The Four Color Media Monitor

The FF (or more precisely, Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Girl) may be returning, but the artists are wasting their time on new costume designs that are completely unnecessary, much a few years ago before the team book's cancellation when their outfits were turned red, and the site reporting about them even puts down Jack Kirby's famous designs of the past:

New uniforms are in store for The Fantastic Four, according to the latest issue of Marvel Two-In-One. A preview for the upcoming comic book shows Benjamin Grimm (a.k.a. the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing) and Johnny Storm (a.k.a. The Human Torch) wearing new uniforms as they prepare for a journey into the multiverse to seek out the missing Reed Richards (a.k.a. Mister Fantastic) and Susan Storm Richards (a.k.a. The Invisible Woman).

[...] The costume’s color scheme is broadly similar to that of the Future Foundation costumes, being predominantly white. There is no distinctive “4” symbol on the chest, but there are white “4”s lain within a black circle on the shoulders pads, which are military green running halfway down the upper arm. The pants of the uniform are black with light blue accents reminiscent of the original Fantastic Four uniform’s hue.

While the color scheme of this new uniform is a tad eclectic, the physical design looks far more practical than the classic form-fitting bodysuits The Fantastic Four favored in the past. The jackets appear to be protective as well as possessing pockets, which is something a team that is nominally made up of explorers rather than superheroes should have! It is unclear if Reed and Sue will adopt the new uniforms when the are inevitably found or how long this new look may last for the team but at least the current uniforms are nowhere near as bad as The 1990’s designs where The Thing wore a luchador mask and Sue Storm went into battle in a bikini with a 4-shaped cleavage window and high-heeled thigh-boots.

Oh, dismissing surrealism again, are we? You know what those dopey outfits Ben and Johnny are wearing look like? A cross between the outfits worn at a horse-racing competition and those of an air traffic controller. Besides, if you need pockets, the classic blue costumes could always have some, and probably did in the past, so this is just petty opportunism for the sake of denigrating somebody's hard work from the Silver Age. I'll admit the designs of the early 90s were sloppy and silly, though if I remember correctly, Ben wore a mask for a short time after Wolverine assaulted him? How come that didn't figure into their observation? Oh, but of course, because this is a film site reporting this, not a comics site! Then again, when haven't comics news sites of recent acted like they never read any of the older, better stuff either?

It's probably just a whole lot of fuss they're making to create drama, as the classic outfits could always be restored soon (though with Joe Quesada still running the store, you can't necessarily count on it), but if this is supposed to the latest status quo, it's just more style-over-substance that doesn't amount to anything.

Labels: Fantastic Four, marvel comics, msm propaganda