Why not just make it a uniform where the "S" stands for "Superman" and the costume was sewn for like an 18 year old by his mom? Coming bundled in the rocket isn't so much silly as weird and unnecessary.
Who sends their kid into the universe swaddled in a cape?
It's a blanket.
It gets modified into a cape.
Eh, whatever. The point is, the idea that the whole costume came out of the leftover kryptonian blanket never felt right to me.
"The S is actually not an S and it stands for Hope and not my name because I'm not a dork and the underoos on the outside are actually an ancient kryptonian signifier of emergency service personnel" strikes me as trying to get away from the actual in favor of something less embarrassing, and it's dumb.
UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
The S is there because he's Superman, the underwear is on the outside because he's Superman, and he wears tights instead of armor in part because armor is militaristic which does not fit the spirit of the character, but mostly because he's Superman.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
Armor exists to protect yourself, which he clearly doesn't need, and the only other reason to wear armor would be to look cool/badass, which isn't a very Superman thing to do.
Superman's look and origin is almost as perfect as you can get in comics.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
Like, I'm not saying Superman's costume can't be redesigned to look cool. I'm all for interesting new takes on superhero designs! It could even change stuff like the underwear on the outside, and I'd be okay with that. That doesn't make the underwear on the outside silly - it was chosen for a reason, to evoke circus strongmen of the period when Superman was designed (which I know you know, I'm just being thorough). Metallic colored costume, alien materials, sure, whatever. The post I was disagreeing with specifically suggested he wear a suit out of regular earth metals which is dumb because metal doesn't work that way, earth materials implies a choice on Clark's part to wear metal armor which feels out of character, and also pointless because it wouldn't really stand up any better than spandex to the sorts of unpleasantness Superman deals with on the daily.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
Why not just make it a uniform where the "S" stands for "Superman" and the costume was sewn for like an 18 year old by his mom? Coming bundled in the rocket isn't so much silly as weird and unnecessary.
Who sends their kid into the universe swaddled in a cape?
It's a blanket.
It gets modified into a cape.
Eh, whatever. The point is, the idea that the whole costume came out of the leftover kryptonian blanket never felt right to me.
"The S is actually not an S and it stands for Hope and not my name because I'm not a dork and the underoos on the outside are actually an ancient kryptonian signifier of emergency service personnel" strikes me as trying to get away from the actual in favor of something less embarrassing, and it's dumb.
Hasn't the "S" been the El Family Crest since at least he 60's? At this point its not really changing the origin so much as that's just what it is.
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Linespider5ALL HAIL KING KILLMONGERRegistered Userregular
The underoos are on the outside because circus strongmen did it as part of their getup. Adding it onto Supes (and later Bats, and a ton of other people) was about trying to infer that assocation of strength and power into these figures of entertainment.
Why not just make it a uniform where the "S" stands for "Superman" and the costume was sewn for like an 18 year old by his mom? Coming bundled in the rocket isn't so much silly as weird and unnecessary.
Who sends their kid into the universe swaddled in a cape?
It's a blanket.
It gets modified into a cape.
Eh, whatever. The point is, the idea that the whole costume came out of the leftover kryptonian blanket never felt right to me.
"The S is actually not an S and it stands for Hope and not my name because I'm not a dork and the underoos on the outside are actually an ancient kryptonian signifier of emergency service personnel" strikes me as trying to get away from the actual in favor of something less embarrassing, and it's dumb.
Hasn't the "S" been the El Family Crest since at least he 60's? At this point its not really changing the origin so much as that's just what it is.
I'm not really arguing the canon or anything, it's just a silly thing that exists. And every time someone takes pains to make sure it's an element of the character it is silly. The reason the character Superman has an S on the costume is because the people who created him wanted him to have an S that stood for "Superman" on his costume.
It's like if Angel in the 60's had insisted that the little halo on his costume didn't really represent Angels it's just a family emblem passed down through the ages representing perseverance in the face of impossible odds and it only resembles a halo because of [backstory]. It wouldn't be inaccurate to state that the canon reason for him having a little halo logo on his chest was that his family had fought in the Ring Wars of the 1630's, but it also wouldn't be not-silly to make a point of highlighting that element of the character.
It grates me every time some element of costuming is explained in-world with elaborate backstory that contributes not much beyond "please let's pretend this wasn't purely an artistic decision made 30 years ago that we're keeping because it's recognizable now." It's weird and unnecessary every time it happens.
I don't think your comparison holds up because Angel isn't an alien and the alien angle is important to Superman's story.
Here's another way to look at the costume. The cape is his blanket but it becomes appropriated by his earth family and is a representation of his earth family on said costume (he's figuratively wrapped in their love). The "S" is the same thing but a representation of his Krytonian family.
Now take a step back and look at that. How is that at all silly? It is super elegant and a great marriage of design and narrative.
edit: apologies for the travesty of a sentence above.
first, the costume wasn't in the rocket, just the cape, as a blanket.
Second, a metal unitard is a really dumb idea. Not only is it kind of lacking in range of motion, it's getting into "superman wearing armor" territory which is silly
also you're calling parts of the traditional origin "silly" and suggesting they be replaced, and then suggesting something deliberately sillier to replace it. What?
"modify a foreign letter?" Unless you have a copy of the kryptonian alphabet laying around to refer to, this doesn't make any sense. A hebrew letter makes exactly as much sense as an english/latin one. Equating another culture's alphabet to something alien/otherworldly is kinda messed up.
Why would it be lacking in motion? The whole premise of Superman is that steel is like tissue paper to him. I don't see why that's silly, as it actually explains why he's not wearing rags one second in.
Meanwhile, the thing with a modified letter looking like an "S" is that you aren't just taking an "S" and insisting that it's not an "S," and just happens to be exactly like an "S" in every way, while using a foreign letter is actually consistent with the idea of people just projecting something familiar.
regardless of strength, metal doesn't move like fabric
unless it's chainmail, or a suit of armor with flexible joints and such
but superman in armor is a dumb idea, because he's tougher than any armor he could wear, at which point he's just wearing it to look cool which isn't very superman
also the reason he' not wearing rags one second in was explained by John Byrne post-Crisis on Infinite Earths - in short, that his invulnerability is an aura extends slightly past his skin, so tight-fitting clothing is protected from most harm.
There's a smart comment, a stupid comment, and a really stupid comment is there. The claim that sheet metal is not malleable is a good reason to go after my idea, although I'd like to hear from someone who works with the stuff or see a cite. The idea that durable clothing is only needed for protection is dumb. People didn't start wearing tweed, canvas, and that thick synthetic on jackets because they're worried about getting attacked by an axe, but rather because they wanted clothing that was more difficult to ruin, and I don't see why Superman shouldn't do the same thing. Lastly, the idea that it's good writing to give Superman a new power that only works on clothes and never manifests in any other or consistent manner rather than just giving him an outfit in keeping with his lifestyle is completely idiotic.
I don't think your comparison holds up because Angel isn't an alien and the alien angle is important to Superman's story.
Here's another way to look at the costume. The cape is his blanket but it becomes appropriated by his earth family and is a representation of his earth family on said costume (he's figuratively wrapped in their love). The "S" is the same thing but a representation of his Krytonian family.
Now take a step back and look at that. How is that at all silly? It is super elegant and a great marriage of design and narrative.
edit: apologies for the travesty of a sentence above.
In which case it should actually look like something that's from a foreign society with non-Roman writing that Americans pareidoliate into/as an "S," which is why I think modifying a non-western letter to get close to an "S" would support that symbolism.
first, the costume wasn't in the rocket, just the cape, as a blanket.
Second, a metal unitard is a really dumb idea. Not only is it kind of lacking in range of motion, it's getting into "superman wearing armor" territory which is silly
also you're calling parts of the traditional origin "silly" and suggesting they be replaced, and then suggesting something deliberately sillier to replace it. What?
"modify a foreign letter?" Unless you have a copy of the kryptonian alphabet laying around to refer to, this doesn't make any sense. A hebrew letter makes exactly as much sense as an english/latin one. Equating another culture's alphabet to something alien/otherworldly is kinda messed up.
Why would it be lacking in motion? The whole premise of Superman is that steel is like tissue paper to him. I don't see why that's silly, as it actually explains why he's not wearing rags one second in.
Meanwhile, the thing with a modified letter looking like an "S" is that you aren't just taking an "S" and insisting that it's not an "S," and just happens to be exactly like an "S" in every way, while using a foreign letter is actually consistent with the idea of people just projecting something familiar.
regardless of strength, metal doesn't move like fabric
unless it's chainmail, or a suit of armor with flexible joints and such
but superman in armor is a dumb idea, because he's tougher than any armor he could wear, at which point he's just wearing it to look cool which isn't very superman
also the reason he' not wearing rags one second in was explained by John Byrne post-Crisis on Infinite Earths - in short, that his invulnerability is an aura extends slightly past his skin, so tight-fitting clothing is protected from most harm.
There's a smart comment, a stupid comment, and a really stupid comment is there. The claim that sheet metal is not malleable is a good reason to go after my idea, although I'd like to hear from someone who works with the stuff or see a cite. The idea that durable clothing is only needed for protection is dumb. People didn't start wearing tweed, canvas, and that thick synthetic on jackets because they're worried about getting attacked by an axe, but rather because they wanted clothing that was more difficult to ruin, and I don't see why Superman shouldn't do the same thing. Lastly, the idea that it's good writing to give Superman a new power that only works on clothes and never manifests in any other or consistent manner rather than just giving him an outfit in keeping with his lifestyle is completely idiotic.
I don't think your comparison holds up because Angel isn't an alien and the alien angle is important to Superman's story.
Here's another way to look at the costume. The cape is his blanket but it becomes appropriated by his earth family and is a representation of his earth family on said costume (he's figuratively wrapped in their love). The "S" is the same thing but a representation of his Krytonian family.
Now take a step back and look at that. How is that at all silly? It is super elegant and a great marriage of design and narrative.
edit: apologies for the travesty of a sentence above.
In which case it should actually look like something that's from a foreign society with non-Roman writing that Americans pareidoliate into/as an "S," which is why I think modifying a non-western letter to get close to an "S" would support that symbolism.
Is this really an issue you feel strongly enough about to justify being belligerent and insulting?
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so a flying man who can shoot lasers from his eyes is realistic as long as his armour is made from space alien cloth rather than space alien metal
is that what we are saying here
I'm glad you understand
Eh, whatever. The point is, the idea that the whole costume came out of the leftover kryptonian blanket never felt right to me.
"The S is actually not an S and it stands for Hope and not my name because I'm not a dork and the underoos on the outside are actually an ancient kryptonian signifier of emergency service personnel" strikes me as trying to get away from the actual in favor of something less embarrassing, and it's dumb.
like, a metallic skinsuit kind of deal
Just like his regular costume but with silver and copper and gold
but you keep arguing something different than the person I was actually disagreeing with
Superman's look and origin is almost as perfect as you can get in comics.
thank you
Hasn't the "S" been the El Family Crest since at least he 60's? At this point its not really changing the origin so much as that's just what it is.
Now it's just iconic, I suppose.
I'm not really arguing the canon or anything, it's just a silly thing that exists. And every time someone takes pains to make sure it's an element of the character it is silly. The reason the character Superman has an S on the costume is because the people who created him wanted him to have an S that stood for "Superman" on his costume.
It's like if Angel in the 60's had insisted that the little halo on his costume didn't really represent Angels it's just a family emblem passed down through the ages representing perseverance in the face of impossible odds and it only resembles a halo because of [backstory]. It wouldn't be inaccurate to state that the canon reason for him having a little halo logo on his chest was that his family had fought in the Ring Wars of the 1630's, but it also wouldn't be not-silly to make a point of highlighting that element of the character.
It grates me every time some element of costuming is explained in-world with elaborate backstory that contributes not much beyond "please let's pretend this wasn't purely an artistic decision made 30 years ago that we're keeping because it's recognizable now." It's weird and unnecessary every time it happens.
Here's another way to look at the costume. The cape is his blanket but it becomes appropriated by his earth family and is a representation of his earth family on said costume (he's figuratively wrapped in their love). The "S" is the same thing but a representation of his Krytonian family.
Now take a step back and look at that. How is that at all silly? It is super elegant and a great marriage of design and narrative.
edit: apologies for the travesty of a sentence above.
There's a smart comment, a stupid comment, and a really stupid comment is there. The claim that sheet metal is not malleable is a good reason to go after my idea, although I'd like to hear from someone who works with the stuff or see a cite. The idea that durable clothing is only needed for protection is dumb. People didn't start wearing tweed, canvas, and that thick synthetic on jackets because they're worried about getting attacked by an axe, but rather because they wanted clothing that was more difficult to ruin, and I don't see why Superman shouldn't do the same thing. Lastly, the idea that it's good writing to give Superman a new power that only works on clothes and never manifests in any other or consistent manner rather than just giving him an outfit in keeping with his lifestyle is completely idiotic.
In which case it should actually look like something that's from a foreign society with non-Roman writing that Americans pareidoliate into/as an "S," which is why I think modifying a non-western letter to get close to an "S" would support that symbolism.
Is this really an issue you feel strongly enough about to justify being belligerent and insulting?