Which of these would you prefer as Superman's 'first' costume?

[bat39]

Inspired by the thread about whether Superman's costume should evolve over time.

Across various continuities and adaptations, Superman has been depicted with a variety of costumes at the start of his career. Which among them would be your preference for his first costume in current continuity?

I personally lean towards a version of the Fleischer suit. It's associated with the Golden Age due to being from a 40's cartoon and does give a strong retro feel. Its close enough to the classic suit, but the logo coloring makes it distinctive.

As a runner-up, I'd go with the T-shirt and jeans look for Superboy flashbacks.

[bat39]

Siegal/Shuster




Fleischer




Classic

[manwhohaseverything]

Other,cause head canon trumps anything dc does.But,siegel and shuster for first one

[bat39]

Morrison (T-Shirt and Jeans)




New 52 Armor

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

The Jean's and Tshirt era.

[superduperman]

Remember, anyone who doesn't pick the Fleischer suit isn't a REAL Superman fan! I'm gonna be a total gatekeeper on this!

[JBatmanFan05]

I had to pick the the Fleischer suit, due to some uncertainty. Even if I could support a T-shirt/Jeans first suit, it'd have to very particular, very old school and far less young and cool, so absolutely not just Morrison's look.

Siegel/Shuster is tough to define, because Action #1's cover's costume doesn't really correspond with what's in Action #1. So I'm confused. I think I do support that Siegel/Shuster as a first costume, but we'd have to get into what that looks like.

[Ascended]

My head canon is more complex than this, but I basically want Clark to start with the Morrison t-shirt, then do something Fleischer/Siegel flavored, then the classic, then the Reborn.

[Jim Kelly]

Well, he was Superboy first and the costume he wore was the one shown in MORE FUN COMICS 101 (January-February 1945). And even before that, as Superbaby, he had his red and blue play clothes.

But I also like to think that every single costume we've seen is one he wore sometime. Probably not very often as a lot of those outfits look extremely uncomfortable--granted he's invulnerable and probably doesn't sweat, but I wouldn't want to get too close to him--Super B.O.

[bat39]

I had to pick the the Fleischer suit, due to some uncertainty. Even if I could support a T-shirt/Jeans first suit, it'd have to very particular, very old school and far less young and cool, so absolutely not just Morrison's look.

Siegel/Shuster is tough to define, because Action #1's cover's costume doesn't really correspond with what's in Action #1. So I'm confused. I think I do support that Siegel/Shuster as a first costume, but we'd have to get into what that looks like.

Fair enough. I guess the Siegal/Shuster suit is mostly just the classic suit, but with a bit of a 'rougher', less defined look. The key difference is the chest symbol...its typically smaller and the S isn't as stylized as it is in the classic suit.

I think the Earth 2 suit from the Bronze Age is a decent 'modern' attempt to capture the Siegal/Shuster suit, and you can see that the key difference there is the chest symbol (though it's 90% similar to the 'classic' symbol, other than the size).

My head canon is more complex than this, but I basically want Clark to start with the Morrison t-shirt, then do something Fleischer/Siegel flavored, then the classic, then the Reborn.

Yeah, my headcanon is similar.

I'd like Clark to wear the Morrison T-shirt while he's secretly 'Superboy' in Smallville (though he might wear the classic suit, or a variation, when he's with the LOSH in the future if that's in play). His first 'real' costume as Superman though is the Fleischer suit. He switches to the 'classic' suit in what's effectively a transition from his early 'Golden Age' phase to the Silver Age. And that's what he's mostly stuck with, with him occasionally wearing the all-black post-Death/Return suit, the New 52 armor, the Rebirth and Reborn suits, and even returning to the Fleischer suit (or something similar) on occasion.

And I kinda like the idea proposed in the current JSA stories that Clark might wear something similar to the classic Earth 2 suit (which as I mentioned above is a take on the Siegal/Shuster suit) as he grows older.

[Alan2099]

Well, he was Superboy first and the costume he wore was the one shown in MORE FUN COMICS 101 (January-February 1945). And even before that, as Superbaby, he had his red and blue play clothes.

But I also like to think that every single costume we've seen is one he wore sometime. Probably not very often as a lot of those outfits look extremely uncomfortable--granted he's invulnerable and probably doesn't sweat, but I wouldn't want to get too close to him--Super B.O.

I can see when he's first starting out that Superman has five or six suits in his closet and none of them look the same. He hasn't quite cemented his look yet. He just wears whatever.

[13th Superman]

I voted for Morrison's look but I'd change the "s" to the Fleischer version. I know he wore it in Truth but the image looks better on his early days with the cape and especially the way Rags Morales depicted him.

[Ascended]

Yeah, my headcanon is similar.

It's practically the same, actually! Weird, we must have pulled our inspirations from the same places.

In my current head canon (it changes periodically), the "Super-Boy" is a Midwestern myth like bigfoot, and Clark is at Golden Age power levels (weaker, actually, since he's still a kid). And he wears the Morrison t-shirt during this era, roughly from junior high to becoming Superman around age 23. Early on he puts a simply shaped "S" on the shirts, which he dimly remembers from persistent dreams. He thinks it means something but isn't sure what. In high school Clark hangs with the Legion during weekends and summers, and while in the future he wears a flight ring as well as the classic costume. The *actual* costume, found in the Fortress after a thousand years.

When Clark returns to his proper time, he has future knowledge erased so he doesn't accidentally (or intentionally) change history. He doesn't forget everything, just details he shouldn't bring back with him (like about being killed by Doomsday, or who won which superbowl, etc) but vague impressions sometimes remain, including a thin impression of a blue and red suit. So when Clark finally goes public as Superman, he creates (something very much like) the Flesicher costume...something close to the classic, but not quite, pulled from mostly forgotten memories of his childhood friends. I figure this follows the OG origin for the costume; Clark invents a super durable costume that can take as much punishment as he can (he's still at Golden Age levels).

I figure, all this time Clark's known he was an alien, but knows nothing else. He has no Fortress, no AI dad, no blanket. If he has the rocket, it might as well be a rock for all he can make it do. Then Brainiac/Collector of Worlds shows up and we get the Morrison style transition from Golden to Silver Age, including Clark finding Kryptonian artifacts onboard including Kandor, the crystals used to make the Fortress (and Clark finally discovers/embraces his heritage) and the classic costume, which Clark immediately takes to wearing. I'd say the suit has kryptonian tech woven into its fibers, and is as durable as Clark is becoming, much like the New52 armor.

The classic suit is damaged beyond belief fighting Doomsday. When Clark returns, he creates the Reborn suit in the Fortress as a replacement, hanging the remains of the classic in a place of honor. That's what the Legion find and repair in the 31st century for young Clark. Adult Clark wears the Reborn suit until his body transitions to pure energy sometime after Jimmy's death (natural causes, can you believe it?) and he no longer needs a suit at all.

With, of course, a few forays into other costumes like the black Returns or blue electric or Kingdom costume or covert Authority suit or whatever.

....and nobody asked to hear all that did they. Apologies. Gonna stand by my rambling though, because I think it gives the costume/s a pretty fun arc and adds a little paradox twist to Clark's life, which is a neat narrative layer.

[JBatmanFan05]

In my current head canon (which also changes periodically):

1) Modified Shirt/Jeans costume: Superman very briefly looks almost sorta like a 1920 American football player...thick long sleeved blue shirt (with a shield-ish S logo or Action #1 interior S logo) and then jeans and boots. Superman on top, farmer on the bottom. Kinda mirroring pre-batcostume Bruce Wayne who went out all dressed in black or with that army surplus jacket and all from Year One.

2) a Siegel/Shuster-ish early concept costume...some mixture of 1936 sketches, the costume on Action #1's cover, or the Action #1 interior costume.

3) the Fleischer suit...symbolically represents the dark war years (and the G. Age too, as the #1 and #2 costumes do as well)

4) Classic...which perhaps The Fortress helped create fabric-wise, or some timey wimey LOSH thing causes Superman to get this.

5) Most (not all) of other costumers Superman has had periodically.

[Prime]

T shirt and jeans just works idk why