With it being Independence Day in the US (celebrating the anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, rebelling against the authority of Great Britain), I thought I'd take a look at one of the worst "patriotic" super-hero outfits for Bad Costume Wednesday.
You can see an amazing collection of such characters at Comic Book Resources, but I've settled on Captain Glory by Jack Kirby:
On one hand, this is a fairly typical sort of Golden Age character, with the wrestling shorts and a tank top. On the other hand, it's a yellow tank top with a striped short-sleeved shirt underneath and a built-in hoodie mask. Also striped. While his face is getting Alien-humped by a giant star. I don't know how you expect anyone to fight crime and/or commies while getting orally invaded by Starro's half-breed offspring.
Also, and I admit I'll have to double-check my flag to be sure, but I'm pretty confident the ol' Stars and Bars doesn't have yellow in it. And that the aforementioned stripes are red, not blue. But it's the yellow that really throws me -- if it were used just as a spot color here and there, fine, but it's the biggest single thing he's wearing. It makes me think he's not supposed to be a national representative sort of fellow, but rather a poorly dressed wrestling fan.
Happy Fourth of July to all our US readers!
Yikes. Jeff, you nailed it. He looks more like a wrestler than a Superhero. I give it some latitude on goofyness since it is Kirby, but man it’s pretty rough.
How do colorblind colorists find work? Must have been another of Stan Lee’s brothers.
Happy Independence Day to all our US cousins….
To me, the most disturbing part is that the colouration on the mask makes his face appear to be concave. Yeuch.
My guess is he’s actually Malaysian. 😉
Happy Independence Day to all the Americans around here, and happy 4th of July to all the non-Americans around here!
@ Logosgal: I think he’s the Bizarro Captain America. “Captain America use shield, so Bizarro no use shield. Me put wings on chest and star on head.”
It’s like a rainbow decided to puke up all the primary colors all over this guys white costume. That’s where the yellow comes from. Look, I’m not an American, so I might not have your mindset, but trying to put myself into an American’s shoes…I just don’t see this as being all that patriotic a costume.
Oh well, happy Independence Day to all of my American fellow Heromachinists. And a belated happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians.
Tried to create a color-corrected version, and it still looks like El Santo as an illegal alien! I won’t post it for copyright reasons.
I think he was supposed to be a wrestler but got thrown into the superhero business similar to Spider-man
This is an odd costume. I’m not exactly seeing the American flag in this thing. For one thing, the colours for most of the stars and stripes parts seem switched around, which is an odd thing to do. Also, why yellow?
On the other hand… it’s Jack Kirby. And I can’t say that this thing’s hideous or awful. It’s one of those costumes that only works in his art style.
Anyway, happy Independence Day to all you Americans! And the rest of us shall enjoy our 4th of July.
@Jeff we should do something Spider Man Related this week. Idk maybe a comparison and poll between The Amazing Spider Man and the original movie?
@Aaron: Spider Man Vs. Batman
Happy 4th of July to all my fellow HM fans in the US!
A quick design for the fourth http://static.zooomr.com/images/10223679_71eb3c8fa5.jpg
I did a redesign, moving the colours around (I would post it here, but fear it probably will be counted as a copywrighted character)
…. but yeah – he still looks quite wrestler-ish
Even more so, actually
Apparently he retired under the sea…
https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQA60RIMUtorHkG7qVATEJBK76UUtv4JVTKcj-oWihXG9ADWlz_gg
Thats a toughy