Reposting from There’s The Door Spaceman, for those of you that don’t follow. Also, for some reason, the images I posted there (no matter how many things I tried) came out a bit pixelated, so see them here in all their gorgeous glory!
STUNNING! These practical superheroine redesigns by Meredith McClaren are just to die for. I love how fashionable they are, how much they take into consideration the real world, there’s a practicality and function that is nevertheless completely badass. They’re also so far away from “basic catsuit” type stuff that it all feels so damn new and fresh!I mean…Look at that freaking Zatanna! I’ve never seen anything like that!
AND, you’ll be able to buy the original line art for some of these as she releases rewards this week for her AWESOME KICKSTARTER…although you guys are going to have to fight me for that Catwoman.
Tags: Batgirl, carrie kelly, Catwoman, kickstarter, poison ivy, things made of awesome, Wonder Woman, zatanna
-
Wonder Woman is definitely my favorite. Badass facial expression.
The Robin is pretty cool, too. -
Personally, I’m not really all that keen on the classic skintight spandex/leather/what have you as a default superhero costume. I like superhero costumes to have weight, texture and layers. Something that looks more like regular clothes. McClaren’s designs should be right up my alley. And yet…
I’m not feeling this. Not or all the characters, mind you. I rather like her interpretation of Zatanna and Poison Ivy. Her take on Wonder Woman (or at least I assume the last image in this post is Wonder Woman) is not entirely without merit. But as for the others…
I have thought long and hard about why I was feeling this disconnect, and I think it ultimately comes down to this. While I like superhero costumes that look like clothes, I like having costume-like elements. The pouches, the armor, the cowls/masks/googles (where applicable). If you are going to have the characters who are doing a lot of fighting with their bodies (as opposed to spells//manipulation of foreign objects), they should look like it. And I don’t think McClaren’s designs quite accomplish it.
I’m really more keen on Anka’s designs, because I feel like they usually strike just the right balance between costumes and clothes. I liked Jemma Salume’s Bat-family redesigns for the same reason – even if I didn’t agree with all her choices, I thought she hers were steps in the right direction.
I would actually quite like to see McClaren’s redesigns of comic book characters that were never really conventional superheroes – the Runaways, Zatanna, Amethyst, Nick Fury, Punisher, Wolverine, Dr Nemesis, etc. Or the cast of Luna Brothers’ Ultra (where I’ve always felt the more traditional costumes never quite worked). Or, better yet, wholy original superpowered characters that aren’t encumbered by decades of precedent and expectations.
-
Michael Lee gave himself a design challenge recently: redesign several popular comic book heroines (Vampirella is included, so I guess they’re not all superheroes in the classic sense) but keep them covered from toe to neck and wrist to wrist, without resorting to costumes that could be reproduced solely by body paint, while keeping the bold look of their standard costume. He intended it as a design experiment, not a political statement, and if he’d done it with male superheroes probably most people would be taking those words at face value. And it also wouldn’t have been much of a challenge since most male superheros are, actually, wearing clothing that covers them head to toe . The story isn’t the same for female characters, though, and so naturally there’s a healthy amount of internet response that’s a little tone deaf, calling his designs frumpy, like men in drag, or prudish .
Comments are now closed.
3 comments