One of these pictures is awesome. One of them, despite my George Perez fandom, isn’t.
It’s not Perez’s fault. He’s dealing with a redesigned Superman costume that isn’t his, and the inker made the space above Supes’ boots look gray/silver. Here’s the overarching technical problem with the new suite: maybe it will work okay when Jim Lee is drawing it on a stylized, younger-looking Man of Steel, but it just isn’t going to work across artistic styles. George Perez is an iconic Superman artist, and look how hamstrung this costume makes him. The classic costume works in any style because it’s simple and iconic. The new look has panels and too many lines. The belt’s over-thought. The collar’s too high. No red undies. Wrong wrong wrong. Superman doesn’t need bells and whistles. That’s the point. That’s his deal.
Argh. This is 90s in a bad way. I know, you thought that was impossible. So did I.
Then there’s this:
Related articles
- Rebooted Superman Comics of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
- DC Announces Historic New “Superman” Group #1s (graphicpolicy.com)
Chris Cocca 
1) Inkers don’t color the drawings, they INK them.
2) The costume doesn’t look too bad or too 90s. I was expecting a lot worse. You want 90s, check out the costume redesign Supes received in the 90s. Yikes. This one, I can live with. If they’re really going to reboot, the characters SHOULD look different yet retain their iconic essences. This design achieves that.
3) That Perez drawing would rock even if Superman was wearing a tutu.
I meant to say colorist, right? Thanks for catching that! I thought about it yesterday well after posting and forgot to come back and change it.
I just really don’t like the new design. I agree that Perez is awesome, but I just can’t get beyond how incongruous the suit looks (not his fault) to me. The S shield looks so out of place with no other yellow or red in the waist area to break up the blue. And if there’s one character who could get way, even logically, with a minimalist suit, it’s Superman.
I’m just don’t see the iconic essence. I think the future suit Conner wore in Teen Titans achieved that better. It was close to this design, but better, I think.
thanks for commenting!
despite how much i hate the new superman costume…thats not the worst thing about this reboot. the fact that so many DC fans have grown up following the old supermans adventures and relationships with people and other heroes and now that means nothing…
as an artist i would hate if it was my creation being ‘reworked’ to suit a new audience… the comment left by BuddyDave was the first positive opinion ive heard so far
Hi, samsam, and thanks for commenting!
I’m willing to wait and see what comes of the reboot, but one thing that bugs me, in the same spirit of what you’re saying about Superman, is what they’ve done with the Flash. I love the Silver Age as much as anyone, but for me, Wally West became and is the Flash. He was the flash for 20 years…and I sort of feel like that means nothing. On the other hand, it is true that we can look back on Golden Age Superman and say “that’s Superman” and we can do the same for Silver Age Superman and now we’re being asked to close the book on Bronze Age Superman. IF DC uses the best elements of all of these eras for the new Superman (or whatever they legally can given the issue with the lawsuit), we may be in for some great stories and characters. But I also do feel like Wally was a case study for how to pass the mantle down in legacy situations and really make it stick, and I sort of hate that being undone.
i personaly am starting to hate the reboot as its attracting mornic nolan batman reboot fanboys who just dont get superman. it doesnt seem zack gets superman. batman is suppose to be a mix between a cop and james bond with cool gadgets, the vigilante dark comics retarded batman and didnt get why batman is a hero. batman was a hero because he helped cops and didnt go ballistic for the guys who killed his parents.nolan and burton didnt get this although in my opinion burton got it more than nolan did.
now thier going to do the same with superman. superman is a multidemensional deep character. it appeals to nerds who relate to clark kent who want to be liked for who they are (clark wants lois to like him for him not because he’s superman). it appeals to jocks who want to save people and be heroic.
superman has always worked because it is a light hearted romantic comedy adventure story, they did it right in the first two movies, lois and clark, even towards the end of smallville. turning superman into some dark, uncaring personage. superman is suppose to be a cross of the red cross with saving people and the police.superman originaly struck cord with americans because he represents a foreigner that comes to america and embraces wholesome american values and is an underdog because his human side is a nerd. thats why people in the 80s fell in love with superman and why they root for him. making him dark is a huge mistake. removing and writing margo kidder and the romantic comedy from 3 on was supermans biggest mistake, along with firing john williams as scorer and firing mario puzo who understood who superman is. its really all about clark kent. chris’s performance as clark kent is why americans flocked to superman, not because he was some emo angry repressed emotionaly stunted vigilante.
that was writing out the romantic comedy with margo kidder was supermans biggest mistake, routhe had no chemistry with lois actress (bet most cant even remember her name) and you rooted for superman in the first two films because you wanted to see a nerd and bumbler get with lois lane.for me its all about that and the terrific john williams score. music is 89% of a film, forget the actor, director or suit.franchises generaly tank when they remove music music is the glue that holds a film together.end of rant.