Source: 1st - Justice League vol.2 #1 (2011)
Type: The (cough) real deal
New year of Reign. New era in Superman comics. So... it's been a month a half. More since it was first SHOWN. Does anyone like the new "Kryptonian armor" yet? Any sign of our "getting used to it"?
It would help if an artist - ANY artist - were able to make it look good. Even Jim Lee doesn't manage it. I mean, it works as well as it can, but there's too much unbroken blue, and to me, if the hair doesn't have the trademark "S" curl, it could be any pretty boy in the suit. But the true test is whether other artists can make use of the costume without the benefit of Jim Lee's style.
George Perez
He comes as close as anyone could thanks to his very detailed style. And yet, it shows off how inherently silly the kneecaps are. The whole thing looks like Perez was drawing an articulated action figure.
Jésus Merino
The regular artist on Superman as often as not shows the Man of Steel from a distance, or in close-up, or moving so fast you don't see him clearly. I wonder why. Maybe it's because he can't help but make the trunkless belt look like the worst accessory since the invention of meat dresses.
Yanick Paquette
I like Paquette's work a great deal, but even he murders the knee guards. The arm guards here look like they could have laser guns popping out of them, and the "S" shield is HUGE!
Mikel Janin
Here, the lack of trunks and busy knees seems to make Superman's legs supernaturally long. The elongation is in the arms too, thanks to those wrist guards, and in the neck with the high collar. Bit effete, but I realize that's because of the emo haircut. I find it annoying on Japanese pop stars too.
Mahmud Asrar
Wait, are there always red stripes on the sleeves? See... not everyone puts them in. Asrar's Superman is way too blocky and the armor segments look haphazard under his more fluid style.
Editorial
Bottom line - and I'm sure I've said this before - the new costume moves Superman away from his iconic look, and when you want kids to adopt your character into their bosom, it helps if they can actually draw him! It's a lesson I learned from one Gene Roddenberry on the subject of the Enterprise design. All the artists now need model sheets to figure out how to draw even the most popular of guest-stars. I know how they feel. In fact, the DCU looks very unfamiliar now and not in a good way. I like the Dark books because they trade on unfamiliarity in the right way, opening a strange world up to be explored. But with the more mainstream hero stuff, DC has turned me into that mysterious "potential reader" they say used to NOT pick up their books because of over-complicated continuity. After 1 or 2 issues of each comic, *I* don't understand DC's continuity and feel alienated from it. Part of it is that they didn't reboot everything, leaving us to guess what happened and what didn't. But part of it is definitely those ugly-ass uniforms. Without the ICON to latch onto, I feel completely adrift.
But maybe you have a different take on it.
Type: The (cough) real deal
New year of Reign. New era in Superman comics. So... it's been a month a half. More since it was first SHOWN. Does anyone like the new "Kryptonian armor" yet? Any sign of our "getting used to it"?It would help if an artist - ANY artist - were able to make it look good. Even Jim Lee doesn't manage it. I mean, it works as well as it can, but there's too much unbroken blue, and to me, if the hair doesn't have the trademark "S" curl, it could be any pretty boy in the suit. But the true test is whether other artists can make use of the costume without the benefit of Jim Lee's style.
George Perez
He comes as close as anyone could thanks to his very detailed style. And yet, it shows off how inherently silly the kneecaps are. The whole thing looks like Perez was drawing an articulated action figure.Jésus Merino
The regular artist on Superman as often as not shows the Man of Steel from a distance, or in close-up, or moving so fast you don't see him clearly. I wonder why. Maybe it's because he can't help but make the trunkless belt look like the worst accessory since the invention of meat dresses.Yanick Paquette
I like Paquette's work a great deal, but even he murders the knee guards. The arm guards here look like they could have laser guns popping out of them, and the "S" shield is HUGE!Mikel Janin
Here, the lack of trunks and busy knees seems to make Superman's legs supernaturally long. The elongation is in the arms too, thanks to those wrist guards, and in the neck with the high collar. Bit effete, but I realize that's because of the emo haircut. I find it annoying on Japanese pop stars too.Mahmud Asrar
Wait, are there always red stripes on the sleeves? See... not everyone puts them in. Asrar's Superman is way too blocky and the armor segments look haphazard under his more fluid style.Editorial
Bottom line - and I'm sure I've said this before - the new costume moves Superman away from his iconic look, and when you want kids to adopt your character into their bosom, it helps if they can actually draw him! It's a lesson I learned from one Gene Roddenberry on the subject of the Enterprise design. All the artists now need model sheets to figure out how to draw even the most popular of guest-stars. I know how they feel. In fact, the DCU looks very unfamiliar now and not in a good way. I like the Dark books because they trade on unfamiliarity in the right way, opening a strange world up to be explored. But with the more mainstream hero stuff, DC has turned me into that mysterious "potential reader" they say used to NOT pick up their books because of over-complicated continuity. After 1 or 2 issues of each comic, *I* don't understand DC's continuity and feel alienated from it. Part of it is that they didn't reboot everything, leaving us to guess what happened and what didn't. But part of it is definitely those ugly-ass uniforms. Without the ICON to latch onto, I feel completely adrift.
But maybe you have a different take on it.
Comments
Not to say there aren't some very good books in the DC line, but most of these would have worked as is without the flushpoint.
But the Jim Lee costume is not an improvement in any way over the traditional look. Once in a while it doesn't hurt to say, "I can't improve upon the original". A tiny speck of humility is classy.
Clark Kent, if you're reading this, I will buy you red underpants so you can give them to your friend Superman.
Anon: Note that for all their talk of unpantsing Superman, Jim Lee STILL draws him with underpants over his pants. They're just camouflaged in blue. The lines are definitely there through.
Among many, many lines.
And in that one piece, why is SuperMAN wearing SuperGIRL's old sleeves?
DC can stop spoiling future revelations through their PR office ANY TIME. Let's let the STORIES make the revelations, ok?
Whenever I've drawn it, I've simply drawn the old Superman suit with the high collar and a red belt in lieu of the trunks. I hope that the pros start drawing it a bit more like that, because honestly, Superman doesn't need armor.
However, I gotta say I hope that the simplified version of this costume, at least, will last a while, because I like the new Superman and Action Comics arcs and hope they stay in continuity. for a while.