When Superman was first created there were no standards to follow. He was the start and his survival over all these decades have made him a permanent part of our psyches. A new modern costume would not hurt that. What could really harm the love we have for the Man of Steel?
It is his original look!
He is the very symbol of the SuperHero silliness.
Batman & Wonder Woman have already been updated.
They have about a million costume designs to pick from.
Resistance is to be expected.
It is his original look!
Superman debuted in 1938 in Action Comics. The cover is well known to almost everyone and it was the beginning of what would become a legendary character. Since there were no models to follow they dressed him up like an acrobat. Put him in tights, add some shorts, a big cape and of course a large letter on his chest.
72 years! I think the guy deserves a new outfit after all this time.
The costume design was for children simple as that. If he is to be taken seriously as an adult Character then he needs to look the part. I am well aware of the symbolism of his outfit. I know what the yellow means and such. Symbolic elements are a part of every SuperHero uniform and they can be so in the new one for Superman.
He is the very symbol of SuperHero silliness.
If anybody sets out to mock the idea of SuperHeros what do they do? They dress someone in tights, add some boxer shorts, a cape and oh yeah a big letter on the chest. For every bit of love and respect Superman gets he also gets laughter. It is unfair to the Character to be the target of these insults and slights when a simple costume change would work. The icon of silly will never go away but at least it does not have to be directly attached to Superman.
Batman and Wonder Woman have already been updated
Batman has been evolving for some time. Each new change draws a bit of hatred and then is accepted. New outfits have helped to keep Batman accessible to modern audiences. Nobody picks up a Batman comic expecting to find the silliness of the original Batwoman days. Batman is a bad ass and everyone knows it.
And yes I admit Batman has done a lot with the shorts and tights look too. But he has also evolved with the times. When he moved into the movies we got some great costumes. They actually made Batman work in a live action movie. Burton did well but Nolan did even better with the look.
Wonder Woman's new look is undoubtedly in preparation for the new TV show. Rather than try to make the comic costume work onscreen they updated the look. Now the TV show can look exactly like the comic and still look good in live action. Somehow I feel this trend will continue.
These three represent the Holy Trinity of DC and the JLA. They also move among characters who have been created in much more recent days. The contrast between the different costumes is kinda stark. Comics are Art just like a movie and consistency of vision is important.
They have about a million costume designs to pick from.
Is there any Character that has been the subject of more design work? Since he has barely changed over all these years a whole lot of people have speculated on new looks. Almost every possible variation has been drawn by someone. In the comics themselves something on the order of what say 100+ costumes have been seen. Every Earth has a Superman and that is just the start.
Resistance is expected.
I know what Iconic means. I certainly know what it means to cling to something familiar and not wish for a change. When what you are talking about is some static object I understand. Superman is a living Character acting in today's world. He is not static.
Superman is trapped. Trapped in the past as a symbol with many powerful meanings. For some it is an echo of their childhood. For others a touchstone that never wavers. But I honestly feel that those emotions are not based on a suit. Superman is a real person to so many of us. He is what matter because of his actions, his words, and most importantly his deeds.
We hold him in high esteem. What I have always wanted is for the rest of the world to have as much respect for him as possible. Some people will never stop thinking of comics as kiddy books. But there is a huge chunk of the population which are tremendously affected by what they see. They will never read a comic. But they do go to the movies and they see the images all over the media and oh yeah cup cakes too.
I think that if you want Superman to be respected as a character for adults you have to get him out of that silly suit.
What I don't know is what heights Superman may reach if he were to join the 21st Century. But I do know that staying in the same costume is holding him, and comics, back. I am not offering a specific costume as my pick because that does not matter. There are a lot of different ways it could go and there are just a few examples at the bottom of this page.
S u m m a r y
It is a little amazing that we even need to have this conversation at all. Times change and characters like Superman have as well. He is not the same Man of Steel and his look should reflect that. DC has always been scared of the risk because all the backlash they have gotten in the past. Sadly this fear holds them back and has taken from from the top to almost the bottom of the Comics Industry. Marvel has what 75% of the market now? I have loved quite a number of DC titles for a lot of years but facts are facts.
Here is what as always struck me as simply wrong. Superman is probably the most respected SuperHero of all time. He is not the Ubermensch of Nietzsche he is a Paragon of Good. So powerful and yet so controlled. To me, to you who are reading these words, and to many others, Superman really means something special. There is respect, real honest respect, for a fictional Character. This is no small thing.
To everyone else... he is a joke.
A freaking Joke! Some of this is from his history and we cannot change that. But with a new look he could take a big step away from being a joke. That is why I think a new costume is needed. It is not because I am bored of Superman. It is certainly not because I think he is a joke...
It is because he has earned it.