Where do they get those wonderful costumes? In Marvel Comics, there are many different ways someone can get their signature look once they decide to become a superhero or a supervillain. Some make their costume, some inherit or conjure up something or sometimes they find their next look when their original outfit gets damaged beyond repair. With all the constant battles, some can simply afford the repairs or learn how to use a sewing needle while others take it to a professional. In Amazing Spider-Man #502, we learn that that professional’s name is Leo Zelinsky, Marvel’s secret tailor for the forces of good and evil.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
In the story by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr., Spider-Man‘s attempt to end his late-night patrol early is denied by Leo who informs him of an upcoming assassination plot against the District Attorney which he hopes the wall-crawler will prevent. The snarky but informative tailor introduces himself as a simple businessman who’s been around long enough to watch the neighborhood rise and fall. One day, his business took a turn for the extraordinary when he helped the Thing with a hilarious wardrobe malfunction as a result of a fight. His good work impressed Ben Grimm and word of mouth began to see Leo working alongside a variety of classic and modern Marvel heroes, which he considered a great honor.
Another day he accepted a job from Doctor Doom and began to see a steady influx of Marvel villains looking for repairs and fashion advice as well. Leo was able to find a balance between his two conflicting clientele by arranging his schedule so that he sees heroes on some days and villains on another, all while making sure to create a simple yet professional atmosphere of total confidentiality. Choosing to see this as simply business instead of choosing sides, he chose to get involved when he overheard one of his clients, a hooded assassin called Killshot, talking about details regarding his upcoming murder over the phone. He insists that Spider-Man interfere but in a way that keeps his involvement secret, so word of mouth doesn’t ruin his business or reputation.
Marvel continues its tradition of having ordinary people work alongside its superheroes and his creators do so much to not only make Leo likable but extremely human. In one issue, they establish a professional who’s been working behind the scene for years with a reputation for making comments about everything and anything. He can’t help making comments or heavily criticizing the pros and cons of Peter’s Spider-Man outfit because that’s who he is, he’s a tailor and he’s going to call out shoddy craftsmanship. Leo’s primary responsibility, besides his livelihood, is his grandson Mike whom he looks after since his son, a police officer, died in the line of duty. It is through conversations with Mike that we learn not only that Leo is a Holocaust survivor but that the dilemma isn’t dealing with somebody who has already done something horrible but someone who has yet to do something horrible, leaving room for intervention. It’s that desire to do right by his grandson that has Leo go out looking for a hero and finding one, somebody who is even from the neighborhood.
Peter is able to stop Killshot from completing his mission but the assassin escapes during the following scuffle and later confronts Zelinsky, accusing him of overhearing his conversations and ratting him out. When Killshot threatens his grandson, Leo gets shot trying to protect Mike and he may have lost his life if not for Spider-Man’s timely intervention again. With the villain apprehended, Spidey manages to save both Leo’s life and business which the old tailor thanks him with a free redesign of his costume that’ll be a nice reference to those familiar with JMS’ Amazing Spider-Man run. Although it’s been a while since we last saw him, we can only wonder if any of those new costumes or redesigns of Marvel characters came from Leo Zelinsky‘s shop.
About The Author