Horrible Costumes That You Actually Like

[pennywisdom]

Which universally reviled costumes do you really like? Typically, classic characters who receive updated costumes in a vain attempt to make them more contemporary and cool fall into this category.

My choices:

Daredevil's Armor Costume (Daredevil 319-325)



It looks badass, and it's obviously functional. I think people associate these costumes with characters at low points in their popularity or creative talent on their respective comics, so they give the costumes the same sideways look.

Superman's "Electric Blue" Costume (1997)



Sacrilege, right? I just personally like the ideas of classic characters evolving and going in whole new directions, iconic status be damned. Not only did the costume change in this case, the powers did too. I though the look of "Electric Blue" Superman was really cool and stylish, and it would have worked on a new character. I also associate this costume with Morrison's JLA, which was badass.

Jean Paul Valley's "Azrael/Batman" Costume (KnightFall/KnightQuest/KnightsEnd, 1993-94)



I enjoyed this story because I knew it wasn't a permanent switch. The new Batman was a completely different character, though, so a new costume had be in place to separate them visually. This is one of the best gothic/creepy character designs and is exactly what I have in my head if I were to picture a more violent and extreme version of Batman. The costume agrees with the character, even if you hate them both.

Those are my picks. Horrible, aren't they?

[dancj]

I'm with you on tha Azbats costume. There was nothing wrong with that.

There wasn't really anything wrong with the Daredevil costume either other than the fact that the red one looks better.

Dan

[Kid Kyoto]

The V 4 Legion of Superhero costume.

Basically grey jackets and pants worn with elements of their costumes.



They looked grown up and practical.

And of course I associate with my favorite run on the LSH.

[brundlefly]

He's not really a classic character and the costume wasn't exactly universally reviled, but Doc Polaris' costume upgrade caught some flak here and there for being "too 90s," too heavy-handed an attempt to make him look cooler, and other such weak criticisms. But I thought his new duds:



were quite an improvement over his old costume:



which was just so goofy that he couldn't be taken seriously, what with that horseshoe magnet on his chest like it was his version of Superman's S-shield or Batman's bat-symbol. "I am Magnet-Man!!" :D

[Dan Apodaca]

I'm with you on tha Azbats costume. There was nothing wrong with that.

Excessive pouches, "kewl" armor, and no mouth spring to mind.

[pennywisdom]

He's not really a classic character and the costume wasn't exactly universally reviled, but Doc Polaris' costume upgrade caught some flak here and there for being "too 90s," too heavy-handed an attempt to make him look cooler, and other such weak criticisms. But I thought his new duds:



were quite an improvement over his old costume:



which was just so goofy that he couldn't be taken seriously, what with that horseshoe magnet on his chest like it was his version of Superman's S-shield or Batman's bat-symbol. "I am Magnet-Man!!" :D

That 90's version was actually the only Doctor Polaris that I ever saw (my age being what it is). I like it and definitely think it's more severe than the corny old costume. I agree.... chest logos are often overrated and cheesy.

[dancj]

Excessive pouches, "kewl" armor, and no mouth spring to mind.

But it all works well for the character.

(is the "no mouth" thing a serious criticism? Do you hate the Spider-Man costume?)

[Dan Apodaca]

But it all works well for the character.

(is the "no mouth" thing a serious criticism? Do you hate the Spider-Man costume?)

I don't always hate the "no mouth" mask, I just get irritated when it's done in an attempt to make a character more "badass". Especially if it's a mouth removal from a character who used to have the mouth.

mouth mouth mouth mouth mouth mouth

[CapFan]

I like Armored Daredevil too.

[Nitz the Bloody]

I know this is Comics Should Be Good, not Cartoons Should Be Good, but I love the designs for the current Batman cartoon. The show's writing is average at best, but for some reason I love designs like Rasta Joker, Ice-Head Freeze, and Manson Riddler. They look so wild and crazy, much more imaginative than the flat Dini/Timm designs.

( And Batman started and continues as a comic, and The Batman has an animated tie-in, so it connects back to comics, see? :p )

[howyadoin]

Wasn't the AzBats costume deliberately ugly? Seems to me I read that somewhere.

Either way, it looks like a Liefeld design. The only cliches it doesn't have are a ponytail and a vest.

[Babylon23]

The V 4 Legion of Superhero costume.

And of course I associate with my favorite run on the LSH.

I loved everything about this run, including the costumes.

The DD armour looked good. It's only problem was that it was completely impractical for a character like Daredevil.

[Gingold]

The old Dr. Polaris is a much better luck than the 90s update. He looks like some generic Youngblood villain.

Bad costumes that I sort of like? The original Robin and Bat-Girl costumes. Wonder Man's Christmas Tree costume is hideous, but there's something about it that appeals to me. Those New Mutants "graduation costumes" that Art Adams drew in X-Men annual #10 were ugly and fun.

[The Batman]

I can't say that I cared all that much for the Azbats costume, I'm not sure that it was specifically designed to be ugly but I do believe it was designed to encorporate alot of very recognicable 90's era costume elements. There were things liked about it when it entered into it's final and more armoured stage but as a whole, not so much. I did like both 'Electric Blue' Superman and the amoured look for Daredevil which I felt made sense given that he's more or less as vulnerable as the rest of us and it didn't seem to be so much armour and protective padding and didn't see so bulky as to hamper his movements.

Now, just to show that I don't have any taste, here's a few of the costumes that other people hate but I love.



A bit of a departure from Hal's costume sure, but I really liked Kyle's first Green Lantern costume, crab mask and all. By far my favourite look for my favourite Green Lantern.



I know it's beyond impractical but there's something I just love about the overly cluttered look that Cable had going on in the 90's. It's terrible and the pouches and shoulder pads got so overdone so quickly but I thought Cable always looked really cool and I liked how it all came together. Excess done right IMO.






I liked both of the costumes Ben Reilly worse during his time as first the Scarlet Spider and then as Spider-Man. I know that the 'Clone Saga' gets alot of flak now but I always thought it was a cool story that just went on too long and I really liked both these costumes that came out of it.

[Tommy]

I liked the bomber jacket look. It worked on Rogue. I liked it on SOME of the Avengers. I like a jacket much more than I like capes.