Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Be honest - did their costumes influence which Legionnaires became your favorites?

My favorites are a combination of powers and personalities:

White Witch, Saturn Girl, Tellus for powers.

Cosmic Boy (though Grell's black bustier didn't hurt) for personality.

Star Boy's Cockrum costume was fantastic, and easy to duplicate, which is why it was my first foray into costumed fandom.

Eric

Which of his costumes are you referring to?

My first issue of Legion had a back-up Timber Wolf solo story, and it was the costume, the hair, the eyes...love at first sight.
I'd like to tell you I would have liked him anyway, but the visual definitely helped.
I really "Furball" and his toilet-drinking habits, very demeaning to the character.

That should be...I really HATED Furball and his toilet drinking habits.

I'm sure a combination of costumes and powers played a role in selecting my early choices.

Mon-El's costume was Superboy's with the colors reversed and the absence of a chest insignia. But I appreciated the little touches that made it unique: the golden buttons that attached his cape to his tunic; the blousy sleeves (which somehow didn't appear effeminate); the rounded shirt-tails.

Lightning Lad's costume was my favorite of the ADVENTURE-era. I suppose some might consider it a fashion disaster: blue cape, white shirt with black waste designs, a crumpled shirt-tail, orange pants, and yellow lighting insignia. But it worked for me. The addition of the robot arm made him the most visually striking Legionnaire of that era.

Invisible Kid -- never understood his brown costume with the green "shovel" insignia. But loved the headband (who doesn't?) and the raised collar. It looked like a pre-Disco glam outfit, if the colors were different.

Chemical King -- his original costume was, indeed, boring. But the Cockrum addition of a black "undershirt" combined with a darker shade of green for the rest of it made it very attractive. It looked more like an outfit that you'd wear out on the town than a super-hero outfit, but such was the appeal of the Cockrum and Grell eras.

Sun Boy -- Reep waxed eloquently on the appeal of this costume, above. It was a design that shouldn't have worked, but did, with the colors of the upper half reversed on his legs and feet.

As for the girls ...

Shrinking Violet's Cockrum-era costume was my favorite of all. She looked dynamic in that green-and-black number with the thigh-high boots.

Princess Projectra -- Another Cockrum design that just worked in spite of itself. There's nothing about it that suggests royalty, except for the obligatory crowns on her boots. But Cockrum clearly wasn't going for the obvious (as was the case with her original, boring outfit). But one could imagine that someone very wealthy or powerful might wear it.

There were several Legionnaires whose costumes I liked, but whom I never warmed up to in terms of powers or personality: Star Boy, Dream Girl, Colossal Boy (all Cockrum era) and Wildfire, to name a few.

There were others whom I liked for their powers (or occasionally, their personalities), but disliked their costumes: Cosmic Boy, Element Lad (not necessarily because either wore pink costumes, but because neither design worked for me), Shadow Lass (both outfits), Saturn Girl (her original outfit was too stern and matronly; her later outfit was just a bikini with a Saturn symbol.)

Always loved the current Star Boy costume (and permutations), from the moment Thom appeared in the post-Boot. I have a pic of me in the suit from a fancy dress party, but can't find it at the moment - I'll post it when I do...

Never really thought much of the beard/starfield jumpsuit combo. Dodgy.

I was originally "drawn" to the Legion as a kid by their varying, colorful costumes within the group as a whole.
Later, I acquired favorite Legion characters contrary to their costumes, i.e. Colossal Boy with his original yellow tights (Ugh!) and Invisible Kid with his dingy brown/green combo. Still, CB had those cool futuristic shoulder thingies and Lyle had the keen headband ... so maybe ...

So which era had the BEST costumes...?

The bright, shiny, innocent ADVENTURE era?

The equally bright but more sensual COCKRUM/GRELL era?

The GIFFEN era, where new takes on old looks were frequent, or looks were altered completely?

The POSTBOOT, with the more unified yet also individual look?

Some of them seem dated today, but I'd say the Cockrum/Grell era had the most impact on me - those costumes were so different from what had come before and they were fun. (5YL clothing was different, but certainly not exciting, maybe a bit grungy.)

The other "era" I'd nominate is the all too short Superboy's Legion. I thought the costumes in that were a great mix of traditional and updated - it didn't take many changes in details to alter the look (as in the Ranzz twins' costumes). Even the traditional stuff looked fresh.

I'd say the Cockrum/Grell era too. Although I love the Adventure era, the costumes became so cool, and so sexy, that you were forced to take notice. The Legion costumes of that era are some of the best super-hero costumes ever.

As for the main topic of the thread (which I missed so long ago), I have to admit that Wildfire's costume was just so damn cool that it partially influenced me into thinking of him as my favorite Legionnaire. His badass attitude was the main draw, but his costume was classic!

And all of Tinya's costumes, even her funky bell-bottoms, were great, but it was her pretty face and brunette hair that made her my Legion lady.

very visual here to.... and yes, had alot to do with my favorites. I loved most if not all Cockrum's designs...he is the best costume designer of his time by far. The girl's...Violet, Shady, Saturn girl, Projectra and even Tinya(I loved her white jumpsuit with bell bottoms and her pony tails). The men - Starboy's costume is one of the best ever! They all looked young, sexy, colorful and full of energy while staying very simple. PERFECTION!

Personally I think visuals are very important for a character's success. In some cases I don't think enough consideration is given to certain comic characters regarding the visuals.

Look at animation and toy lines for instance who actually research this stuff.

I love the visuals for nearly all the Legionnaires so after all of this I must say it's the personalities.

But there are a few like Saturn Girl that her logo just does it for me. Ultra Boy same thing. maybe the two coolest logos ever! (ok I am too excited now)

Jorge

I can't help but think that I'm a tad immature in the sense that I can't help but identify more with faceless heroes (Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" has an explanation of this). Wildfire, Ferro, The Question etc. As I said earlier in this thread, when Wildfire had an energy form and a face, I just wasn't as into him. I also don't want Ferro to ever lose that helmet.

However, Ultra Boy and Dev-em are characters I like more for their personalities (though I think U-Boy currently has just about the best costume in Legion history).

I would have to agree with Fat Cramer. Tasmia has always been my favorite Legionnaire. It was her appearance, not her costume that attracted me to her. I loved the way she evolved in her look though. Everyone has at least one outfit in their closet that is just plain bad. To me she matured with the progression of her costumes.

Thou the costumes that I loved are all Dave Cockrum designed. Phantom Girl's pigtails and bellbottoms, Star Boy's starfield with the silver boots and gloves, and Projectra's thigh high boots.
I just hope that when the Legion is re-booted they have more individual costumes. Having a cookie cuter costume doesn't look right to me.

I agree completely!!

I disagree with having a separate category for the Superboy's Legion costumes.

Yes, there were little tweaks here and there but those costumes were very much based on (and in several cases, WERE) the ADVENTURE ERA outfits. Tinya, Cham, Thom, Dirk, Gim, Imra, Coz, Jan-- very little or no difference.

The biggest tweaks were Violet and Tasmia.

Let's not take away credit from the Adventure era artists just because Alan Davis drew them flashier.

I love Mon-el's costume. I think this is part of the reason I dislike the M'onel costume so much. Of course the "Mr. T" bracelets and boots didnt' help.

I always liked Cockum's Starboy design. It's very simple, but really cool. I didn't like when Grell gave it the "V neck" @ Garth and Imra's wedding, and was glad Giffen restored it. The beard never bothered me. I really liked his more recent suits, starting with his return to "Legionnaires" near the end of the run. I particularly liked the way it was drawn in the Xanthu issue of "Legion Worlds."

I'd still like to get my hands on a Giffen poster of all the "Magic War" costumed Legionnaires.

Did that answer the question?

ONTIR! Awesome to see you here.