So hey, everyone and their sister-in-law (or at least MY sister-in-law, who's a Wonder Woman nut) already heard about Wonder Woman getting a new costume and origin. For the basic facts of the change, you can check out my interview with writer J. Michael Straczynski, and for a great reaction round up check out Robot 6.
I actually didn't think I had much to say about Jim Lee's design or the story surrounding it beyond "it looks all right I guess for something that won't probably last more than two years" and "JMS defines hit or miss for me, so we'll see," but after seeing all the blog reactions and people Tweet-a-booking about it and whatnot, I figured I'd share some random Wonder Woman pics that have crept across my browser.
1. OK, despite what I said about not having any real problems with the new design, it really doesn't hold a candle to the Jamie McKelvie one Shaun Manning reminded me existed this morning:
Seriously, I would buy him drawing that character in that book in a heartbeat. I've never understood why more comic artists don't tap actual fashion sense when designing characters and costume choices. Remember back in the day when Ian Churchill did Cable and everything Nate wore was straight out of classy British fashion mags? That was rad.
2. Heidi MacDonald's post of Wonder Woman covers throughout the years covered a lot of ground including the recent run of cheesecake-tastic images by Adam Hughes, but how she could have missed Hughes' WW masterpiece is beyond me:
I was actually an intern at DC when this cover came in, and if I recall correctly, Hughes created the piece by drawing the old school H.G. Peter homage and then stuffing that art under his recliner cushion to be sat on for a few weeks until it was worn enough to look time-damaged and then he slotted the modern Diana in.
3. I haven't read Wonder Woman #600, the issue where the new costume debuts, just yet so maybe I'm off base here, but when I saw this preview page on DC's The Source blog featuring WW and a roundup of DC superheroines...
...I thought to myself, "Damn, is that really what a lineup of the company's best and brightest female superheroes looks like?" And then I realized that no, it isn't. I'm not sure why Gail Simone didn't include, say, Catwoman, Black Canary, Huntress, Power Girl, Fire, Ice, etc. in the story. There might be an actual reason for it once I read the whole damn thing. But as it is, a bunch of the Teen Titans and Birds of Prey supporting characters really isn't packing quite the Oompf it should for me, you know?
4. Is there ever a reason NOT to link to Kate Beaton's Wonder Woman?
I think not. Also: you should really read the full strip.
5. Finally, after reading this post, MY best guess as to why DC has changed the costume is to cast Helen Mirren in a Wonder Woman movie:
Think about it: she's been around since the 1940s, and she's got great cans.
Cool pics! That McKelvie redesign is fantastic. Was that from Project: Rooftop?
ReplyDeleteKate Beaton is awesome. I want a Kate Beaton line of DC comics. In my head, they all have smarmy British accents.
Skyrocket from the Power Company!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first Wonder Woman comic I ever read. I kinda dug the white outfit, for obvious reasons.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=enlarge&issue=96911632384%20196
Lack of Power Girl in Simone's story is because she's front-and-center in Conner's story in the same issue.
ReplyDeleteBut I haven't read it yet either, so that's all I can tell you at this point.