Detective Comics
Gotham Noir , wherein James Gordon, instead of rising through the ranks to become police commissioner, instead is forced to resign from the force in disgrace, and becomes an alcohol-sodden private eye, and a month or so later, Slam Bradley himself popped up, as a back-up feature in Detective Comics. Of course, Detective Comics is now completely dominated by Batman, with an emphasis once more placed on detective work and crime-fighting. That first issue introduced private eye Slam Bradleyand "ace investigator" Speed Saunders, among others. They promised "bang-up adventure yarns in thrilling pictures by your favorite artists. Known now as the home of Batman, many fans forget that when Detective Comics first came out in March 1937, it was simply a comic book version of the hard-boiled pulps already available on the newsstands at the time; full of two-fisted cops, district attorneys, criminal lawyers and especially private eyes shooting it out or dukin' it out with the bad guys. With cover prices on the rise and more titles than ever hitting the stands, it can be difficult to know how to spend your hard-earned cash. Don't miss this new collection featuring stories of different Batmen.
The biggest major change from Wonder Woman's traditional costume into something with pants coincided with the rise of the Women's Lib movement, but unfortunately involved her losing all of her powers in the process, which is kind of a mixed message. While a lot of folks went punk in the '80s, Storm's transformation into mohawked, leather-wearing badass was less about the music and lifestyle and more about going down into the sewer and having knife-fights with super-powered gang-leaders. He eventually removed the symbiote and returned to his classic costume, except for a brief period when Aunt May was hospitalized and he decided to dress in a non-symbiotic black costume to express the darkness of his soul. One of the most famous costume changes in comics history, Spider-Man's black suit was actually an alien symbiote that bonded to his body during an intergalactic conflict called the Secret Wars, but we're pretty sure it was really put there because everyone was tired of drawing all those webs on his classic costume. Mercifully, none of this lasted, and he returned to his old identity and costume for reasons that ultimately, don't really matter.
After his secret identity was revealed in the 90s, Daredevil faked his own death, had a breakdown, became a street hustler, and returned in a mecha-suit with razor shoulderpads. He also eventually started killing people, forcing Wayne to take back the Batman name -- and the costume we know and love. After Bruce Wayne had his back broken by the villain Bane during the 90s, another vigilante took over the mantle of Batman -- while wearing brightly-colored battle armor and excessive yellow pouches. He renamed himself Penance, as now dresses in a metal gimp suit with 612 internal spikes that stab him every time he moves. By far one of the most absurd costume changes in comics history, Speedball was a happy-go-lucky teen hero who made colorful energy bubbles, until one of his teammates accidentally blew up 612 civilians. The evolution of Iron Man from his bulky original suit to the current look happened over the course of several redesigns, including a gold version of the original, the "Silver Centurion" armor of the '80s, and Football Pants. The most dramatic and ridiculous costume changes of the superheroes we love. If you already have an ComicsAlliance log-in, enter it and your password. I'd remembered his run on the Ultimates incorrectly and blended the last two arcs together in my head.
Minor addition to my last comment. I thought that Old Man Logan was fun, up until the giant size resolution issue that was one long poorly paced catalogue of Wolverine murdering people with minimal dialogue. Other recent stuff I've been unhappy with: Civil War started with an interesting premised but quickly was derailed into just a big fight scene reliant on too many characters having sudden changes to justify their actions. The fight went on far, far too long, the villains were underdeveloped, the resolution was rushed, and the individual characters were given less space to grow than they had in the earlier parts of the series. I also thought the build up to that resolution was handled well. I liked how the climax revolved around characters outsmarting one another, because if you want me to believe that you're able to take down Superman, a physical fight isn't going to do it. Because that last option allows me to throw around all sorts of artificially exaggerated bile and present the review in a dumbed down "these guys versus those guys" narrative, let Bat-Off commence.