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Top Notch Costumes (& character designs) [PICS]

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16:41 / 25.10.05

While I've seen the ABC Warriors Book, I never picked it up. I'm curious how these Armored Mechs depart from or are derived from their Manga equivilents. Perticularly in the design sense. My personal earliest recollection of "Battle armor" in a comic/cartoon would be Mazinga (center)

Obviously there's been an evolution in design from then to something like IRONMAN's Ultimate and contempory design.

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I would assume the evolution of "modern technology" to be a factor as well as the technological advances that allow for such representations; illustration software, Printing tech and perhaps a more technologically aware audience. Is it just a matter of personal tastes?

How about that Dragon fellow? I'm curious what makes the design of that charactor distinguished from some of these designs down below?

14:24 / 11.03.06

For those interested:
Project Rooftop

I'll be submitting a Wonder Woman and a Big Barda design; I hope to be this year's Santino.

16:26 / 12.10.07

What with the hype over the New Captain America (shown here)

I thought I would resurrect this old thread to see if we might want to break down the goods and bads of this design in relation to the "original."

16:37 / 12.10.07

well, it seems like we're getting this new Cap in much the same way that the 4 replacement Supermen showed up in the wake of Superman's 'death' or the infamous Azrael Batman. This will be a gov't-sponsored, tougher, more bad-ass (or at least trying to appear so) Cap, and thus the darker look of the costume (black body suit for most of it, belt with gun and packets, etc.).

I trust Brubaker to give us a good story, and I'm sure he's aware of the parallels to AzBats and the 4 Supermen, so I hope he knows what comic book cliches to spin on their ear a bit in the telling of his tale. Bru has said that he's got a 2-year arc planned for the aftermath of Cap's death, so look for the real Cap to come back to life somehow (place your bets as to how, there is a time machine in The Red Skull's arsenal, somehow acquired from Dr. Doom's weapons cache) in about 1 1/2 years, as opposed to Superman's resurrection about 5-6 months after his 'death.'

16:38 / 12.10.07

Ross & Brubaker discuss the details of the new costume in a Newsarama interview. Ross said he refused to part with the winged ears, which he considers to be an essential element of the Cap design and he defends them against those who say they look silly. Ross said the classic chain mail concept/design is fantastic, but he wanted to give the upper half of the new Cap design a more futuristic, cooler look.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

17:35 / 12.10.07

I'm probably the only person on Barbelith who thinks Brubaker's run has been cack. I haven't really felt like getting into it in-depth so I've shut up about it thus far, but really, isn't Brubaker just an echo of Gruenwald but with a lot more grim-faced posing and drained of every last ounce of comic-book joy?

Big stories so far:

Hey, he brought back Bucky! But it turns out that Bucky's a bit deranged and is forging a new identity as a maverick!

Gruenwald, Jack Monroe, Nomad.

Hey, he "killed" Cap! But Cap's being replaced by a government-controlled Cap who is grittier and more violent!

Gruenwald, the Council, the Captain, Super-Patriot.

The main differences are Gruenwald's Cap "died" through a conscious act of conscientious objection, whereas Brubaker plugged Steve Rogers right in the brains. Kewl!

So I'm looking forward to a rehash of John Walker, but a lot more grimfaced and -- if those illustrations are any indication -- a lot more damp. Did they dip Nu Cap in urethane or what?

18:24 / 12.10.07

I'm probably the only person on Barbelith who thinks Brubaker's run has been cack. I haven't really felt like getting into it in-depth so I've shut up about it thus far, but really, isn't Brubaker just an echo of Gruenwald...

To be fair, I haven't read anything of Brubaker's work so I can't comment on its cackiness or lack thereof (although as someone with a soft spot for Jack Munroe, I was displeased to see him Dibnyfied), but I thoroughly echo your sentiments with respect to Gruenwald. I've been over at the CBR forums, and practically no one has mentioned the fact that we already saw a "bad@$$" Captain America replacement, and in fact he's still around. I don't see any reason to do it all over again.

As for the costume itself, here are some of the chief points I feel:

1) The torso is ridiculously shiny, but that seems to be de rigueur for Alex Ross these days. Compare to Commander Steel.

2) If the shiny coloured bit is armoured and the rest is flexible, he'll get a stabbing sensation any time he bends at the waist.

3) Lots of people have a problem with the gun; lots of other people have argued that "Captain America killed people during the war." I asked what war he was involved in now -- going by the answers, there are four or five wars on US soil in Marvel right now. Shows what I know.

Now, I don't have a problem with a Captain America redesign as such, especially since it's a different person under the cowl; and I don't have a problem with someone other than Steve Rogers wearing the costume, since we've had five or six different Captains America by my count.

I do think this is one overly kewl costume, though, and I give it a thumbs down.

20:48 / 12.10.07

Brubaker did say in interviews that just because the gun is there, doesn't mean this is going to be a grim 'n'gritty 'violent' Punisher-type Cap. I mentioned above that Brubaker is very aware of the tropes/cliches of comic book plotting, esp. the famous Superman 'death' story and Batman's broken back, so I do hope that Brubaker will turn those cliches that we're all expecting on their ears a bit.

22:33 / 12.10.07

It's funny that they got rid of the lines I'd keep, but kept the additions I'd immediately toss. Thumbs WAY down.

00:45 / 13.10.07

Chaaaaaaddddddd!!!

13:22 / 13.10.07

hey papi

12:31 / 14.10.07

The biggest problem I have with the new Cap costume is it looks unfinished. Below the waist line (which is the same as the Hal Jordan redesign, I noticed) there's almost no detail. It actually reminds me a bit of those hype pics where they only release a section at a time....

21:44 / 14.10.07

What does 'kewl' actually mean? I have some ideas, all annoying.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

02:11 / 15.10.07

Like 'cool' but fed through the 'trying to be hip but really coming off like a douche' filter.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

02:12 / 15.10.07

and to clarify, that isn't a burn on Jamie, but on the marketing gurus who designed the costume, which is what I think J was talking about above anyway.

10:43 / 15.10.07

Actually Jamie is not the only person to use the term, second on my all-time most hated fandom terminology list behind 'weird for the sake of being weird', just ahead of 'Mary Sue'. But I'm not trynna be a n00bsmasher or anything. Jamie and MattS are, I'm sure, lovely lads and, use of a word more commonly found in the pariah-pit of Byrne Robotics aside, otherwise engaging posters.

If you want to talk about the current Captain America comic which is, to be fair, fairly unremittently grim (but also, to my mind, possessed of - in its milieu - about unrivalled structural integrity) I'd suggest Captain America in the news is probably the place to do so.

Regrettable Juvenilia

11:42 / 15.10.07

Yes, in essence I think anyone who thinks that redesign is an attempt to be "kewl" is clearly not reading the current Brubaker run (for which it's arguably a very big spoiler, given the extent to which the additions suggest a specific character). To be fair, Marvel isn't presenting it entirely in that context either...

12:02 / 15.10.07

Well, yeah, it does seem almost too obvious, that one. For a man who's, primarily, a mystery writer.

I'm rather hoping it'll be (something of) a fakeout and the Falcon steps to the game, deep down.

(Also of note, the major anti- preponents of the current Captain America comic are, I've noticed, i) those who don't read it and ii) those who've read Gruenwald's. Of the latter which - well, I dunno, I'm not particularly of the belief that all superhero comics should be 'joyous' and it had CapWolf is all I know, really.

...setting bad example here. Plz to go to thread linked upward for discuss, thx.)

16:25 / 15.10.07

I honestly think the homage to the original shield in the design is a great touch. But why it has to hang over his belt buckle and poke poor Cap in the crotch when he ties his shoes.... seems ridiculous to me. Just tuck. it. in.

Even the black pants and utility belt don't bother me. But that overhang really does ruin the look, in my opinion.

21:13 / 15.10.07

Oh, I make no bones about it -- I'm not reading the current Captain America series, and that's why I (thought I) took pains not to comment on the quality of the series itself, just to agree that the ideas are reminiscent of something done before. I've read very little Captain America at all, in fact, as I tend to like him more in theory than in practice; the only memory I have offhand is of Johnny Walker-Cap ripping off Mad Max with the Left- and Right-Wingers.

I don't have a problem with a costume redesign, and I don't have a problem with someone new wearing the Captain America mantle, because it's hardly the first time that's happened. I don't even have a problem with the gun, knife, or canteen, because those may or may not make sense given the storyline and the costume hasn't been unveiled in-story yet. I just don't personally like the specifics of the new design, and Elijah is right about my motivation behind the diction in that post.

My biggest problem is the torso, which is overly shiny, feels completely artificial, and is awfully pointy in the area of the lower midsection.

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