Cosmic Treadmill ep. 78 - Avengers Spotlight #23 (1989)

Good evening, late-nite listeners! Heeeere's Chris (@AceComics) and Reggie (@reggiereggie) bringing you another deep dive into a comic book, this one specially chosen by Aaron Anderson: Avengers Spotlight #23 from Marvel Comics! After the usual biographies for Howard Mackie, Al Milgrom, John Byrne and Kieron Dwyer, the Hollywood Kids read both stories contained in this issue--the second one of the first appearances of The Vision in his all-white look! Then they talk about an old rural discount chain from whence Aaron's issue derived, and wrap up with a list of superheroes that had arguably unfortunate changes to their standard costumes. Even one character that never really had a standard costume! It's a great show, ladies and gentlemen, we hope you'll tune in for the duration.

Thanks again to Aaron for the suggestion!

And here we present to you all of the embarrassing superhero costume changes mentioned in this episode--listen to the podcast for more details!

 

Hey, You've Got to Hide Yourself Away

Very early on in their superheroing career, Sue decided the ever-lovin' Thing needed his baby blues concealed

"Not unless I'm playin' goalie!"

...but at the first scrap, Ben shucked his new duds for the classic tightey-blues we know and love today.

Of course, he leaves his dirty clothes on the floor for Sue to pick up later.

Beast, We Hardley Knew Ye

Hank McCoy began as a oafish-looking but brilliant white dude in the 1960s

I dunno, you still look better than Steve Buscemi

But in the 1970s, when everyone was a bit woolier, he mutated into the shaggy blue monster

This is a 1990s version of Beast, which was much liney-er

Twenty years later, he had a secondary, and decidedly more feline mutation...that seems to have subsided.

"If you scritch my head, I might tell you the fastest one."

I'm Every Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman's costume design is so iconic, it seems unassailable. And really, it's mostly had superficial changes since its debut in 1942.

If it ain't broke

Except for this one time...

"Show me: hide under a rock."

Really, the loss of Diana's powers and ever-changing fashion show paled in comparison to the humiliation endured by I-Ching.

Let's Not Forget Hawkeye the Greek

The Vision's costume change is highlighted in Avengers Spotlight #23, but Clint Barton also sought a new look, going from this

"Sorry, you know I can't flex and listen at the same time."

To this

"In a related story, I need to do underwear laundry."

...and quickly back again. Ol' Triangle Eyes, we missed ya!

Kitty Pryde Parade

We could show off a lot of the crazy costumes Kitty had over the years, but why bother when the folks at the swell blog 13thDimension have done it already, and better, right here?

Give Back the Pixie Shoes

Dick Grayson wore this classic Robin outfit into his late teens...which was admittedly probably too long to have bare legs.

"Help! Batman kept me captive in that drum for days!"

So he upgraded to this!

"This will look a lot better after I develop chest hair."

I think this toy company is exaggerating too much...it's a high collar, not a car spoiler.

That collar is considered a weapon in twelve states.

Punishing the Punisher

Who can deny Frank Castle's classic Armed Monorail Operator's look?

And no one did it like Dillon.

Apparently, Mike Baron and Hugh Haynes, who saw fit to reimagine him as a spectral Angel of Vengeance with spirit guns

John Consta-who?

The fun wasn't over for Frank, though. He'd be torn apart and then reassembled as Franken-Castle for six months worth of comics!

Technically, this is Dr. Franken-Castle's Monster

Stripper Sue

One thing you can say for Sue Richards, she was never sexualized. She wears the same flavorless jumpsuit as everyone else on the team...er, except for Ben Grimm. And Johnny, when he flames on.

I sure hope you knew what you were implying by suggesting that Reed "go polish a test tube!"

Except for this one time...

It seems like more work to put this little amount of clothes on than the full jumpsuit.

Batman to the EXTREME!

Bruce Wayne's night clothing changed little since Neal Adams and Carmine Infantino debuted his "new look" in the late 1960s

Batman even looks cool when he trips and is about land flat on his face.

But when he broke his back and had to hand the mantle to Jean-Paul Valley, Azrael took some liberties with the design...

Batteries sold separately

Guy Gardner, Native American Alien

Guy Gardner was always the wayward Green Lantern, even his initial Post-Crisis outfit was a "bad boy" take on the standard issue

Wearing rings over your gloves is so classy, like Phyllis Diller.

But when he manifested some dormant alien powers, he went full tribal and...well...

"Me lookum like heap big idiot."

Electric Supes

Superman's costume is probably the most iconic set of underclothes in history

And it's not even lunchtime yet.

Shortly after returning from the grave, he did sport a timely mullet. But his costume was the same as it ever was.

It was a very Garth Brooks/Patrick Swayze time, okay?

That changed when he turned into Electric Superman Red and Blue...

And this is how the Los Angeles Riots began.

...an homage to this Silver Age story that was only half as ridiculous.

"Also, I'm allergic to shellfish for some reason."

The two Supermen made nice and combined to form Electric Superman, who actually stuck around in this form for longer than most people expected him to.

"Hurry, I have to be at my gym trainer gig in half an hour."

 But come now, it wouldn't last forever.

Some growing pains on the way back.