Comic Book Monday

Over the weekend, I spent more time than I should have thinking about the costumes that superheroes wear. (It's all due to Ragnell and her post at Blog@Newsarama and then the one at her own blog about Arisia's new costume (or uniform, if you want to be that way).) Not in the same way as Ragnell because, for the most part, I don't mind extra skin (although I do like changes in costumes to show changes in maturities if the character is supposed to be becoming more mature mentally, I'm looking forward to the day Supergirl grows up and lowers her shirt). No, I've been thinking about the practicality of the costumes they wear.

The first place I started was with the skin tight spandex. Is that really practical?

For the heroes who spend lots of time in space, I think it's exactly right. A thin layer of material pressing against the body could provide a decent pressure suit keeping the blood vessels in the skin from bursting and causing bruising and other problems. If the material also insulates and regulates body temperature and perspiration, then there's no need to wear anything else.

For heroes who spend most of their time on Earth, I'm not so sure.

Runners, like the Flash, it makes sense since spandex would cut down on wind resistance and would be less likely to be shredded by air moving past, but what about the friction created by the body while moving? Wouldn't the armpits and crotch area be worn out right away? I'm also guessing it wouldn't provide much, if any, support for female runners, which probably isn't a great idea. (Well, a sports bra thing would work, but then they'd have to be drawn with flatter chests, and that's not going to be happening anytime soon.) I guess a special material would have to be made that can't be worn away while running. (Unless, of course, the runners' sweat is also a lubricant that soaks through the costume and provides a nearly frictionless glide.) (An aside, while I liked the design of the Kingdom Come Flash, I always thought his nudity would be a problem because running at those speeds with no support, his junk must bounce around something fierce.) I also assume that runners create a lot of heat, which keeps them at a comfortable temperature all the time. Which leads to...

Heroes who aren't runners or nigh-invulnerable probably shouldn't be wearing spandex because that stuff provides no protection from the wind or cold. Take Nightwing, he does a lot of waiting on rooftops and skulking around at night (or he should, at least), that's a cold place to be. While he's running around chasing guys and doing crazy flips off of buildings he'll be nice and warm, also sweaty, but when he stops and a breeze comes through, his teeth'd be chattering so hard they might chip. What if it gets caught on something? How annoying would that be? (Although not as bad as other items, which will be discussed later.)

The (nigh-)invulnerable heroes who don't really feel changes in temperature can get away with the spandex because if they're not feeling it, it must not be happening, right?

Work is almost over, so I'll have more costume conundrums tomorrow, including, but not limited to, cowls and capes.