fastestfanalive:

So we finally get to see the full view of Jay’s uniform from Earth 2. I have to say I’m liking the slight modifications made to the interior art when it comes to the helmet and honestly the whole look has grown on me. Especially when looking at the costume straight ahead or from the right view. Like that panel of him transforming; the suit looks really slick there. 

The helmet I think was the biggest source of contention among fandom and yeah, when we originally saw the helmet on the cover of Earth 2 #2 Jay looked like he lost a bet with the rest of the Justice Society members. The helmet looked like something Hank Pym would rock, not Jay Garrick. The chin strap isn’t helping in this case and it doesn’t really look that much better with the modified interior look, but it looks a lot better from some angles than others if that makes any sense. Still I can’t say I hate the helmet. Yeah I prefer the classic but if I have to have something different, this is not terrible. I honestly can’t wait to see the art from Crisis on Two Worlds 2012/2013 (you just know it is inevitable).

As far as the rest of the suit goes I’m not a huge fan of the zippers on the front of the boots. They come across to me as kind of pointless design wise, especially when it appears that in this version Jay can make his uniform appear and disappear at will! The actual soles of the shoe look pretty cool though and make sense as far as what a runner would wear I guess. In fact this whole suit looks like it was designed to make Jay look more like a straight up superhero and in that respect it works. It keeps most of the design beats and elements from the original suit and gives it a more contemporary vibe, chin strap aside. 

The asymmetric symbol and line going down the right leg look downright silly on the initial Earth 2 cover but again in the interior art it comes across great: kind of like Dark Flash’s symbol in the alternate direction. Asymmetric costume designs can look terribly off if not done correctly but Nicola Scott pulls it off without a hitch.  

The gauntlets remind me of Dark Flash in a good way and I kind of dig the two toned look of them (gold on the inside, silver on the outside). Although it was kind of hard to tell what color they were supposed to be in a few panels throughout the book; not sure if this is because of the colorist or what. The ribbing on the sides of his torso seem to have been toned down heavy duty. Good. I think the less of an Ultimate vibe these books have the better. Ribbing on super hero costumes to me screams “Ultimate Marvel Universe” for whatever reason.

All in all you can count me as a fan of the new look. Yeah it isn’t the classic look and nothing will ever replace that but if I were a newer reader I think I would favor the new look over the old look but since I grew up with the older version of Jay (not to mention having tons of action figures and collectibles based on him) I prefer that look at the end of the day. I am more willing to give this character a chance than I am Barry because well I’ve always liked Jay more than Barry. That really is all it boils down to.

Thanks for reading,

-Devin ‘Flash’ Johnson