By now, you’ve probably already read my declaration of the worst comic costume ever which was awarded to the Invisible Woman circa 1993. on the opposite end of the spectrum, I now declare what I think is the BEST comic costume in my opinion. The bad costumes came much easier and more frequently, but the best is a struggle to declare since there are some classic designs like Batman with his iconic cape and cowl, but is disqualified for his use of briefs outside of his pants. I considered Daredevil with his all red ensemble complete with little devil horns, but something about the DD logo on his chest bothered me. When it comes to a costume that combines the best of the previously mentioned costumes, without the shortcomings, I gotta go with the Black Panther.

This is definitely a case of less is more, and for a guy who models himself after an animal, T’Challa, king of Wakanda, does so to his best. There’s nothing jazzy about his garb, it’s all black, and lacks any bells and whistles, but damn if he doesn’t look like a human panther. Sometimes he sports a cape when he’s going for that regal presence thing, but he’s streamlined and ready for action otherwise. He’s well suited for stealthy infiltration, and is well camouflaged for any event… unless it snows I guess. In the 40 plus years he’s been around, the Black Panther has seen only the slightest modifications to his look, but his costume has remained virtually unchanged since his creation in the 1960’s, since the template doesn’t lend itself to any radical change. When artists add little flourishes, they never seem to far off from his original look, and they’ve always looked good to me. So congrats T’Challa, you win my award for best comic book costume.

Now you can say that Spider-Man, Superman, or any other character has a better costume, but my argument is that they rely too heavily on bright colors, or just a little too much ornateness. The simple monochromatic look wins out in this contest, and as the title of this blog says, black is always in style.

-Jim

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