Friday, October 12, 2018

The Conner Kent Superboy costume history

The teenaged tactile-telekinetic clone of Superman, Conner Kent (also called Kon-El) has worn quite a few costumes as Superboy. He began his career believing he was Superman after escaping the genetics lab that created him. His black, blue and red Superman uniform had a cape, but it was torn off in the escape and Conner replaced it with a black leather jacket. When he met the real Superman, Connerr assumed the alias Superboy. When he lost his tactile-telekinetic powers, Superboy was basically powerless aside from some limited enhanced strength. He created a new costume to supplement his lost abilities. His new costume (consisting of a black Superman t-shirt, blue jeans, red gloves, and red boots) was enhanced by an anti-gravity flight ring and a wristband that could expand into a shield. After he regained his lost powers, Conner was dismayed to learn that his original costume was called outdated. Superboy donned a more streamlined costume with all the black accents replaced with red, a red-and-blue jacket, and red goggles. He soon simplified his look even more by getting rid of the jacket and goggles. When Conner was sent to live with Superman's adoptive family in Smallville, he replaced his costume with a simple outfit consisting of a black-and-red Superman t-shirt, blue jeans, and black  boots.

After the evens of New 52, Superboy's history was rebooted. Instead of being Superman's clone, the new Superboy (who went by his his Kryptonian name of Kon-El) was the clone of Superman's future son. Possessing immense telekinetic powers, Superboy wore a hi-tech black-and-red bodysuit that kept his cells charged with the solar energy he needed to fuel his abilities. And now a younger version of the original Conner Kent has entered the New 52 timeline, wearing a spiked, punk version of his first costume.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

The Tim Drake Robin/Red Robin costume history


Tim Drake was the third person to assume the mantle of Robin and serve as Batman's sidekick, and has also been the third person to assume the mantle of Red Robin. Tim has worn a quite a few costumes as a teenaged vigilante. Tim fist assumed the role of Robin when he deduced Batman's identity and realized that without a Robin to balance him out, the Caped Crusader was spiraling into darkness. Tim's Robin costume was based on the outfit worn by the original Robin, Dick Grayson, but with added touches. No longer would Robin wear green shorts and a red tunic. As Robin Tim wore an armored red vest and green leggings, and replaced the pixie boots of the original Robin with black combat boots and lined the outside of the yellow cape with black for additional stealth. He even altered the R logo into a sharp yellow emblem that could be thrown as a shuriken. Tim wore his Robin costume until the death of his best friend Superboy, and wore a new black-and-red costume (Superboy's color scheme) to honor him. Tim's new suit also had touches of Batman's costume, as it had black trunks and gloves with scalloped spikes. When Batman's son Damian Wayne was given the Robin identity, Tim was crushed. He left the Bat-team and decided to wear the Red Robin costume that had been briefly worn by Jason Todd, the second Robin (and the costume worn by a future version of Dick Grayson). The black cowl and armored emblem gave the former Boy Wonder a more menacing look. When he reconciled with Batman he streamlined his Red Robin suit, adding lightweight armor and added the scalloped spikes back to his gloves. When Tim found himself in a bizarre cyberspace reality called the Unternet, he discovered his Red Robin suit had been altered, as his cowl was now a sharply pointed mask and his suit was primarily black with red boots and a red bird emblem.

After the events of Flashpoint created the New 52 continuity, Tim's history was altered. In this new reality, Tim was recruited by Batman and became Red Robin early on as he felt it was too soon to replace Jason Todd as Robin when the world assumed the second Robin had been killed by the Joker. Tim's first Red Robin costume was similar to his second Robin costume, only more armored and without the black trunks (and with a stylized red mask). When Tim left Batman after Damian became Robin, he created a hi-tech Red Robin costume that combined elements of the Robin costume with that of the original Red Robin costume. His new suit even had glider wings that allowed Red Robin to fly. When Tim finally returned to work with Batman, he created a suit that looked very similar to his original Robin costume, except he changed the symbol to two interlocking R's and wore green boots instead of black.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

The Mattie Franklin (Spider-Woman III) Costume history.


Despite being Spider-Woman for little more than a year, Mattie Franklin has worn a lot of costumes. Her first costume was based on the classic Spider-Man costume, minus the web designs and with the addition of a ponytail. After a villain stole her powers, Mattie retired the costume, and when she got them back she briefly wore a makeshift costume of a navy-and-green leotard with a domino mask and high-heeled boots. Afterwards, Mattie designed a blue-and-red costume with a spider-symbol (similar to the one on Spider-Man's back) and large web wings. Shortly after she altered that costume, changing the blue to black, shortening the gloves and adding spider-patterned shorts. Still not satisfied, she removed the web wings and then added a red cowl with a black spider emblem, a larger spider-emblem on the chest, and black-and-red gloves and leggings. When the woman who stole her powers returned, Mattie showed up to fight her wearing a purple one-piece bathing suit with a black spider emblem,  with matching mask, gloves, and high-heeled ankle boots. Thankfully Mattie retired that costume quickly and designed a new navy-and-silver costume with a silver spider-symbol and web wings. Finally, Mattie came up with a Spider-Woman costume would keep with for the rest of her career, a black-and-red costume with a very stylized spider-symbol and shorter, scallop-edged web wings.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Powers Rangers for 2019: Power Rangers Beast Morphers


In a surprising move, next year's Power Ranger series won't be based on the two recent Sentai seasons; it will be an adaptation of 2012's sentai season, Go-Busters! Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters (a series based on animals and spies) was skipped for Kyoryuger (Power Rangers Dino Charge). Well now it is going to be the newest Power Rangers. Lets meet the Rangers.

Red Ranger, gifted with super speed, pilots the Cheetah Zord (which has race car and Battlezord modes)
Blue Ranger, with the power of super strength, pilots the Gorilla Zord (which has a truck mode)
Yellow Ranger, gifted with the power to jump incredibly high, is the first Ranger to be based on a Rabbit. Her Rabbit Zord has a helicopter mode.
The Gold Ranger pilots the Beetle Zord (which has a construction crane and Battlezord mode)
Silver Ranger (who could possibly be a robot in the Power Rangers adaptation) pilots the Insect Zord (which has a jet mode)
The Black Ranger (who may be from a parallel dimension) pilots the Lion Zord (which has a motorcycle and a Battlezord mode)
The Beast Megazord is the combination of the Cheetah, Gorilla, and Rabbit Zords.
The Sector Megazord is the combination of the Beetle and Insect Zords.
The Super Beast Megazord is the combination of the Cheetah, Gorilla, Rabbit, Beetle, and Insect Zords.
The Lion Megazord is the combination of the Lion, Gorilla, and Rabbit Zords.
The Ultra Beast Megazord is the combination of the Cheetah, Gorilla, Rabbit, Beetle, Insect, and Lion Zords.