Marvel has officially announced the framing of this year’s Hellfire Gala, confirming earlier promises that it would become a regular event. It is, however, significantly scaled back on a publishing front this year. Instead of a multi-issue crossover event, as we got last year, this year’s Gala is a single one-shot. However, that certainly hasn’t stopped Marvel from having fun with their tie-in covers! The outfit reveals for 2022 have begun, and here at WWAC, we’ve got opinions. Without further ado, here are this year’s mutant attendee reveals so far:
Marvel Girl:
Cori McCreery: Love the backless, love the sweeping translucent skirt. HATE the return of the Marvel Girl mini-skirt and especially the pattern that makes it look like a circuit board. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the height difference in the dancing pic.
Wendy Browne: This is a really cute prom party girl dress, complete with Cinderella entrance. It plays up the innocence and Marvel Girlness of the original outfit… but I’m quite over looks that keep trying to bring her back to girl next door. Jean has Seen Things and has lived and died to tell of them and leads her teams with power and poise. She has grown. I want costumes that allow her that evolution instead of constantly pulling her back. But having now seen the three options Jen Bartel designed, this seems to be the most unique and dramatic.
Kat Overland: Formal shorts! I love formal shorts. They’re shorts, right?
Kayleigh Hearn: The Marvel Girl skirt really said, “I lived, bitch.” Russell Dauterman’s 2021 Hellfire Gala design was so good it rocketed up to the list of the best costumes Jean has ever worn, and it is currently her default look in the X-books. The bar was set incredibly high and Jen Bartel’s design feels a touch too derivative. The headpiece, the open back, the sweeping train – we’ve seen it before, and done better. Nick Dragotta’s dancing variant cover is very cute, however.
Nola Pfau: The thing that makes me most curious on looking at this one is: does the Hellfire Gala have themes? It’s inspired by the Met Gala, which always has a theme note, but if they’ve announced one, I don’t know that I’ve seen it. What strikes me here is how casual this is compared to her outfit from last year—last year was a full demonstration of her ability and status as a mutant, this is…just an update of the standard green dress. It’s extra disappointing now that Jen’s shown off the other two ideas she submitted, both of which are eminently better than this one. I will say that I do love the pattern on the shorts, though.
White Queen:
Cori: PHEW.. *sweats profusely* Is it hot in here? Love the consistent use of the diamond motif on this with so many sharp edges. A+ Emma always understands the assignment.
Nola: I love the way this plays with making an X out of negative space, something she’s famously done before. It’s not as over-the-top as her looks from last year.
Wendy: I love the sleek, professional diva lines of this, but this is a greeting the guests at the beginning of the night, outfit. I expect to see a procession of more and more x-travagant and x-treme outfits as the night progresses. Don’t let me down, Jumbo.
Kayleigh: My favorite look! Gold accents on white look beautiful on Emma, and the x-shaped cutouts on the ribbons of her dress suggest a snowflake pattern that is, of course, extremely appropriate for Emma Frost. Artist Meghan Hetrick shared the back of the costume on Twitter along with some design notes. I click my little rat claws together in glee every time I see a superhero comic artist thinking about the wearability of the costumes (i.e., Emma’s wearing a sewn-in thong under all this) and how cosplayable they are.
Kat: Absolutely no notes.
Wolverine:
Cori: This is so much better than last year’s. I love how hacked away everything is, and how punky she looks.
Nola: God, this is just fun. One thing I appreciate is the use of a black bodysuit underneath everything. With the cutout patterns, it’s reminiscent of both Logan’s tiger-stripe suit and Daken’s tattoos. Love that she’s stating not just who she is, but who her family is.
Wendy: This reminds me of that time Jubilee got into everyone’s closet, except here, Laura is making every piece fit her and who she is.
Kayleigh: I love the black bodysuit’s inversion of the famous Wolverine stripes, and the use of makeup as a “mask.” I’m less sure of the boots and studded belts. They’re giving me “Hot Topic Goth” instead of Met Gala. Or maybe Batgirl of Burnside has ruined me on big yellow Doc Martens forever.
Forge:
Nola: I have mixed feelings here. I really, really love the highlighting of Krakoan tech as a frame for his prosthesis, but I do wish this particular implementation of it weren’t so…Geiger-esque. I love the lines of the coat, I love the fancy little bowtie, but surely we can do something with Forge’s look that isn’t the X-Men training suit?
Wendy: I like the melding of nature and science, tied together with culturally-inspired embellishments that speak to that melding through Indigenous ways of knowing. But the training uniform colors can go.
Kat: A lot of this is conceptually working for me, the fringe, the biotech, but it’s just kind of ugly in practice. Not a lot of harmony in the design and the colors are blah.
Kayleigh: Sincerely, god bless anyone trying to design a new look for Forge, the guy known for wearing the generic X-Men training suit (and one memorable pair of short-shorts) for over 30 years. The asymmetrical cut of the coat is appealing, and the bow tied into the shape of an X is a cute touch. The incorporation of Krakoan tech is what makes Forge stand out from all of the other designs, and it’s a smart one – I’m surprised more costumes haven’t used Krakoa’s flora as a motif.
Cyclops:
Wendy: Scott, the really fancy Jedi.
Kat: Justin Park mentioned it could be a gift from Wolverine and I agree — he had it commissioned just for Scott (and Jean).
Wendy: I don’t know how I feel about the fact that the costume pulls directly from actual designs from Olivier Rousteing’s 2016 fall/winter collection. As a homage to the designer’s work, it’s fantastic, but I’d like to believe that Hellfire Gala outfits, like the Met Gala, should be completely unique designs found nowhere else. If we go with the headcanon above, though, I accept, with the addition that Emma has been taking Logan along on her fashion excursions.
Plus I love that it’s more comfortably stylish. Last year’s look felt too uptight and Leader of the X-Men-y. Just because that’s who he is and what he does, doesn’t mean that he always has to look like he’s always on duty. Even if he is always on duty.
Kayleigh: With Scott’s costume, there is a larger conversation to unpack about cultural inspirations in fashion and who gets to reference who. When these Hellfire Gala covers hit the internet, I saw a lot of conversation about Jedi robes and the 2016 Balmain collection – both inspired by East Asian clothing – and much less talk acknowledging costume designer In-Hyuk Lee, a Korean artist.
That said, this outfit (especially its color scheme) feels more like “Scott” to me than 2021’s look, and this cover art really lets us appreciate the different materials and patterns woven into the design. The flecks of gold in this costume turning out to be x-shaped accents upon closer inspection is another nice touch – but as is becoming apparent, any X-logo in a Hellfire Gala design is getting applause from me.
Nola: Last year’s look for Cyclops was…divisive. I liked it a lot because it suited him (in that it was stiff and dorky and he is a huge dork), but I get why there were detractors. This one is confusing to me though, because it just doesn’t feel like it suits him.
Also, Lee’s use of those Rousteing designs aren’t sitting right with me here, because in comparison with the photos, it looks like he lifted a little too much. That becomes especially noticeable in the foreshortening of his right hand up by his visor, the only positioning that doesn’t already exist in the photo. Everything is beautifully and crisply rendered…and then there’s that hand.
Rogue:
Nola: I’d like to see this one from the front. That said it has some very similar design notes to her look from last year, but it seems less sassy. It’s a beautifully rendered piece as a portrait, but it’s telling us nothing regarding the outfit itself.
Wendy: Not loving the white feather embellishments. I might have appreciated them more in black. But I do love the lace, which calls back to Jim Lee’s ’90s casual looks for her.
Kat: Agreed, Nola, I’m not exactly sure what this look is.
Kayleigh: The feathers on this dress remind me of Mystique’s 2021 Hellfire Gala look. I don’t know if that was an intentional reference or character choice on Rogue’s part, but it’s an interesting visual connection given their complicated mother/daughter relationship. I like Mahmud Asrar’s styling for Rogue on this cover, with her white streak complementing the feathers and those big door knocker X earrings. Everyone on the X-Men should have a pair!
Synch:
Nola: I love that Synch is getting a highlight, but this is a field outfit. Nothing about this says “gala.”
Wendy: Boring. Dauterman seems to be relying too much on the powers as a fashionable accessory motif — which is great — but the outfit the abilities are enhancing needs to have a stronger statement on their own.
Kat: Agreed — love this as a field outfit with some fashion, but the Hellfire Gala is about Fashion with a little bit of action.
Kayleigh: I’m excited to see a new design that harkens back to the red and gold Generation X costumes of my bygone youth. It’s definitely not gala couture, but it’s a distinctive, memorable look for an ongoing X-book, so this better be a sign that Synch isn’t leaving X-Men after the election, or any time soon. I should also add that even though I wasn’t blown away by all the costumes here, I absolutely love the Hellfire Gala and am incredibly excited that Marvel is making it an annual event.
Want to see more coverage? You can see the non-mutant looks revealed over here!
