By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-07-22 17:06:52 | Word Count: 664
COSTUME REDUX
J.M. Straczynski has revamped Wonder Woman and, along with the considerable help of Jim Lee, redesigned her costume. This sort of thing happens.
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They left her reboot fairly nebulous, so at a moments notice they can restore her former continuity. Heck, half of the plot to her reboot is her seeking the ability to restore her continuity. I guess DC thinks that’s something we’d all like to read about, though to look at that another way you could argue that DC figures people tired of Old Wonder Woman will read about the new one, and for people who liked the old one the new one will be in a quest to put things the way they were. It’s WIN WIN!
NICE TRY
I wrote an article an article a while ago on Wonder Woman. You can read it here. It essentially boils down to the crux of Wonder Woman’s biscuits, i.e. most like her because of WHO she is (DC most powerful woman with a keen mind for war and strategy) and many more only know (or care) WHAT she looks like.
I do get satisfaction out of this reboot because BOTH of those aspects have changed.
URBAN POUT-FITTERS
The part I’m a bit squeamish over, and before I get on a big drag race with this one I’ll admit I haven’t read the issue in question, is the urban setting. Marvel stories take place in New York, a very real city with rich, poor and everything in between. Often writers want to give their creations that raw, edgy feeling to make them shocking, new or controversial.
Resetting Wonder Woman as a girl who grew up in a harsh urban setting seems like (being kind) lazy writing and (being harsh) pandering to the “Urban” demographic. As originally conceived by DC’s designers, Wonder Woman was an attempt to lure more girls into buying comic book by making the lead character a woman. This might be viewed simply as an attempt to break WW into a new demographic that might not have been buying her books previously.
If you rebooted her and made her black, Hispanic or Asian then maybe you’d have something interesting. By revamping your heroine and just throwing her into that timeworn “Urban Setting” I’m afraid you only seem out of touch, DC.
COSTUME AND EFFECT
As for the costume itself, well, there’s not much to say, is there? We’ve seen WW with a simple shirt and jacket every time somebody revamps her character. Instead of going further Greek with the thing they decided to go further chic.
It looks nice, but nothing I’d call “New.” There’s also no point in caring, as it’s a place filler until they bring her back to the way she was.
DC has a few books out RIGHT NOW featuring Adam Hughes amazing, though revealing takes on Wonder Woman’s classic costume. DC will switch back when they look at which version is still selling more, cover galleries of her curvaliscious, booty shorts wearing former tokes or her new lycra pants suit.
AGREED: Wonder Woman needed a change. I’m not sure this is it, however.
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