••

Ugh!!

More costumes (male and female, here) that would not work on real human bodies!

There's also the fact that over the years, the sleek, form-fitting look (in all its variations - with/without cape, emblem, mask, etc.) has come to instantly scream "superhero!", in the same way that a police officer or a soldier are instantly identifiable by their uniforms. It's a good visual shorthand to use - so when you see a comicbook starring a new character who looks like this:

...it's pretty clear what this guy is. And it'd be the same in a movie, or even walking down the street in real life - people associate the look with superheroes, without a second thought.

(Brief aside - every time I think of the way Marvel took a fun, fresh, original character like Gravity, and moronically wasted his potential, a small part of me wants to go and throttle the individuals responsible...)


Heck, if the anal-retentives need an 'in-universe' justification, surely it's even more true that, in a world where superheroes 'exist' as a part of everyday life, the traditional look would be an instant way of identifying a superhero from other folk. That, and form-fitting, uncluttered designs that work around the contours of the human body (Gil Kane being the master at this, IMO) are definately going to be very easy to move around in, regardless of whether you're flying, fighting, leaping around like a gymnast, etc. Indeed, 'gymnast' is a good example of a 'real world' profession that requires a similarly sleek, ergonomically-sound outfit.



So, with all that in mind, go back to the 't-shirt and trousers' look for Hawkeye, and ask yourselves: at what point does such an outfit look practical, comfortable, durable, etc., and tells the public "I'm a superhero, therefore one of the good guys, meaning you're in safe hands"? Or is he now reduced to 'a guy in regular clothes, with a bow'?

To paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in 'Jurassic Park', "Ah, now eventually you do plan to have superheroes in your superhero comic, right?"

I've never seen Gravity before in my life.  Should I even bother Googling this dude?  If Arthur from THE TICK were an X-Man....

"Not in the X, not in the X!"

••

Perhaps he did!

Actually, that was a deliberate gag - Greg Willis (Gravity) comes up with what he thinks is a clever symbol based on his 'gravity manipulation' powers (the arrows all point inwards to the centre of the circle)...

...and yet he keeps getting things like newspaper reports on the 'latest member of the X-Men', or bystanders asking "you're not one of them mutants, are you", to his increasing frustration.

Similarly, there's a fun exchange where another neophyte street-level hero (the 'Greenwich Guardian') chides him on his choice of name, since it basically tells foes what his powers do.


It was a really fun series about the trials and mis-steps of a new young hero trying to make his way in the Marvel Universe - perfect entry-level material for new readers without being bogged down in crossovers and events, while making the most of being set in the great fabric of the Marvel Universe. It could have easily made for a great animated series or movie, with cameos from Spider-Man, Rhino, and so on, and attracted a whole generation of new readers. Yep - I honestly believe that, marketed properly, Gravity could have been the shot in the arm Marvel's comics have needed for too long, and nearest thing to 'the next Spider-Man' or similar.

But, as Tom Brevoort has said flatly so many times, the House of Other People's Ideas can't be bothered to get behind an original character, when it's so much easier to re-package the Avengers/the X-Men/Spider-Man and squeeze another few dollars from an ever-dwindling readership. Why put in time and effort for a potentially huge return, when you can sit on your backside doing the same-old same-old, and get a guaranteed, risk-free pittance? That's just common sense, surely!

sigh...