Worst "52" designs?

[enyawd72]

I find 90% of today's comic artists to be arrogant hacks quite frankly. It's not just the new 52. Costume changes are rampant through just about every superhero title out there, and it never fails, as soon as a new artist takes over, you get another new costume design just for the sake of doing it. Spider-Man's had half a dozen or so since Civil War.
This amounts to nothing more than self serving artists trying to leave their "mark" on a character instead of worrying about telling the story. If the art is truly good, it will speak for itself without the artist having to resort to such tactics. I find it very disrespectful to the original designers.
That would be like me redesigning the characters for every magazine cover I paint, saying "Look, isn't my version better?"

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I think that is what is wrong with the vast majority of super hero comics. For years, there was the notion of putting back the toys as you found them. Writers and artists would come and go, but they, and especially the editors felt like they were the caretakers of the properties, and that they shouldn't tweak them TOO far past their original concepts or designs that they were unrecognizable when they left. Of course, there were exceptions to this (Diana Prince, I'm looking at you). When you had folks like Moore and Miller deconstructing the genre in the 80s, everyone (usually much less talented folk) wanted a piece of that, and so began the rush to make THE great change in each character's lives. New costume, new attitude, new person IN the costume, etc, etc. For most of the evergreen characters (Superman and Batman) it was telegraphed that these changes would ONLY be temporary, and the status quo (or a slight variation of it) would return at story arcs end. Eventually, the need to court talent from Hollywood and more "legit" forms of entertainment led a new regime of company runners to basically sell their characters out. See Identity Crisis. Can you imagine Julius Schwartz or even Dick Giordano okaying that story? Giordano had Moore change his proposal for Watchmen so he wouldn't permanently damage the Charlton characters. See how that works?

The constant need to up the ante eventually led to something like the New 52. The more they said "YES" to drastic changes, the easier it became. The idea of safeguarding the history of the characters became moot...and now you have this stuff.

I think it's more apparent with DC, because you had a continuity of company runners from Liebowitz and Donnenfeld down to Levitz. People who rose through the ranks of the company and worked with the characters in other areas before assuming the reins. When DiDio was hired, Levitz seemingly lost any and all hold he had on the old DC, and when he walked out the door, it really walked out with him.

Chris

[enyawd72]

^EXACTLY. There is a complete and utter disrespect for what has come before and preserving it. I'm tired of hearing how it's us old fans who don't like anything new that's holding back comics today. That's BS. I'm all for change and new ideas, as long as those new ideas aren't CRAP. I loved when Spider-Man got his black costume back in '84. First of all, there was an actual REASON for the change. Second, the character was still Spider-Man, and the backstory for the new costume led to the creation of one of the last great villains in comics. Hobgoblin was another perfect example of taking an old idea, the Green Goblin, and brilliantly refreshing it without taking a huge crap on the original character.
It CAN be done. The problem is the entire industry today is full of jerks worried about furthering their own reputations instead of guarding the reputations of the icons entrusted to them.

[ctc]

>cosplayers have made the Supergirl costume more practical

Cosplayers have ported over a LOT of characters effectively, and authenticly. Which is why most big movies make me sad.

>I find 90% of today's comic artists to be arrogant hacks quite frankly.

I'd go back to the 80's on that one. Co-inkey-dinkelley, the era when you first started seeing designer comics. That is; books sold more on the name than the product. I think you're right, that a lot of the folks working for the Big Two-ish have levelled up on the ******baggery....no mean feeat, considering the 90's. But I see that as an extension of the process; that the talent is courted and primmed like a pop star. Of course they're gonna feel privleged and infallable. Just like a pop star.

>The more they said "YES" to drastic changes, the easier it became.

Hmmmm.... I don't think you're wrong, but I think you're leaving out the audience's culpability in this. It wasn't just that it got easier to change stuff and push things; it was that the audience DEMANDED it. (Thank you again, 90's.) They got a taste of the non-event in the 80's and wanted more. And that's what they got. And eventually they had enough, 'cos ice cream is great but you can't live on the stuff. And now nobody knows what to do. The companies are married to the old ideas (AND talent) but the long term fans want something more substantial, and the short term fans.... well, they never had an in since the past decade or so created puzzling stories that required a scorecard or intense knowledge of 50 years of comic history to get anything out of them.

Don C.

[jwyblejr]

It'll never happen but I would like to see DC let Bruce Timm come in and redsign everything.

[The Toyroom]

When DiDio was hired, Levitz seemingly lost any and all hold he had on the old DC, and when he walked out the door, it really walked out with him.

Did Levitz walk or was he pushed out the door?

[PNGwynne]

^ I wondered about that, too.

[johnnystorm]

I find 90% of today's comic artists to be arrogant hacks quite frankly. It's not just the new 52. Costume changes are rampant through just about every superhero title out there, and it never fails, as soon as a new artist takes over, you get another new costume design just for the sake of doing it. Spider-Man's had half a dozen or so since Civil War.
This amounts to nothing more than self serving artists trying to leave their "mark" on a character instead of worrying about telling the story. If the art is truly good, it will speak for itself without the artist having to resort to such tactics. I find it very disrespectful to the original designers.
That would be like me redesigning the characters for every magazine cover I paint, saying "Look, isn't my version better?"

This most certainly goes back to the Todd McFarlane era, when his take on Spidey was something actually new & different. Also super profitable...but that particular lightning is out of the bottle, it's not gonna happen again.
Another big problem with many of today's artists is that they've learned to draw from other comic artists, not from any classic art training. That's why you get designs like Lee's new 52, costumes based on other costumes, not on any sense of fashion design. Same goes for editorial that ok this crap, people with advertising degrees earned online, not from practical experience.

[kingdom warrior]

...........................nevermind

[Earth 2 Chris]

Did Levitz walk or was he pushed out the door?

I definitely think he was "forcibly retired", with the promise of scripting work.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

I definitely think he was "forcibly retired", with the promise of scripting work.

Chris

Doesn't sound like a fair trade. Especially since he's been cast to the outskirts of the New52niverse scripting Legion and Earth 2. Of course that's in his wheel house though...

[thunderbolt]

Legion is getting or has gotten the axe

[The Toyroom]

Legion is getting or has gotten the axe

It's done. #23 was the last issue...

[Brazoo]

Supergirl's crotch reminds me of the Canadian Tire logo.

[emeraldknight47]

It'll never happen but I would like to see DC let Bruce Timm come in and redsign everything.

THAT would be SO sweet!!!