It’s one thing for fans to call out superhero costumes for being too tight, but it’s another when DC characters themselves come out and say it.
Warning: Spoilers for Teen Titans Academy #5 and Harley Quinn #5 ahead!
It’s no secret that comic fans and critics alike have spent decades poking fun at the fact that most of their favorite heroes are just glorified men (and women) in tights, but now DC itself is jumping in on the joke in the most recent issues of Teen Titans Academy and Harley Quinn. Between Harley’s narration and the musings of Diego, aka Chupacabra, it’s become obvious that even in the DC universe, there is such a thing as too tight tights.
Costumes tend to be a huge conversation among fans of superheroes in comics and movies alike. It’s rare that a new costume gets rolled out without at least some spirited and opinionated commentary to follow it. Arguably some of the most common call-outs surround the fit of said outfits. DC specifically has been known to fall victim to excessive tightness in their character designs. From a Batwoman comic outfit that made it look like her latex ensemble was vacuum-sealed onto her body through her belly button; to a DCEU Batman costume which felt the need to accentuate every ab and nipple; the comic mogul oftentimes gets carried away in terms of their utilization of tights and tightness… and they’re not even denying it anymore.
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Related: Teen Titans Academy is Already One of DC’s Saddest Stories
Both of the creative teams behind Teen Titans Academy #5 and Harley Quinn #5 (Tim Sheriden, Steve Lieber, and Dave Stewart; and Stephanie Phillips, Riley Rossmo, and Ivan Plascencia) coincidentally found the fifth issues of their respective series to be the perfect settings to poke a little fun at the classic superheroes in tights trope. In Teen Titans Academy #5 fans got to see a flashback to the beginnings of the Bat Pack, a group of three young orphans turned heroes in training. It’s in this flashback that Diego, pre-his transformation into Chupacabra, escapes the orphanage in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Batman in action. Unfortunately for him, he gets stopped by Nightwing instead. It was probably the sting of getting caught that caused him to sassily brush off Nightwing’s demeanor as their encounter by claiming that he “had to get home and wash his way-too-tights.” That and the fact that kids tend to call it as they see it.
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Diego wasn’t the only one calling out the skintight latex tendencies of Gotham’s protectors. Harley Quinn herself made note of Gotham’s resident vigilante’s “way-too-tight-in-the-crotch bat costume.” The rather blunt callout is accompanied by her questioning why Hugo Strange has his “panties all in a bunch” over Batman to begin with. But considering it’s coming from someone who has historically been no stranger to the world of tight-fitting getups (Harley Quinn’s first costume was literally a full-body, hip-hugging jester suit), it’s both slightly meta and a bit hypocritical. Nonetheless, her commentary is undeniably entertaining.
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After so many decades of tights, latex, and costumes that resemble wearing underwear on top of pants, it’s entertaining to see DC poking fun at what fans have been joking about for years… especially when it’s coming from their own characters. Plus, the characters whose inner monologues are responsible for the admission make it even funnier considering they’re a semi-dramatic, sassy teen and a semi-insane ex-villain. Even so, there’s no doubting that there are still many years of tights yet to come, some more outlandish than others, and many more inventive ways for creators to imagine them. Hopefully, in the meantime, Batman and Nightwing won’t take too much offense to what Harley Quinn and the Teen Titans Academy students have to say about it.
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About The Author Katie Michel (117 Articles Published)
Katie Michel is a gaming, D&D playing, Star Trek obsessing, book reading, filmmaking, Shakespeare loving, all around nerd based in Los Angeles, California. She found herself at Screen Rant through her love of writing and all things entertainment. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara’s Film and English programs, she aspires to write articles readers will be interested in on the same level she is regarding conversations about her favorite obscure foreign films.
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