“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” -Mark Twain

Big Dave here, filling-in for the internet-less Duffmeister. We’re closing in on that time of year again, folks. Hallowe’en, an excuse to get some ill-fitting spandex around your ill-suited frame and pretend for one night that you’re Captain Amazing. To me, Hallowe’en serves as a reminder that what looks good on the page, doesn’t always look good in the flesh. Movies do it all the time, reworking classic designs and using modern materials to try and convey the sense of spectacle that is so omni-present in the pages of our 4 colour heroes. But which masked man of mystery has the BEST costume?

There are many facets to consider. Coolness, for one. When I think of cool costumes, a few spring to mind – most involving black. The Darwyn Cooke Catwoman. Black Adam. Symbiote suit Spider-man. But when it comes to pure, unadulterated, ice-cold coolness, it has to be Batman, right? Black cowl, cape, boots and gloves with the grey top and trousers. It’s sleek, stealthy and above all, it encapsulates the character. I’ll even allow the yellow oval around the chest-logo.

Coolness isn’t everything though, what about practicality? Batman’s costume is essentially just clothe. Sure, later renditions out-fitted it with armour-plating – but there’s only so much armour can do for someone who’s made of normal base-line human flesh and blood. Which hero gets the most usefulness out of their threads? This is a little out of left field, but I’m going to go with the Kasper Cole Black Panther outfit. Lined with Wakandian Vibranium, it allows him to withstand falls from great heights and makes him virtually bulletproof. Vibranium soled boots allow him to scale walls and Savage Land Vibranium in the claws lets him dissolve ANY metal, including the nearly-indestructable Adamantium. I was tempted to go for any of the Iron Man suits, but they’re more armours than costumes really.

In my humble opinion the most important aspect of a costume is iconography. Who has the most Iconic costume? Spider-man is up there for sure, same with Batman and Wonder Woman. Hell, the Flash probably deserves a look-in as well. The most iconic costume, however, belongs to Superman. The red, blue and yellow. The S shield. The cape. It’s recognised the world over – it was the first and, for my money, the BEST superhero costume. It’s been redesigned perhaps more than any other costume but the traditional look always comes back to the forefront – it’s etched into our brains and in all likelihood, it’ll out-live all of us.

The writer of this piece was:
David McIntyre aka (Big Dave)
You can also find David on Facebook