Costume Spotlight: Mr. Freeze

Oh, Mr. Freeze. Where would you be without adaptations? Languishing in Golden Age obscurity, I'd wager. As we learned in the Super Post Potpourri all the way back in December 2011, he was called Mr. Zero until Batman (1966) changed it, and then he got his real name and backstory (and wife) from Batman: The Animated Series (1992). That's pretty much his whole character, except for his costume.

He got his costume from an action figure.

In Detective Comics #566 (July 1986), we see Mr. Freeze with the following design:

This design appeared earlier in the year in Kenner's third wave of the Super Powers Collection:

For comparison, here's what he looked like in his previous full appearance (July 1984):

The suit was being used at least until 1991, when it appeared in Who's Who in the DC Universe #12 (September 1991).

Costume Spotlight: Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf is a lesser known New God who first appeared in New Gods #7 (January 1972). He's a great hunter, one of Darkseid's Elite, and actually Darkseid's uncle. Since he was a hunter, he had a bit of a Robin Hood look when he first appeared:

In the 80s, DC released their first major action figure line (well, after Mego) through Kenner, called Super Powers Collection. After the first series was released in 1984 with the most popular characters, ie. ones that had appeared on Super Friends, the second series launched in 1985 with more obscure characters, including several New Gods, such as Darkseid, Desaad, and Kalibak. Steppenwolf was a mail-away figure, and he had quite a different look (Kenner also redesigned Mantis and the Parademons, among others):

This costume would later appear in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #22 (October 1985). As you can see, they even use a similar positioning of the character as on the action figure card.

In New Gods volume 3, or at least in issue #22 (November 1990), pictured here, Steppenwolf's clothing was a mixture of the two looks: the shape of the green outfit with the coloring of the Super Powers outfit.

However, by Damage #8 (October 1994), he was back to the Super Powers look.

Superman: The Animated Series chose to use his original look, as seen in "Apokalips Now!" (February 1998):

But as late as February 2007 in the comics (Flash: Fastest Man Alive #9), he was wearing a version of the Super Powers appearance.

Unfortunately, this is no longer the case in the New 52.

Character Spotlight: Guillotine

There's not much to say about this one, as she's brand new. I've mentioned in previous posts that Marvel currently has a series called Contest of Champions, which ties into a video game of the same name, even though the series is in continuity and the game is not. Despite that, the company behind the video game has a lot of input into the series.

While the video game mainly uses well-known Marvel characters, the series tends to go for a more international flavor, using such characters as the South Korean White Fox, a British version of the the Punisher named Outlaw, the Greek Ares, and more. To that end, the company created a French character named Guillotine, who is the latest in a long line of vigilantes armed with a bloodthirsty, sentient sword named Le Fleur du Mal.

She appears in Contest of Champions #1 (October 2015).

Despite her very 90s backstory, I like her look and hope she appears outside of Contest of Champions in the future.