the X-Men wore the original 60s outfit? There never would have been that 90s Wolverine costume.

[DurararaFTW]

Anyone miss Wolverine's 90s yellow outfit from the Fox cartoon or the brown and yellow one from the 80s?

We only got the brown/yellow costume because artists were allowed to update his classic look.

[Baron of Faltine]

You guys almost make it sound like keeping an older costume is a bad thing. Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Nightcrawler still have their classic looks. No one would care if they FF went back to the old costumes. Black Widow and Black Panther essentially look the same as their '60s incarnations.

Suspension of disbelief is very tricky and individual. Some comic fans go hard for new costumes, as if having a blank crotch makes Wolverine's bright yellow look any less silly. Pretty much any of the casuals and non-readers I know don't give a rat's ass. DC had Jim Lee redesign everyone, but all those costumes are looked down on by the fans.

IMO, the original Cap costume shouldn't have been messed with. First, the scales and hard mask made it ugly. He never really used the utility belt he got shortly after. And then the Ultimovie style was never consistently drawn. They tried to make "functional" out of something that can't ever exist.

Wolverine's last costume was a mess, even less consistent than Cap's. The yellow jumpsuit was okay, but I don't think the brown scheme will ever be beat.

I think you're wrong on some point. Mostly you don't realize that even character who at first glance still has their classic costume, it is actually not.
Change were minimal, but they were present(often in detail you did not notice at first glance). Example how it is exactly the patern of the wep on Spiderman costume? And the Spider on his chest, how big it is, and the size of his "eyes", and the waist line, and the space between his gloves and the blue part of the arm, web shooters insider or outside? Is red and blue or red and blakc, and what type of red and blue then?
Change is necessary, pivotal. Sometimes is more extreme and sometimes not
Sometimes a costume is so easy and simple and irrelevant that no one really care(example hulk)
Other time is build in the character to change costume (iron man as example)
Other times there is no such thing as classic as there is a certain Nostalgic feeling for this or that costume(I liked the armor thor wore in past, bu so i did for when he inhabitated the Destroyer armor put those spiffy wings on the helm and got that majestic cape on it...need an action figure of it)
And beleive me nostaliga is almost always wrong. Misguided. Because you don't really want exactly what you experienced in past(whenre-watching MoTU i realized how bad those toons were, destroying any nostalgic feeling i got about it) but you miss yourself when you experienced it(Where is the 10-12 years me?)
classic is one of those term that should not be taken as a form of crystallization in artistic field, as it bring to creative sterility. It should be instead a base to start with something to learn for and improve, or even BREAK from it, going for sudden change that could become the next classic. This is how art progress. Nothing is sacred in art and is a good thing.

[pageturner]

I agree that in addition to the need to update looks part of it is about selling action figures/posters/t-shirts. Look at all the versions of Iron Man figures out there with variant armors.

Iron man is the one guy who in his story it dictates his look should change. It just makes sense he would constantly be updating. The action figure etc money is a nice bonus though.

[Exciter]

And yes, "underwear on the outside" will come back, because it always comes back. It's such an iconic part of the Superman/Batman image that it will come back someday.

With the movies moving away from it, I don't think its a guarantee. I hope it never returns.

[dzub]

because we would have namor blowing up planets in his green briefs

[JudicatorPrime]

And yes, "underwear on the outside" will come back, because it always comes back. It's such an iconic part of the Superman/Batman image that it will come back someday.

I hope not. I don't even want to see Namor in a speedo. So glad that creators are moving away from the briefs on the outside look.