Costume Redesign Challenge

RESULTS!

Our last contest asked artists to redesign costumes for DC Characters.

Here are the results:

Azrael, by Thomas Chung Many fans are not too thrilled with Azrael's latest costume change. This "Avenging Angel" design by Fanzing newcomer Thomas Chung seems much more practical while appearing pretty threatening. (I've always wondered, though, whether the cape and those long fringes blowing around would really be practical if you have a flaming sword. Can't fault Thomas for that, though.)

Guy Gardner, by Melissa Wilson Melissa draws Guy Gardner's face a little too teen idol-meets-anime for my tastes, but aside from that, I've got to admit this is a GREAT look for him. It screams "space adventurer", especially the pilot's jacket. While the outfit's a tad snug, that comes with the territory for a superhero. I like the hair, too, which is short but tousled; reminiscent of the bowl-cut while not BEING a bowl-cut. The belt seems useful and attractive. Now give the guy a Sinestro ring instead of those Warrior powers and he'd be great again! (It would be tough to morph in this costume.) I'm crazy about the color scheme. Maroon and silver is an interesting combo.

Heh heh heh. Justice Lanterns of America by the Brothers Grinn. "Redesign the characters" we said. So the Brothers Grinn give us an Elseworlds version of the JLA in which everyone has a GL ring. Innn-teresting. Not quite what we had in mind for the purpose of the contest, but innn-teresting! Grading purely on style, there are some great elements here. J'onn's Guardians of the Universe robe is cool (His bug-face is a bit too X-Files). Steel's modified hammer is hilarious! Batgirl's outfit is way better than the hideous "girl without a face" costume in the current Bat-books. Wonder Woman (no offense, but that's the shortest, chubbiest Wonder Woman I've ever seen…although that's probably more realistic, anyway!) is wearing a modified Kyle outfit. Cute.

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, by Thomas Chung When Kyle Rayner first appeared, back during the "Dark Characters Are Good" age of comic books, I think we were all a bit surprised at how little green was in that Green Lantern outfit! Thomas Chung offers this design, which he calls "Emerald Knight". The proportions are a bit exaggerated, especially for Kyle Rayner, but this costume is pretty cool. The green is a little harsh on the eyes, but if darkened to the usual GL color it would look okay. He still has the crab mask, though.

Power Girl, by Carol Strickland First she has the simple white outfit. Then the capeless white-and-yellow bodystocking (around the same time that she grew breasts the size of her head). Then a white-and-blue costume with a "leettle window" (as Crimson Fox called it) in the front. And then back to the simple white outfit. For a modern, independent woman, poor Power Girl has not had much like finding a respectable costume. This redesign of the original Power Girl outfit has a few noticeable changes. The mini-cape is a neat idea. I'm not all that crazy about loose belts that serve no purpose…but at least it offsets the costume. The neckline is reasonable (as is the chest, I notice) with a wide edging and a collar and a neck clasp to draw attention away from the cleavage. The matching gloves and boots are a good place for a bit of blue. And she's still using Lady Zor-El hair coloring.

Rocket Red by Kurt Belcher This is a redesign Kurt used for his proposed revamp of the Global Guardians. The shoulders aren't too aerodynamic (although the Rocket Reds never were, in either version), and there don't appear to be any jets or weapons, although this could just mean they're better concealed. On the plus side, this does appear more self-contained and flyable than the Apokoliptian armor version. The obvious skeletal framework of the armor is a good idea. Those knees seem pretty low, I must say.

Wonder Woman, by Carol Strickland Carol offers the following commentary: "Wonder Woman suffers from an amazing amount of problems, a small proportion of which concern her costume. On Adam Hughes' covers, for example, she wears the Incredible Shrinking Amazon Costume. You can actually watch the area of material in the main costume decrease by three square inches each month, to reappear on WW's increasingly baggy boots. And then there is the problem of that neckline. Any female could tell you that WW would fall out of her costume more times than she was in it. Above all, she needs straps. Hear that, DC? STRAPS!!! George Perez and Mike Sekowsky separately had the wonderful idea of WW actually having a variety of clothing. Certainly this could be a marketing bonus for DC, to sell WW dolls that have full wardrobes to buy. So here are a number of possibiliites, including the basic ol' costume with STRAPS!!!" I like the assortment, especially the little Xena homage. The outfit at the far left is my favorite, although most of them are vast improvements on the established design at DC. Wonder Woman is certainly the DC Character who is most in need of a better outfit, as the top is increasingly revealing (and as you say, impractical) and the bottoms have evolved to little more than a thong. Given that she's NOT Superman and can bruise, having that much exposed flesh does not make sense!

Wonder Woman, by Bill Wiist Another Wonder Woman redesign, this one by Bill Wiist. While a bit similar to Alex Ross' design in Kingdom Come, I think it's mainly the helmet that bears the resemblance. The sleeves/gloves are a good design, and I like the way the bodice incorporates both the eagle and the W. With such a well-protected and modest upper half, the skirt seems a bit out of place. But anything's better than the bikini she's wearing now.

Congratulations to the newbie! The way-out-front winner amongst all the judges was "Azrael" by Thomas Chung!

Following behind with about equal numbers of votes were the JLA by the Brothers Grinn, Green Lantern by Thomas Chung and the multiple Wonder Woman designs by Carol Strickland. My personal fave was the Guy Gardner outfit…but I have to say, I didn't see a single design here (well, aside from the JLA one which wasn't really an in-continuity thing) that isn't a big step up from the outfits currently in the comics!