History MagicPants / ComicBooks

* In ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'', the American superhuman Colossus is shot with a tank shell to test his super-durability. The explosion blasts all of his clothes off – except, of course, his pants. Later, the Nazi "human battleship" Siegmund is attacked by dozens of Russian superhumans. The Russians' energy beams rip Siegmund's clothes to shreds and even sever one of his arms, but his pants and boots remain intact.

*** In ''Film/TheAvengersAgeOfUltron'', Banner is explicitly shown to wear specially designed pants that can stretch to fit his Hulk physique.

** The epilogue to the "ComicBook/SpiderIsland" storyline, "The Naked City', involves...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a whole lot of people finding themselves naked]] after briefly becoming spider-monsters. The only ones not freaked out are the superheroes, who, as {{Hawkeye}} notes, spend all their time in skintight spandex anyway. Instead of panicking, they start pointing out things like Misty Knight still having her headband and bionic arm and BlackPanther losing his beard but keeping his hair the same length. Hawkeye eventually hand-waves the whole thing. "''[[http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=10251&pg=1 We live in a world where Hulk grows ten times his size and his pants stay on. Roll with it.]]''"

** One issue of "TheUltimates", an AlternateContinuity version of Comicbook/TheAvengers, plays on this, claiming that the Hulk, who was out of control, "murdered a fat guy and stole his pants" off screen after he transformed. Much of the time, he's just naked with SceneryCensor.

*** In another comic set in the Ultimate universe (which usually averts this trope), Tony Stark gives Bruce Banner an unstable molecule suit in preparation for some experiments on the Hulk. When Bruce hulks out, the top half rips off entirely while the pants only tatter a bit, acting just like Bruce's normal clothes in the main universe.

** The epilogue to the "ComicBook/SpiderIsland" storyline, "The Naked City', involves...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a whole lot of people finding themselves naked]] after briefly becoming spider-monsters. The only ones not freaked out are the superheroes, who, as Hawkeye notes, spend all their time in skintight spandex anyway. Instead of panicking, they start pointing out things like Misty Knight still having her headband and T'Challa losing his beard but keeping his hair the same length. Hawkeye eventually hand-waves the whole thing. "''[[http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=10251&pg=1 We live in a world where Hulk grows ten times his size and his pants stay on. Roll with it.]]''"

** Dust's transformation may or may not leave her naked, depending on plot.

** This was done to an even more ridiculous degree in the 1980s Hulk cartoon, where Banner's clothes spontaneously regenerated when he transformed back. (A side effect of LimitedWardrobe, probably)

*** During the John Byrne run of SheHulk, it was established that Jen's underwear never shreds during her transformations and fights because they were tagged approved by the comic book code. So no wardrobe malfunctions allowed here!

* All of the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' usually wear a uniform made of "unstable molecules", so Johnny Storm doesn't burn his own clothes when using his powers. However, if he's wearing normal clothing, he ''will'' burn it away, shirt, pants and all. In the [[Film/FantasticFour second movie]], he complains about being asked to leave from Sue and Reed's rooftop wedding to chase the Silver Surfer, because "[he] just bought this tux!" Later, when their powers are swapped, Sue accidentally burns off her own clothing.
** [[MsFanservice Sue]] hangs a lampshade on this -- based on her being embarrassed at stripping to hide her powers in the first movie (of course, [[NakedPeopleAreFunny they turned off at the exact wrong moment]]) and her burning her clothing off at the second (again, turning back to normal at the exact wrong moment), she mutters "why does this always happen to ''me''" as she turns invisible to hide herself from the crowd.
** In the cartoon version of the Fantastic Four (where many outfits that the characters had worked with their powers) Sue comments about the pains for shopping for people "That can burst into flames" and "need to be able to stretch 300 feet in all directions". Thankfully in this series her power to turn invisible was applied to whatever she wanted it to.
** And in comics, the formula's been stolen by at least one villain too, so knock-off designs are available to bad guys.
** Unstable molecules are common in the Marvel Universe. Reed Richards apparently licenses the formula to the Avengers and the X-Men, among others.
* Done pretty well in the third BlueBeetle's (Jaime Reyes) run; the magical/alien scarab implanted inside his body generates his armour at will; it also apparently uses whatever spare molecules are lying around to make his clothes when he needs to. For the first couple of issues, he'd turn up naked after the scarab dissolved the armour, and had to resort to stealing clothes from charity bins or that sort of thing. When asked what happened to his clothing when he didn't need it, he noted that it "just sort of dissolved". Most characters experience a bit of {{squick}} when they see the transformation.

* One StoryArc of ''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'' features a hero in training whose pants are not magic. His clothes get fried on multiple occasions, forcing him to trade up to a sturdier black leather version. (Not much later, he winds up suffering MoreThanMindControl. Coincidence? [[EvilCostumeSwitch Not likely]].)
** The epilogue to the "ComicBook/SpiderIsland" storyline, "The Naked City', involves...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a whole lot of people finding themselves naked]] after briefly becoming spider-monsters. The only ones not freaked out are the superheroes, who, as Hawkeye notes, spend all their time in skintight spandex anyway. Instead of panicking, they start pointing out things like Misty Knight still having her headband and T'Challa losing his beard but keeping his hair the same length. Hawkeye eventually hand-waves the whole thing. "''[[http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=10251&pg=1 We live in a world where Hulk grows ten times his size and his pants stay on. Roll with it.]]''"
** While the Lizard's iconic design usually includes a lab coat, it doesn't always -- but he always at least gets to keep his pants.
* Incidentally, another green superhero qualifies for this trope. Beast Boy of DC Comics can change into various animals, inexplicably altering his mass at will. He regularly transforms into gigantic dinosaurs, large savannah animals, small furry animals, and tiny insects. But even more amazing is that his clothes, also incidentally purple, magically disappear when he transforms into an animal, and magically reappear when he becomes human. His powers are apparently scientific in origin.
* Kimo in recent issues of ''ElfQuest'' learns how to shapeshift into a wolf. When he's in wolf form he wears a bandana around his chest, but when he changes back to elf form it apparently slips down his torso to conveniently become a sarong.
* Very, very averted in ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}''. Of course, [[AuthorAppeal that]] ''[[AuthorAppeal is]]'' [[AuthorAppeal the whole point]].
* Justified through an aversion in ''CaptainAtom''. When Nathaniel Adam transforms into Captain Atom, his clothing disappears, but usually reappears when he transforms back, except for the one time, in issue #8, that he transformed back into Nathaniel Adam involuntarily while unconscious. Then he was naked. The implication is that, without realizing it, Nate was using his matter-creation and manipulation abilities to recreate the clothes he was wearing when he transformed. Some fans have [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation even inferred]] that Nate was recreating his whole body in this manner.
** Although there is a scene from ''JusticeLeagueEurope'' showing Captain Atom transforming to his superpowered form, and it appears that the clothes were just pushed underneath the silver layer.
* The ComicBook/{{Witchblade}} generally turns its wielder into a battle form covered with sort of Stripperiffic "[[BreastPlate armor]]", but while it ''can'' transform clothes, the exact fate of said clothes and the amount of generated {{Fanservice}} mostly depends on the specific wielder.
* When ComicBook/IronMan's identity is first revealed to the Avengers, the villain literally melts his armour off leaving him in nothing but a red thong. This could also be female {{fanservice}}.
** It happens again during the ComicBook/MarvelAdventures run. But this time he gets some boxers.
--> "Your only mistake was melting Iron Man's pants!"
* A very odd version of this trope (probably caused by an artist error) happens in the werewolf comicbook ''In the Blood''. At one point in the first issue we see the main character strip down completely naked before he transforms into a werewolf, but a few pages later while he is still transformed he is clearly wearing tattered pants.
* In earlier versions ComicBook/TheCreeper has a device inside him that can make his costume reappear and disappear.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Extinctioners}}'' comic, they literally ''are'' magic pants: team co-leader Phenix uses a spell to create "memory pelts" that swap places with whatever they're wearing when they say their code names.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'', the American superhuman Colossus is shot with a tank shell to test his super-durability. The explosion blasts all of his clothes off – except, of course, his pants. Later, the Nazi "human battleship" Siegmund is attacked by dozens of Russian superhumans. The Russians' energy beams rip Siegmund's clothes to shreds and even sever one of his arms, but his pants and boots remain intact.
* Justified with DCComics supervillainess Giganta; it's explicitly part of her power that any clothing she's wearing grows with her.
* MartianManhunter's short-lived series claimed that Martian clothing is actually a bioengineered organism that shapeshifts according to its wearer's telepathic commands.
* Averted with TheSavageDragon multiple times. He's a big green guy that can waltz through massive explosions without harm... the same cannot be said for his clothes. They get burnt off when this happens, [[FullFrontalAssault leaving a naked Dragon to beat up the bad guys]].
** Question: Do police officers pay for their uniforms, or are they provided by the precinct/city government/etc.? Considering how many uniforms Dragon went through in his initial career as a Chicago cop, plus the likelihood that they were custom-made for his muscular frame, his uniforms were a significant drain on either the city's budget or his salary.
** Oddly enough, this usually happened when he wore street clothes. WordOfGod states that he would buy his clothes (no mention of his uniforms) from Big and Tall shops. Considering this version of Chicago is a CityOfAdventure, it makes sense that there would be a lot of them around.
*** There was one early issue in which he was changing in the police locker room and ripped his shirt simply by putting it on. He lamented that it was his last uniform that was fully intact. Another issue stated that he spends a lot of money buying clothes for this very reason.
* In ''Comicbook/ClanDestine'', the immortal and invulnerable Adam Destine suffers extreme ClothingDamage every time he gets into a fight... but somehow, his pants always survive, albeit tattered. Under the circumstances, we must presume that [[BenevolentGenie A Genie]] [[AWizardDidIt Did It]]. Adam's son Walter Destine is not so lucky; his [[HulkingOut transformations]] destroy all his clothes except his underwear.
* The Super Goobers {{Goofy}} eats to become Super Goof somehow cause his clothes to magically turn into long underwear. When the Goobers wear off, the clothes magically revert.
* Probably the earliest comic book example is Man O'Metal. When heat touched his body he would turn into metal and be surrounded by flames that could melt metal. His shirts always disappeared, but his pants (and shoes) stayed intact.
* At least for awhile, if Marvel was going to avert this trope the most common victim would be LukeCage. For some reason, clothing damage became a reoccurring issue for him.
* This would happen to Tim Kelly of ''Kelly's Eye''. In one example, Tim falls from space like a meteor. His space suit is burned away, but his shorts survive to preserve his modesty. See it [[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/k/kellyseye_spacespecial2.jpg here]].
* AtomicRobo loses his shirt in nearly every action scene, yet his pants have survived train crashes, an exploding steam-powered pyramid tank [[ItMakesSenseInContext (Don't ask)]], and being blasted from orbit by a militarized satellite.

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** Oddly enough, this usually happened when he wore street clothes. WordOfGod states that he would buy his clothes (no mention of his uniforms) from Big and Tall shops. Considering this version of Chicago is a CityOfAdventure, it makes sense that there would be a lot fo them around.

* The would happen to Tim Kelly of ''Kelly's Eye''. In one example, Tim falls from space like a meteor. His space suit is burned away, but his shorts survive to preserve his modesty. See it [[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/k/kellyseye_spacespecial2.jpg here]].

** It happens again during the MarvelAdventures run. But this time he gets some boxers.

*** During the John Byrne run of SheHulk, it was established that Jen's underwear never shreds during her transformations and fights because they were tagged approved by the comic book code.
So no wardrobe malfunctions allowed here!

** In "Film/TheIncredibleHulk" film, Bruce Banner is shown buying extremely stretchy pants several sizes too big. Presumably he has quite a collection of belts.

* The Avengers' Wasp can alter her size, growing and shrinking at will. It isn't clear if she changes outfits so often because of the wear and tear on her clothing, or being a rich and fashion-conscious gal she just likes to mix it up now and again. However, an early panel does show her naked, , with nothing but a cheap cigar band hiding her virtue, furiously scolding someone (Hank Pym, presumably).

* In ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'', the American superhuman Colossus is shot with a tank shell to test his super-durability. The explosion blasts all of his clothes off – but naturally leaves his pants intact. Later, the Nazi "human battleship" Siegmund is attacked by dozens of Russian superhumans. The Russians' energy beams rip Siegmund's clothes to shreds and even sever one of his arms, but his pants and boots remain intact.

* In earlier versions TheCreeper has a device inside him that can make his costume reappear and disappear.

** Parodied in a billboard in Creator.AlanMoore's ''TopTen''. "Super Stretchy Gamma Pants. You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Naked."

*** Jessica Alba. Nuff said.

** This even led {{Deadpool}} to believe there was some sort of power in the Hulk's pants, calling out "HULK PANTS, ACTIVATE!" while being held aloft by the Rhino. But, then again, Deadpool is a CloudCuckoolander.

** Also used in ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' comics: magic pants and a magic top, although this was probably to [[ComicsCode escape the censors]].

*** During PeterDavid's ''Hulk'' run, there was a gag where Banner found a line of purple pants similar to those worn by the Hulk. The clerk at the store mentioned that the pants were very popular with the obese due to their stretchy fabric.