Batman redesign

Don't remember when I did this, but I believe it was one of those spur-of-the-moment activities over at Penciljack.com wherein we redesigned iconic costumes. Click Download to check it out just a bit larger.

The Batman is tricky, cause his design is already pretty close to iconically perfect. You can't lose the ears, you can't lose the cape. I think I ended up going a little too Masakazu Katsura (Zetman) with it, but what the hell.

I think one of the things I miss lately when I see Batman in cartoons or comics is the gadgets. I remember when the utility belt meant something, when villains were always taking it away, because otherwise he'd use that shit to bust out in about two panels flat.

So first thing off, I wanted to bring back an emphasis to the belt. I want to make the various bits on the belt unique, make 'em look like they serve purposes, no more uniform boxes or pill shapes. Batman, like Bond, always has the right tool for the job.

The cape I can't change much without changing up his iconic silhouette, which is too inherent in the Batman motif to mess with, but I shortened it up a touch and attached it to his elbows to keep it flaring so that we always emphasize the batwing shape.

The cowl I changed up a good bit, but then I realized I'm basically just riffing on Zetman, which is in itself a riff on the Batman, so we're going around in a circle. Nonetheless, I'd say the whole ears and such are actually part of a helmet that encases an elaborate sensor and processing network, which runs the wired parts of his suit while also keeping his head warm.

The boots are just reinforced and armored. The gloves I ditched the saw-toothed edges from, but I kept a flare and a point to help reinforce the old shape and play edges off the attached cape.

He gets to keep the shorts on the outside of the tights 'cause he wears a mighty Bat-Cup. You would too.

And finally the logo, which again you can't mess with too much when redesigning the costume, or you lose the iconography. SO I just spread it out a bit and let it run up the shoulders and down the abdomen. It's probably been done before.

So that's my initial shot at a Batman redesign. It changes a little, but not a lot, and I think that's important. The Batman's costume is already very simple, and as a result it's hard to step too far away without losing a sense of identity. It has to be a design of evolution, rather than revolution.

Drawn in CS2 on the Cintiq. Probably took about half an hour to an hour to doodle up and color.