How are you feeling about the new DC Relaunch?  Love it?  Hate it?  Completely ambivalent toward it?  Let me know!  Shoot me an e-mail or post on my Facebook Page!  You can also let me know which Superhero you’d like for me to redesign next! 

In her first canonical appearance in Action Comics #252, (pictured at left) Supergirl wore a female version Superman’s costume, which looked to be a knee-length blue dress with a belt (or possibly a blue shirt and skirt combo).  She also looked very much like a 15 year old, hence the “girl” in her name actually being appropriate for the character. 

The blue dress eventually gave way to the red skirted costume, which is probably the most familiar to fans.  It’s probably why they used that look for the 1984 Supergirl Movie starring Helen Slater (at right).  The movie didn’t really turn out, but it’s not Helen Slater’s fault--she was pretty great, actually.  Maybe they should have had Supergirl do something other than fight with a witch over a gardener they both wanted as their boyfriend.  Seriously.

After that came my favourite look for Supergirl, the 1970s shorts and slippers look (at left).  But not all the looks in the 1970s really worked.  (See below) 

After that came the shorts, tunic and boots look, (at left, 1985) which then returned to the usual red skirt look, with some awesome 80s modifications.  See below.

The look was so popular, DC decided almost immediately to kill the character off in their huge mega-event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

The Crisis was a reboot not unlike the one DC is currently rolling out, so even though Supergirl had just died, she was brought back only a couple of years later, without a scratch on her--and also without a headband.  From that time until the reboot, she had a bunch of different costumes...

Which brings us to the costume from this year’s reboot, which, all things considered, isn’t that bad of a look, especially relative to some of the different ways she’s been drawn in the past.  Here it is:

I actually like this costume a lot more than Superman’s reboot armoured look (stay tuned for future updates where I will revise that costume) and appreciate the effort of giving her slightly more modern hair.  I like the more cloak-like cape, as well.  But what I don’t like about it is the same problem I had with many of the costumes in previous years--it’s entirely inappropriate for a teenaged girl to wear.  Supergirl is, at the oldest, about 17, but is more often portrayed closer to 15 years of age.  Have you seen many teenagers with knee cutout, thigh-high boots? (If you have, then you and I have lived very different lives).  Or wearing a hem that’s cut so high on the waist?  I think that Supergirl should be pretty, but the way that comics today sexualize a character of her age kind of bums me out.  If they have to play up her sexiness, then make her 18 or older (and if they make her 18, call her Superwoman).

So with that in mind, I tried to come up with my own design, which, like some of the better Supergirl costumes, would actually look like something a teenaged girl might wear.  I love the look of the original skirt/dressSupergirl, but, let’s face it--a skirt just isn’t that practical on a young lady that can fly!  And finally, I wanted to address the modesty issue--how to have a Supergirl who looks like Supergirl, but not show so much skin.  So here are the sketches I came up with.  Keep in mind, these are just colours laid over rough pencils, so they’re a bit unpolished.   

I tried to incorporate costume elements from the past that I thought worked for the character, and also would work practically for flying and leaping around, so I kept the shorts (and the little slippers) from the 70’s costume.  I added some darker blue leggings (which the American Apparel banner ads on the sites I visit tell me are “in” right now) and then had a more Sherlock Holmes-y type cloak for the cape.  (I toyed with it being a jacket, that dangled around her neck, but that she could put her arms into if necessary, but the whole jacket thing just felt a little too 90s). Here’s another look, with Supergirl (sort of) in an action pose. 

So there you have it!  That’s how I’d redesign Supergirl if anyone ever asked.  Stay tuned for more updates soon.  I have more costume redesigns (Green Lantern! Batman!) some personal stories and there are, as always, a bunch of commissions I haven’t yet posted. 

Thanks for reading, I love you.