And I have to say, it’s about time! I’m so glad Newsarama has a discussion about those red shorts our hero has been wearing for a while. They’re ugly, and what’s worse, they draw undue attention to the nether regions which just distracts from the story. It’s true that our hero’s cousin wears red shorts, making them seem like just part of the uniform. Still, whatever the reasons behind them might be, I firmly believe:
Superman’s red shorts have to go.
Oh – what’s that? People are talking about Supergirl’s red shorts? I thought we were talking about the underwear that the Man of Steel wears over his pants. Supergirl wearing shorts under her skirt makes perfect sense. I was very happy when Renato Guedes drew Supergirl with blue shorts back in Supergirl #20-22, and was pleased to see Jamal Igle bring them back in Supergirl #34 (not #35, Newsarama).
Now, what Superman’s got going on is underwear as outerwear, which is a whole ‘nother story. How embarrassing for him! His bright red briefs scream out to the world, look at my groin! My pants are so tight everyone would’ve stared at my crotch, so I wore my underwear over my pants! But that just made it worse! OH GOD!!!
Can we please give the poor man a costume update? And while DC is at it, I’d like to see those full length pants that Supergirl’s been requesting for years. The skirt as superhero costume is so Silver Age. Didn’t make sense when they brought it back in 1984, even less in 1988. But in 2004 – are you kidding me?
I don’t actually care about Superman’s shorts. They’re cute in a way. But keeping Supergirl in a skirt and cut off top is unfair. Making a point to show that she wears long shorts under her skirt is small, but important: it acknowledges that there is an obvious flaw in that feminized costume. Acknowledging that error is something that DC creators have failed to do until recently. I do hope that we’ll see Supergirl get some kind of full body costume very soon. She deserves it, don’t you think?
I concur!
When I first saw the short’s, back when Guedes brought them to surface, I actually welcomed them. If she’s gonna wear a skirt why not wear em? Specially in the modern comics era we live in. I’m surprised none of the creepy villians have said anything about “seeing what’s under that skirt” or something else lewd and uncalled for (actually… didn’t Reactron say something to that effect recently? I may be mistaken). I also never enjoyed seeing the random upskirt shots they would sneek in there occasionally.
I read on another SG blog that Igle said that it only makes sense that she wears em because of all the hand to hand combat she’s been doing lately, and hinted that there may be a new SG costume design in the works. I hope that’s true. I was never really a fan of the current uniform.
I guess the reason I like the shorts so much is because of the 70′s costume. Though kinda gaudy, I was a big fan of the shorts/blouse/slipper/(then later)boots combo. That, to date, is my favorite costume followed by the original Silver Age one. A full body suit wouldn’t look that bad. The sun suits they wore in Superman/Supergirl: Malestrom where kinda cool. The costume I really dug on was the future one she wore in Supergirl #32 (current run of course). It was a nod to the original.
The shorts have my vote!
Oh don’t hold your breath about a new Superman costume… it’s way to iconic.
Poor Superman!
I actually just had a lovely chat with a reporter from the Toronto Star about those shorts (Supergirl’s, not Superman’s). She asked if there was anyone else she thought I should talk to, and I pointed her your way – I hope you don’t mind!
For the record, I love Superman’s costume and never want to see a revamp. (Temporary changes are fun though!) I just had to poke some fun at anyone criticizing “red shorts” – in a superhero of all things! – when Superman’s running around in the same! The idea that some people seriously dislike Supergirl’s shorts and can’t accept them as a reasonable compromise is aggravating. Like you say, Douglas, shorts are actually very traditional for Supergirl!
I love Supergirl’s previous skirted uniforms in the comics, but the older I get, the harder it is to rationalize why Supergirl’s still wearing a skirt after all these decades (especially after she “grew up” into shorts so long ago). When the new costume was introduced I was utterly shocked, because in the back of my mind I just assumed they’d use the revamp to do the obvious thing: give her pants. Or shorts. Instead they made her costume even more feminized than ever before!
I completely agree with the dictractors that the colour of the shorts is a bit glaring and distracting and in your face: but that’s point.
They have to be attention grabbing and obvious, in order to render powerless the potential shame factor of skirts.Edited: Rachel Eddin said it better: “The shorts remove the taboo, voyeuristic element of the “accidental” (or at least incidental) panty flashes. They’re clothing, not underwear.” Shorts-under-skirt may not be a perfect solution for all time, but they are the perfect solution for now.I found Jamal’s comments on the artistic downside to skirts fascinating: I’ve heard numerous artists say that skirts are difficult to draw (it’s the reason Wonder Woman switched), but I’d never realized how much they break with the physics of today’s more realistic comics art, where people actually move around very physically, unlike in the Silver Age. Yet another reason to support shorts or pants for female action heroes: just like in the real world, skirts restrict our movement!
(Shorts are so freakin’ obvious, but Igle had to go outside the insular male world of comic book creators and discuss the costume with actual girls – his nieces and students – to get that perspective. I enjoyed Jamal’s comment about this.)
@Poison Ivory: Eek! Really? ETA: I just got her email. Cool.
Whee! I spoke with the reporter this morning and it was a lot of fun (I may have talked…a lot). She was very cool to talk with. And thanks to the Google Machine, I found she’s on Twitter: Paola Loriggio.
nooooooo!!!!]]I liked the hot pants, I thought they worked but I never want to see supergirl in full trousers again. So her costume is feminised, shouldn’t that be a good thing? A superheroine who enjoys her femininity and shows it. Why must a superheroine be made more masculine to be acceptable?
Your comparison to superman is completely wrong, superman does not wear shorts he wears y-front underwear over his costume, presumably the same type thing Kara always had under her skirt. And yes, it looks stupid and I’m up for a revamped Suprerman costume.
I was kind of joking about Superman, just having a bit of a tease. You’re right, he is wearing underwear – which makes the fact that some fans have complained about Supergirl wearing shorts under her skirt, which are actual shorts and *not* underwear, very hypocritical. It was the double standard there that I was criticizing.
When I say that Supergirl’s costume is feminized, I’m not trying to say that she needs to adopt a masculine costume to be acceptable (I don’t agree with that at all). I’ll quote from Karen Healey:
I look at Supergirl’s costume and think, “Would I wear a skirt if I were a teenager who suddenly gained superpowers?” Nope. Shorts/skort, sure. Once I got a bit older than Kara is now, I’m pretty sure I’d start wearing pants because that’s what adults wear on the job. Since I’ve been reading Supergirl for over a decade now, and have seen her grow up in her first incarnation and then again as Linda Danvers, I guess I’m getting a little impatient to see the character finally be allowed to graduate from the teenage shorts/skirt and into something more mature. Admittedly, that’s a meta issue and my own pet peeve. I would be very happy to see Supergirl in shorts again, if it could be expected that she would one day be allowed to grow up into Superwoman (many years down the line). I doubt that’ll ever happen.
I like comparing this to Superman’s costume. It makes the furor over Supergirl’s new shorts even funnier in context. The way I figure it, what she was wearing before wasn’t underwear, it was equivalent to lollipop/hot pants, which are what cheerleaders wear (over underwear) under their skirts. Or so my cheerleader sister told me when I mocked her for showing her underwear when we were kids.
I think when it comes right down to it, if superheroes really wore what they wanted, a lot more would be dressing like Superboy and Wonder Girl: in jeans and t-shirts. Maybe with a mask thrown on to hide identity (in the DCU, of course). A lot of the outfits, both male and female, are silly and are throwbacks to the age when the superhero was created, when we needed larger than life symbols (wearing underwear on the outside of their clothes) so we knew that they were different than we are. Now all we need to see is the S-shield or the double-W and we know. Most of the costumes, unless they’re explained away as some sort of alien outfit, are pretty silly. Still fun, though. :)
Kara has worn trousers before I don’t think they have ever looked good. the costume just looked too busy and cumbersome. A full bodysuit in some instances a cape and that logo. Its all too much. I liked the maelstrom costume but its too far departed from the Supergirl look. There is also the argument that the trousers make her look even more like mini superman.Its also interesting to note that Kara’s outfit is not dissimilar to Linda’s DCAU inspired costume. and she never used shorts and neither were they used in the cartoon.
I think that extract is wrong though, looking at super-heroines now I can only name Supergirl and Mary Marvel who wear skirts. I think characters like Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Black Canary and Starfire who wear swimsuit-like costumes are more of an issue as all too often they are relegated to g-strings. If anything Supergirl should get a pass for her costume because of her age, she’s in her first throes of sexuality. She’s figuring out how to flirt and be appealing and its all to common for girls her age to dress less because of that. After all she’s had no-one to say ‘you’re not going out in that’!
I still like the full bodysuit idea myself – BUT – I’ve come around to thinking that shorts (real shorts thanks, not hot pants!) – could be awesome for Kara at this stage in her life. But only if Jamal Igle or Renato Guedes draw her. ;-)
I can’t think of any other superheroes still wearing skirts today besides Mary Marvel, Supergirl, and Miss Martian, who was openly based off Supergirl. Is Green Lantern Arisia still around? I’m not so up on Marvel, but I can imagine skirted heroines still being around even *less* in that universe :) It really is anachronistic. Like those old 1950s B movies set in “the future” where the women are wearing gloves and crinolines.
(Tiny Titans Supergirl, OTOH, totally rocks the skirt.)
The swimsuit/leotard as the default female superhero costume is another pet peeve of mine ^_-
I don’t know. I think the current costume is really cool. Originally, I was irritated with the ridiculously skimpy costume and her anorexic physique, but now I wonder if she looks a bit TOO much like a normal teenager.
What I liked about the early issues: How confident and in command she was, even though the storyline seemed weird and all over the place. I also liked the way Churchill drew her face–that’s the definitive Kara visage to me. I also really liked the ridiculously long cape: comics these days are aiming for realism, but a little stylized art here and there isn’t too terrible. He was pretty decent at making her look muscular and lithe.
What I like about the current issues: the length of her top is better. There’s midriff, and then there’s… what we had before. I miss the triangular end to the top (who was it that did that?) but this is good too. I also like the lengthened skirt, I think it gives it a bit more of a lease on life.
I was originally really annoyed with the shorts because I felt that they would just give more of an opportunity for artists to show it flying around, but I might yet come around on it too. I just never felt like I really wanted to know what she wore under there, and I’d be happy if I never had to see her underwear at all. But if these shorts save the skirt, then fine.
I can’t help it, I really like the skirt. I don’t think that superheroines need to act like they’re in the corporate world, and Supergirl’s current costume is probably a lot more civilized than what most other Superheroines without skirts are wearing. The skirt may be impractical, but so’s the cape–both are iconic.
“I don’t know. I think the current costume is really cool. Originally, I was irritated with the ridiculously skimpy costume and her anorexic physique, but now I wonder if she looks a bit TOO much like a normal teenager.”
Yeah, Igle has a more realistic style, so she does look much more “normal”. This is probably highlighted by the change in locales: we’re seeing a lot more of Kara interacting with people in their homes and offices, whereas before, the closest Supergirl got to interacting with normal people was crouching inside a window at the Daily Planet :)
“I also liked the way Churchill drew her face–that’s the definitive Kara visage to me.”
I loved how Churchill drew her face and hair. It was stuff like the extreme skinniness and the pointy nipples that bugged me. He did pretty faces very well. There’s a reason I use this image as my avatar in a lot of places :)
“I miss the triangular end to the top (who was it that did that?) but this is good too.”
I miss that too! Drew Johnson and Ron Randall did that.
“the closest Supergirl got to interacting with normal people was crouching inside a window at the Daily Planet”
When did that happen? I must have a bad memory.
I do remember in one of the issues numbering in the late teens, she was at some dancing place and a giant creature attacked. That was more or less normal, but she was really petulant and immature with her attitude. I like that she can be decent around normal people, now. I guess we can chalk it down to character growth.
“I loved how Churchill drew her face and hair. It was stuff like the extreme skinniness and the pointy nipples that bugged me. He did pretty faces very well. There’s a reason I use this image as my avatar in a lot of places :)”
Oh, yes, the hair too! It was always so detailed and it worked very well when it was swooping about during action scenes. Now I’m going to have to get one of her for an avatar, too…
What’s this business with the pointy nipples, though? Hasn’t there always been a convenient rock or whatnot in the umpteen times he’s drawn her nude?
“I miss that too! Drew Johnson and Ron Randall did that.”
I do hope it comes back. It was cute and it kind of sold me on the outfit.
Not your memory – that was from Action Comics #868 from last year: Page 2 and Page 3. It was so cute.
Churchill’s hair is amazing, I love it so much. Great avatar!
This is what I meant by “pointy nipples”. That costume-painted-on look. Fabric doesn’t work like that! Eh, it’s one of those things that once you notice it, you see it everywhere.
Hahaha, I sense plastic. That’s priceless. That explains why that Daily Planet lady hates her. I was so completely baffled by that, because it came out of the blue.
I’m going to have to go through that list you have on this site and read the other things she appears in, I guess. Are these just cameo appearances or is she a central character?
And yeah, I guess I never noticed that before. Even spandex would have to stretch the span between, I would think. That’s so weird. Although I don’t know, it’s kind of different too. Artistic license? I thought it was going to be something explicit but that doesn’t look so bad.