Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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| Image by Tumisu from Pixabay |
A wise man once said, "Speak now or forever hold your tongue."
I can only assume he was a reader of Sheffield's 38th greatest website and, in particular, of the most amazing feature of which the human mind has ever conceived.
The one in which you the Reader get to decide just what the topic of the day shall be.
It could be just about any subject under the sun or even above, behind, beside, inside, around or in front of it.
All that matters is that it can be found in the comments section below and is awaiting your input, with bated breath.
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19 comments:
How about characters whose original look was always their best, despite attempts to improve them, bringing them up to date? I'll kick off with two:
- The Beetle, with those three long suction fingers on each hand. Pure silver age bonkerness. Replacing them with plain green gloves destroyed his raison d'être
- The Rhino, the inspiration behind this post. That hide of his that John Romita gave him in ASM 40-43 looked tough and thick, matching the character perfectly. But then in Iron man and Spider-Man strips in the 80s, artists tried to turn the hide into armour, with over lapping bits and (I think) what looked like metal bolts.
Great topic, dangermash! One that immediately springs to my mind is Wonder-man. His original 'W' costume was much better than its garish-coloured (still black & white, in the UK) replacement - or his red 'field jacket' which subsequently replaced that!
Phillip
Good one Phillip. We reach!
DANGERMASH! Great topic man!
Gimme the original IRON MAN.
Clunky, bulky, ugly…
But he really appeared legit and “realistic” for the times! And even today, i doubt a suit of armor would look like body paint!
Luke Cage should have remained HERO FOR HIRE, not become a POWER MAN though the uniform remained the same.
CH (again)
And, reversing the question, DD’s original duds were a dud. IMO.
CH
Fair point. I'm a red and gold man myself though. It's that change to the triangular, red and silver, shoulder padded look in the 80s that grates with me.
To be fully forthcoming, i re-discovered the grey, clunky Iron Man probably around 2015. It wasn’t like Charlie had been chaffing since like 1965 (?). And like you I was perfectly good with the original red/gold uniform.
Only after buying a Marvel 100% Reprint with the grey Iron Man (an early Tales of Suspense with Black Widow?) from Like 10 years ago did I reprise ole ShellHead’s looks!
If we're going down that route, I have the Melter down as a necessary and successful upgrade on the original look. The Gene Colan upgrade you can see at https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2017/09/mysteriously-yours-melter.html
CH:
Agreed about DD’s original outfit — the red vest and trunks over yellow leotard thing was tragic . Wally Wood’s red-with-black-shading fightin’ togs were sleek, dramatic and instantly iconic. Perfection.
I do love the clunky original Iron Man armor (in its original dull gray too) — but my fave IM look is the classic red-and-gold. Color-wise I’d have to say making Hulk green instead of gray was a big improvement, too.
Slight tangent: costume-wise, which do we prefer, Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern or the Early Silver Age versions? I didn’t get any of the DC 100 pagers when I was a neophyte Comics Nerd, and never saw any of the JLA/JSA crossover comics either, so I don’t have any nostalgic affection for the Golden Age versions of those characters. Personally, I find the Golden Age costumes underwhelming, and think the Jet Age costumes are far more appealing.
Namor was wearing his Romita-designed black pleather outfit when I started buying comics, so I do have a slight nostalgic attachment to it (and it’s a pretty cool design) but you really can’t beat his classic look. Spock ears, ankle-wings and green fish-scaled speedos is all you need .
Black Widow : her classic Emma Peel-esque catsuit was her third costume (I think) but it’s easily my favorite .
b.t.
I must admit that old Iron Man story where someone steals his attache case with the gold and red armour and Stark has to dress up in the old clunky armour to fight him was quite the treat when I read the U.K. reprint in the mid 70s.
Although I was and still am confused by how the new chestplate could have been in the case when I thought Stark had to wear it 24/7.
Oh yes, that first Black Widow costume (after two or three appearances in normal clothes) was hideous!
Oh, and I agree about the Rhino. That original design is so badass, I never questioned that he could convincingly take on the Hulk. Honestly, I’m not even sure he has super-strength but he sure LOOKS formidable :D
I’ve never seen any of these later iteration dangermash describes but they sound really bad. If they’re anything like that silly thing Paul Giamatti was wearing in that one Spider-Man movie, it gets a hard pass from me.
b.t.
I've always preferred Captain Britain's original costume and Spider-Man's iconic original costume was always better than the '80s black alien one. I liked Ms Marvel's original costume too.
Colin:
Agreed.
Really REALLY agreed!!
And…reluctantly agreed. It’s just Mar-vell’s outfit with bare legs and exposed midriff, so I absolutely SHOULDN’T like it… but I do.
b.t.
Some Rhino shots at https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-sinister-five.html with a more "armoured" look but nowhere near as good as the Romita look.
On the subject of Mar-Vell, how come this thread is 16 comments in, and Charlie hasn't mentioned his original green costume yet?
-sean
OM Stars!!! BT - you triggered my PTSD costume pain. Charlie has always found the original green Cpt Marvel to be the greatest uniform ever!!!
Switching from green and whitento the primary colors… painful!!!
That was sean, Charlie, not me. But while we’re on the subject , I like Mar-vell’s original green and white uniform a lot (it’s very distinctive, for one thing) but I have to admit, I prefer the red, dark blue and gold Kane/Starlin outfit. CAPTAIN MARVEL #30, MTU #16 and DAREDEVIL #107 were among the first comics I bought in my early days of being an Obsessive Comic Nerd and Mar-vell’s visual made a big impression.
b.t.
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