Are we entering the era of the practical Superhero costume?

[Neoprime]

But isn't the superhero genre inherently inherently unrealistic. Why is realism a standard by which the genre is judged?

Because nearly any genre or market needs believability and immersion, this is why Call of Duty/video games sells a lot
and comics are a niche market because of this, not too many people wanna read about The Flash getting jobbed by Deathstroke the Terminator when they can play with their AK-74u that is a mid-range weapon and is reflected in the game.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

But isn't the superhero genre inherently inherently unrealistic. Why is realism a standard by which the genre is judged?

Because Hollywood wants to rework the genre for TV and movies.

[Pharozonk]

Because nearly any genre or market needs believability and immersion, this is why Call of Duty/video games sells a lot
and comics are a niche market because of this, not too many people wanna read about The Flash getting jobbed by Deathstroke the Terminator when they can play with their AK-74u that is a mid-range weapon and is reflected in the game.

That's why DC and Marvel have sold out to appeal to the mainstream public.

[The Darknight Detective]

But isn't the superhero genre inherently inherently unrealistic. Why is realism a standard by which the genre is judged?

Because the universe should resemble our universe, but with the addition of metahumans, magic, etc. Besides, the original superhero costumes were created solely for children, which isn't the case today. Does that mean I want every character dressed in civilian-style clothing? Nope. That would be boring as hell. Some middle ground needs to be met.

[Darrell D.]

That's why DC and Marvel have sold out to appeal to the mainstream public.

They did that decades ago.
And the less that super-heroines look like strippers with body paint, the better.

[The Darknight Detective]

And the less that super-heroines look like strippers with body paint, the better.

At the very least, the vast majority of them shouldn't look that way. What would be the odds that almost every female superhero would have an exhibitionist streak?

[Powerboy]

We're in the era of "This **** needs to look good on TV" superhero costumes.

Exactly. We're in the era where there are big budget super hero movies and shows all over the place and real people need to be able to wear these costumes and not have the costumes look ridiculous when you put a real person into one. That's carrying over to the comics because the movies and shows are where most of fandom is now.

[JCAll]

Because nearly any genre or market needs believability and immersion, this is why Call of Duty/video games sells a lot
and comics are a niche market because of this, not too many people wanna read about The Flash getting jobbed by Deathstroke the Terminator when they can play with their AK-74u that is a mid-range weapon and is reflected in the game.

BAAHAHAHA! Pull the other one.

[Powerboy]

At the very least, the vast majority of them shouldn't look that way. What would be the odds that almost every female superhero would have an exhibitionist streak?

Yeah, I remember a joke someone did where they asked why it is that most male costumes cover most of the body and maybe the cape tears if a nuke explodes at ground zero while most female costumes cover very little and the whole costume explodes into conveniently placed tatters from one punch.

It's exxageration, of course. Part of it can be explained by the idea that young women who have good bodies do tend to be far more likely to wear highly revealing clothes in today's culture compared to men while the reality of a mostly male audience also explains it.

I read comics from the 1960s through the 1970s, came back a bit in the 1980s and took a hiatus until sometime in the 1990s when I, for the first time, walked into this place called a "comic book shop". At first, I thought I was in an "Adult" book store. Eye catching but, in some ways, I like it back when comic books and porn were two completely different things.

On another note, there are "realistic" costumes (and I am defining realistic as drawn in such a way it is believable that a person could really wear it) that worked for me. For instance, Ultimate Captain America's costume, at least for me, helped convey the idea that this guy is really a soldier though there was a lot more to it than that.

On the "realism" argument though, it's interesting to hear different writers give different perspectives. For instance, I remember one writer saying the big problem with Cap is that people wrote him as a super hero when he's really a soldier, an idealistic one but a soldier. That may have been Joe Quasada giving the Ultimate Universe perspective. I believe the writer of the first Cap movie said the big mistake was that he's a soldier, of course, but that's not his driving motive. First and foremost, he's a super hero with the ideals that put him far above the norm.

[Powerboy]

Continuing this realism thing, I also remember a quote from Quasada about the Ultimate Universe. It went something like, 'If you can accept that the Hulk goes on a rampage and levels a whole small town or an entire city block and not one single person gets killed or permanently crippled, if you can suspend your disbelief to that level, then fine but a lot of people want more realism than that.' But he also admits that the one place the Ultimate Universe could not be realistic was in fights among super beings. For instance, even if we say that Captain America's shield absorbs 90%, or even 99% or 99.9% of an impact, when we consider the thousands or hundreds of thousands of tons the Hulk can toss around, realistically, that 10% or 1% or even 0.1% of the impact should splatter Cap all over the pavement.

So it's always selective realism. Personally, while occasional realism of that level is a nice change of pace, I generally can accept that no one gets killed by a Hulk rampage as I accept that Cap doesn't get splattered because it's the genre and it's fiction. Trying to wow me to liking the big spectacle by giving me oh so dark and morbid mass deaths and horrible killings just does not impress.

[Gordonstar]

Times are changing, people want more practical or realistic costumes.

[JCAll]

I just hope we don't circle around to the time where bluejeans and a t-shirt with your logo on it counted as a costume.

[lancerman]

I feel like people get unnecessarily bothered with realism.

[JCAll]

Reality hasn't been too great a place recently, probably better to distance yourself from it.

[lancerman]

Reality hasn't been too great a place recently, probably better to distance yourself from it.

Recently??