Last night I was watching one of the few episodes of Smallville I've ever seen. Frankly, I don't much enjoy the show -- all of that post-teen, posturing, soap-opera-ish horseshit bores me to tears and irritates my bowels. However, I really like the sensibilities of the costumes. The general themes of the characters' classic costumes are all there, but cast in terms of sensible, contemporary clothing. Superman wear jeans, a bright blue t-shirt, and a bright red windbreaker; Aquaman wears an orange rashguard over green swim trunks; the Flash wears a bright red t-shirt with a simple lightning bolt on it; the Green Arrow wears a green jacket. Recognisable and cool. Last night's episode featured the original three of the Legion of Superheroes. Cosmic Boy had a black jacket with four round metal disks around the collar, Lightning Lad had a blue jacket with two small lightning bolts on the collar, and Saturn Girl wore a red jacket over a white t-shirt with a Saturn-shaped appliqué.
This reminds me of Matt Wagner's Mage comic, where legendary heroes all wore simple, contemporary clothes that featured some iconic symbol of the ancient hero they represented. I have to wonder if the producers of Smallville had this in mind when designing the costumes.
!i!