Yep, a day late again, but it’s all good. Because yesterday was Wednesday and that means you probably already have new comics!
If I mentioned last week that I had nothing to say then went on to talk about DC’s launch of their mobile platforms, then I really have nothing to say this week…
So I’ll talk about Wonder Woman! Even better, I’m going to mention an article from FOX News I found while researching this post. Exciting, huh?
First of all if you haven’t heard, for her 600th issue Wonder Woman has dropped her somewhat iconic “Stars and Stripes” costume that she’s worn for the better part of 70 years in favor of the outfit in the image above/right. I say the better part because there was a point in the sixties where someone decided to strip her of all her powers and reboot her as more of a Lara Croft girl power character. But let’s not discuss that…
I should also mention despite Wonder Woman really being one of the biggest three icons of DC Comics (Along with Superman and Batman), she has never really done much for my tastes. When she is incorporated into large story arcs she can sometimes be a really awesome character, but I get bored of a lot of her regular arcs fighting Hades and other Greek mythological characters. It’s funny too because I do like Greek mythology generally but it sometimes felt funny for a superhero to be fighting in those situations where I’d really rather see someone like Hercules or even Xena. Though the animated Wonder Woman movie from March 2009 had the Greek stuff and was IMO, totally the best of the DC Animated movies so far. Go fig.
Though they vary from her many reboots throughout time, in her origins, Wonder Woman (hereupon referred to as WW), was raised an Amazonian and blessed by the gods with powers. Via a series of events, she is sent as an ambassador to the world of men. Now that last bit especially is a key thing to remember as this post proceeds.
The FOX article titled, New Wonder Woman Loses Patriotic Costume in Favor of ‘Globalized’ Duds, begs the question, has Wonder Woman and through her, DC Comics, given up on her/their patriotism. I can’t say I’m surprised to see this type of story and least of all from FOX News. But the first chord this struck in my head was, I hadn’t even considered that angle.
I first heard of the change a few days ago when a friend posted an article about the change on Facebook. When I saw the image I think the first thing that popped into my mind was how similar the design was to the typical 90′s look of the short jacket with rolled sleeves as seen on Superboy after the Death of Superman saga and various characters in the X-Men universe. So in a way the article raises a valid point. Why exactly are we losing this otherwise branded look? But then that line of thought led me to wonder why it’s taken as long as it has to change.
In my experience with WW, the reasoning behind her initial Stars and stripes look was the character was created in the WWII era which made it only natural to appear so patriotic. It also means that the era in which she was created made the most sense at that time for her costume to appear that way. I’ve seen it explained over time in the comics world at least that she, an Amazonian, was outfitted in this manor to respect the traditions of the place she would go to be an ambassador. Naturally since the story had her heading back to America she donned the symbol of our country.
Now times have of course changed and so has her story. This is where I’ll refer back again to the line I mentioned earlier, that she is an ambassador to the world of men, and not specifically America. When you think about it in that light, it seems she got her initial outfit wrong to begin with. Were she created at a later time, perhaps would her outfit would have bore the symbols of the United Nations?
Clearly early on in her writing in the Golden Age, she was a female counterpart to other characters like Superman and Captain America. She fought for the American way. But over time as the character returned to more natural roots that fit her backstory, America lost some of it’s focus in what WW specifically was fighting for. In the more recent decade and the stories I have actually read, she acts more as an ambassador of peace to the world than anything. And she is not as far as I know, an American citizen. She hails from Themyscira, the hidden island of the Amazons, and often makes reference to that as her home.
So is losing the American flag bikini set really that big a stretch given the direction the character has taken over all these years? I am left almost surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner. As I go on to read more of the FOX article however, I was shocked by at least one fan’s criticism of the change. Antony Coukos, described as a “Wonder Woman collector and curator of ExperiencetheWonder.com” mentions:
“Rendering the patriotic elements of her classic hero costume to ‘accessories’ that look be-dazzled onto the clothing – such as gold stars on the shoulders of a blue leather jacket – definitely seem to portray Wonder Woman less as the Ambassador of Peace we have come to love over the past 70 years. This version looks more like what we might see in a fashion magazine featuring a street-wear look ‘inspired by Wonder Woman’.“
The part that sticks out to me most is that in Mr. Coukos opinion, losing or lessening the American symbology makes him feel like WW is now actually a lesser symbol of peace. I should first say that I am as patriotic as they come and love this country as much as any other American. But how does our flag represent peace on a global scale? We are certainly not the most peaceful country in the world (The Global Peace Index (GPI) cites New Zealand with that honor by the way). Is that to say WW should have been wearing the NZ flag all this time?
On the other hand, a few years back during the Infinite Crisis storyline, WW actually took the life of a villain while boldly displaying her stars and stripes outfit. Surely that action which shook the comic world at the time was more of a display of throwing the “Ambassador of Peace” gig out the window than donning a pair of pants?
Honestly, I don’t think Jim Lee’s new re-design of the character vastly changes her positioning on America. Or at least I will be surprised to even hear much in the way of discussion of America from the character at all. As I said, its mostly myths, monsters and super-villains these days. Even the one-time television face of WW, Linda Carter, agrees saying:
“She’s got an attitude, and if this is the new thing she wants to wear, well by God she’s going to wear it. And I like that. And I hope somewhere in the story someone mentions, where’s the old one? And she says, ‘Get over it.’”
The FOX article also doesn’t go on to mention *why* the change was made. I should say that it cites reasons in the real world such as trying to make the character more marketable to an international audience, especially with the upcoming WW movie in the making. But it forgets to mention the actual character’s motivations.
Reading from the DC Source blog, one quickly finds out that in the story, events starting in issue 600 and moving forward have the gods making a change to the past; as such, that Themyscira is no longer invisible and protected from the outside world, and that WW is sent away as a 3 year old before the island is attacked. After 20 years she is back to the Wonder Woman we essentially know, but clearly with a different past. It’s the age-old time travel question; if something significant changes in your past, will it change who you are now? Among other things, WW never would have been sent as an ambassador, and specifically to the U.S., so logically her costume would never have so richly incorporated those symbols. The blog also mentions that it is a change representative of what it claims female fans have been asking for, for years; an outfit that can allow her to be taken seriously as a warrior and which also has the added convenience of pockets. I am summarizing… but they wanted to move her into the 21st century.
You could accuse the story and its writer’s of being unpatriotic I suppose, but really it seems more like a business and story push rather than a stab at American values. The article does also cite several sources from DC who mention other reasonings behind the change, and even that if you look closely, really all the icons are still there but just downplayed. Which is true. WW still bears white stars on her shoulders, present on a blue jacket covering a red armored shirt. An outfit which much more closely resembles her original duds than lets say, Donna Troy, a.k.a. Wonder Girl a.k.a. WW’s duplicate/sister who now bears a black starry outfit. Of course that’s a stretch because a lot of people reading this blog might be asking who Donna Troy even is, as she’s clearly not as mainstream a character as WW herself.
The point is, I don’t think of DT as being more or less patriotic and I certainly don’t believe the same for WW. If anything it’s another step in the evolution of the character and hopefully we’ll see if this change sticks or is crucified by the fans. There is already some interesting reading to be had in the comments section of the above cited DC blog from fans who both approve of or oppose the change. Ultimately fans guide where characters go and if there is enough outcry from one side or the other, you may see WW’s outfit revert back or change even further. Only time will tell.
Here is this week’s comic picks! Happy reading!
Tags: Comics, DC, Wednesday Comics Picks
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