Supergirl used to have a closet full of superhero outfits and some of them who am I kidding a lot
of them are very memorable they're a treat and we need to look at them all, from a certain time
period that is. Greetings comic lovers and welcome back to casually comics the channel where we chat
all things comics reviews of comics new and old to history to anecdotes to really wherever our whims
take us. Costumes, a superhero's look can quickly become part of their iconography a quick visual
cue as to who you're looking at, an association that builds over time a feeling can be attached
to that outfit or look this can lead to change any change being scrutinized. So a costume change can
become a bit of an event and any changes really bad or really good it sticks with you. In the 70s
Supergirl went through many many costume changes some never saw print and some just need to be seen
to be believed we're gonna take a tour through her wardrobe at a time when she actually had a
superhero closet "oh they're beautiful and i'll be the only super being on earth i'll have a whole
closet full of uniforms I can change at will and not only that it'll cause some confusion among my
enemies not to see me in the same uniform all the time" Batman has entered the chat also i'm
not sure if oh my god what is she wearing is the best battle strategy let's take a trip back to the
70s and see just how and why Supergirl got a new costume well costumes and see which ones you like
the most or the least but before we get started i'm Sasha and if you're enjoying this content
you know what to do hit that like button hit the subscribe button join us on this comic book
journey if you yourself are feeling fashionable I too have merch such as this approved by casually
comics culture what does that mean it just means that you enjoy comics and many different facets of
them if you are interested the link is down below in the description or there's a shelf
underneath this video speaking of shelves it's time for a tale of Supergirl shifting costumes
this tale begins with the shift of Supergirl from backup story to main story in adventure
comics before she was given her own solo series entirely under her own name which we've done at
retrospective on here on this channel that series could have been called and then we never saw them
again the Supergirl story Supergirl as Kara was created in 1959 and had for years after been a
key backup story but not at the forefront and so it remained for a decade until 1969 when she and
her adventures were made the lead of Adventure Comics. Adventure Comics had debuted in 1938
as Adventure Comics before that it had run as New Comics by issue 40 the comic would shift towards a
superhero focus thanks to the success of Superman but unlike Action Comics or Detective Comics this
one would have rotating leads and while some would linger for years ultimately there would
be changeover so no one hero ever laid a firm hold on the magazine they would just last for eras and
even if those could last for years there would ultimately again be that shift. The comic itself
would actually change to a more fantasy tone after a while then it would be cancelled 1983
but then brought back for a brief revival period from 2009-2011. Now that's not to say that these
runs weren't significant or that big plot things didn't happen in them because they did
big plot things events. Supergirl's era lasted from issues 381-424 -403 where the legion takes
over so it's 42 issues rather than 43. So this was a decent haul to be sure and one that left
a more lingering impact than her first solo series did in many ways after all the work that was done
on this run her own series fell a bit short some consider this to be her first solo outing and the
title card on issue 381 also touts that "after 10 years Supergirl gets her own magazine this is her
first book length novel" now the pedantic side of me that emerges on occasion that sees the giant
adventure comics presents or Supergirl starring in will not allow me to accept this it rejects it
for me this is her leading what is essentially an anthology book and while for the first little bit
they're all her adventures that does change they see Zatanna, Black Canary the legion,
but this may be a mileage varies moment and it's a really small hill i'm not prepared to die there
i'm already on so many other hills now one of the focuses of this run on the series that came to the
floor was modernizing Supergirl giving her a more contemporary vibe that would hopefully appeal to
younger readers the first shifts began the plot but another pivotal change was the call to have
a design off fans sending in costumes and there would be only one what maybe I'm not sure exactly
what the contest stated but design a costume and potentially see it in the magazine and people did
a lot of people did issue 397 from 1970 would see Mike Sekowsky take over her title doing both story
and art and he would be the one to introduce the new costume and eventually costumes Mike Sekowsky
he's worth mentioning because he's also the person behind mod Wonder Woman where Wonder Woman
got de-powered learned martial arts and opened a fashion boutique so loving fashion was a recurring
theme across works he loved drawing costumes so it feels very much like this was a finally
moment all the costumes all the time issue 397's cover features a variety of the contenders and the
winner is on there. I posted this on the community tab and some of you had fondness for a bunch of
these or felt a couple just needed a few tweaks and others felt no terrible keep them in the 70s
the one that won was drum roll we interrupt this drum roll to show that Linda starts off this issue
shopping at mod Wonder Woman's fashion boutique groovy and Diana is also the one who gives her
her new costume here it is bask in the glory "the above Supergirl costume was chosen from
many sketches submitted by Supergirl's readers the designer's identity will be revealed next issue"
dang anything to get people to come back next week shameless the next issue is very dramatic about it
all "hold it stop" this page tells us that the response to this call for new costumes was huge
some people even submitted multiple ideas but ultimately this first one that was showcased was
a combination of two ideas from two different women a louise ann kelly and jean bray there's
also a page in this issue that thanks some of the other designers and states "I wouldn't be too
surprised if now and then you don't see me wearing one of your creations just for variety's sake
after all a girl just can't wear the same old thing every time she goes out" I have to say the
Mike Sekowsky stories are a good time there's a clear love and respect for the character and
enjoyment of her more feminine qualities there is fun being had in balancing her social life and her
superhero life and neither one seems to come to dominate and they actually intertwine the whole
thing feels more grounded and so subplots about her love life or her liking clothes come across as
genuine and not as belittling they don't overwhelm and rather they accent plus he loved drawing all
these different fashions he wasn't kidding when he said he would put in as many as he could I
feel like if they let him he would just send whole issues of cars just walking through her closet he
even sneaks in some costumes here and there just for a panel or two for example issue 402 gives us
Supergirl evening wear courtesy of a Patricia Martel it's only there for a few panels but I
appreciate the commitment to working in these fan ideas look at it glamorous but also looking like
she's cosplaying always gotta stay on brand for a while things are stable until issue 407 where
we're actually introduced the whole concept of the closet we also get the introduction of a new
costume you can see it on the cover is this what you're looking for Linda double racing stripes
up the leg a bold contribution from Anthony Kowalik what follows is a period where the
costumes switch rapidly 409 would see the rise of a pretty infamous costume that is both more like a
bathing suit and also perplexing and just how is it staying up I posted this one on the community
tab and it was met with two predominant reactions there was damn sexy that's hot and what is keeping
that up this one was designed by Margret Berg it stays with you that's for sure she does wear
it for the first time on an adventure that involves water so maybe that was the goal
it was supposed to look like a swimsuit maybe it was mission accomplished this was the last issue
in this run that Mike Sekowsky would be writing and drawing but they would keep that costume
changing tradition alive for a bit cause 410 say hello to a new costume also this costume would
become the representative one in the corner of the comic and it's the prototype of the hot pants from
the Supergirl series in fact this is probably the one from this time period that people remember the
most it certainly stuck around the longest this one was designed by John Sposato who gets credit
on the letters page and the main differences between it and the version used in the Supergirl
series are the shoes there are more sandals with ties or sandal punps with ties here than the elf
boots and no ties and the shorts sorry hot pants don't have that fringe tassley thing going on
in fact that modification starts as early as next issue which also sees Art Saaf doing the art which
is significant because he did it for most of Supergirl's own series so he's kind of crafting
the look the star of the look is here this costume is not for everyone but I have to say i'm a fan of
the hot pants and the poofy blouse this is a look I'd wear it 412 new costume this one is one of the
full body ones and the symbol is now on the belt and maybe because it's summer here where I am but
it looks hot like she's sweating kryptonian sweat the logo is missing on her chest and then suddenly
just appears mid-issue and stays for the remainder of times this costume is used I also couldn't find
credit for this one I guess it was hot because she's out of it by issue 415. in this issue she's
in what I've seen referred to as her tennis outfit this one only made one issue this one to me looks
like she joined the New Gods it's interesting to see the red be so dominant in her costume
after that it's hot pants city for a while but as mentioned there were many many designs submitted
and mileage varies about how people feel about contests like these some think they're good fun
a great way to build fan engagement and a good way for fans to showcase their skills and get involved
and who knows what this could lead to you could be like I designed Supergirl's costume hire me others
deem it to be exploitative in a way of farming for ideas without having to give full proper credit or
pay and there can be a resentment from those not selected or there's people submitting who feel
like they've come to waste their time or ideas now there was an attempt made to showcase even
more of these designs this in super dc giant s 24 from 1971. Sekowsky's back with three pages
of outfits these ones were submitted but may not have been shown on panel except for here but they
were liked so let's bask in them the first page is all about the commitment to that full cape look
at this dracula cape and bell bottoms where are the bottoms on this one ellen they're itty bitty
I like that each of these also has a distinctive belt tres chic page two really needs a different
background the psychedelic period appropriate swirls make it difficult to focus on the costumes
this is definitely the page of more out there designs like this one with no cape but an ascot
so people can choke her I actually really like this lounge wear one where the Superman symbol
goes all the way around as the belt on her planet it means fashion the fact that this one on here
from Joan has no yellow on it takes me aback this full body one with magician cape attachment i feel
like it ended up being used or at least parts of it did parts of a lot of these ended up being
used in fact on the cover of 397 some people felt they could see the one from the new 52
last page look these boots don't stop they just are the whole leg on two of these
costumes those are some kinky boots look this one with the dangly chain style belt got a wow
ooh this one got more wow
I love the enthusiasm for this concept can we just get the art book the art book of all the
Supergirl costume designs so there we have it costumes from the 70s a lot of a lot and while
people change their clothes often i'm definitely a let's change it up type of person myself when
it's in a comic you're dealing with a bit of a different landscape as mentioned iconography is
part of what helps establish the character so this kind of thing can make a character feel
unstable even if their personality doesn't change the intent was there and interesting i'm not sure
it landed though especially as an attempt to make the costumes distinct the designs vary wildly and
there are some questionable choices you could end up stuck in what is she wearing mode versus what
is she doing mode it's simultaneously fun unique but also something they've done again would need
some refinement and the credit issue would be probably a big deal there are many who would
feel that credit was not enough in and of itself potentially they were paid though i'm not sure
tell me your faves and oh god whys down below I want to hear it all if you approve of this content
want something stylish to wear for yourself well check it out approved by casually code
merch plug shameless so many costumes in such a short span of time especially reading it back all
in one chunk it probably felt a bit different when it was coming out monthly or however frequently
it was coming out there would have been gaps like the gap between a short and a boot tell me fashion
things down below while you're down there please do all the youtube things like share comment
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the time our day spent discussing comics with me I always appreciate it and I will see you again soon
bye-bye
you