Image via Marvel Comics
Some superhero costumes are iconic and even beautiful. Others, well, don’t quite fit the bill. Follow along for 20 of the worst superhero costumes ever.
When you think of superheroes, you naturally think of their costumes. It’s necessarily a big part of their image, given that they’re based in visual mediums like comics and film.
The right costume can be striking, memorable, and even iconic. I only need to say the word “Superman”, and you’re instantly thinking of a black-haired, muscle-bound man flying around in a blue and red jumpsuit. Of course, regardless of what Edna Mode thinks, Superman also sports a classic red cape (not to mention the classic red undies).
Alas, however, costumes don’t also get it quite so right something. Whether the sartorial disaster in question is on a new superhero, or it’s sported by a legacy character, it can still metaphorically stink up the place.
It should go without saying, but just to cover my comics-loving behind: none of these critiques are meant necessarily to critique the character themselves. After all, it’s not Power Girl’s fault that she’s been stuck with such a terrible costume for so long. My ire, instead, is directed towards whoever decided that a chest window was a good idea.
Though female superheroes and comics women in general are finally getting some level of respect and recognition, they still have to face off against a sexist and, at times, even misogynistic history. What else can you call it when Starfire’s costume has the surface area of five band-aids? Or that fact that Wonder Woman is forced to go through several iterations of a costume that are, at heart, just different sets of underwear?
Of course, it’s not as if men are exempt from the bad costume plague. Even big-time, a-lister heroes such as Superman and Batman have run afoul of the fashion police many fine times. They, too, are arguably victims of sexism in comics, especially during the muscle craze of the 1990s. You’ll see what I’m talking about, at any rate.
Whether or not you agree with the social commentary, chances are you’ll concur with these costumes’ spots on this list. Buckle in and prepare yourself for some of the worst superhero costumes in comics history.
The Phantom (Image via King Features Syndicate)
1. The Phantom
Poor Billy Zane. Not only did he have to star in a mediocre – at best – film adaptation of the Phantom comics, but the costume designers decided to put him into a skintight purple suit that skirts dangerously close to Grimace territory.
Now, to be entirely fair, the character of the Phantom isn’t a recent superhero. He first appeared in 1936, when people generally seemed less concerned about costumes or superheros in general. The Phantom, who effectively inherits his title from the previous holder, is also granted his predecessor’s costume. It consists of a black domino style mask and the unmistakable purple bodysuit, oftentimes accentuated by some striped underwear.
Some of the sting of this costume is taken away by accessorizing. The Phantom sports a skull belt and a set of “Phantom Rings”. One hand sports “The Good Mark,” a pattern of four sabers which he leaves on people under his protection. The other ring has a skull-shaped “Evil Mark” which he just sort of punches into bad guys. It kind of makes you wonder just how he imparts the Good Mark to his friends, and whether or not the Phantom goes around punching everyone he meets.
Anyway, the rings are cool in concept, though some rings and skulls don’t quite make up for the leotard and underwear craze that plagued many a 1930s superhero and beyond.
Power Girl (Image via DC Comics)
2. Power Girl
Like many superheroes, Power Girl is the product of someone messing around with timelines and alternate dimensions. She’s originally from Earth-Two, a version of our own reality with plenty of tragic backstory (Earth-Two’s Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman are all dead). Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-El, is Earth-Two’s version of Supergirl. When she gets stranded in our reality, however, she decides to take on a new moniker and one hell of a costume.
If you’re a fan of comics or superheroes in general, then chances are good that you’ve already encountered Power Girl’s costume. It’s practically famous, or infamous, depending on who you speak to.
So, what’s the big deal? For many, Power Girl’s costume is supremely illustrative of the way in which comics artists have objectified female bodies. After all, Power Girl sports a high-cut swimsuit type affair, with an inexplicable cut out that appears to be there only to show off her substantial cleavage.
Why the “boob window”? From a real-world perspective, creators pretty much wanted a tantalizing design. In the world of the comics, Power Girl kind of sort of meant to fix it, but just never got around to closing the window. In JSA: Classified #2 (October 2005), she tells Superman that “the first time I made this costume, I wanted to have a symbol, like you…. I thought eventually, I’d figure it out. And close the hole. But I haven’t”.
While various redesigns have come up with plenty of ways to give Power Girl a little coverage, people just keep coming back to the window. Maybe Kryptonians just can’t feel the cold, or aren’t too worried about aerodynamics.
George Clooney as Batman (Image via Warner Bros.)
3. Joel Schumacher’s Batman
You already know what I’m going to say, don’t you? If you’ve been blessed with the chance to witness George Clooney’s turn as Batman, then you’re more than well aware of the bat-codpiece. In fact, the bat-junk was probably so distracting that you almost missed the bat-nipples, didn’t you?
No, of course you didn’t miss the bat-nipples. Even if you’ve only seen bits and pieces of 1997’s Batman & Robin, such costume details are surely seared into your neural pathways.
To be fair to director Joel Schumacher, it was very likely that he was shooting for something like self-aware camp. Alas, critics and audiences alike came up with the same verdict — it’s just a bad movie. Camp, after all, only succeeds when there’s a depth to its stories and characters. In the words of Chris O’Donnell, who played Batman’s completely platonic friend Robin, “I felt like I was making a kid’s toy commercial”.
As much as people seem to despise Batman & Robin, the molded muscles and, ahem, other built-up regions are enshrined in satire. Even George Clooney has been realistic about his appearance in the film. According to him, upon meeting Adam West, the first television Batman, Clooney said that “I apologized to him. Sorry about the nipples on the suit.”
Thor (Image via Marvel)
4. X-Treme ’90s Fabio Thor
Say what you will about Thor, but he’s often a friend to women. He’s more often a gentleman than not, though he can be a goofy one who forgets the ins and outs of Earth customs. Still, Thor is generally cool.
And, it appears, he’s also willing to dip his toe into the trend of oddly scanty superhero garments. While this has largely plagued female superheroes, Thor is … well, I’m not sure what he was doing here. At least he probably has some empathy for Power Girl now.
I’m specifically referring to the Thor of “The Crossing” event, in which many of the Avengers switched out their old costumes for ridiculous new ones. This version of that character first appeared in 1994. What, you must be asking, a ridiculous character design that arose out of 1990s comics? I know, you’re shocked.
The strange thing about this outfit is that comics Thor rarely wore it. The crop top, skin tight assemblage with what must have been a desperately uncomfortable metal codpiece was used mostly for promotional materials. The storyline Thor instead preferred a general state of shirtlessness, complete with egregiously long blonde hair. Can you blame him? Still, even though there were only brief glimpses of this design, it’s difficult to forget the awfulness of this costume.
Cloak and Dagger (Image via Marvel)
5. Dagger
Far too often, a genuinely interesting and complex character is completely overshadowed by his or her costume. And, wouldn’t you know it, female characters in particular are often saddled with some of the craziest, most sexist costumes.
That’s a real shame when it comes to the character of Dagger, also known as Tandy Bowen. Along with Ty Johnson (“Cloak”, naturally), the teenage runaways are kidnapped, injected with a mysterious drug, and receive superpowers. Ty can essentially move others and himself through a dark dimension, while Tandy can generate psionic “light daggers.”
The Cloak and Dagger writers, like many before them, just couldn’t resist a series of near-puns and all-too-convenient costume designs. Ty wears, naturally, a big cloak. Simple enough. It’s probably pretty warm and comfy, too, not to mention appropriately dramatic. Though it should be said that Ty, who is a young black man, does have to “feed” off of light and kind of doesn’t have a physical body. It’s an awkward metaphor.
Tandy, meanwhile, is saddled with — contain your surprise — a skintight white jumpsuit with dagger-shaped cutouts. Said cutouts are naturally situated right above her breasts and along her abdomen. This leaves Dagger in constant danger of popping out of her costume, as insightfully illustrated by artist Kate Beaton (in a NSFW sort of way). It also means that poor Tandy can’t just have a burrito once in awhile, thanks to her unforgiving and probably uncomfortable getup.
Image via DC Comics
6. Electric Superman
Okay, I’m going to get real honest with you, here. The original Superman costume is already kind of rough. By now, it’s a classic and people are naturally attached to it. But you’ve got to admit that the 1930s focus on leotards and giant pairs of underwear worn on the outside look strange today.
So, it naturally follows that modern comics artists are eager to redesign classic costumes. However, they need to tread carefully. Big-name superheroes like Batman and Superman especially pose a lot of risk. Whether or not an artist or writer thinks a legacy costume is dumb, chances are that many of the fans are pretty attached to it. Changing such essential looks can be a big risk.
Sometimes, it pays off. Other times, however, you get Electric Superman.
It all began in 1996, when Superman lost his powers for a short period of time. You see, our Sun was briefly extinguished; Superman, with his solar-based powers, was out of luck. After a complicated series of events in which a sort-of-evil Hal Jordan redeems himself by starting up the sun again, Superman gets his powers back.
Of course, it wasn’t quite so simple. Superman somehow managed to get way too much solar energy into his system, making his powers almost too strong too contain. In order to function, Supes took to wearing a white and blue containment suit with a built in mask thing. It’s maybe not the worst costume on this list, but it sure looked strange on one of the biggest names in superhero comics.
Image via DC Comics
7. Biker Wonder Woman
Okay, can we all make a pact now to pause this trend of taking away a superheroes powers? I get it; it’s an easy way to introduce conflict into a character’s story, especially when said character is so strong that a story could easily devolve into a boring mess. By now, though, it’s become a lazy trope. It’s also morphed into a lame excuse for giving a character an unnecessary new costume.
Case in point: Biker Wonder Woman. This 1994 creation is in part the result of a mother’s love. No, seriously, this all happens because Wonder Woman’s mom learns that her daughter, Diana, is destined to die in battle. Her solution? Take away Diana’s Wonder Woman persona. Another Amazon, Artemis, takes on the mantle of Wonder Woman. Artemis, by the way, has her own interpretation of the Wonder Woman costume, complete with the most ’90s of ponytails.
Diana still has her powers, however. And while you can take away Wonder Woman’s costume, you can’t extinguish her desire to fight crime so easily. She simply became a kind of independent superhero contractor.
However, Diana really should have consulted with her universe’s version of Edna Mode. She didn’t make the common mistake of wearing a cape. Alas, though, Diana did make the inexplicable choice to wear hot pants and a weirdly shiny bra, complete with unnecessary straps and buckles in the tradition of 1990s superheroes everywhere. She topped it all off with a cropped jacket and leather boots, making it look like she rolled up to the crime scene on the biggest, loudest motorcycle imaginable.
Image via Marvel
8. Noble Kale Ghost Rider
How could you possibly screw up the Ghost Rider costume? All you really need to do is make sure that he looks like he stepped straight off a metal album cover. Apart from finding an appropriately be-studded leather jacket, there’s little you need to do. The flaming skull should do all the work, really.
And, yet, we still have Noble Kale. Who is Noble Kale, anyway, and why does that spelling of “Johnny Blaze” look so weird? Ah, friends, I have terrible news. Like practically every single superhero in all of creation, no one person holds that title.
This particular version of Ghost Rider is something of an amalgamation. Dan Ketch, the latest version in 1990, started out wearing a classic biker outfit with plenty of black leather. However, Ketch eventually learns that his powers come from Noble Kale, an 18th century ancestor who had been cursed by demonic forces. When Ketch is possessed by the spirit of his ancestor, the two become the Spirit of Vengeance.
That’s all well and good in the world of comics, but it turns out that Noble Kale has a seriously outdated sense of fashion. Instead of relatively subdued black and gray gear, Kale has a taste for color. Ghost Rider therefore went through an unfortunate period where he donned bright blues, red, and oranges. Not exactly menacing.
Image via Marvel
9. Good Guy Magneto
Or, Magneto decides to try out a caftan.
Sometimes, simplicity works. After all, as the 1990s showed us, too much in a costume can make its wearer the subject of ridicule. But just because an outfit is streamlined doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good.
Witness the case of Magneto. In Uncanny X-Men #150, writer Chris Claremont began to reveal that Magneto was actually an old friend of the X-Men’s leader, Charles Xavier (a.k.a., Professor X). Though the two had developed wildly different ideas about how humans and mutant were to coexist, they still remained in contact.
In fact, they were on such decent terms that, when Xavier decided to gallivant around the universe as a form of recuperation, he asked Magneto to run his mutant school.
Since Magneto had to move on over to the good side, he had to ditch his previous look. After all, many people associated his iconic helmet and suit with pure evil. His solution, though? Not great. Magneto decided to go with a kind of sleeveless caftan onesie with a giant, droopy “M” on the front. He paired it with opera-length gloves and a dramatic cape. Everything was, of course, purple. Luckily, Magneto eventually got rid of his undoubtedly comfy but stylistically disastrous look.
Image via Marvel
10. Hawkeye’s Groovy Miniskirt Experiment
Now, we’re all for gender equality here. Women can wear pants and, though this is still on the cutting edge of fashion and gender politics, it’s only fair that men can wear skirts, too. With that in mind, however, people of any gender should try to put some thought into their look. If you don’t, you may end up in an unfortunate situation like our old friend, Hawkeye.
Many readers undoubtedly know Hawkeye best from either his cinematic appearances (where he has a sensible but unimpressive sleeveless outfit) or his equally unremarkable casual look in the the Fraction/Aja edition of the Hawkeye comics.
But maybe that’s not so bad, considering the outfit worn by Hawkeye/Clint Barton in the aftermath of the Kree/Skrull War. Previously, Barton was Goliath, with a weird, scanty costume all of his own. After he returns to Earth, though, Barton somehow gets involved with a circus. He eventually returns to the Avengers, but not after raiding the circus wardrobe.
Hawkeye’s new costume is perhaps best described as an overalls-style miniskirt, complete with purple fabric and pink detailing. Again, there should be nothing wrong with a man in a skirt or a man who enjoys “feminine” colors, but this was still a dramatic departure for Hawkeye. One does wonder how he fought crime in such a revealing skirt without constantly exposing himself. Fortunately, this costume experiment was short-lived.
Image via Marvel
11. At Least 75% Of Hawkeye’s Wardrobe In General
Unfortunately, however, many of Hawkeye’s other costumes were still downright strange. Nothing will quite top the circus miniskirt experiment, but other versions of his get-ups stray awfully close to fashion disasters.
Who, after all, could forget one of his most classic looks? In the 1980s, when Hawkeye first got his own self-titled comics series, he seemed especially fond of the color purple. While more modern costumes tone down the purple and keep it to an accent color, 1980s Hawkeye was having none of that “restraint” nonsense. He was often seen in a bright combination of purple and blue.
Of course, Clint Barton didn’t stop there. He often wore a domino-style mask with egregiously large points on top. The mask was accompanied by a hood – also purple – with a large letter “H”, just in case anyone got confused or forgot how to begin spelling Hawkeye’s superhero name. Some appearances even feature some groovy boots with large, floppy cuffs. Believe it or not, Barton also had some practical accessories, including his specialty of a bow and arrow.
Happily, modern-day Hawkeye has discarded his more ridiculous accessories for a less exciting but more workable uniform. That’s probably a smart choice, given that Hawkeye is one of the few superheroes in the Marvel universe without actual mutations or ridiculous superpowers.
Image via DC Comics
12. Mullet Superman
The ‘90s attack again in the case of Mullet Superman. Some rumors even claim that the business-in-front, party-in-the-back hairstyle might make its return in the near future. When will we ever learn?
At first, the super-mullet was the only weird change to the classic Superman outfit. It first showed up after the highly discussed “The Death of Superman Event”. When Superman returned in 1993 for “Reign of the Supermen”, he was sporting that damned hairstyle. Of course, he had been dead for a while. Maybe everyone wanted to give him some space before suggesting a new look. That said, they could have moved a little more quickly. Superman’s friends were stuck looking at his long, flowing mullet until 1997.
But the mullet came along with some other shocking changes. After his return from the dead, Superman apparently felt like he needed a new costume to go along with his Billy Ray Cyrus hairstyle. He should have contacted an actual designer, though. You see, his idea of something fresh and exciting was… a plain black leotard.
Sure, he added a silver “S” shield, but… wow, this is too boring to really say anything interesting. Maybe he was just on his way to ballet class — that would be new, anyway — and got sidetracked?
Image via DC Comics
13. Whatever They Did To Zatanna In 2011
Zatanna Zatara, one of the greatest sorcerers in all of DC comics, has a pretty established costume. She dresses like a classic magician in a top hat and suit, though with the unfortunate subtraction of pants. Don’t female superheroes ever get to wear pants? Instead, she has to wear fishnets and high-cut briefs. She’s a formidable superhero, but just can’t seem to hold onto more than a shred of dignity. Did anyone ever make Dr. Strange wear bikini bottoms? Which one of you wants to pitch that to Marvel first?
Yet, this standard look wasn’t the worst costume for poor Zatanna. In 2011, DC decided to shake up the Flash’s storyline with an event known as “Flashpoint”. Barry Allen, the Flash, decides to use his powers of running really fast to somehow go back in time and prevent his mother’s death. Naturally, he screws up the timeline and returns to a very strange world.
Strange indeed is this world’s version of Zatanna. If you thought her pants-less stage costume was bad, look away now. For this Zatanna was wearing some low-low-rider pants, complete with matching underwear. She also wore a bra and some sort of weird leather vest. Basically, Flashpoint Zatanna rolled out of bed, but on her skimpiest underwear, and then stole and defaced a pre-teen’s jeans.
Fans were aghast at the hypersexualized turn. Thankfully, this Zatanna disappeared when the Flash did away with the multiverse and touched off The New 52 event.
Image via DC Comics
14. Technicolor Batman
It’s true that Silver Age Batman had a lot to deal with in the costume department. 1960s comics creators were often casting about for the silliest ideas possible. Maybe they had some sort of bizarre contest for dumbest character development, but inexplicably never got fired. It must have been like a practical joke gone terribly wrong and turned into a lucrative career.
Anyway, the Silver Age gave us a Zebra Batman, Mummy Batman, and a Batman who had watched Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat one too many times. The crazy thing was, unlike other zany one-offs, technicolor Batman just wouldn’t go away.
Now, this one may be a bit of a cheat. Technicolor Batman isn’t exactly Bruce Wayne Batman, you see. At first, he is simply an alien named Tlano from the planet of Zur-En-Arrh. Tlano loves Batman so much that he decides to cosplay as him.
Later on, writer Grant Morrison decided to resurrect the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. In this version, he’s a kind of psychotic persona created by Bruce Wayne in response to psychological trauma. So, whenever Bruce sort of loses his mind over his dead parents and desire to dress as a bat and fight crime, the Zur En Arrh personality can take over and still protect Gotham.
So, how can you tell which Batman is currently in command of Bruce Wayne’s body? For one, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is extra violent. You wouldn’t want to be a criminal in his path, to say the least. Also, he’s dressed in a frankly hideous costume. Where classic Batman was in subdued black with hints of yellow, Zur-En-Arrh Batman is in all the colors. Seriously, he’s clad in bright primary colors such as blue, yellow, and red. Yikes.
Image via DC Comics
15. T-Shirt Superman
I understand that saving the world day after day is hard. It’s probably difficult to keep your supersuit clean, too, even if it’s made of alien material or fairy dust or whatever. Eventually, some villain is going to get something gross on it, or it’ll get ripped up, or blown away, or something.
So, it’s understandable that superheroes should get a laundry day outfit here and there. You know, Wonder Woman gets to fight crime in sweatpants. Batman occasionally throws on some sensible sneakers while he’s getting his bat-boots resoled.
But it’s something else entirely if you make it a habit. We need a certain level of dignity from our superheroes, even if they are bright green or dressed up like a flying rodent. And, Supes? That T-shirt isn’t going to cut it.
The T-shirt Superman came about thanks to DC’s New 52 initiative, which was meant as a hard reset for all DC properties. New 52 Superman flies around in jeans and a T-shirt, along with a buzzcut and bits of tattered cape that he’s wrapped around his hands. While there are some interesting aspects of his story — Superman is revealed as Clark Kent, his powers get all messed up, and so on — the weekend casual getup kind of ruins the feel.
It’s not as if we’re asking for him to show up in a suit and with a briefcase (after all, he’s spent decades in a leotard with his undies on the outside), but this is a little too far.
Image via Marvel
16. Sue Storm Gets Her Groove Back
Some female superheroes just want to wear revealing clothing, and that’s cool. Emma Frost, for example, may very well enjoy menacing the X-Men while wearing a corset and stockings. If she’s into it for herself, then great. But, after a while, it becomes clear that comics have a history of putting nearly all their female characters into ridiculously revealing outfits. It starts to feel as if that is the only option for women in comics, which is patently ridiculous.
Need an example? Let’s take a look at a version of Sue Storm which premiered in the 1990s. Again, the most x-treme of all decades strikes at our very hearts and eyes. Fortunately, twenty years on, you can made a solid case that things have gotten a lot better.
But that does no good for ‘90s Sue Storm, also known as The Invisible Woman. She already had it kind of rough, what with being the token woman on the Fantastic Four team who was often relegated to supportive or subservient roles. It didn’t help that she was married to Reed Richards, who could, frankly, be a thoughtless jerk at the best of times.
Still, it was very strange to see her suddenly appear at work in a modified bikini. It had all the classic attributes of 1990s excess, including unnecessary cut-outs, impractical footgear, and the kind of bikini line that required constant and merciless waxing. Her requisite “boob window,” by the way, was cut out in the shape of the number four.
At least the writers seemed to be in on it. Certain readings of the storyline bring out the self-aware, satirical side of the script, which acknowledged Sue’s previously deferential role. As it turned out, all the years of repressed anger and resentment collected by Sue eventually became its own entity, a being called Malice. Malice proceeded to take over her body and make some truly unfortunate fashion choices. At least Sue was able to return to normal within a few issues.
Image via DC Comics
17. Kyle Rayner’s Green Lantern
It’s true that fashion is often a balancing act between simple elegance and innovation. Fun new designs and intelligent twists on a concept are more than welcome, in moderation. However, sometimes all you need is the equivalent of a little black dress with some smart accessorizing. Restraint can take you a long way. Indeed, sometimes it’s better to just step back and let the classics speak for themselves.
So, with that in mind, you can likely understand why the Green Lantern costume of Kyle Rayner is a bit of a mess. Rayner took over as Earth’s Green Lantern (a kind of intergalactic cop and diplomatic representative in one) after the Hal Jordan, the current Lantern, went on a mad killing spree.
Jordan’s murderous rampage devastated the Green Lantern Corps, meaning that Rayner at first had little contact with the Corps or other Green Lantern representatives. This also meant that he and his girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt (whose demise, by the way, is the origin of the “women in refrigerators” trope) had to create a costume on their own.
And, with respect to the deceased DeWitt and Rayner himself, the costume just doesn’t work. Previous Green Lanterns donned a simple green and black bodysuit that was both sleek and effective.
Rayner’s suit has all sorts of unnecessary bits and bobs. There’s a big patch of white fabric on the front, for some reason. You may also see Rayner with a lot of clunky gear on his feet and arms, as well as an oddly elaborate mask. A redesigned Green Lantern symbol on his chest ends up looking a lot like a hazmat symbol of sorts. Thankfully, Rayner would eventually switch to a cleaner look.
Image via DC Comics
18. Mecha Batman
So, let’s just imagine that, for whatever reason, Batman decides to skip work and leaves Gotham City unprotected. What would you do? Would you try to find Batman and convince him to return? Would you work hard to improve Gotham’s police force by rooting out corruption, improving pay, and increasing training? Or would you build a giant mechanical suit that sort of looks like Batman and get out there yourself?
Since we’re talking about the completely out-there world of comics, it should be pretty clear what option appealed most to Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. When Batman appeared to be really, truly dead in 2015 (spoiler alert for this and every other comics property in which a superhero “dies” – he wasn’t), someone had to fight crime. And rather than do anything sensible like hiring the right people or holding a training seminar, Gordon decided to become Batman.
How could a grizzled, aging Commissioner Gordon take over the job? I mean, it’s not like he’s going to be running around the rooftops of his city in plain old spandex. Not if he doesn’t want to break every bone in his body, that is. So, of course, he jumps into a robo suit.
Said mech is bright blue and has a set of antennae-like structures that look like bunny ears. It also sports lights, speakers, and enough weapons to level the city. Just like Batman would have wanted.
Gordon also wore a diaper in the suit. Just so you know.
Image via DC Comics
19. New 52 Starfire
Oh, Starfire. If anything epitomizes the kind of careless sexism that’s plagued comics for so long, it’s your story. If we want to get really specific, it has to do with your costume — or lack thereof.
Starfire, whose actual name is Koriand’r, is a princess from the faraway planet Tamaran. Her older sister, Komand’r (also known as “Blackfire”) does not have her sibling’s powers of flight and the harnessing of solar energy. As a result, she grows bitter and eventually betrays her entire planet and its people. Starfire gets caught up in all of this, which involves slavery, exile, and scientific experimentation.
Fortunately, Starfire eventually escapes. She makes it to Earth and teams up with Robin to form the Teen Titans. Thereafter, she takes part in various galactic adventures, most often with the Teen Titans, and occasionally with the big names in the Justice League.
Various iterations of Starfire’s costume have always been revealing. Perhaps it’s because of her different alien culture, but human comics artists have seemed compelled to put her in the equivalent of a couple rolls of strategically placed bandages.
However, the New 52 reboot in 2011 put her in even more skimpy territory. When she wasn’t wearing a tiny bikini or conveniently placed bits of metal, Starfire simply walked around nude. It was especially strange given the pre-teen Starfire seen in the first Teen Titans animated series. Kids who saw something encouraging in the awkward, earnest Starfire there would likely feel discouraged to see her reduced to her body in the comics.
Writers tried to explain it all away with her confusion regarding human “prudery.” Still, the explanation fell flat in the face of decades of scantily-clad women in comics history.
Image via DC Comics
20. Bulleteer
Grant Morrison is rightly hailed as one of the most compelling and innovative creators in comics today. He’s written interesting work for Justice League, the Flash, Batman, and original work like The Invisibles. But, even with his influence, not all of Morrison’s characters work entirely.
Exhibit A: The Bulleteer. Now, story-wise, the Bulleteer isn’t all bad. She starts off as Alix Harrower, a young woman whose scientist husband inadvertently covers her in an indestructible, metal-based superskin. The experiment kills her husband, upends her life, and leads her into a deep, dark depression.
However, Alix soon learns that people see her as a superhero. She therefore feels obligated to step up to the task. With that in mind, she takes on the name “Bulleteer” and goes about superhero-ing.
That’s all well and good, but her costume is a real doozy. Of course, there’s the requisite revealing clothes, complete with a bustier top that makes you want to buy her all the double-sided tape in history. Seriously, I know she’s effectively made out of metal now, but that can’t be aerodynamically correct, especially for someone modelled after an actual bullet.
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Speaking of bullets, the piece de resistance is her absolutely bizarre headgear. No, her skull wasn’t reshaped in the course of her tragic origin story. Instead, Alix chose to wear a shiny, bullet shaped contraption that also looks like, well, any number of other, even more unfortunate things. She is just that dedicated to the bit.
What’s your favorite (or least favorite, as the case may be) terrible superhero costume?