| Posted: 23 July 2012 at 5:51am | IP Logged | 6
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The image of Nemesis posted on the previous page points up what's wrong with the design of Deadpool and so many Image-style characters.When I was designing Nemesis, I applied the "Gil Kane Rules" -- I wanted to have the costume lines, as much as possible, follow the form of the body, Nemesis is long, sleek, and flowing. Deadpool's costume is essentially the same, with modifications, but then there come the pouches at waist and thigh, and the lines of the costume are broken. Broken, too, without any sort of logic. The pouches are there because pouches are COOL, not because they spring from any internal design element. And it doesn't end there. Deadpool's costume does not have traditional superhero style boots and gloves, but it does have wrist and ankle bands (and a neck band) which again break the flow of the costume without springing from any inherent design sense. They're there because they're there. When we think of the most iconic costumes, we find they are the ones with the cleanest lines, the most uncluttered silhouette. "Clutter" is perhaps the defining word for what has gone wrong with costume design in recent decades. So often there seems to be a good, basic costume at the center, and then a lot of STUFF piled on. Spawn, whose outfit, as noted, also bears a strong resemblance to Nemesis, is a typical example of this. Start with smooth, sleek lines, then add chains and skulls and straps and spikes... (Mind you, there is an important lesson here. Many years ago, Frank Miller and I were bemoaning the current school of costume design, as represented by Todd McFarlane and his ilk, but Frank mentioned a friend of his who had looked at the chains and skulls and spikes that dominated the Toddler's work, and observed that "WE don't like it, but when the kids are 13, he OWNS 'em.")
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