By Todd Allen
Last time out, I was only half-right. We got the Superman redesign today (and another priceless editorial quote), but DC went back to Worlds’ Finest yesterday for the Supergirl/Power Girl redesign. Which is to say, we’ve yet to see an Official redesign sketch of anything that wasn’t already on a previously released cover.
First up, Kevin Maguire’s Earth 2 Supergirl redesign:
It isn’t clear how much we’ll see this costume, outside of flashbacks, if she’s using the Power Girl identity in Worlds’ Finest on [whatever dimension they’re calling the one the New 52 is taking place in], but there it is.
“Superman’s cousin loves her adopted world with a passion, seeing how the people of Earth have adopted her and taken her to their hearts,” said EARTH 2 writer James Robinson. “She is the definitely brightest light among this first group of Earth 2 heroes.”
“Meet the Earth 2 Supergirl, aka Karen Starr,” said WORLDS’ FINEST editor Wil Moss. “As readers of MISTER TERRIFIC already know, Karen has been busy since she arrived on the main DCU Earth, creating a successful company and dating the brilliant Michael Holt. But what are her true motives behind those actions? How did she get here? And what incident prompts her to take up her new identity of Power Girl? Find out in WORLDS’ FINEST #1!”
“Brightest light among this first group of Earth 2 heroes,” eh? That’s the first time I’ve heard anything about a multiple waves of heroes (past Huntress being Batman’s daughter again). That hints at the generational aspect that defined the post-crisis Justice Society and the Infinity Inc. pre-Crisis Earth-2. Whether there’s more than a hint, who can say at this point.
And then there was Jim Lee’s Earth-2 Superman design sketch:
I actually like this design better than the current one being used in Superman and Action Comics. That said, they can go back to the classic look any time they want to. I’m reminded of the Kingdom Come Superman “S” logo, but with yellow background, instead of black.
And now the PR:
“Mourning the death of his beloved, Superman carries both a sadness in his heart along with the weight of Earth 2′s welfare upon on his shoulders, while never showing this and seeming to all that he is this world’s peerless champion,” said EARTH 2 writer James Robinson.
“What would you have to do to teach Superman to kill?” asks EARTH 2 editor Pat McCallum. “He’s endured the loss of his home world, and now the Last Son of Krypton must weather the death of his soul mate Lois Lane. Just how far can you bend the Man of Steel before he breaks?”
Are Robinson (the writer) and McCallum (the editor) talking about the same comic? Robinson is talking about carrying on with dignity. McCallum is… well, it sure sounds like he thinks he’s still editing Wizard, doesn’t it?
Say “What would you have to do to teach Superman to kill?” in a breathless voice and follow it with a “BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.” Self-parody or tone deaf? You be the judge.
Either way, McCallum sure is hitting that “look kids: superheroes who KILL” button just as hard as he can. We know have quotes about Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman all wanting to go kill someone. Is this supposed to be shock value?
“I actually like this design better than the current one being used in Superman”
Likewise.
Yeah, throw the regular S logo on there and you got a good suit.
If they go for shock value, I’ll be dropping that book faster than you can say “swinging a dead cat”.
I’m not a mechanical engineer, nor do I play one on TV, but I’m sure there are engineers in the world of The Beat who could enlighten us about the Application-Specific Endurance Limit.
Or we could ask Mr. Turtle and Mr. Owl. They sure tackled the Tootsie Pop question pretty well.
Seriously what’s with all the knee-pads?
The Superman Earth 2 design is so much better than the new 52 Superman. It relies on simplicity and boldness of the design, which is what I loved about pre-new 52 costumes.
Dammit, I’m only an electrical engineer, so my powers are wasted here.
Looking at these designs, it’s occured to me that while superhero artists do a lot of things very, very well, designing costumes isn’t always their strong suite. I kinda wish someone would hire a fashion designer and give them a go.
(I’m saying this based on the Supergirl suit. It isn’t bad, just kinda uninspired. I just don’t see most women looking at it and thinking – yeah, that’s snazzy. Maybe I’m being misogynistic? I dunno.)
Chris, you might have taken some statics (or would it be dynamics?) courses in college …
I was reacting to the comment:
Just how far can you bend the Man of Steel before he breaks?”
““He’s endured the loss of his home world …”
No, he hasn’t. He was an infant and probably doesn’t remember Krypton. The earth is his homeworld.
More “grim & gritty” bullshit.
@rich Why are you assuming that his origin is the same across the multiverse?
I read a comment in another board where the poster remarked how comic book nerds are becoming the new fashionistas. I guess Tim Gunn will become the new art director for Marvel and DC.
@Kenny G: Hmmm…. there was that Flashpoint title called “Project…Superman”!
Why do members of the super family need knee/shoulder pads?
Kneecaps are difficult to draw correctly.
“I actually like this design better than the current one being used in Superman”
Second the ditto. Tired of the “reality seams” motif. And those STUPID LITTLE POINTY V COLLAR things Jim Lee seems to put on damn near everything he designs…
Great Superman costume here. Wish this was the “real” new one instead of the high-collar patchwork number. You know, if the classic isn’t an option.
Chris Hero: It’s a cool thought and I would love to see what they come up with. However, things that look good in real life or on the screen don’t always translate as well into comic book images, and vice versa. Hence the changes made to the movie costumes for Batman and the X-Men (even Supes needed a lower trunk line and a raised 3D logo). And then there are the silver webs and cool fabric on the old Spidey suit. Awesome interpretations of the classic costumes, but they are definitely optimized for their media. Still, I would like to see a good fashion/costume designer take a stab at it and see what comes up.
Maybe someone could combine Project Runway with Stan Lee “Who Wants to be a Superhero?” and see what we get?
———–
BTW: I also think this is cooler than the Earth-1 costume. It’s got a nice, sleek look to it. ANd I’m also sick and tired of those little collar thingies Jim Lee keeps throwing on his costumes.
“Self-parody or tone deaf? You be the judge.”
—you are talking about yourself here, right Todd?
And another vote here for this Superman costume over the New 52 monstrosity. It’s so much better for the comics.
Could we have a few Photoshopped piccies of Jim Lee with mandarin collar? I want to see how he looks!
I really don’t get the reluctance to show Superman with his kiss curl, it’s a priceless bit of iconography. When Superman and Bruce Wayne are seen in close-up in Jim Lee’s JLA they’re barely distinguishable.
As for Supergirl, perhaps the new versions have terribly unattractive knees? This costume is a bit ‘nothingy’, like most of the reader-designed costumes of early-Seventies Adventure Comics.
I have no clue what the beat is any more. It’s not the blog I used to love.
It was way too soon to introduce Earth2. Flashpoint was supposed to restart DCs screwed up continuity and make $)…..we are back to Earth-2. It wont be long before heroes from both ‘earths’ cross over and get med. In a year frm now we will be bck with dozens of Earths and a chesy crossover ‘EVENT’. I was enjoying the curret DC52….which they waited longer. I dont know I am not interested by ths new initiative…and I am a bid DC fan.
Superman didn’t “endure the loss of his homeworld.” HE WAS A FUCKING BABY.
Egad. That Supergirl looks like it was colored by a high schooler learning to use Photoshop. As in, it looks colored like the poor first attempts I did. I know it’s a quick concept sketch, but how hard is it to regulate the proper select sensitivity to hug those pencil lines and get rid of all them white pixels. Ugh. It’s a pet peeve when I see it in fanart, never mind official releases from DC!
And I can’t even begin on what utter out of left field crap this all new all different Earth 2 is.
This NuDC is not a publisher I want to be acquainted with… They just utterly destroyed their history for this junk? These horrible character designs and pointless revamps to satisfy the egos of editors and creators who think they’re going to improve on 70+ years of history in half a year???
The sheer arrogance of DC editorial and some of the writers and main art director is just amazing.
If the fallout of Flashpoint wasn’t bad enough, they flushed all the quirkiness, remaining fun, and classic visuals of DC down the toilet.
Yeah, it can be undone, but who wants to wait around for another Crisis done by this team of “geniuses”????
I’ll stick to reprints and remember what was… As it is, neither DC nor Marvel have gotten my money for new monthlies and these pointless crossovers for years now.
P.S. — I found it sadly ironic that Batman: The Brave and the Bold ended with an episode that featured cameos of nearly every guest-star and villain featured in that series. Aside from POSSIBLE future projects, that’s the last time we will see a lot of the classic versions of those characters for the forseeable future.
It was nice seeing the Golden Age Flash and the rest of the REAL, original JSA before Robinson, Didio, and Jim Lee foisted “their improved, grander versions” in publishing.
I don’t know that they’ll allow alternate versions or the originals to exist in the future…
There’s even talk that one of the future animation projects will be an adaptation of Flashpoint!
It’s a pretty sad…