In case you'd forgotten, J. Michael Straczynski had an idea to reboot Wonder Woman to make her relevant and interesting. So he had Jim Lee redesign her costume in a manner befitting the 90's and now the storlyine is being finished by Phil Hester. But I'm not bitter. And neither is Colleen Doran, who was asked by Straczynski himself to submit some costume designs harkening back to the the BC 90s., which is way different. Doran decided to not only post the sketches (see below), but color a few then put them up for auction.
My opinon? I think these are awesome! My wardrobe vocab is admittedly lacking, I've yet to be invited to judge a Project Rooftop contest like the big 3 here on the site, but these designs hit notes sorely missed in the Jim Lee versions. I appreciated what Lee was trying to do, especially in anticipation of the then upcoming TV show, but Doran captures something mythic that I don't think Lee was even attempting (not necessarily a bad thing, just a statement of fact).
I'm not saying this costume might have kept me reading the run beyond the first issue, but it's a refreshing take on Diana's threads that doesn't seem to throw out the baby with the bathwater. What do you think? Let us know in the comments and be sure to head over to A Distant Soil to voice your approval if you so wish!
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In a manner befitting the 60’s.
I just can’t find her interesting no matter what. I don’t wanna sound ignorant, but dominating women in media just annoy me.
Any time you do a I don’t wanna but…. You’re doing just what you set out not to do.
Definitely interesting. All of them would’ve made great Elseworlds costumes. I certainly prefer them all to her Flashpoint costume. But none of these make me wish they had gone in these directions. The one on the left (colored) has a lot of promise. Very sleek and futuristic. But that belt piece would look a bit phallic in motion. The one on the right has some nice touches to it, but ultimately is not too much of a departure from her classic costume. And neither of these would satisfy the pants-demanding crowd.
Am I a weirdo to think that the long dangly bits hanging from the waist of the second and third designs are oddly phallic for a female superhero? Nice designs, but that part struck me as a bit odd.
Agreed, there’s something more mythic about these designs which I like.
I find the low hanging sash (?) in the middle design a little off-putting though. Yet I think the corset and braclets are powerful.
I’m thinking back to an episode of Project Runway when they had the contestants design outfits for the female wrestlers of the WWE. DC ought to try to workout a challenge with Project Runway and do a redesign for Wonder Woman. Have Linda Carter (or better yet Diane Nelson) guest judge.
The dangly bits are just impractical for the kind of things she has to do. But I really like the overall flavor of these designs. It makes sense. Still, I always think she needs some kind of armor to signify her warrior status.
@josh As impractical as a cape?
Don’t get me wrong, I thought the same thing but the more I think about it, the less I think it should matter. I mean Jim Croce already warned us not to tug on Superman’s cape. Wouldn’t the same warning be issued for tugging on Wonder Woman’s skirt?
Love the one with the skirt and sash.
I’m not crazy about any of them. The (colored) one on the right is OK, but it’s a little busy. I personally wish they had stuck with the 70s “new direction” Wonder Woman where they ditched the costume altogether, and just had her kick ass while wearing awesome (but normal) clothes.
@Smasher I’m not standing up for capes either. But she’s gonna trip on that dangly thing.
@josh True enough. That thing is just ridiculous. If she ever got in a fight with Lobo in that outfit, he’d be grabbing for that first.
The art itself is beautiful, but I don’t like the costumes at all.
If I’m right the Jim Lee Wonder Woman costume was reflective a character that never had a real connection to her Amazonian roots and was raised here in Man’s World. If so then the Jim Lee version makes a lot more sense for herthan this because this almost too ancient and otherworldly for Wonder Woman. It looks like something a New God would wear.
She looks like she’s from Tamaran
Actually from reading the original blog post, these weren’t for the storyline with the Jim Lee costume at all:
“BTW, I’ve been asked if these were for the “Odyssey” storyline. I don’t think so. From JMS’s description, it appears they were for a completely separate tale, as in a high fantasy concept he was working on.”
So it makes much more sense that these look like this.
With the exception of the noted dangly bits, I really love all of these designs. WW should always look more like Xena and less like Buffy.
hmmmm i prefer Jim Lee’s redesign to be honest
I like these designs. They are definitely a nice groundwork for a Wonder Woman elsewords style story.
My preference for a Wonder Woman costume would be an armored look with a skirt or sash. The star spangled underwear on her traditional design is what typically turns me off from her look so anything that gets rid of that is good to me. I keep seeing images with the starred panties put back on the new costume for September and they are an even bigger eyesore in between the rest of the new look. I’d really like to know which it is because otherwise I’m excited to read Azzarello and Chiang on Wonder Woman.
Here’s my warrior WW design from a month or two ago:
http://immages.deviantart.com/#/d3leqx7
She can bend over, and sh’e not showing her butt cheeks.
Put her in spartan armour and be done with it. She’s always looked best that way imho.
Interesting.