Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird; it’s a plane! It’s — well, um, err — it’s definitely not Supergirl’s underwear. That’s right, the super gal is no longer going to show you her whale tail. Can I get an amen?
In June, DC Comics editor Matt Idelson made a simple, yet super declaration: “I never want to see Supergirl’s panties again.”
And with that, Supergirl started wearing discrete red biker shorts under her skirt. The change in costume is the latest in a long and often inauspicious array of fashion choices for our superheroine.
While Superman has always worn the famous turquoise onesie and red underoos, Supergirl has largely flown around in a skirt. This of course poses an elemental problem: Dude, who flies in a skirt? And over the years, that skirt has gotten shorter and shorter, as has her top.
Never mind Kryptonite — Supergirl’s real weakness is apparently an ill-timed gust of wind. For a thorough and hilariously look at Supergirl’s fashion changes, check out the gallery at girl-wonder.org.
Before the anti-panty dictate, Supergirl’s outfits were questionable at best. Seriously, who fights crime in a mini-skirt and belly top? She is Supergirl, not Superhoochie. Which is another reason this move to additional fabric is a positive one both for the Maid of Might and comics readers. No teenage super heroine should look like a contestant on Rock of Love.
Current Supergirl artist Jamal Igle said the un-super skankificication of Supergirl will hopefully appeal to more of her female fans, instead of just her more prurient-minded fanboys.
As he told Newsarama:
The entire costume — if you look at what we’ve done, the costume has evolved in little bits and pieces … It covers a little bit more, and is a little more demure in some respects, but it’s not changed so much that you wouldn’t recognize it. It’s just draw in a way that parents can give the comic to young girls and not feel embarrassed by doing so, because she looks like a hoochie. In the end, it makes her look a little more respectable and honestly, it just makes sense.
Like I was saying, can I get an amen?
