Starfire has new clothes!
OK, not really. But I’m pleased to announce Blair J. Campbell’s costume redesign won Superhero of the Month’s most recent contest, in which V. and I served as guest judges. For me, it was a tie between Campbell’s costume and Michelle Scuito’s, which was V.’s favorite.
In case you missed it, here’s what we had to say about our two top picks: Continue reading
Girls Gone Geek has the distinct pleasure of being guest judges over at Super Hero of the Month for the Starfire redesign contest. E. and I both agree that few characters could use a fashion makeover as much as Starfire. She has been rendered many ways over the years, but almost always wearing very little. Her most recent incarnation in Red Hood and the Outlaws might be the most ridiculous version to date. Continue reading
Well, this is more like it. They’ve ditched the fugly pleather, light blue pants and brought back the snappy red footwear. The tiara isn’t my favorite, but overall, this costume is definitely an improvement. I can see how it could look fun on television, and I’ll bet you a Starbucks Americano that the dinky lasso is going to have some CGI oomph on screen. I can’t imagine that the studio is going to adopt Christmas garland as one of Diana’s most powerful weapons.
Some have said that Adrianne Palicki isn’t buff enough to fill Wondy’s boots, but she looks plenty lean and mean in the published action scenes. I’ve never had a problem with her in the role. Besides, everyone looks more substantial on film, and I’d rather we didn’t continue the tabloid tradition of picking apart an actress’ body. Palicki looks game and energetic, and that’s encouraging. To all who insisted that the previous costume wasn’t the final product, you totally called it. You told me so!
I don’t know about you, but I was thrilled to see Diana’s old costume on the cover of Wonder Woman #609. No matter how much I looked at it, that horror of a ’90s shopping mall getup never grew on me. The dowdy boots. The choker. Good riddance.
Of course, Jim Lee is hardly the first artist to re-imagine Wonder Woman’s togs, and quite a few illustrators have done masterful costume redesigns. For those days when Wondy’s classic battle bathing suit is at the dry cleaner, which of the following alternate designs would you pick for our favorite Amazon? Take a look and cast your vote at the end of the post!
E. and I had such a spectacular experience at Dragon*Con, we have now made it our mission to go to as many cons as possible. We both have kids, jobs, and you know, just general responsibilities. So, there is some planning and reality involved. We’re Florida gals, and the word in Artist Alley is that MegaCon has a prominent comic book presence. Thus the next con we will attend is MegaCon in Orlando.
It is well known that one of the great joys of cons is the cosplay. I have decided that for MegaCon, I will be donning a costume. Black Canary has long been a favorite of mine. I’ve always said if I ever dress up, it would be as Gail Simone and Ed Benes’ Black Canary. But recently, I’ve sort of fallen in love with the design of Aphrodite IV that appeared in Artifacts #1. So now I am torn, and I need a little help deciding.
Because I love a Kate Spade purse as much as a Fables hardcover trade, I tend to have strong opinions about comic book fashion. V., a Gucci aficionado from way back, is no different, and we’ve had plenty of Project Runway elimination-style discussions about superhero garb.
Of course, everyone had something to say about Wonder Woman’s new costume, much of it hilarious. My favorite observation came from Tom and Lorenzo, the duo behind the brilliant Project Rungay blog: “She kind of looks like she’s on her way to yoga class. In Vanilla Ice’s old jacket. That sound you hear is the wail of drag queens the world over, all of whom wouldn’t be caught dead in this thing.” Continue reading
My stylist is so fired.
Nothing raises our hackles quite like hearing someone say Wonder Woman is lame. (Hello, Megan Fox.) For example, one of V’s friends (we’ll call him The Antagonist) takes great joy in claiming, among other things, that Bobby Drake could kick her ass, and that the princess would “look real pretty in a pink tutu, carrying a little purse with a little dog.”
We did not handle that well. Words were exchanged via Facebook.
It was even worse once we figured out the context. The Antagonist had already read Blackest Night #6, in which Wonder Woman was transformed into a member of the Star Sapphire Corps. OK, technically the Star Sapphires wield violet light, but the costume’s color was close enough to pink for it to sting. Say what you want about Wonder Woman’s usual getup, but there is a certain dignity (depending on who is drawing her) to her red, white and blue uniform and golden breastplate. The Star Sapphire look is equal parts Dollar Tree and Strip Club. No offense to Carol Ferris, but only Starfire has a trashier costume — and she’s an alien, so she gets a pass.
Wonder Woman as a love-powered being? That’s awesome. But somewhere, The Antagonist is having a good laugh.
Bills! Bills! Bills!
When she isn’t channeling animal powers to fight crime with the Justice League, Vixen — aka Mari Jiwe McCabe — rolls as an international fashion model. So why does her costume look like one of Tina Knowles’ rejected sketches from the 1999 Destiny’s Child Tour?
Of course, there’s no shortage of fashion crimes against female comic book characters (Star Sapphire’s stripper-inspired getup comes to mind), but there’s something especially jacked up about Vixen’s situation. The woman is a runway model, and she’s in a mustard-colored bodysuit with a butterfly collar and an animal tooth belt? For real? Liya Kedebe or Gisele wouldn’t be caught dead in that madness.
Maybe this seems like a quibble, but a superhero or villain’s costume is, for better or worse, his or her calling card. Vixen is by far the most prominent black female superhero on DC’s roster, but her spectacularly unimaginative yet tacky costume suggests that she’s nothing special — just another random chick in Spandex. As Manhunter and Catwoman’s costumes demonstrate, even a simple bodysuit can make a powerful (and sexy) design statement.
Some enterprising person at DC ought to get Lifetime on the phone and pitch a Vixen costume redesign challenge for the next “Project Runway” season. While they’re at it, they might want to offer up Star Sapphire, too, because that fuchsia shit is just crazy.
