Mohawk Storm was when I started reading Uncanny X-Men and I've always loved that design, and the way her personality hardened after she lost her powers and beat Callisto to lead the Morlocks. That has always been my favorite Storm. Just iconic.
That was pretty much the first issue of X-Men I ever read, so it took some collecting of back issues to really figure out why Kitty was freaking out so much (speaking of which, she would have fit in with this theme pretty well - she went through a phase where she was changing outfits and code names about every 3 issues!)
I think a lot of people really resonate with the artstyle/costume for a character that they grew up with. That's part of why I love Scott Campbell's Spider-Sense Spider-Man art. I would love to see him on a comic someday!
I like the look they gave Professor X in the krakoa era. For such a recent design, it feels iconic, and I think it's the first time he has really had a superhero outfit.
What Peter David and Jeff Purves did to the Gray Hulk during the Joe Fixit era was sublime. He went from just being a Gray stand in for the Green Hulk with tattered clothing to his own, unique identity with the pinstripes, fedora, marching tie and the wingtip shoes.
Great episode! You're right about the Guardians, especially Starlord and Drax. I also like the evolution of the Scarlet Witch & Wonder Man's costumes. We could go on and on lol.
@@ComicTropes You should! It's an excellent topic and the list of costume changes is endless, lol. You could also include "powered up" characters like my favorite character Nova. He powered up and because of it got a better looking costume during Annihilation.
Strangely enough, as I was typing that last response I received a certain Vampirella comic with a variant cover by one of my favorite UA-cam hosts. It looks great Chris!! Thanks for creating it!
How about an entire episode dedicated to Wonder Man? He's been around since nearly the beginning of the Marvel U and he has quite a cult following (like me). Wonder Man rules!
The Tim Drake update was fantastic. Both Dick Grayson and Jason Todd had a bikini bathing suit and a cape. Tim Drake in Robin #1 suddenly was a Robin who was not just a sidekick or a team member. He was a serious hero with his red bodysuit, long green gloves and pants. Tom Lyle also drew Robin with big curb stomping boots as opposed to the pixie slippers in the original design. I don't know if Lyle was behind the Tim Drake redesign but it was certainly iconic. Every Robin costume since seems to be an evolution of that design.
@@scottfree2248 That's very possible. Brian Bolland drew the covers for that series. It's very possible that Neal Adams did the design that all the other artists then used.
Aside from Nightwing, my favorite glow-ups go to Superboy and Robin. Superboy was just a teenager in a Superman suit for an absurdly long time. Granted, he was just a fan transported to that reality at that point, but he didn't have his own "iconic" look. Then, in 1993, he got his iconic street punk look. That's my favorite Superboy design, and I'm so happy he got it back. My other favorite is Tim Drake as Robin. The green tights, updated "R" logo, and the added details to the gloves and shoulders are just perfection. Never mind him introducing Robin's iconic weapon, the bo staff. To me, the two 90s updates are up there with Dick's iconic 96 suit.
@@markmagician2471 I always found it kinda boring. The street look with the leather jacket is so 90s and camp that it loops back around to being cool. I freaking love it
@@Vegitodraws to be fair it was to make him seem more grounded since he was developing out of his celebrity phase in the Superboy books, the down to earth vibe can really be sensed in books like Adventure comics and Superboy 2010
Iron Man's change from the all-grey (later gold) clunky suit to his classic red and gold one is absolutely one that can be mentioned. Another one is a minor change, but updating Captain America's shield from the original design to the round one was also quite the improvement. Would he even throw the thing if it weren't round? Wolverine's look definitely got a positive change, too. Lengthening the ears on the costume and getting rid of the whisker lines definitely gave him something much more iconic, and though a good amount of people prefer his brown suit, I'll always be partial to his classic yellow and blue costume. But I particularly don't like the mohawk Storm, and am partial to Hawkeye's original outfit. I know my opinions aren't necessarily shared by most, though.
Making Wonder Woman's outfit resemble a greek hoplite's outfit more was brilliant, and in retrospective so obvious it was amazing it hadn't happened earlier.
I'm a huge Stephanie Brown fan so the evolution of her various costumes has been fun to watch over time. Kitty has had some interesting ones too! The blue one with poofy sleeves is still my #1 favorite ❤
It’s nice to see how much influence Dave Cockrum had as a character and costume designer. His creations for the Legion of Super-heroes and X-men revitalized them at the time and pretty much have stood the test of time.
My favourite suit update will always be Ben Reilly's Sensational Spider-Man Suit! It's my favourite super hero suit ever and it's the perfect evolution of the classic red and blue while still being its own unique thing.
For me, Carol Danvers getting her Captain Marvel outfit is a great evolution to a character. Also, Tim Drake's Red Robin outfit pre New 52 was amazing.
You could easily do part two or three to this. I will say sometimes they just nail it. Artists will bring their own interpretations, but say Batman, Superman, Iron Man pretty much keep a consistent look.
Remember, though that Iron Man got one of the most radical of all redesigns from Ditko (which, ironically, looked lame when drawn by Ditko, but flourished under subsequent artists -- especially Gene Colan).
"Sometimes, you just have to change your drip to show that you got that rizz." Never change, Chris. It warms my heart knowing some teenager somewhere watching just cringed.
I think Bill finger greatly improved the original Batman design done by Bob Kane, when he had the red suit and stiff wings, into the iconic Batman look we know today.
Fun and engaging episode, Chris! I'd love to see more like this. Maybe an ep on one-off or short-lived costume changes (especially ones that were dated, hilarious, or just bad)? Thanks for the fun video!
You could do a whole episode on Iron Man. I loved how the MCU reflected the armor upgrades. You could do a two-part episode for Janet Van Dyne and Hank Pym.
Another great episode, Chris! I, for one always loved the Mohawk Storm look. Totally badass! I'm also a big fan of Daredevil's black suits. Going back to Teen Titans, I also think they've done an awesome job updating Cyborg's design. Another favorite of mine.
It's not such a radical redesign, but the entire X-Men team's look in the 90s became legendary for a reason. I'd say Cyclops and Rogue's designs stand out the most.
Not a costume, but the way Kirby perfected The Thing's look over the first fifty issues (with help from Joe Sinnott) will always be my favourite evolution in a characters appearance.
Marvel in the 70's was fun to follow the glow ups although we didn't have that term for it...one of my favorites was the ever changing, ever loving, ever blue eyed Thing...the lumpy Thing was funny Thing with eye brows and Alica's eye candy was great.
I'd love to see a sequel to this episode on villains, like Darkseid. I love Kirby's Darkseid, but I also love Dark Side from Seven Soldiers, and the Dan Turpin Darkseid from Final Crisis. Brainiac and Mandarin also come to mind as classic villains who've gone through a ton of costume changes.
I wish they had stuck with Brainiac's chrome skeleton look from the early 80s for awhile longer. Sure, it looks like it'd be a pain in the ass to draw, but man it looked great.
I would not give David Aja the merit of creating the current Hawkeye costume because it was practically a color swap from the Ultimates costume by Brian Hitch.
Don't know where the "fresh eggs" thing comes from ... I grew up in the UK until I was 25 (back in the 80s and 90s), and if anybody stamps their eggs with a lion symbol now, they sure as hell didn't when I lived there. A much more likely reason why they might've dropped the lion from Captain Britain's design is that the lion on the British coat of arms represents England alone, and is always opposite the unicorn, representing Scotland (the rivalry I learned about as a kid from the nursery rhyme "The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown ..."). Thus having a lion symbolically representing "Britain" might potentially alienate Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish readers.
Those original black widow drawings with the first black suit upgrades are absolutely gorgeous. I’ve forgotten how beautiful them women looked in that style.
Solid list. I remember being five or six seeing storms mohawk look, and instantly developing a crush. Kitty's reaction always irritated me, but knowing the story behind that is quite funny.
Domino has had a pretty sweet redesign. A lot of the Liefeld-era debuts had so much doing on, what with all the shoulder pads and superfluous straps. But her 2018 redesign keeps the iconic dotted eye while going for a much more simplistic black/white/teal look that really pops visually.
I love how Kitty Pryde freaks the f--- out when she sees what Storm did to her hair. Like she was genuinely deeply invested in Storm having beautiful long hair.
Great video. I thought you would also mention Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel suit (designed, I believe, by Jamie Mckelvie). I love the new Batgirl suit from the comic book Batgirl of Burnside, which was drawn by Babs Tarr. Mr Knight also deserves to be mentioned, although it may be considered cheating, as it's only ONE OF his looks and not a completely new one
Great video. One thing I will point out though is that there was a second step to Hawkeye's costume evolution. The version of Hawkeye in the ultimates is much more stripped down compared to the original. I think his accent color was red though.
Firestar had a redesign in the New Warriors that gave her a black and red uniform instead of her well known original yellow jump suit and goofy red eye mask. When I saw it I immediately loved it. Recently she’s gone back to her original look and it’s such a shame , the redesign is much better
I always love videos like these, as they also often showcase the forgotten origins of characters and the artists who created them. My #1 glow up? BLADE. The rest of them would be Morbius' change to the 90's leather outfit, which I think actually stayed on for a good while even outside the series run so I'd say people generally liked it (I think remnants of it still existed in Romita Jr's Spidey comic in -97). Sabretooth is one of those where the original suit was... fine, but then it became something really great, and I think is one of overall best costumes. And a special honorary mention to PS4's Spider-Man game which has possibly the best iteration of Rhino, where its not just a mechanical rhino or a literal rhino costume.
Some of the my favourites are: Wolverine's brown costume by Byrne, Neal Adams' Green Arrow and Mike Grell's Green Arrow later. Loved the David Aja's Iron Fist redesign (made much more sense than his previous disco collar version). And talking about comic book looks, I loved Giffen's redesign of the 30th century in Legion of Super-Heroes. Felt like it was actual different time and not just another different planet/space. Also loved the "Archie" Legion, where you got the sense that the members were part of a club, but kept some individuality. Loved those costumes.
Oh man, I've just learned so much from you, Chris. You've really enriched my life. I had the desire to learn about this artform and you were out there. Thank you so much!
The Flash update worked. It was kind of the opposite of the "less costumey" or Off-The-Rack clothing redesigns you sometimes see. Other than the helmet, the 1st costume could've been store bought (of course I'm saying this from The Future where graphic tees/sweatshirts are standard fare). ...But in defense of Jay's impractical helmet, it was a Hermes reference. So it's more along the lines of the characters that wear capes in combat: not done for function.
Love these types of videos and seeing the history you always dive so deep into. Hawkeye's original look was actually my favorite between the two, as I've always been a fan of archer-type characters and purple being my favorite color. So many other characters out there with strange costume changes, like Daredevil!
No Green Arrow?! Nothing about Neal Adams' brilliant visual redesign, like the beard, that inspired Dennis O'Neil to change the character from a blatant Batman copy into an original mix of Robin Hood and Abbie Hoffman?
The change to Nightwing's costume in the mid-90s was more likely to bring it in line with the nightwing bird from the bottle city of Kandor which was the inspiration for that city's Dynamic Duo of Nightwing and Flamebird.
Original Atom's costume looks like what happens when you forget to buy a costume for a party so you have to go to wherever you keep what's left of past Halloween costumes to try to come up with something on the spot.
You rock Chris !!!!!! Your examples are awesome and amazing. I kind of miss the purple Catwoman costume, but that doesn't mean the black isn't cool too.
Listen Barry Allen's suit is great and Barry Allen will always be my favorite Flash but Jay Garrick's outfit is great and I love the helmet. Plus there's just something so perfect about Jay later characterization as an old man and his suit. Really keeps that Golden Age feeling around so to say.
I think the 'New X-Men' run can't be understated how big of a change in direction it was for the team. ( I know part of it was in direct relation to Singer's Xmen and the 'what do you expect us to run around in yellow spandex' line) but it really set them apart as a cool modern update- which was obviously helped by the Morrison and Quietly arc.
I think the best glow up in my opinion has to be for Green Arrow. The first costume just didn't click with me, but the Neal Adams costume he wore during Hard-Travelling Heroes? That was just perfect! To me, it's the best Green Arrow suit
Two of my favorites in the 90's were the Lobo biker look, and Catwoman's purple outfit. You know, the one where she was smuggling two soccer balls in her costume.
We NEED a villains version of this topic!! Like The Key or Despero--Great video! Lots of fun, I would argue the Hawkeye look is lazy but makes sense. Some quick suggestions - - Wonder Man, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Huntress had some nice changes... You could do a whole episode on Iron Man updates!
One of my favorite glow-ups for a lesser-known character is Hulkling's updated design for the Empyre event. Hulkling quite frankly drew the short end of the stick when it came to his first costumes and designs. It was already a massive improvement to shift away from pure Hulk clone into a much scalier and often winged design. The biggest issues as time went on were his bland black bodysuits, how certain artists slipped a little too far into the uncanny valley trying to set him apart from the Hulk, and the fact that his name and his costumes felt trapped in the past while his character was rocketing forward. Then Empyre came in, made him green and scaly all the time, slimmed his transformed state down from varying levels of walking bicep Hulk clone to a more consistent twunk, crowned him Emperor Dorrek VIII, and gave his black bodysuit a lot more visual diversity with green and purple accessories to highlight along with his bright blond hair that he was a child of three worlds and fully embracing it.
I liked John Byrne's brown and tan Wolverine costume to reflect the markings on an actual wolverine. His yellow and blue is so iconic, that I can't say this is an improvement. Let's say it's an amazing step sideways...
I would have figured Captain Marvel would have gotten a shout-out in this video, but maybe because her name change was a part of the costume change which would make sense.
I always liked that Firestorm redesign from the early 90's. I didn't get a chance to read any of those comics but he looked bad ass. That Dark Flash design was great as well. I missed the end of that story but I liked the so dark it looks black red with silver.
One costume change that I see comics and comics-adjacent media always struggling with is Superman's trunks. After ditching them for the Jim Lee armor redesigns for Superman and the rest of the Justice League in the New 52 in 2011, and further influenced by the lack of trunks in the "Man of Steel" movie, I can totally understand why certain people nowadays just don't click with the look of the trunks. Although I think that some red is needed to break up the visual design somewhat. I thought that the comics reached a perfect middle ground in the 2016 "Rebirth" relaunch by giving Clark a simple red belt with a few layers to it.
I think the Hawkeye change is lazy. Makes sense for an Ultimates universe but I like the classic costume, and I don't even really care for Hawkeye. Moon knight from his debut to his own ongoing series is another great redesign. Great video.
Betsy's evolution into her now iconic costume as Psylocke. Going from a copy of her brother's costume, a suit that more resembles a nightgown, a cloaked costume to a 90's classic armored look as Lady Mandarin, after all that she FINALLY landed on the look we all know today (More exactly Kwannon). Goes to show that making something that sticks is quite hard.
I know you’re skipping the Golden Age, but mentioning the wholesale destruction of two great characters (Sandman and Crimson Avenger) with glow DOWNS to make them more superheroish would have been cool Not a complaint, though. Great stuff, as always!
The original Sandman obviously pulled from The Shadow but was an outstanding design in itself. So much so that Gaiman based his Sandman's costume on it. Johns' 2000's redesign was... dull... but at least tried to recreate that version rather than the generic superhero suit.
Another great video as always. I had a VHS growing up of "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" with Stan and Sal Buscema that I watched over and over again. Your narration with fades and transitions of comic panels and shots always reminds me of that tape and the great memories I had wearing it out. I'll also point out that I noticed more than ever before that the best redesigns featured here embody one principle: simplicity. Cleaner, pared-down design allows your brain to instantly visually identify that character. I'll also say that I think Beast's redesign is not only aesthetically awesome, it strengthened his character so much. The pathos of Hank making his mutation stronger ironically by trying to cure it is classic Marvel; he was forced to accept an even more mutated version of himself, which is what he should've done from the get-go. Beast looking like, well, a beast, also ties into the Mutant narrative more: his furry form truly looks like someone who would be feared, hated, and mocked. The animal design also contrasts his calm intellectualism and strengthens the concept of not judging based on appearance that the X-Men have always stood for. To tie up this long-winded comment, I'll answer your suggestion by pointing out another classic X-Men redesign: Angel into Archangel. Yet another move that made the character more interesting (his rageful grudge against Apocalypse and guilt at being manipulated by him), more of a threat in combat (let's be honest, O.G. Angel could've been taken out by an angry kid with a slingshot who had good aim), and just overall more badass.
Back in ‘95, I self-published an ashcan comic that debuted one of my original characters (my daughter’s favourite). No sooner did I print them out and started selling them at the ‘cons, though, I redesigned her look. Like, 3 times, actually.
"Sometimes you just gotta change your DRIP to show that you got that RIZZ."
I legit snorted. Well done.
I think that Jay Garrick's helmet is more of a homage to Hermes, the Greek god of speed amongst other things as well as herald of the gods.
Right. How come nobody seems to remember Hermes/Mercury and his iconic helmet any more?
It was both tbf
@@Braddicusfinch no it wasnt. a helmet would have a strap to hold it on.
@Shoreleave I mean, this isn't an argument of historical accuracy, it was literally in the comics that it was fashioned from his fathers WWI helmet
So the Greek god is the meta explanation, and the war helmet is the canon reason
You dropping the words rizz and drip fucking put me into shock
Hearing that was like getting slapped
Wolverine’s brown and gold has always been my favorite look. Robin going from pantsless to now with pants was a great idea.
The brown and gold ever stick for me, all the colours of the sewers
Mohawk Storm was when I started reading Uncanny X-Men and I've always loved that design, and the way her personality hardened after she lost her powers and beat Callisto to lead the Morlocks. That has always been my favorite Storm. Just iconic.
That was pretty much the first issue of X-Men I ever read, so it took some collecting of back issues to really figure out why Kitty was freaking out so much (speaking of which, she would have fit in with this theme pretty well - she went through a phase where she was changing outfits and code names about every 3 issues!)
That is my Storm too! I loved when she took leadership from Cyclops by beating him in Danger Room with no powers
I think a lot of people really resonate with the artstyle/costume for a character that they grew up with. That's part of why I love Scott Campbell's Spider-Sense Spider-Man art. I would love to see him on a comic someday!
Mine too! I loved her redesign and couldn't get what Kitty was so upset about.
Where is your PFP From?
I like the look they gave Professor X in the krakoa era. For such a recent design, it feels iconic, and I think it's the first time he has really had a superhero outfit.
Every time I see that version I think "Sun Ra wants his stuff back."
Jay Garrick's helmet was based on Medieval or Rennaissance paintings of the Greek God Hermes. He is often described as having a winged helmet.
Winged helmet AND shoes, just like the superhero.
What Peter David and Jeff Purves did to the Gray Hulk during the Joe Fixit era was sublime. He went from just being a Gray stand in for the Green Hulk with tattered clothing to his own, unique identity with the pinstripes, fedora, marching tie and the wingtip shoes.
Great episode! You're right about the Guardians, especially Starlord and Drax. I also like the evolution of the Scarlet Witch & Wonder Man's costumes. We could go on and on lol.
Oh wow. You reminded me I did intend to include Wonder Man. I might have to make another one of these.
@@ComicTropes You should! It's an excellent topic and the list of costume changes is endless, lol. You could also include "powered up" characters like my favorite character Nova. He powered up and because of it got a better looking costume during Annihilation.
Strangely enough, as I was typing that last response I received a certain Vampirella comic with a variant cover by one of my favorite UA-cam hosts. It looks great Chris!! Thanks for creating it!
How about an entire episode dedicated to Wonder Man? He's been around since nearly the beginning of the Marvel U and he has quite a cult following (like me). Wonder Man rules!
The Tim Drake update was fantastic. Both Dick Grayson and Jason Todd had a bikini bathing suit and a cape. Tim Drake in Robin #1 suddenly was a Robin who was not just a sidekick or a team member. He was a serious hero with his red bodysuit, long green gloves and pants. Tom Lyle also drew Robin with big curb stomping boots as opposed to the pixie slippers in the original design. I don't know if Lyle was behind the Tim Drake redesign but it was certainly iconic. Every Robin costume since seems to be an evolution of that design.
I may be mistaken but I had read that Neal Adams did the update on the Robin design.
@@scottfree2248 That's very possible. Brian Bolland drew the covers for that series. It's very possible that Neal Adams did the design that all the other artists then used.
My favourite ever Tim Drake costume was the wonderfully tacky Mt. Sarcastic in Young Justice.
Actually it was done by Norm Breyfogle I think. There's a lot of sketches of him doing variations floating around.
@@hugoseriese5462 Rest in Peace to both Neal Adams and Norm Breyfogle . Two of the all time great Batman artists
Aside from Nightwing, my favorite glow-ups go to Superboy and Robin. Superboy was just a teenager in a Superman suit for an absurdly long time. Granted, he was just a fan transported to that reality at that point, but he didn't have his own "iconic" look. Then, in 1993, he got his iconic street punk look. That's my favorite Superboy design, and I'm so happy he got it back. My other favorite is Tim Drake as Robin. The green tights, updated "R" logo, and the added details to the gloves and shoulders are just perfection. Never mind him introducing Robin's iconic weapon, the bo staff. To me, the two 90s updates are up there with Dick's iconic 96 suit.
I always prefer Superboy in the street clothes like the Young Justice version
@@markmagician2471 I always found it kinda boring. The street look with the leather jacket is so 90s and camp that it loops back around to being cool. I freaking love it
@@Vegitodraws agreed the t shirt look is too plain
@@Vegitodraws to be fair it was to make him seem more grounded since he was developing out of his celebrity phase in the Superboy books, the down to earth vibe can really be sensed in books like Adventure comics and Superboy 2010
@@HELLO_KORO I feel like you still could've done it without reducing it to a T-shirt. That just never sat right with me
Kitty Pryde running away crying after seeing Storm's new look is meme-worthy lol
Iron Man's change from the all-grey (later gold) clunky suit to his classic red and gold one is absolutely one that can be mentioned. Another one is a minor change, but updating Captain America's shield from the original design to the round one was also quite the improvement. Would he even throw the thing if it weren't round?
Wolverine's look definitely got a positive change, too. Lengthening the ears on the costume and getting rid of the whisker lines definitely gave him something much more iconic, and though a good amount of people prefer his brown suit, I'll always be partial to his classic yellow and blue costume.
But I particularly don't like the mohawk Storm, and am partial to Hawkeye's original outfit. I know my opinions aren't necessarily shared by most, though.
Super fun episode Chris! Costume fashion decisions could be its own channel! Happy you took some time to talk about it.
Comic Tropes speaks like me when im at school.
Making Wonder Woman's outfit resemble a greek hoplite's outfit more was brilliant, and in retrospective so obvious it was amazing it hadn't happened earlier.
I'm a huge Stephanie Brown fan so the evolution of her various costumes has been fun to watch over time. Kitty has had some interesting ones too! The blue one with poofy sleeves is still my #1 favorite ❤
Love Stephanie Brown, despite her status as the Bat Family's whipping girl.
Stephanie Brown has my favorite batgirl costume but i honestly don't care for any of her other looks at all
That first blue Shadowcat outfit is my favorite, too.
As weird as her pirate phase is to me, I gotta say she looks incredible in that fit
@@Fr.O.G. whipping girl???
It’s nice to see how much influence Dave Cockrum had as a character and costume designer. His creations for the Legion of Super-heroes and X-men revitalized them at the time and pretty much have stood the test of time.
Absolutely!
It's anazing that Cockrum got away with putting Cosmic Boy essentially in a one piece swim suit!
@@themangochannel I think that was Mike Grell how gave Cosmic Boy the bustier costume.
My favourite suit update will always be Ben Reilly's Sensational Spider-Man Suit! It's my favourite super hero suit ever and it's the perfect evolution of the classic red and blue while still being its own unique thing.
I was very disappointed it wasn’t an unlockable costume in the PS4 Spider-Man game. Love that design
For me, Carol Danvers getting her Captain Marvel outfit is a great evolution to a character. Also, Tim Drake's Red Robin outfit pre New 52 was amazing.
You could easily do part two or three to this. I will say sometimes they just nail it. Artists will bring their own interpretations, but say Batman, Superman, Iron Man pretty much keep a consistent look.
Remember, though that Iron Man got one of the most radical of all redesigns from Ditko (which, ironically, looked lame when drawn by Ditko, but flourished under subsequent artists -- especially Gene Colan).
Good, fun episode, Chris. Black spidey is coolest by far, in my opinion, but so many great examples here.
"Sometimes, you just have to change your drip to show that you got that rizz." Never change, Chris. It warms my heart knowing some teenager somewhere watching just cringed.
I think Bill finger greatly improved the original Batman design done by Bob Kane, when he had the red suit and stiff wings, into the iconic Batman look we know today.
I'm not sure if that one would count, since I don't think the Bob Kane version was ever published. Batman did originally have purple gloves, though.
I think Wonder Girl had a great glow up when she became Troia. Her space outfit is just an awesome concept.
Hearing you say "Drip" and "Rizz" is surreal
Fun and engaging episode, Chris! I'd love to see more like this. Maybe an ep on one-off or short-lived costume changes (especially ones that were dated, hilarious, or just bad)? Thanks for the fun video!
I second that actually
I would love to see one on costume changes, like Batman's many wacky 50s costumes or Wonder Woman's terrible reboot
Great idea! So many bad costumes in the history of so many characters. It would make for a hilarious episode.
Supergirl alone can top the list with the many redesign her outfit has gotten over the years
You could do a whole episode on Iron Man. I loved how the MCU reflected the armor upgrades. You could do a two-part episode for Janet Van Dyne and Hank Pym.
Yes! This!
Another great episode, Chris! I, for one always loved the Mohawk Storm look. Totally badass! I'm also a big fan of Daredevil's black suits. Going back to Teen Titans, I also think they've done an awesome job updating Cyborg's design. Another favorite of mine.
The slang usage LOL, you are incredibly hip Mr. Tropes 👍
It's not such a radical redesign, but the entire X-Men team's look in the 90s became legendary for a reason. I'd say Cyclops and Rogue's designs stand out the most.
Not a costume, but the way Kirby perfected The Thing's look over the first fifty issues (with help from Joe Sinnott) will always be my favourite evolution in a characters appearance.
Jim Lee's Cyclops is probably the best looking version of that character, to the point where people default that as his original costume.
I talked with Mike Zeck about the black suit and it was crazy how ot came in to be for such an iconic look, also Zeck was a super down to earth guy!!!
"He fought a villain named Big Dix. I made a video about it." This is why we love Chris.....The zingers!!!
Marvel in the 70's was fun to follow the glow ups although we didn't have that term for it...one of my favorites was the ever changing, ever loving, ever blue eyed Thing...the lumpy Thing was funny Thing with eye brows and Alica's eye candy was great.
I'd love to see a sequel to this episode on villains, like Darkseid. I love Kirby's Darkseid, but I also love Dark Side from Seven Soldiers, and the Dan Turpin Darkseid from Final Crisis. Brainiac and Mandarin also come to mind as classic villains who've gone through a ton of costume changes.
I wish they had stuck with Brainiac's chrome skeleton look from the early 80s for awhile longer. Sure, it looks like it'd be a pain in the ass to draw, but man it looked great.
I would not give David Aja the merit of creating the current Hawkeye costume because it was practically a color swap from the Ultimates costume by Brian Hitch.
Don't know where the "fresh eggs" thing comes from ... I grew up in the UK until I was 25 (back in the 80s and 90s), and if anybody stamps their eggs with a lion symbol now, they sure as hell didn't when I lived there. A much more likely reason why they might've dropped the lion from Captain Britain's design is that the lion on the British coat of arms represents England alone, and is always opposite the unicorn, representing Scotland (the rivalry I learned about as a kid from the nursery rhyme "The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown ..."). Thus having a lion symbolically representing "Britain" might potentially alienate Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish readers.
Paul Neary said it and I found a bunch of images with that stamp so I took it at face value. I’m a simple ignorant yank, doing my best.
Those original black widow drawings with the first black suit upgrades are absolutely gorgeous. I’ve forgotten how beautiful them women looked in that style.
Just noticed the Vampirella covers on the Spinner Rack and they look amazing! Great work, Chris.
Solid list. I remember being five or six seeing storms mohawk look, and instantly developing a crush. Kitty's reaction always irritated me, but knowing the story behind that is quite funny.
Domino has had a pretty sweet redesign. A lot of the Liefeld-era debuts had so much doing on, what with all the shoulder pads and superfluous straps. But her 2018 redesign keeps the iconic dotted eye while going for a much more simplistic black/white/teal look that really pops visually.
I love how Kitty Pryde freaks the f--- out when she sees what Storm did to her hair. Like she was genuinely deeply invested in Storm having beautiful long hair.
Usually I don't enjoy list videos, they're the UA-cam trash food, but I love and get exited for yours .
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Chris I’m begging you, never again
Wolvie: from his yellow and black stripes with blue, to his brown and gold, and then back to his yellow and black stripes with blue.
Great video. I thought you would also mention Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel suit (designed, I believe, by Jamie Mckelvie). I love the new Batgirl suit from the comic book Batgirl of Burnside, which was drawn by Babs Tarr. Mr Knight also deserves to be mentioned, although it may be considered cheating, as it's only ONE OF his looks and not a completely new one
So the Beast was really a chance to bring a monster onto the X-Men team. Interesting!
Jay Garrak's helmet's not a reference to the 'Tommy Helm', but to the hat the god Hermes/Mercury is often depicted wearing.
Jay Garrick got it from his father who fought in WW1. Kinda like Spider-Man Noir's goggles is from uncle Ben's aviator goggles.
@@alienalchemist Ah right.
That I did not know.
Still the visual reference is as much with Hermes as it is with WW1 infantry.
Great video. One thing I will point out though is that there was a second step to Hawkeye's costume evolution. The version of Hawkeye in the ultimates is much more stripped down compared to the original. I think his accent color was red though.
Firestar had a redesign in the New Warriors that gave her a black and red uniform instead of her well known original yellow jump suit and goofy red eye mask. When I saw it I immediately loved it. Recently she’s gone back to her original look and it’s such a shame , the redesign is much better
Honestly loved Genis-Vell's updated look. He went from silly 90s over-design to a sleek star-covered version of his fathers suit that works so well.
I always love videos like these, as they also often showcase the forgotten origins of characters and the artists who created them.
My #1 glow up? BLADE.
The rest of them would be Morbius' change to the 90's leather outfit, which I think actually stayed on for a good while even outside the series run so I'd say people generally liked it (I think remnants of it still existed in Romita Jr's Spidey comic in -97).
Sabretooth is one of those where the original suit was... fine, but then it became something really great, and I think is one of overall best costumes. And a special honorary mention to PS4's Spider-Man game which has possibly the best iteration of Rhino, where its not just a mechanical rhino or a literal rhino costume.
Blades and excellent example
I love the change in Iron Man's look from the gray, clunky Tin Woodsman armor to the sleeker the red and gold
0:57-1:03 This is so wholesome it reminds me of a teacher trying to say current slang😂
Some of the my favourites are: Wolverine's brown costume by Byrne, Neal Adams' Green Arrow and Mike Grell's Green Arrow later. Loved the David Aja's Iron Fist redesign (made much more sense than his previous disco collar version). And talking about comic book looks, I loved Giffen's redesign of the 30th century in Legion of Super-Heroes. Felt like it was actual different time and not just another different planet/space. Also loved the "Archie" Legion, where you got the sense that the members were part of a club, but kept some individuality. Loved those costumes.
Oh man, I've just learned so much from you, Chris. You've really enriched my life. I had the desire to learn about this artform and you were out there. Thank you so much!
Loll that emoji tho
Agreed. Chris always puts a great deal of thought and effort into these episodes. Not one word is wasted.
The Flash update worked. It was kind of the opposite of the "less costumey" or Off-The-Rack clothing redesigns you sometimes see. Other than the helmet, the 1st costume could've been store bought (of course I'm saying this from The Future where graphic tees/sweatshirts are standard fare). ...But in defense of Jay's impractical helmet, it was a Hermes reference. So it's more along the lines of the characters that wear capes in combat: not done for function.
Janet Van Dyne, as the Wasp, is (in)famous for having a new costume almost every issue. It's even been remarked upon by other team members
Discowing is a perfect name for that costume ^^
Excellent slide whistle 👌
Love this video. There's a ton of characters I didn't even know had costume /apperance changes.
I loved the redesign of Iron Fist from the Immortal run.
Love these types of videos and seeing the history you always dive so deep into. Hawkeye's original look was actually my favorite between the two, as I've always been a fan of archer-type characters and purple being my favorite color. So many other characters out there with strange costume changes, like Daredevil!
No Green Arrow?! Nothing about Neal Adams' brilliant visual redesign, like the beard, that inspired Dennis O'Neil to change the character from a blatant Batman copy into an original mix of Robin Hood and Abbie Hoffman?
The change to Nightwing's costume in the mid-90s was more likely to bring it in line with the nightwing bird from the bottle city of Kandor which was the inspiration for that city's Dynamic Duo of Nightwing and Flamebird.
Original Atom's costume looks like what happens when you forget to buy a costume for a party so you have to go to wherever you keep what's left of past Halloween costumes to try to come up with something on the spot.
I think Mar-Vell had a glow up when he switched his green/white suit for the black/red/gold suit
More episodes like this, please.
I'm personally fond of the Robin redesign for Time Drake, also the superboy design for Connor with the shirt and jeans
You rock Chris !!!!!! Your examples are awesome and amazing. I kind of miss the purple Catwoman costume, but that doesn't mean the black isn't cool too.
Listen Barry Allen's suit is great and Barry Allen will always be my favorite Flash but Jay Garrick's outfit is great and I love the helmet. Plus there's just something so perfect about Jay later characterization as an old man and his suit. Really keeps that Golden Age feeling around so to say.
I think the 'New X-Men' run can't be understated how big of a change in direction it was for the team. ( I know part of it was in direct relation to Singer's Xmen and the 'what do you expect us to run around in yellow spandex' line) but it really set them apart as a cool modern update- which was obviously helped by the Morrison and Quietly arc.
I think the best glow up in my opinion has to be for Green Arrow. The first costume just didn't click with me, but the Neal Adams costume he wore during Hard-Travelling Heroes? That was just perfect! To me, it's the best Green Arrow suit
Two of my favorites in the 90's were the Lobo biker look, and Catwoman's purple outfit. You know, the one where she was smuggling two soccer balls in her costume.
Gotta be one of my favorite UA-cam channels
We NEED a villains version of this topic!! Like The Key or Despero--Great video! Lots of fun, I would argue the Hawkeye look is lazy but makes sense. Some quick suggestions - - Wonder Man, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Huntress had some nice changes... You could do a whole episode on Iron Man updates!
One of my favorite glow-ups for a lesser-known character is Hulkling's updated design for the Empyre event. Hulkling quite frankly drew the short end of the stick when it came to his first costumes and designs. It was already a massive improvement to shift away from pure Hulk clone into a much scalier and often winged design. The biggest issues as time went on were his bland black bodysuits, how certain artists slipped a little too far into the uncanny valley trying to set him apart from the Hulk, and the fact that his name and his costumes felt trapped in the past while his character was rocketing forward. Then Empyre came in, made him green and scaly all the time, slimmed his transformed state down from varying levels of walking bicep Hulk clone to a more consistent twunk, crowned him Emperor Dorrek VIII, and gave his black bodysuit a lot more visual diversity with green and purple accessories to highlight along with his bright blond hair that he was a child of three worlds and fully embracing it.
So happy you included Captain Britain. Not only a favourite of mine, but also the first character I thought of when I started this video.
I liked John Byrne's brown and tan Wolverine costume to reflect the markings on an actual wolverine. His yellow and blue is so iconic, that I can't say this is an improvement. Let's say it's an amazing step sideways...
Really enjoyed that! Thanks Chris!
I would have figured Captain Marvel would have gotten a shout-out in this video, but maybe because her name change was a part of the costume change which would make sense.
I always liked that Firestorm redesign from the early 90's. I didn't get a chance to read any of those comics but he looked bad ass. That Dark Flash design was great as well. I missed the end of that story but I liked the so dark it looks black red with silver.
One costume change that I see comics and comics-adjacent media always struggling with is Superman's trunks. After ditching them for the Jim Lee armor redesigns for Superman and the rest of the Justice League in the New 52 in 2011, and further influenced by the lack of trunks in the "Man of Steel" movie, I can totally understand why certain people nowadays just don't click with the look of the trunks. Although I think that some red is needed to break up the visual design somewhat. I thought that the comics reached a perfect middle ground in the 2016 "Rebirth" relaunch by giving Clark a simple red belt with a few layers to it.
"Sometimes you just gotta change your drip, to show that you got that rizz"
-ComicTropes Chris
I think the Hawkeye change is lazy. Makes sense for an Ultimates universe but I like the classic costume, and I don't even really care for Hawkeye. Moon knight from his debut to his own ongoing series is another great redesign. Great video.
I prefer Hawkeye’s Silver Age look. It’s more swashbuckling.
I see a new video from ComicTropes and I have to watch it ASAP!
Love your work Chris, I hope your doing well!
You could do an entire episode on how many different costumes the Wasp has had.
Wolverine's brown and gold costume comes to mind
Palettes swap like Daredevil's suit 17:45 it doesn't count.
Betsy's evolution into her now iconic costume as Psylocke.
Going from a copy of her brother's costume, a suit that more resembles a nightgown, a cloaked costume to a 90's classic armored look as Lady Mandarin, after all that she FINALLY landed on the look we all know today (More exactly Kwannon).
Goes to show that making something that sticks is quite hard.
The original Atom looks like a serial killer 😂
I know you’re skipping the Golden Age, but mentioning the wholesale destruction of two great characters (Sandman and Crimson Avenger) with glow DOWNS to make them more superheroish would have been cool
Not a complaint, though. Great stuff, as always!
The original Sandman obviously pulled from The Shadow but was an outstanding design in itself. So much so that Gaiman based his Sandman's costume on it. Johns' 2000's redesign was... dull... but at least tried to recreate that version rather than the generic superhero suit.
I think Jar Garrick’s hat is supposed to be similar to the helmet of Hermes, a Greek God who runs fast
I'd give a nod to Donna Troy's "starscape" outfit too; I remember being transfixed by how sharp-looking it was as a kid reading TPBs
I know it’s blasphemy, but i like her new 52 look in Titans. Along with Tempest
Another great video as always. I had a VHS growing up of "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" with Stan and Sal Buscema that I watched over and over again. Your narration with fades and transitions of comic panels and shots always reminds me of that tape and the great memories I had wearing it out.
I'll also point out that I noticed more than ever before that the best redesigns featured here embody one principle: simplicity. Cleaner, pared-down design allows your brain to instantly visually identify that character. I'll also say that I think Beast's redesign is not only aesthetically awesome, it strengthened his character so much. The pathos of Hank making his mutation stronger ironically by trying to cure it is classic Marvel; he was forced to accept an even more mutated version of himself, which is what he should've done from the get-go. Beast looking like, well, a beast, also ties into the Mutant narrative more: his furry form truly looks like someone who would be feared, hated, and mocked. The animal design also contrasts his calm intellectualism and strengthens the concept of not judging based on appearance that the X-Men have always stood for.
To tie up this long-winded comment, I'll answer your suggestion by pointing out another classic X-Men redesign: Angel into Archangel. Yet another move that made the character more interesting (his rageful grudge against Apocalypse and guilt at being manipulated by him), more of a threat in combat (let's be honest, O.G. Angel could've been taken out by an angry kid with a slingshot who had good aim), and just overall more badass.
just hear to drive engagement and give more support!
Back in ‘95, I self-published an ashcan comic that debuted one of my original characters (my daughter’s favourite). No sooner did I print them out and started selling them at the ‘cons, though, I redesigned her look. Like, 3 times, actually.
This is a fun video. Maybe you could do a Super- Villains Glow Up for a part 2.
An interesting update that I always liked is the "Joe Fixit" version of The Hulk. Stay great!