New look for Wonder Woman

[madmarva]

I've read Wonder Woman off and on since the Perez era. Prior to that, I only read her book when it was set in the Golden Age in the mid 1970s and the issues when Huntress was a guest star.

Perez's stuff was great, and I liked Rucka's run. Totally bought the killing of Maxwell Lord. Liked the issue guest starring Lois Lane, can't remember who wrote it.

I don't mind the idea of re-working the costume. Who ever heard of a woman wearing one outfit in the first place. Why not add a skirt to wear over the shorts or let her wear full-length tights at times. The kindom come battle armor was cool. The robes she wore as a diplomat. Use all of that The street-punk Pat Bentar costume Lee came up with is even worse than just having her in lingre. I guess we're lucky he didn't put her in a buzz-cut or a mullet.

But re-working the origin to such a degree is bad, new timeline or not. Excising her from the JLA truly distorts and devalues the character. It screws up Donna Troy and Wonder Girl.

It's truly sad that Wonder girl and Donna Troy are better characters than Wonder Woman.

Making Diana a New York street-tough girl flies in the face of everything the character has ever been.

Why destroy Paradise Island once again?

DC has a bad habit of blowing the very things up that makes its comics universe unique.

Atlantis and Paradise Island are very cool ideas to have on Earth. Why destroy them.

Again all of this stuff is likely to be restored sometime in the future, but why drop it now. JMS is a talented writer. I would think he could take all that Wonder Woman has been and is and use it to his advantage rather than mold the character into something new.

Again, why not just create a new character to be the lead female super hero in DC's pantheon rather than tear apart a classic.

[Werewolf]

I forget - was it during his run or Jodi Picoult's that Diana went to the superhero-themed amusement park, and had no concept of money or cell phones?

I remember that. I did think it was funny she complained her action figures don't come with any accessories.

[The Toyroom]

What's Lynda Carter really going to say on national tv, "It sucks. F*** you Jim Lee"?

[jemboy2004]

I've been a regular Wonder Woman reader since the 70s, hated John Bryn's run as he made her mother the 1st Wonder Woman? awful idea I thought what could be worse than that? I know a brand new Wonder Woman by JMS!

I can live with the new Costume but I hate the new origin! It's just not Wonder Woman. Bad idea! I was really looking forward to this one :(

On a positive note I would never have thought a topic about Wonder Woman on the MM would get so many responses! Awesome!

[jemboy2004]

It's truly sad that Wonder girl and Donna Troy are better characters than Wonder Woman.

Don't agree with you at all there. The new Wonder Girl Cassie is a better Character than Wonder Woman? I have to admit I never cared for Cassie and Donna Troy, who's origin from the begining has never been clear? No not better than Wonder Woman IMO

[Bizarro Amy]

I still don't like it, but I've calmed down my fangirl ire with the mantra, "In comics, even death is not forever...This too will pass." If I get the first issue and don't like where it's going, I'll just vote with my dollar and stop my subscription until it goes away. The completist in me will struggle with not having those issues in my collection, but it will be better than paying whatever DC's currently charging for books I don't want to read.

[BlackKnight]

Cassie is a Fantastic Character ..., and Her Run with the Titans have been very good reads since the Launch of the Title. ... Her relationship with Conner and Tim is Great too.

[jds1911a1]

I'm sure the execs at Warners and DC are all a flutter with the press coverage thinking they'cve hit it out of the park. Now here is where the fans voices can be heard

if you don't want to see this costume for more than the next 6 months DON'T BUY THE BOOK. The first issue of the change is SO advertised it will sell to casual fans. and I suspect they have already scripted the next few issues and probably have them set to publish. If those sell well the new costume will be a "success", but if core fans can hold out and be willing to miss some story when sales drop off her costume will revert.

DC has way too much merchandising in the old look to switch to something so plain

[Earth 2 Chris]

Another thought occurred to me about this.

Could DC be changing WW's look and origin, so the Marston estate doesn't come calling like Siegel's heirs have?

I have heard that DC didn't own Wonder Woman outright for years, and that the Marston estate basically licensed her to DC. Not sure if any of that was true, but apparently Marston cut a better deal with DC than Siegel and Shuster did.

But maybe DC is trying to alter the character enough that the Marstons couldn't claim much of the current character.

Or it could be another in a laundry list of crappy misfires DC has made under DiDio.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Or it could be another in a laundry list of crappy misfires DC has made under DiDio.

I think that's probably correct

[jds1911a1]

I think that's probably correct

I was tempted to make a quip about a bald man stroking his goatee in my earlier post but backstroked it away since I wasn't sure it was his decision

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

I quite like it but I like Linda Carter's more.

[Riffster]

funny thing is I'll read it either way

[Riffster]

J. Michael Straczynski, Don Kramer and Michael Babinski begin their run in Wonder Woman #600, with a new costume and direction for the character.

The costume was designed by Jim Lee.

Here's what Straczynski had to say about the new era for Wonder Woman:

"Suppose you woke up one morning, or turned a corner, and suddenly the life you had been leading up to that moment...was not the life you were leading.

"Suppose someone went back in time and changed one thing, and it changed your life to the point that you had little or no memory of what life had been like before the change happened. What would you do to get it back? Should you get it back? Who did it? And maybe more important...why did they do it?

"That is the question faced by Diana starting in issue 600.

"The Gods, for reasons of their own but which may have something to with their survival and perhaps the survival of Earth itself, have changed the timeline. In the new timeline, years ago the Gods removed their protection from Paradise Island, and left it vulnerable to attack. And attacked it was. Led by a dark figure, a veritable army descended upon the Island, equipped with weapons that could kill even the Amazons. Outgunned, doomed, Hippolyta gave over her three-year-old daughter to a handful of guardians who spirited her away as Hippolyta led one last desperate battle against the forces that had come to destroy all she had created. In that final battle, she and most of the Amazons were killed, though some managed to escape.

"It's now nearly twenty years later. Diana has been raised in an urban setting, but with a foot in both worlds. She has little or no memory of the other timeline. She knows only what she's been told by those who raised her On the run, hunted, she must try to survive, help the other refugee Amazons escape the army that is still after them, discover who destroyed Paradise Island and why...and if the timeline can be corrected or not. She also does not yet have access to her full powers, but will be gaining them as she goes. Along the way, she will face a range of enemies �€” human and otherwise -- who we have not seen before.

"What we also haven't seen before is her new look, the first significant change in her appearance since the character debuted in 1941 (not counting the mod look used briefly in the sixties, about which the less said the better). It reflects her origins in both the outside world and the world of Amazons: tough, elegant...a street-fighter's look which also incorporates elements of her classic design. It reflects the two sides warring for ultimate victory, and underscores the path she must take.

"It's a look designed to be taken seriously as a warrior, in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who've asked, 'How does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?' She can close it up to pass unnoticed...open it for the freedom to fight...lose the jacket or keep it on...it has pockets (the other fan question, �€œwhere does she carry anything in that outfit?�€�, it can be accessorized...it's a Wonder Woman look designed for the 21st century. The bracelets are still there, but made more colorful, tied on the inside and over the hand, with a script W on each of them that form WW when she holds them side by side...and if you get hit by one of them, it leaves a W mark. This is a Wonder Woman who signs her work...letting her enemies know that she's getting closer.

" This is Wonder Woman reborn, literally and metaphorically: fast, elegant, tough, smart...the savior of her people, their guardian and protector...avenging the fall of Paradise Island, searching to discover why Paradise Island was abandoned by the gods. In the end, what she discovers will change her life and the world forever...and she will come face to face with a decision that will mean life or death for the entire human race."


easy enough to change it back anytime they want, I see this as a mini-arc and they'll change it back

[ctc]

>I wonder if DC isn't toying with the notion of downplaying the costume aspect of their characters.

Maybe. This outfit is pretty much just a modern biker outfit. It’d be REAL easy to do live-action.

>Quit trying to revamp characters and just write better stories.

Ultimately I think this is true. You can really sell ANYTHING if you try. My concern; as always, is that by presenting such a typical design it kinda bodes that they’re going to go along the typical story path.

>Now There's a Costume Alteration that doesn't look so Bad.

HAW! It’s the Image Comics version.

>But re-working the origin to such a degree is bad, new timeline or not.

Yeah.... especially on a superhero book. The superhero stuff was NEVER about deep stories, it’s about the action. The heroes are icons.... immutable, invulnerable. They don’t change. The VILLAINS do, but the heroes are a solid baseline. Monkeying with that sort of thing is pointless. (Especially to the older fans, who’ve seen it before, and know it’s temporary.)

>suddenly the life you had been leading up to that moment...was not the life you were leading....and she will come face to face with a decision that will mean life or death for the entire human race."

*sigh*

Don C.