Most practical and least practical costumes

[Bicycle-Repairman]

Which comic book characters do you think had the most practical and least practical costumes? Here are my choices:

Most practical: Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom
A somewhat unconventional hero from Gold Key Comics, the radiation-powered scientist Dr. Solar didn't even wear a costume in his early appearances. Solar eventually donned a simple but functional outfit: goggles, belt, and tights that covered his entire body except for his face. Because Solar was radioactive his tights were coloured red and had a radiation symbol on them as a warning for others to keep their distance.

Least practical: Llyra
It would make sense for characters who spend most of their time underwater to wear light clothing that offers little resistance when they are swimming. Namor the Sub-Mariner's classic costume is very practical: he simply wears a pair of swim briefs. However, many of Namor's enemies wore outfits unsuitable for their undersea environment. One of them was the Lemurian-human hybrid Llyra, who wore a long cloth cape that would have gotten soggy and weighed her down and thigh-high high-heeled boots that would have made walking difficult enough, let alone swimming.

[Shellhead]

Most practical: Iron Man. There are lots of genius inventors in comics, but few of them wear high-tech body armor. It would be even better if he used at least some of the basic elements of his stealth armor for his standard costume.

Least practical: Llyra is a good pick that I would have never thought of, so I will say Iron Fist. A martial artist shouldn't wear such tight, confining clothing, though the shortened sleeves and pants are a nice touch. The worst part is that huge flared collar, which obstructs his peripheral vision.

[Kid Kyoto]

Iron Man's hard to beat, the Punisher also works for me. And the Flash. Storm costumes with a big cape, since the was supposed to use it as a sail to fly.

Skintight, pocketless outfits only work for me with characters so powerful they don't need any tools or equipment. Superman, Green Lantern, Capt Marvel, heck Capt Mar-Vell for that matter. On someone like Cyclops though, just no. Heroes should be carrying at least as much gear as a cop, if not a soldier.

Ones that don't work...

Like I said skintight, no pouch, no pocket outfits on anyone who's remotely human. Heck I don't leave home without a phone, wallet, keys, comb etc... if I was going to fight crime a flashlight, camera, swiss army knife, and first aid kit would all be mandatory.

Moon Knight, a dark avenger stalking the city, in a white outfit?

Daredevil, for a long time it was supposed to be a secret that he was blind, yet his costume has no eye holes?

[foxley]

Most practical:

The Question. Street clothes that change colour when exposed to the same gas that attches your mask. A mask that completely conceals your identity. No shortage of pockets. No need to somehow convince comics fans that you can conceal a suit of armour in your briefcase (something else I've found impossible to buy about Tony Stark).

Least practical:

Lots of competition here. Any of those 90s 'dark and gritty' heroes with massive shoulderpads (restrict your movement), spikes (dangerous to yourself), guns bigger than you are, etc. Pick any costume from Youngblood really.

[Jolly Mon]

Least Practical: See Foxley's avatar. Basically any woman who goes around with her, uh, attributes spilling out, who is supposedly going to be getting into a fight and manages to keep her stripper's outfit on. The winners in this category are too many to count, but consider: most of the pre-5 year gap Legion women, especially Princess Projectra, Phantom Lady (Freedom Fighters, not Legion), Wonder Woman, Moondragon, Shanna the She-Devil, Red Sonja, etc.

Not that I would do away with cleavage and half-naked women, but sometimes it just gets silly.

[Kirk G]

My mom once dressed me as a tiger with a long droopy tail for Halloween.
Of course, it rained, and the tail got dragged through the wet grass, leaves, mudpuddles. Boy was she pissed....

I still remember to this day, some 50 years later... oy!

[Simon Garth]

Least Practical: See Foxley's avatar. Basically any woman who goes around with her, uh, attributes spilling out, who is supposedly going to be getting into a fight and manages to keep her stripper's outfit on. The winners in this category are too many to count, but consider: most of the pre-5 year gap Legion women, especially Princess Projectra, Phantom Girl (Freedom Fighters, not Legion), Wonder Woman, Moondragon, Shanna the She-Devil, Red Sonja, etc.

Not that I would do away with cleavage and half-naked women, but sometimes it just gets silly.

The original Ms Marvel costume was incredibly impractical - daft belly-baring cut out, and a weird scarf thing that was a flapping invitation for any villain to either strangle her with it, or use it to swing her into some unyielding object.

Her new one, with the S/lightning swish was much better, as it protected most of her body. However, over time, parts of it have been shrunk to the extent that her lower regions are protected by nothing much more than dental floss

[Jolly Mon]

The original Ms Marvel costume was incredibly impractical - daft belly-baring cut out, and a weird scarf thing that was a flapping invitation for any villain to either strangle her with it, or use it to swing her into some unyielding object.

Her new one, with the S/lightning swish was much better, as it protected most of her body. However, over time, parts of it have been shrunk to the extent that her lower regions are protected by nothing much more than dental floss

Agreed on all counts. The 1st outfit seemed to be born from the desire to copy & feminize Mar-Vell's outfit and to find new areas of skin to bare.

And dental floss definitely qualifies as impractical (and, I would suspect, damn uncomfortable).

[MWGallaher]

DC's 70's super-group The Freedom Fighters had the most impractical costumes, as an ensemble, anyway. One guy wearing a stove-pipe hat (and long-tailed tux) into the arena of battle, a flying character with a filmy cape-like garment apparently designed to hang up on every doorknob he passed by, a guy that has to pause to take off his gloves to use his super power, a woman in a stripper's costume who probably relied on her "black light projector" to recover her modesty when her halter top got shifted by an inch, a 6-inch man wearing a cape (to make him that much easier to grab hold of), a guy with 18 inches of scarf attached to his mask (to make him that much easier to grab hold of!), and...well, a guy in a conventional skin-tight suit. Verily, the clumsiest-looking superteam of all time.

[stelok]

Most practical:
Batman's all-black costume (from the Batman movie)- I think he should weat the all-black costume instead of the gray one, because it not only suits his image as a knight of darkness, but also helps to enhance his stealth abilities .



Least practical:
Cap's Nomad costume with cape- it was so impractical Steve tripped on his own cape.

[Hintermann]

Most Practical: Lothar, friend and assitant to Mandrake the Magician. Whether you take his early shorts & leapordskin outfit or more modern T-shirt & trousers, both are admirably suited to doing what he does so well.

Least Practical: The Phantom. The guy lives in the middle of a tropical jungle, but insists on wearing those awful purple tights all the time, including in bed! Imagine what the costume must smell like after a typically busy day out!
Even worse is when he ventures out into the wide world; he adds a heavy greatcoat over the costume while still in Africa!

[Jolly Mon]

Least Practical: The Phantom. The guy lives in the middle of a tropical jungle, but insists on wearing those awful purple tights all the time, including in bed! Imagine what the costume must smell like after a typically busy day out!
Even worse is when he ventures out into the wide world; he adds a heavy greatcoat over the costume while still in Africa!

I think you've uncovered what killed all the other Phantoms over the generations: heatstroke