A new piece of fanart merges Dragon Ball’s Goku and DC Comics’ Superman, but unfortunately, it depicts Goku wearing Superman’s worst costume. There are many similarities between Goku and Superman, both being from another planet who travel to Earth as an infant while their homeworld faces utter annihilation. This piece of fanart shows Goku returning home from a fight against a villain who rocked him to his core and pushed the limits of what he believed was possible inside of himself, just like Superman when he originally wore the featured, infamous costume.
During Goku’s battle with Frieza in Dragon Ball Z “Frieza Saga” by Akira Toriyama, Goku unlocks the power of Super Saiyan for the first time. This fight was redefining for Goku as he unlocked a deeper power within himself while fighting a villain who was more powerful than anything he had previously faced. Goku’s fight with Frieza is similar to Superman’s fight against the unstoppable monster, Doomsday. Doomsday was able to do the impossible when fighting Superman, he was able to kill the Kryptonian hero. However, Superman didn’t stay dead as he realized that he was so powerful he could survive on the lowest of heart rates while his body healed itself. Just as Goku unlocked the power of Super Saiyan, Superman found out he was much stronger than he realized and became an even stronger hero once he was fully recovered.
In a Tweet by Twitter user DocileBread, the artist shows off a piece of fanart featuring Goku returning home from his fight with Frieza on the planet Namek while wearing Superman’s worst costume. The suit Goku is sporting is the black Superman suit, the one he was wearing when he supposedly returned from the dead after fighting Doomsday. Every other aspect of the picture is seemingly set within the world of Dragon Ball, with Goku climbing out of pod-like spacecraft regularly shown throughout the manga series with his facial features and hairstyle the same as it always is. Goku wearing this particular costume of Superman’s is seemingly due to the similarities between their two storylines at this point in both of their lives. Goku just finished fighting a character-defining villain with Frieza just like Superman did with Doomsday, so Goku wearing this costume upon his return is appropriate.
The reason Superman’s black suit is regarded as his worst costume is that it betrays the hopeful aesthetic Superman is famous for. His regular red and blue outfit is bright and colorful, showing the world that he is a beacon of light and hope even when he faces the darkest of evils. Superman wearing black is an edgy look that makes the godlike hero seem more intimidating which only inspires fear and mistrust given his vast amounts of power with practically no oversight.
Even though he is wearing Superman’s worst costume, Goku looks undeniably awesome in the suit and pulls it off like Superman never could. Goku isn’t strictly speaking a hero, not like Superman is anyway, but a fighter who constantly craves the next seemingly unwinnable challenge. Goku wearing a suit that is a bit more intimidating than his normal look can only increase his chances of defeating his foes who match his power, unlike Superman who requires the public’s trust in order to be an effective superhero. Dragon Ball’s Goku wears Superman’s worst costume in new fanart, and it looks much better on him.
