If you ever get down about your inability to create a cool looking character, just remember that people at DC got paid a lot of money to assemble THIS look:
First of all, if you're an intrepid adventurer for good or evil and you get the idea to dress up in a costume to hit the streets, let me offer you a quick word of warning from the dizzying heights of my years of super-costume experience:
Don't make your mask out of your initials.
Sadly, no one was there to help Wraith with that little tidbit, so he's forced to wear a giant purple "W" as a helmet. Since this character predates the ascension of George W. Bush to America's Presidency, we can safely assume that rather than some sort of political statement this is, instead, just a horrible fashion faux-pas. "Oh no," I hear you crying, "I am sure that was just an accident, that's not really supposed to be a W!" Riddle me this, then, O Defender of the Sartorially Challenged: why then does he have another W woven in similar clumsy style onto his top?
I thought so.
Not content with one assault on the senses, though, Wraith has gone a step further by making the offending piece of headwear out of purple and orange fabric.
Purple. And. Orange.
It's bad enough the thing looks like Batman's cowl is getting eaten by by an X-Wing Fighter without forcing it to deal with those two colors, each horrible in its own right and each made even worse by its proximity to the other. Throw in the "Cape With Only Three Notches" that looks like a leftover from the "You Too Can Make a Batman Cape" seminar and we have yet another in the long line of nemeses who tried to ape the Darknight Detective's fashion sense only to get an epic fail. I think the slightly-too-high-to-be-comfortable purple leg strip really seals the deal. It's like someone wanted a Rob Liefeld leg pouch but couldn't bring himself to actually do it. Maybe they blew their "Copycat" load ripping off Bruce's tailor and just couldn't get over the hump, but whatever the reason, we should all be thankful.
I also love how, in this illustration, he apparently has no idea how to carry a briefcase. "Hmm, I've got this bag of loot, but NOW what do I do with it?!! Curse these modern carryalls and their confusing handlery! If only my W Mask wasn't eating my face I could figure this out!"
I think we'd all be better off if this garter-wearing pinata-colored letter-masked no-briefcase-carrying buffoon would make like a real Wraith and just fade away ...
Ouch, man. Ouch.
Reminds me of an art project I did in high school on opposite colors.
…um, isn’t the character’s name “The Wrath”, and not “The Wraith”?
The colors makes me cringe. the costume would be better if it was all black with purple and orange accents.
I keep thinking: Dude could use a belt.
I know that’s like bemoaning a spilled cup of coffee in the middle of a 10 car pileup. Still, Dude could use a belt.
Definitely. His whole physique just cries out in horror at spandex … hopefully if he had a belt he would get the hint and use it to hold up a decent set of pants.
RitoruBushi you are so right, I am an idiot! Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I might not be able to READ but at least I didn’t design that outfit, so that’s a mercy.
I remember this guy – I think the character was actually an ‘anti-Batman’, hence the costume/headgear design.
And yeah, it’s ‘Wrath’, not ‘Wraith’. 😀
I actually think Wraith is better. I mean, look at that guy — the only wrath he inspires is at his tailor.
An assassin dressed in orange and purple? Yeah, I’m sure HE would go unnoticed.
Nope, it’s The Wrath, all right…
And, despite the poor costume, he was a good character!
Pretty much, “What if Batman’s parents were killed by Cops”…
Admittedly, even for a ‘Reverse Batman’, the color choice could have been better!
“What if Batman’s parents were killed by Cops”…
He’d go color blind and forget how to carry briefcases, apparently.
This is just my interpretation of this guy’s costume;
1) a “W” on his head and another “W” on his chest, making “WW”, and one obvious stripe on his leg of this pink-ish/purple-ish standing out against his orange costume. 2 “W”s and 1 stripe… WWI Man? perhaps he is making some point of his favortism to a particular war ith that, and making a reference to Agent Orange by using the color for the majority of his outfit. What say I on the purple cape, boots, mask, and gloves? Perhaps he’s just a bit fruity, or wants to REALLY stand out in a crowd (of a photo taken from a satelite in space).
2) Perhaps there’s another spin on the meaning behind his costume. Wiki-DC states that his costume is not orange, but instead is “colored in crimson and purple”. A crimson “W” on his face to clearly diplay his “wrath”, and a purple “W” on his chest to… uh… display… he’s a weapon’s expert? (that’s what his bio hints at, at least), but let’s not neglect that his cape, both his gloves, and both his boots have the hint of a W-like shape at their cuffs. That’s another 5 “W”, so he has 7 “W”s on his entire costume. However, the boots, gloves, and cape’s “W” shape look more like “M”s. 2 “M”s on his boots= M&M, 2 “M”s on his gloves= M&M, but I’m gonna take a different twist, and give the cape a “W” status. 1 on the chest + one on the face + and one IS his cape = WWW.
3) Crimson & purple and frequent “W”s as the sole basis of this “unique” outfit. So Gordon shoots and kills his parents who were trying to skip out on the rent, and this guy goes completely obsessive on destroying the law and those in law enforcement by becoming an international assassin in fruity colored tights, and makes the guns he uses to kill people? Maybe he should have taken a different career choice. After all, he pretty much holds the responsibility of his own demise in a full-contact showdown with Batman. Never paint yourself into a corner, and never set a fire you cant get out of. I guess with his parents being on the 187 guest list while he was still a child he didn’t really have anyone to teach him those two important lessons. Or to suggest he NOT use a letter for his outfit’s primary design. Or to NOT attempt to take on Batman out of spite and anger alone. Or to attack those closest to Brucie boy to provoke Batman to intentionally hunt him down. Just another statistic of a child growing up on the streets I guess. 😛
Out of pure boredom I actually recreated The Wrath on the HM3. LOL! This is a completely rediculous character! And this is coming from a DC fan since age 12.
So this was the precursor to Prometheus. Hmm, I take it the strung-out junkie brandishing the switchblade is him? Makes sense, only a crackhead would dress in a purple and orange Batman-esque costume (…probably stole it from a Mexican wrestler.) and wage war against law & order. Guess the ‘W’ stands for “wasted”.
Wraith would be a beter name. It fits with the pointed mask and the cape, gloves and boots design. Also, he’s an enemy of Batman–bats are creatures of the night, a wraith is a supernatural creature. Wrath is a sin. If there was a hero by the name of Mr. Pleasant Tree(which I’m sure there is a hero by that name somewhere), then he would probably have a nemesis named the Wrath.
not to mention that the chest W is off center
wow so much thoughts goes into what we do.. and to even spend time weaving out he good character from the bad characters is a hevanly or Ghostlhy. Thanl you I laughed and now I feel batter about my life. anytime I feel fustrated about character Development I will stop here and make myself better yet force myself to smile at the mistakes that even the best of us make!! hahaha