Monday, December 18, 2006

Legion of Substitute Costumes: Night Girl

blockadesantahead Night Girl has super-strength but only in the absence of sunlight. So it's no wonder the Legion of Super-Heroes rejected her.

nightgirlold

Her costume isn't any great shakes, either. Sure, it has a certain Beatnik/Goth quality, what with all the black and such. But it's mainly a slab of one solid color with a timidly small owl symbol on the chest. And then there's the hair. It's inspired great men to write odes to it, but in my opinion it's hideous. Something needs to be done. Oh, I wouldn't dare cut it -- that would only make it mad! But maybe it could be arranged more attractively. So here's how I would style Night Girl...

nightgirlnew



...starry, starry Night Girl. I went with this Van Gogh-inspired pattern for the fabric. And because it's so loud busy eyecatching, I made the silhouette very simple. No distracting cut-outs or ruffles or anything. I tied all of Night Girl's magnificent hair back into a chignon, incorporating a matching scarf of the same fabric. I think it makes her look the Greeks of old (you know which ones I mean).

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it's certainly an improvement over the Grell re-design...in fact, all of the subs re-designs were pretty hideous, and Stone Boy's may have been worse than Night Girl's. Hard to say.

Anonymous said...

An improvement? How could you improve a design that makes Phantom Lady's costume look like a parka?

And where's the bouffant hairdo?

Anonymous said...

Not to be a comic-nerd, but wouldn't an all-over body costume effectively block any light from reaching her skin?put a helmet with a heads-up display on her anfd she is effectively isolated form sunlight. (As much as I liked the Cockrum?/Grell almost costume she wore in the 70's, it was so skimpy and exposed so much skin the glowing digits on a VCR would remove her strength.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the spelling. I am on flu medicine.

Jeremy Rizza said...

Randy: I'm not familiar with the Grell redesigns and frankly I now dread the very thought of them.

Michael: Haw! I struggled with the idea of skimpiness vs. coverage. I don't know exactly how Night Girl's power works, so I'm not sure if a skimpy costume would allow her to absorb any helpful nighttime radiations. (I can't even imagine what "nighttime radiations" would even be, other than moonlight, i.e. reflected sunlight, and starlight, i.e. greatly diminished sunlight.) But I at least know a conservative costume would protect some of her body from the sun. As for the bouffant? Screw the bouffant. There, I said it and I'd never take it back. Wait, what the... long black hair... slithering under the doorway... attacking me!... AAAAARRRRRRGH*splat*

Sleestak: (I'm all better now!) You're right, a full-body costume would be more practical. I just don't think it would be very "feminine" or pretty is all. Her original costume left her head uncovered and she seemed to do just fine. Oh, and get well soon! I worry about you.

Anonymous said...

Ah, but a full-body Van Gogh-themed print? How about that?

This is inspired. I love how it takes a second to "get it". Cool.

Jon the Intergalactic Gladiator said...

Nice redesign and I agree with Chawunky's "get it" comment.

I have to say, though, that I kind of liked the original costume, except for the stupid owl and the beehive. I mean, come on, is Nightgirl's secret identity Aunt Millie or something? She would have looked good with a slightly more gothy appearance, but I guess there weren't goths in the future back then.

Anonymous said...

You're not familiar with the Grell redesigns? Huh, I would have thought you'd have been all over those costume changes.

Here's a picture of a real girl dressed in the Adventure-era costume and here she is in the Grell version. Both pictures are from the 1998 San Diego comic con (she was 15 at the time, and with her mother). Let's just say she's using a lot more cloth in the second picture than the "real" costume.

J. Steven York said...

Stumbled in here on a totally unrelated Google-search (don't you love it when that happens?). GREAT blog. Reading about "Secret Wars II," I think I hurt myself.

Jeremy Rizza said...

Chawunky: Thanks, man!

Jon: I like the gothy angle. I might redesign my redesign. Also, then she could date my Polecat redesign.

Michael: Thanks for the links! And she was fifteen? Jeebus. And yeah, it's a good thing her mother was there, huh?

J. Steven: Thank you! And welcome!

Anonymous said...

Haha, great redesign! Very clever. :)