Wonders, or Blunders?

[sdelmonte]

You may have heard about this: Wonder Woman is getting a new look. And also a retcon.

I am OK with the costume. As a bit of a prude, I have never really loved her usual look. It worked for her, but I am glad to see her move on.

But the retcon is just another sign that almost no one really has any idea of what to do with WW, even JMS. Or maybe a sign that JMS, in trying to make WW (and also Superman, in his book) more grounded, is not the right man to handle larger than life DC heroes. Diana's adventures, like her powers, should be a bit on the epic side. Alas, the only writers I can name who ever managed to make her work for me are George Perez and Greg Rucka. Otherwise, she has never been a character I care for.

All that said, a shakeup might help, and I like enough of JMS' comics work to not condemn this till I read it. Even if I plan to wait to read it in the TPB. And I think that what I don't like about WW is that she is too much of a god and not enough of a human, expect with the writers I mention.

Any thoughts from those of you out there who are fans of the princess?

Comments

[bigfluffball.livejournal.com]

I don't actually read WW, but I like the new costume. Whilst I have nothing against a woman showing off her body, I've always felt that hero costumes that are basically just a bra and some underpants are a bit impractical for the job. If I were a super hero, I'd want some protective fabric and not to have to worry that my boobs would come out.

Maybe they're retconning because 69 is considered a bit old to be doing super-heroics?

[innerbrat]

I liked the skirt. there was something warriorish about it.]

Sadly, I don't think I'm ever getting the skirt back. As for the new design - meh. Why aren't Supes and Bats getting radical new looks that renders them unrecognisable?

[sdelmonte]

Superman did have that once. Ever meet the Electric Blue version?

[innerbrat]

*googles it* that was for a storyline though, right? Not a 'reinvention' like every writer who ever gets hold of Diana wants to do.

[sdelmonte]

True. Less of a reinvention than what WW gets every three years, but on the same level of reinvention as the Diana Rigg-inspired version of Diana Prince from the early 70s. Things were shaken up, all the rules were changed but everything that came before was intact, by the time the story was over, everything went back to the way it was.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Not quite sure what I think of this. It may be that we're looking at more of a "Yesterday's Enterprise"-type story arc than anything else, and using the Hellenic Gods to engineer it makes as much sense as any other storytelling device to get the ball rolling.

[weaverandom.livejournal.com]

I'm indifferent towards the new costume, but I'm pleased that they're changing her costume, if that makes sense.

Someone somewhere, and I can't remember who, made one comment that's stuck with me: in the 1950s when she was created, she was a woman wearing boyshorts, she was making a statement, saying "I'm not in the kitchen, I'm wearing athletic clothes, and I'm going to kick your arse." Only it's now 2010 and the costume hasn't changed except to get tighter and skimpier, and she doesn't look like an icon of feminist freedom any more, she looks like every other bikini babe.

I don't 100% agree with that - I don't hate her costume. But yeah, I'm happy to move on.

(The new costume - yeah, I'm indifferent to it, but it opens the door for a lot more reinventing to come. If they're retconning her entire story, a few costume changes as she grows into her Hero Thing should be easy. :D)


Also, I still like your icon of all the DC icons :D

[sdelmonte]

Thanks. Batya made it for me, and I save it for special occasions.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I just have to ask: were you up at five in the morning posting about this because the Wonder Woman retcon has you that upset?

[sdelmonte]

Nah, I was up at five in the morning because I was upset the Mets lost two road games in a row. :)

I am always up at 5 am. I just rarely post at that hour.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

The Mets lost two in a row? Now I'm upset. :-)

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

My friend immlass had an interesting perspective about this here.

[canadabear.livejournal.com]

The costume change doesn't bother me so much. I mean, it's not exactly what I would have liked to have seen, but I'm not all that upset about it. The reboot, however, can kiss my ass. It's stupid and ridiculous and a big reason why I've never been a comic reader. Why should I invest my time (and money) into characters and stories when they're just going to be utterly disregarded for dreck like this?

[silveraspen]

I am kinda staring at the retcon going "really? REALLY? WTF???????"

Costume... *giant sigh* In theory I can sort of get behind the reasoning for the redesign but I think the one they ended up with is utter crap. They went too far the other way.

ETA: "sort of get behind the reasoning" in current societal context only. I grew up with Wonder Woman. I dressed as her for Halloween, so forth and so on. I think it would be possible to find a new look that was less ... whatever the [censored] that is without falling into the "too sexualized/revealing" trope. I am so unhappy with the changes being made here.

I'm trying to pretend the storyline doesn't exist.

[schung1968.livejournal.com]

It reminds me of the 1990s Mike Deodato costume.

Not another dime from me for JMS until he finishes the Twelve.