Today we discuss...

[Gadabout]

A friend of mine does this on facebook and four or five of us will chime in on various lists of comic book related talk. I figured I would try it out here. It's nothing earth shatteringly new but it can be fun.

So to start us off...

Today we discuss - Top ten male super hero costumes

‎1. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) Debut
2. Robin (Tim Drake) Original
3. Spiderman
4. Etrigan (Demon Knights, pain me though it does to include nU)
5. Flash (Wally West – Before Barry came back)
6. Doctor Fate
7. Aquaman (modern)
8. Batman (Best cape in the business!)
9. Jack Knight (Gotta love a hero who’s too cool for costumes and just wears whatever smells least dirty!)
10. Captain America (Bucky)

[Marv-El]

10. Captain Marvel (Batson)
9. Captain Atom (multi-color Ditko)
8. Batman Beyond
7. Grimjack
6. Nova (original)
5. Jack of Hearts
4. Hal Jordan GL (Gil Kane)
3. Barry Allen Flash
2. Spider-Man
1. Firestorm

[Ebon]

10. Future Foundation Spidey
9. Daredevil (original
8. Dr. Fate
7. Spider-man (classic)
6. Robin (tim drake)
5. Hawkeye
4. Batman
3. Flash
2. Nightwing (Solo Series costume)
1. Archangel

In my defense, I read the male part.  It took so long for me to start the list, that part slipped my mind.

[Scot Eric]

Top Ten Male Superhero Costumes

(so no ladies & no villains -- those are lists for another day)

10. Wildfire
He was the one Legionnaire I was obsessed with drawing as a kid -- maybe I liked the fact he had no face, I dunno.

09. GA Dr. Mid-Nite
One of the few heroes to rock a tunic and make it work -- not to mention the crescent moon sitting over his goggles.  I know he can see in the dark -- but to stitch together an outfit like that -- most impressive.

08. SA Adam Strange
This Silver Age classic is probably the most awesomely retro outfit in the bunch. Adam's finhead and jet pack predate the Rocketeer by almost 25 years.

07. Firestorm
By all rights, this primary colored amalgam of puffy sleeves and overly elaborate chest emblems should be hideous.  But Ronnie pulls the shit together -- especially as the head design (the flaming head and whited-out eyes) is just too cool for any school I've ever attended.

06. SA Flash
One of two Silver Aged updates to their somewhat archaic predecessors that makes my list.  Barry's outfit just screamed SPEED, like the sleekest sports car to come rolling off the assembly line.

05. SA Green Lantern
And here's the other Silver Age icon -- one of the coolest intergalactic cop uniforms ever conceived.  The black of space, the white of starlight and the green of the Lantern energy all fused into one truly dynamic outfit.

04. Spider-Man
What, you thought my DC bias meant I would snub Marvel entirely?  Wait till you see my "honorable mentions" list.  Anyways, Spidey's outfit is just a brilliant example of how something would sound awful if described (webbing patterns stitched throughout a red & blue outfit, with giant teardrop shaped eyes) -- but looks fucking amazing when splashed across a comic book page.

03. Batman
Whether it's the Batman of the forties, the sixties or even today -- few can compare to that cape, those gloves, that emblem (with or without the oval) and that badass fucking mask.  Black or blue -- it's hard to beat Bats.

02. GA Dr. Fate
The coolest full helmet in comics, period.

01. Deadman
The simplest explanation for any outfit (it was what he wore as a circus aerialist), except I've never seen any acrobat with such a gorgeous costume.  And I don't mean the later, more skeletal and zombie-fied Boston Brand (which is fucking bullshit) -- I'm talking classic Neal Adams here.

Honorable Mentions

I have to list a trio of Marvel heroes here:

1. Daredevil (original outfit) -- see my Dr. Mid-Nite entry for a partial reason.  Not that I don't like the all red outfit Murdoch's rocked for almost fifty years (note my pick for number one), but the yellow & red outfit, the cane/baton, the shorts -- it all felt real to me -- like something a blind guy would have put together.

2. Iron Man (Bronze Age look) -- I'm thinking the way he looked in the 70's when drawn by the likes of Bob Layton or George Perez.  He's had I don't know HOW many changes of armor over the years -- but that's the look I loved best for Tony Stark.

3. Ghost Rider -- a flaming skull dude in an MC riding a killer hog.  You just don't get any more rock & roll than that.

[Marv-El]

MC?

And as I was reading Ebon's, I thought of Ghost Rider and couldn't believe I'd left him off.

But there are a bunch of those.

[Scot Eric]

MC?

And as I was reading Ebon's, I thought of Ghost Rider and couldn't believe I'd left him off.

But there are a bunch of those.

MC is a term for a motorcycle jacket.

And I've already thought of several others I could have listed, but fuck it -- these were the first ones that came to mind!

[Ebon]

I changed my list an explained my flub

[JSayonara]

I remember Wizard doing something like this a long time ago and one of their core points was that a non comics fan should instantly be able to place a name to a character.

That to me is a pretty good point.

1: Batman (find me any character you can instantly recognise in silhouette and is just so right)

2: Spider-man (Iconic and again perfect for the character)

3: Judge Dredd (Yep, if you can't see why the big bad fascist is iconic, I dunno why you're reading comics).

4: Superman (fuck the underpants outside his trousers, bright primary colours, a big friendly chest symbol, this guy's look is a true classic..fuck DCnu).

5: Robin (Robinson and co hit it on the head, perfect counterpoint to the Dark Knight).

6: The Spectre (Sure it's just a green cloak and hood, but tell me that's not a damn spooky and iconic look. Sometimes minimal is enough).

7: Ghost Rider (This guy should be more iconic than he is).

8: The Punisher (If that Skull doesn't tell you who he is...)

9: The Hulk (But it's just a pair of ripped purple shorts..that's all the Hulk needs).

10: Captain America (Because).

[B-Lister]

Swamp Thing (because so few characters can get away with going commando).
The Atom (Silver Age) Simplicity defined.
Aquaman (Classic) Orange and Green look great together!
Robin (Tim Drake, First Costume) Made the Boy Wonder look cool!
Batman (Jim Lee Hush redesign) Only Batman costume I ever loved. second is the classic BA look.

[kcekada]

1. Kid Flash (Wally West classic, not FA)
2. Hyperion
3. Green Arrow (Bronze Age)
4. Daredevil
5. Havok
6. Lightning Lad (70s-80s)
7. Angel (blue Neal Adams era)
8. Killraven (2nd uniform)
9. Firestorm
10. Aquaman (blue)

[Grayson]

No particular order:

Batman
Nightwing (black and blue, finger stripes)
Robin (Tim Drake OYL)
Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider)
Kyle Rayner (FA)
Flash (Wally, 90s)
Moon Knight
Cyclops (Jim Lee)
Angel (blue costume)
Dr. Doom (in case Victor doesn't count because you said superheroes, I'd say Hourman Rick Tyler).

[Gadabout]

Moon Knight is a really good call. I love that character's look.

I didn't hit honorable mentions but if I had it would have been Ragman and pre-Knightfall Azreal. Those are great costumes that barely got edged out on my list.

[darthfoley]

Batman (70's Aparo style)
Flash (Barry Allen)
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Iron Man (red and gold classic)
Mister Miracle
Superman
Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Daredevil
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Judge Dredd

[kcekada]

8: The Punisher (If that Skull doesn't tell you who he is...)

I considered Punisher. Really Romita Sr. designed some great outfits, but I seem to recall that Gil Kane had a hand in this design as well. But I will never be able to classify Frank Castle as a superhero. Good outfit though.

[Scot Eric]

I felt bad leaving Ragman off my list. I would have popped him onto the Honorable Mentions list, but I liked the aesthetic of it being just a trio of Marvel heroes.
I also considered Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), the Spectre (Jim Corrigan), SA Atom, BA Black Lightning, BA Green Arrow, Star Spangled Kid, among others.



Speaking of leaving out some Marvel-ous heroes -- Moon Knight: fuck, that was an EXCELLENT choice!

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