Some of DC Comics' most popular characters, whether heroic and villainous, suffer from lazy costume designs.

It takes a lot of confidence to pull off the dramatic costumes that so many of DC Comics' iconic characters wear. A costumed character must be sure of their skills, powers and intellect to walk around in a cape and cowl, a blue bodysuit with an alien crest, or a tiara with a golden, glowing lasso strapped to their hip.

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Still, even heroes who have amazing abilities do not always don striking costumes. Some of DC's most interesting characters—both villainous and heroic—have downright lazy costumes. A character's appearance can make them inherently recognizable, but there's no rule against folks with distinctive physicalities wearing equally distinctive costumes.

Red Tornado's physical appearance is distinctive enough that he can be easily recognized by fellow Justice Leaguers without even wearing a costume. However, his cape, which is the only part of his costume, is pretty unremarkable. The "suit" he wears is actually just his robotic body.

Tornado puts more thought into his civilian look than his superhero one. Intent on blending in with the public, he adopts the identity of "John Smith" and the associated wardrobe. Red Tornado could always apply an inverse thought process to his heroic costume in order to update it.

Dinah Lance is one of the oldest superheroes still in print, yet her costume hasn't changed much over her seven-decades-and-counting publication history. With so many other heroes receiving drastic costume changes over the years, she definitely deserves an upgrade.

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Black Canary's costume does not reflect either her skills as a talented hand-to-hand combatant or a metahuman with an ultrasonic scream. Only her color scheme matches her title as a hero. But a leather jacket, gloves and fishnets – no matter how recognizable when combined – do not make for an awesome superhero costume. At the very least, Canary deserves her own symbol.

Superboy's "civilian clothes" and superhero outfit are one and the same. Which is to say, his hero costume is very basic and can be easily recreated by any person on the street.

Wearing the crest of the House of El in the name of truth, justice, and a better tomorrow is an honor, and Conner Kent should treat it as such. Some incarnations see Superboy in a unitard resembling the Big Blue Boy Scout's, over which he throws a leather jacket. Though he has no cape, this costume is still miles ahead of his jeans-and-tee design, which is suitable for day-to-day errands, but not world-saving missions with the Teen Titans.

Beatriz da Costa is easily picked out of a crowd, since her skin is green, and she has pyrokinetic powers including flight. Despite her unusual appearance, Fire's overall design is underwhelming compared to many of her fellow Justice Leaguers.

Though it varies by incarnation, Fire's outfit is typically some variation of leggings, a crop top and a jacket, though she also opts for a leotard or a long-sleeved top in some continuities. Understandably, her clothes need to be flame-retardant to survive her powers, but plenty of other heroes like Firestorm and Starfire illustrate that it's possible to have amazing fire-resistant costumes.

Killer Frost, Captain Cold, and Mr. Freeze all prove that ice-based powers deserve a chilling costume to match. Frost sports some stylish blue costumes while Freeze wears an imposing suit of armor. Icicle did not get the memo. While transforming his body into ice makes him more distinguishable, Joar Mahkent and his son Cameron's costumes are not up to snuff.

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Not only is it boring, Icicle's costume does not serve the villain. If his many gruesome ends demonstrate anything, it is that – in the event of high impact – he needs a suit that will prevent him from shattering... like an icicle.

Crush's outfit is fun, but it is very similar to her everyday civilian clothes. On missions, Crush looks like a teen with a quirky, grunge-inspired fashion sense, not a superhero or even an antihero. Her overall design belongs somewhere in the 90s, when creators tried to shake their characters' designs up and being a "punk hero" was more popular.

While she is half-Czarnian and her vulnerabilities are limited, Crush is tough. Her costume, despite its lack of armor, could protect her from the short list of things that pose a threat. Regardless, she definitely deserves a more comprehensive costume after joining the ranks of the Teen Titans.

King Snake does not worry himself with trivial matters such as shirts. After all, the snake tattoo on his abdomen is the only way he visibly illustrates his namesake. This yields a rather lazy costume for the supervillain.

Though Edmund Dorrance is a highly skilled martial artist, one has to wonder about the practicality of his costume choice. His primary foes are Batman and Robin, but any involvement from other Justice Leaguers leaves the former knight's torso defenseless against a given metahuman's fantastic abilities. Even compared to Batman's other foes, King Snake's appearance is visually dull and could barely be considered a "costume" at all.

Unlike her fellow Wonder Girls, Cassie Sandsmark does not gravitate towards Amazonian armor. Instead, she usually opts for a T-shirt with the Wonder Woman insignia, bulletproof bracelets, a hoodie, some leggings with the odd skirt thrown over, and sneakers. Her costume is definitely a product of the 90s when jackets and sneakers were all the rage in superhero books.

There's no shame in wanting to be comfortable in battle, but Cassie's costume is lacking in creativity and safety. On the rare occasion she does wear Amazonian armor like her mentor's, it is not only more fitting for the ubiquity of the Wonder Family, it better protects Wonder Girl from dangerous forces.

The Martian Manhunter's adversary, the Human Flame, could lean more heavily into his persona. Instead, his only source of actual fire is the set of nozzles at the front of his costume.

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Michael Miller only wears a full-body fire suit when Libra gives it to him. His own costume design suggests a lazier attempt at fire-based villainy. At the very least, he could stand to shoot fire from other body parts, rather than relying on his breastplate alone, which must be difficult to aim. The impracticality of the costume cheapens his threat level to the Manhunter especially.

Gypsy's costume is as lazy as her codename is offensive. Given Cynthia Reynold's amazing capabilities that allow her to craft illusions and become invisible, there's no reason for her heroic persona to be what it is.

Instead of a suit that augments her abilities, Reynolds' costume is usually a flowing skirt, a blouse top, bangles and a headband. In addition to changing her code name, Reynolds ought to permanently take up the battle armor she wears when she serves on the Justice League Task Force. It's a better look, and relies on less assumptions about the Roma.

NEXT: 10 Superheroes Who Actually Do Wear Underwear On The Outside

Jenna is a writer and a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. She is a DC nerd (and a regular nerd) with a soft spot for sitcoms. She lives in the Boston area with her family and cat.

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