The Dark Knight Rises The TDKR Batsuit Discussion Thread VI

[mcallima]

It's not a matter of whether it could work. Anything can be made to work. Adam West's Batman worked within the context intended and if Snyder took TDKR and put it onscreen panel for panel that would work to and it would be awesome, blue and all. But if one were charged with compiling the definitive Batman and came to the choice of choosing either the black look or the blue look we all know its going to be black.

There is no such thing as a definitive Batman.

 

[TheDarkKnight83]

With all this blue talk, here's a manip someone did ages ago with the blue & gray using the begins suit as a base:

Though I'd still want black & gray.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

See that manip still seems like the black parts are black with a blue tint, which I don't mind it's not the pure bright light blue that is usually shown.

 

[Sharkboy]

I've always been a fan of all black, I'd love to see how grey/black would look. But blue? I never ever took batman's look in the comics to ever be a literal blue. To me in the stories, he never ever wore blue, So to have it in a film would be kind of erroneous because he never wore blue, it just looked that way in the comics.

 

[DaveMoral]

^It's worth pointing out that even Denny O'Neil never seems to have really seen Batman as wearing blue. He describes Batman's outfit in his Knightfall novelization as black on numerous occasions. And this was when comics were still notoriously using light blue.

 

[Godzilla2014]

The blue was an unfortunate side effect of firstly having to give highlights to black with blue(it's in hair too) and the gradual softening of Batman's image into the 50s and 60s. Unfortunately that blue hung with the character until fairly recently, where's it's either been toned down to a more blue-grey or now they seem to be preferring grey as a means of highlighting black.

Spider-Man was originally, I believe, intended to be sporting a red and black suit and the X-Men's original uniforms were intended to be yellow and black.

I don't know about the X-Men, but I do know that Spider-Man's costume was intended to be red and black.

I don't know if the original Spidey suit was supposed to be red/black. But I do know the symbiote suit was supposed to be. They had to change it to white because of coloring technology limitations at the time. The red bled into the black leaving a very clear splotchy look to any of the areas they colored red on the black suit.

I wonder what it would be like to see that done now.

IT'S BLACK

Batman in the Forties (2004) ~ intro Bill Schell
Batman’s debut in Detective #27 has the estimable value of revealing Bat-Man exactly as envisioned by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. So the result is… undiluted by editorial interference or the suggestion of others. This is Batman straight from the heads of his creators.

Les Daniel ~ Batman: The Complete History (1999)
Kane’s simple mask was transformed into a black cowl… Finger suggested that Batman’s costume be changed from red to gray. The cowl and cloak remained black, but since comics conventions demand that black objects be highlighted in blue, Batman’s uniform in effect became blue and gray.

Bob Kane ~ Batman & Me (1989)
At this point, the Bat-Man wore a red union suit; the wings, trunks, and mask were black… Bill said the costume was too bright: “Color it dark gray to make it look more ominous.”

Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight (2005) ~ Scott Beatty
BATMAN’S LOOK: To strike terror, he would become as the bat, sketching out a symbolic costume which would have him clad from head to toe in stealthy black and gray… [the] basic design [of the costume] has remained virtually unchanged.

Bob Ringwood ~ Reinventing the Batsuit for the Modern Era
“I had decided from the beginning that this ‘Batman’ was not going to be in blue knickers,” said costume designer Bob Ringwood. “I hated those. Bats are black, of course – not blue – and black is much more sinister and sexy. After talking to Batman creator Bob Kane, we found out that he had always thought of ‘Batman’ as being in black, but that it was very difficult to draw a black-on-black drawing for the comic strip. So he had drawn it in blue so that he could use different tones of the color for effect. In [Kane’s] mind, the blue was just a symbolic version of black. Our black costume was really nearer the original concept.”

Blue is symbolic of Black.

Agreed.

True Black is actually a rare color for bats; shades of gray are far more prevalent. People mistake bats for being black because bats are thought of as a nocturnal creatures, seen in the night, when its dark, and something grayish or brownish or redish will look black in the dark. This correlation to bats, this blending into the dark is why gray is a perfectly feasible color for Batman.

True.

You are correct most of the bats I've seen are a brownish/gray/reddish color but they do "appear" to be black. In most artwork in history all bats are drawn and colored to be black creatures but none are trully a full black color, the closest thing to a full black would be their wings.

Hence why Batman's cape is black.

I never denied it was Kane and Finger's intent to have a black/grey suit. The fact remains, however, that LONG after printing technology caught up to their intent, the cape and cowl was still blue. Subsequent artists intended for a blue/grey suit, until the 80's and 90's ushered in a return to black/grey.

That was probably because they misinterpreted the black as blue, so thus it was colored as blue.

The fact IS both the creators of Batman and those authorized by DC to tell the definitive history say its black... even when its blue.

Agreed.

I have no problem with people who like the blue look. I just personally am not a fan of it. I think to do it in live action you would have to have a very stylized world that Batman would be in, with a very unique visual look. It could certainly be done.

I'm just not really interested in seeing that look brought to live action. But it's all personal preference.

My thoughts exactly.

I don't see us getting a blue and grey suit anytime soon in a bat-film or probably ever.

Probably not.

Maybe a black and a darkish gray suit but definitely not blue.

I like the sound of that.

Agreed. Or, if not necessarily something like Sky Captain, something with a very specific visual style. Like one of Synder's films. Something that incorporates the more fantastical elements of Batman.

Again, I still would rather not see it, simply because I'm a fan of darker colors, especially for Batman. But it could definitley be done.

Agreed.

With all this blue talk, here's a manip someone did ages ago with the blue & gray using the begins suit as a base:

Though I'd still want black & gray.

I concur.

I've always been a fan of all black, I'd love to see how grey/black would look. But blue? I never ever took batman's look in the comics to ever be a literal blue. To me in the stories, he never ever wore blue, So to have it in a film would be kind of erroneous because he never wore blue, it just looked that way in the comics.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[BatScot]

There is no such thing as a definitive Batman.

Suffice to say some interpretations are closer than others and the closest are draped in black.

 

[Godzilla2014]

How do people feel about a black utility belt such as those depicted below?

I like it, and I think it would be a great replacement for the trunks on a gray and black movie Batsuit.

 

[Doc Holliday]

How do people feel about a black utility belt such as those depicted below?

Spoiler

I like it, and I think it would be a great replacement for the trunks on a gray and black movie Batsuit.

I like that thought--because I'm really, really against the trunks--but I'm not sure how I feel about either of those suits. I'm more partial to the second one, but the cowl is funky.

 

[Godzilla2014]

I like that thought--because I'm really, really against the trunks--but I'm not sure how I feel about either of those suits. I'm more partial to the second one, but the cowl is funky.

The pictures are just examples of a Batsuit design with a black utility belt, and without the trunks. I myself would prefer it to have the oval-less Bat-symbol, so something like the new DCU reboot with a black utility belt.

 

[Mister Meddle]

Eh, I never liked the idea of changing the color of the utility belt to black. When I was a kid that was the main thing that annoyed me about the Forever suit.

 

[Doc Holliday]

The pictures are just examples of a Batsuit design with a black utility belt, and without the trunks. I myself would prefer it to have the oval-less Bat-symbol, so something like the new DCU reboot with a black utility belt.

Spoiler

Yep, definitely more of a fan of that. Since I was exposed to it, I've pretty much always leaned away from the oval. (Schumacher end-of-movie suits excluded.)

 

[Godzilla2014]

Eh, I never liked the idea of changing the color of the utility belt to black. When I was a kid that was the main thing that annoyed me about the Forever suit.

Really? I felt it was one of the few good things about the Schumacher era Batsuits (other than stuff they inherited from the Burton era Batsuits, it may be the only thing) .

Yep, definitely more of a fan of that. Since I was exposed to it, I've pretty much always leaned away from the oval. (Schumacher end-of-movie suits excluded.)

I feel the same way. I loved when they got rid of it in the 2000s, and its return was one of the few things I disliked about the Batman, Inc. Batsuit.

I think that, if they really wanted to bring it back, they should have had Dick Grayson wear it. To me, Dick just comes off as much more of a showman than Bruce ever was, so it fits his character more.

 

[RustyCage]

There were only two times I enjoyed the yellow oval: Tim Burton's Batman films, and the Animated Series. I can't think of a single time that I've liked it in the comics.

I think it must come down to art style. It usually just looks out of place to me, like the bigger bat with more open wings would fit better - but in those two cases the yellow was the way to go, and it actually looked good to me.

And this is probably the only time I've ever liked the blue tint:

You can see there that it's not just a stand-in for black in Hush when you compare him to Catwoman.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Ah, Jim Lee. One of my favorite renditions of Batman.

 

[BatScot]

You can see there that it's not just a stand-in for black in Hush when you compare him to Catwoman.

See where the light source falls on Catwoman's outfit; it's nearly the same shade of blue as Batman... I'm just sayin

 

[Godzilla2014]

There were only two times I enjoyed the yellow oval: Tim Burton's Batman films, and the Animated Series. I can't think of a single time that I've liked it in the comics.

I think it must come down to art style. It usually just looks out of place to me, like the bigger bat with more open wings would fit better - but in those two cases the yellow was the way to go, and it actually looked good to me.

And this is probably the only time I've ever liked the blue tint:

You can see there that it's not just a stand-in for black in Hush when you compare him to Catwoman.

Me too. The non-oval symbol works better for Bruce Wayne. As for the blue tint, I think it worked best on Dick as Batman. It fit him being a much lighthearted Batman than Bruce and that he was trying to be his own man, even if he was assuming his adoptive father's mantle of the Bat.

Ah, Jim Lee. One of my favorite renditions of Batman.

Mine too.

 

[RustyCage]

See where the light source falls on Catwoman's outfit; it's nearly the same shade of blue as Batman... I'm just sayin

That's actually a fair point for this particular panel. For some reason I recall them always having that contrast in 'blackness', but maybe I'm wrong.

I honestly prefer black myself, so here's hoping their intention was also in line with your argument.

 

[Godzilla2014]

That's actually a fair point for this particular panel. For some reason I recall them always having that contrast in 'blackness', but maybe I'm wrong.

I honestly prefer black myself, so here's hoping their intention was also in line with your argument.

Agreed. The lighting effect does appear to be consistent on both characters.

 

[batsone]

With all this blue talk, here's a manip someone did ages ago with the blue & gray using the begins suit as a base:

Though I'd still want black & gray.

That was a request for a more Neal Adams look. This was what I was going for.

 

[Godzilla2014]

That was a request for a more Neal Adams look. This was what I was going for.

They look great!

 

[craigdbfan]

Now we're talking.

Really hope we get something more like this for the next series.

 

[LegendaryCaleb]

wow i think those are...bad....and wouldnt look right at all on screen...

How do people feel about a black utility belt such as those depicted below?

I like it, and I think it would be a great replacement for the trunks on a gray and black movie Batsuit.

this one pulls off gray very well though...still think its better all black though.

 

[Majik1387]

I can't believe some her want the briefs.

 

[LegendaryCaleb]

i prefer all black...and like the begins suit...think with the proper adjustments it could be the perfect suit...but heres a thing that people dont get...
trunks wouldnt transfer for batman...maybe superman...but not batman...the GA would laugh like crazy if all the sudden after all these awesome all black costumes were on screen they decide to add trunks...and dont bring up arkham asylum the game...its a game...