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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46 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.
John Byrne’s all-white, barefoot Vision design from WEST COAST AVENGERS is vastly superior to John Buscema’s green, yellow and red — oh hell no, I can’t even finish typing that! Joking, OBVIOUSLY.
I have a lot of admiration for the guy, but don’t care for many of his re-designs. The black/blue FF uniforms with the white gloves never looked “right” to me , and don’t even get me started on Sue’s hair. He draws a pretty good Thing at least.
b.t.
BT - In general I found DC’s silver/jet/atomic age incarnations to be lamely uniformed.
Possible exception being the Atom.
Thus Charlie Horse always looked forward to seeing the GA counterparts! Always!
This is actually to DANGER’s point that many re-dos come in 2nd place.
Especially CAPTAIN MARVEL!
What about Wolverine? A John Romita sketch got the ball rolling, Herb Trimpe drew his first few stories, Dave Cockrum refined the design for GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1 and the costume details had organically morphed into his “classic” look by the time Byrne took over the art chores. Anyone here think the Romita/Trimpe outfit was the best one?
b.t.
Wolverine looked cooler - well, as cool as someone can be with that hairstyle - once he nicked that other costume off one of the Imperial Guard, b.t.
Btw, on hairstyles I'm not that keen on the various dos Byrne came up with for Sue Storm either. But much worse happened to Sue later. Don't get me started on *that* 90s costume.
Seen here -
https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2019/03/once-more-fantastic-four.html
I know that the stripper look was increasingly popular for superwimmen after Ms Marvel pioneered it with her black costume as the 70s turned into the 80s, but come on. Sue Storm showing that much skin seems deeply wrong...
-sean
SEAN - Well that Sue Storm outfit was always kind of stupid in my eyes, though I did not really see it until about 5 years or so ago when Redartz got me to buy a bunch of FFs of the Byrne run (or maybe it was Doug?).
Anyhow showing that much human skin just seemed risky b/c I'd always assumed that the uniforms protected the superheroes to some degree, though that's never been the case for the most part.
Also, unlike the Mar-vell 2nd uniform which was obviously a massive fail, the Angel's 2nd uniform (yellow) was a real improvement in Charlie's eyes. Though perhaps having Steranko and Adams drawing it also helped?
I think the original X-Men uniforms are sharp , and the more individualized designs of the Steranko / Adams era look pretty good too. But for me, Angel’s outfit is the weakest of the bunch, and also one of the weaker Angel costumes , period. He had better outfits before and after that yellow and red ensemble. Also, those red suspenders — ugh!
b.t.
I liked Conan's original garb as drawn by Barry Smith - a horned helmet and a necklace with three medallions on it.
From what Prowler recalls, Jan (The Wasp) would often try her hand on costume design, not just for Simon, but for some of the other Avengers.
Prowler is pushing... PUBLISH.
Speaking of costumes, when Bruce becomes the Hulk, Hulk's pant are always purple, despite what Dr Banner was wearing before his transformation. However, when his cousin Jen, who Bruce infected with his own gamma infused blood through a life saving blood transfusion, first became the She-Hulk, Jen Walters was in the hospital, so She-Hulk had a torn hospital gown. Thereafter, every time Jen transformed into She-Hulk, she was BACK IN THE HOSPITAL GOWN!?! Whaaaaat!?!
Prowler's pushing PUBLISH.... NOW!!!
Hulk and She-Hulk clearly had access to Qys technology then. It's the only explanation.
Gosh… Charlie must be stuck in a nostalgic time warp.
He prefered the Giant Man and the Hawkeye first uniforms.
I often postulate that Cap’s first shield was artistically more dramatic though not as functional as the second circular one. Alas with only one issue drawn, 85 years ago, will we ever know?
CA # 215 flashes back to Cap's 'knight in armour (chain-mail?)' shield, Charlie!
Phillip
Thanks Phillip! I should have remembered that!
Colin - enjoy your memory while you still have it!
CH - 1961
Charlie:
I agree with you 100% about the original Hawkeye costume, it’s brilliant. But my favorite Giant Man costume is the “sporty” looking one in navy blue with yellow stripes (from AVENGERS 28 and onward). It’s the one I first imprinted on in my Young Nerd days, when the early Avengers epics were being reprinted in MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION. I didn’t see the “original” Giant Man outfit until years later, and even then, I just didn’t like it much. I do love the original Ant Man costume tho (that badass helmet makes it).
b.t.
Prowler, my guess would be that the wondrous Wasp had more makeovers than any other super-hero. In the late 70s Avengers - which is when I read It regularly - she seemed to have a different costume every issue.
-sean
Apologies to dangermash, but unaccustomed as I am to going off topic here...
I read a piece in the paper earlier that may be of interest to some around these parts, about the latest in electronic music from Sheffield.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/feb/18/the-sheffield-supermarket-going-viral-for-the-symphonic-sound-of-its-freezers
-sean
Colin, surely Conan's original look was that of Weird Tales illustrations? He looked quite different in those days... Fashions in barbarism changed by the 60s, when he became a lot hairier thanks to Frank Frazetta.
Tbh I thought that triple medallion Conan had in Barry Smith's early stories was a bit odd. Mind you, I did prefer the original look Barry gave Red Sonja - with the chain mail shirt - over the metal bikini of her later appearances. Which I suspect is a minority opinion.
-sean
Sean, that Sheffield freezer-music story was also featured on The World Tonight on Radio 4.
Those Weird Tales covers showed a Conan who looked nothing like the Conan described in REH's stories!
That sounds great!
Reminds me of the customer loo in Caffè Nero at a Notting Hill Gate station that has a dreamy extractor fan droning sound. Like something Alan Splet would have conjured up.
Matthew, much as I like 'Music for Airports' I didn't really get the comparison to Brian Eno's '2/1' in the article. A much better reference point would have been the early work of American composer LaMonte Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bapAGrWpaLw
Or maybe even an outfit like zoviet*france, who I believe are northerners (albeit of the Geordie variety, rather than Yorkies).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C3u4agWQFs
-sean
It’s The Guardian. Their frame of reference for ambient or drone won’t extend beyond Eno or Max Richter.
It reminded me a bit of early Elaine Radigue.
Ex-Prince Andrew has been arrested!! OMG as the young people say.
About time, as us old folk say!
Andrew formerly known as Prince? He should create a symbol and just refer to himself as the Symbol!
Well at least your democracy seems to still have enough rule of law to potentially prosecute. Our democracy is seemingly finished… not enough politicians with a sense of ethics. Or at least half have no ethics.
I did have to laugh at RTE (Irish tv) news earlier, reporting that Andrew is the first British royal to be arrested since Charles I, 'who was then beheaded'.
-sean
I can't see any action being taken over Andrew other than a slap on the wrist or a fine, which no doubt the King ( i.e. "us", the tax payer) will pay.
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