By now, writer J. Michael Straczynski and new Wonder Woman costume designer Jim Lee have been all over the web talking about the new Wonder Woman. Here's what they had to say on DC's blog, The Source.
“We have to remember here that when Wonder Woman was introduced in 1941, nearly 70 years ago, her outfit was designed with a 1940s sensibility. Though the skirt and heels have come and gone, it’s almost identical to what we have today. While other characters, from Batman to Superman and others throughout the DC Universe, have undergone substantial changes over the years, Wonder Woman has remained pretty much the same in appearance. (With the exception of a mod look used briefly in the 1960s…about which the less said, the better.) What woman only wears one outfit for 70 years? What woman doesn’t accessorize? And more to the point, as many women have lamented over the years…how does she fight in that thing?
“So my mission statement going into Wonder Woman was real simple: If we were to design her today, without any prior history…what would she look like?
“This is a character that is interesting enough and compelling enough to merit being in the top twenty books at minimum…so why was she languishing? The reason, I felt, was that she’d concretized over the years, had turned into this really cool Porsche that people kept in the garage because they were afraid of denting it rather than going flat-out on the open road. She had become, for lack of a better word, stuffy. She became the mom of the girl next door you wanted to date.
“This was really underscored to me when I used Wonder Woman in Brave and the Bold #33, and many were appalled that Wonder Woman told a joke…that she flirted…that she was relaxed and having fun. One podcaster said that Wonder Woman had become like his grandmother, and he didn’t like to see his grandmother being flirty.
“It seemed to me that the only way to address the situation and turn the character around was to go in prepared to make massive changes in how we think about Wonder Woman. It wasn’t going to work with half-measures. We had to be willing to go the extra mile. We had to be bold.
“So we came at this from a 21st century perspective. Visually, I wanted her to look strong and tough but still quite beautiful. Let’s give her clothes that she can fight in, that add to her presence and her strength and her power. It took a while for us to get there, precisely because we’ve all become so locked-in to how we see her character, but in time we came to a final design.
“Rather than have the W symbol all over the place on her wardrobe, I wanted to highlight it in one area and make that our statement, letting everything else feel more youthful and street-wise. The exception would be the bracelets, which would be solid on the outer side, with a stylized, almost handwritten W symbol there so that when she crosses her arms you get the full effect. And if she hits you with it, it leaves a W mark. She signs her work.
“None of this would work, however, without a strong character behind it. I wanted to free her up from the weight of a lot of her supporting universe so that we could see who she was. Guys tend to see women in terms of what role they play—mother, girlfriend, wife—instead of who they are on their own terms. But I didn’t simply want to eradicate all of it and destroy the work of those who came before me.
“So the solution was to tweak time: at some point about 20 years ago or so, the time stream was changed. Paradise Island was destroyed, and Diana as an infant was smuggled out before her mother was killed along with most of the others. She was raised by guardians sent with her, and some surviving Amazons, so she has a foot in two worlds, the urban world and the world of her people, which still exists in the shadows, underground. So we keep what makes her an Amazon but mix it up with a more modern perspective.
“Those who can see those two worlds know that something has changed, and they try to get Diana to see that, but she only knows what she’s seen and experienced.
“To solve the problem before them she must a) find out who attacked Paradise Island and why, b) stop those who are trying to kill the remaining Amazons now, c) rescue any more surviving Amazons, and d) find some way to straighten out the timeline and reconcile what was to what is. So we continue to get glimpses of Wonder Woman as she was juxtaposed against Diana as she is.
“The result—storywise and visually—is a character who is fiery, dynamic, a bit more vulnerable (she’s still working her way up to her full set of powers), tough, determined and smart and, due to her background, tragic. She keeps her roots in the Amazonian universe while growing up in a more modern setting. The result will, we hope, be a redesign that is as current with the zeitgeist of the 21st century as the original was with 1941.”
Here's what Jim Lee had to say about his costume design, which has provoked such strong reaction so far.
“There’s nothing more daunting than re-designing an icon, but what was refreshing and novel in Joe Straczynski’s directive to be bold in our choices was that we were starting with no preconceptions. This was no mere tweaking, no change of half-measures like haircuts or alterations of color schemes. We decided to go for broke, take no prisoners and let me tell you—it was difficult. Wonder Woman’s costume is so infused into our understanding of the identity of the character that it took many numerous back and forths ’til we broke down what existed, got back metaphorically to the clay from which Wonder Woman started and something new started to form. A design worthy of the mantle of Wonder Woman but one that didn’t scream classic superhero! So we played down and scaled back the iconic elements—the stars, the eagles, the double WW’s, lightened up the motifs and added armor which could pass as street gear. Visually, the character seems edgier than before but stylish enough to warrant a second, albeit cautious, glance. The jacket and boots confirm the costume’s functionality and the open, thinner tiara and shaped bracelets reveal a lighter, even youthful, bent to the Amazonian Princess. All in all, a difficult but rewarding reworking of an iconic costume to usher in a new age; a fresh look worthy of the character defining journey JMS has in store for her ultimate rebirth!”
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" I didn’t simply want to eradicate all of it and destroy the work of those who came before me."
But he is, isnt he? He has a bit of a rep.
Good to see they’ve managed to keep to the brief of mature, powerful, Amazonian warrior-Princess…
That said the image on the page is wrong isn’t it? A 20 something Jubilee with bangles seems less in keeping.
"a fresh look worthy of the character defining journey JMS has in store for her ultimate rebirth!”
This whole thing feels like an Ultimate story. I admit, JMS’s words here have sold me and it sounds like it’s going to be an interesting story, but I would much rather this be Elseworlds.
"A design worthy of the mantle of Wonder Woman but one that didn’t scream classic superhero! <—– which she is and should remain for gravitas sake
So we played down and scaled back the iconic elements—the stars, the eagles, the double WW’s, lightened up the motifs and added armor which could pass as street gear. Visually, the character seems edgier than before but stylish enough to warrant a second, albeit cautious, glance. <— works okay, edginess almost pulled of but not dark enough, the jacket should be black and lose the playfull buckles on her boots.
The jacket and boots confirm the costume’s functionality and the open, thinner tiara and shaped bracelets reveal a lighter, even youthful, bent to the Amazonian Princess.<—– She’s not supposed to be youthful, she’s an experienced Amazon warrior, not Power Girl " -Jim Lee
why is this bugging me so much?????
finally. I’ve been tired of the hokey WW costume for the last 20 years. good work boys. looking forward to the JMS run on this and Superman. btw, please redesign Sups while you’re at it!!
I’ll say this: It’s growing on me and I’ll not judge the story until I read it. If anything, I’m more excited about Wonder Woman now than I ever have been!
it one of those stories where whatever changed the world is undone and it’s like it never happened. doesn’t every tv show have like 5 of these?
it’s basicly is an else world in the main title. looks cool.
"One podcaster said that Wonder Woman had become like his grandmother, and he didn’t like to see his grandmother being flirty."
I’m going to have to check, redownload that episode, but I’m pretty sure he’s referring to the iFanboy episode that came out the week this did. That one was the Pick of the Week that week, right?
So what, this will last…a year tops?
JMS sucks but for some reason i have no problem with any of this. Wonder Woman sucks right now, someone has to do something.
So she’s still an Amazon and she still has Greek mytho roots.
The only difference is that instead of living in Amazonia she lived in NYC (or some unnamed big city?)….Seriously, what is the big deal here? Sounds sensible to me.
If anything came out of all this hub-bub that it’s gotten ALOT of the readers attention whether they cared for WW or not. Which will probably get alot people to pick up the first few issues and hopefully JMS will hand-craft a good story that will keep everyone on the book for a good amount of time.
Just to be redundant and post on ever Wonder Woman article here… I’m excited for this and love the new costume. Don’t care if it doesn’t last forever. Did I mention that I love the new costume?
@TheNextChampoin
cause that’s been done to death and is being done to death again. I at least respected her uniqueness in the DCU, now she’s just another superman, power girl, green arrow, nightwing, batman, etc. . . .
but alas, something need to be done to make her interesting to the public again, so this might be a good start for something 12 issues from now when she’s regaining her glory.
I read 600, and is it taking place on another earth? When you split timelines that creates another universe right? So its an Elseworlds without the tag.
The end story that is. If it is an alternate timeline then WW is gone from the regulat DC universe I take it. The story was so so, the art by Kramer made it better than it should be. I’m guessing taking her out of the traditional DC universe, de-aging to 18 and making her a street girl is one last attempt to get people talking about her. If this doesn’t work she’ll go back to being what she was in 12 issues.
I hate the choker that she is wearing. I read WW 300, and I had no idea what was going on. Prolly cause I was trying to figure out what was new and what was old.
I loved the first issue by JMS and I really like the costume. Good move! Her old costume made her look like a playboy bunny.
@LostArtist So….shouldn’t she be apart of those heroes and be….oh I don’t know….relevant again?
@TheNextChampion
why do I need to read 5 books that are all the same? and they aren’t enhancing her character, she wasn’t broken down ala Green Arrow and making her relevant has nothing to do with making her just like the rest of the "street level" characters they didn’t redo Green Lantern like this and he’s relevant, Wonder Woman was also relevant when she broke Max Lord’s neck and with the new Lost Generation stuff there’s a potential way of re-energizing her that way.
if she has a motorcycle in this, I’m totally buying it, if not. . . well, I’ll wait for reviews
I’ll hand it to JMS. He’s got people talking about WW. She was even the most searched topic on Yahoo. Never thought I’d see that in a million years. That being said, I see this lasting a year at most. Just like when they shake up the status quo on Supes or Bats, it doesn’t last too long. So don’t worry WW fans, we’ll be seeing the real Diana soon enough.
I like a lot of what is going on here. The new tiara, top, choker, belt and wrist bands are very nice and the color scheme is solid and eye-catching.
That being said, everything south of the belt is not workingfor me. Seamless pants to boots with the unnescessary boot straps? Is she an anime character? And what’s with the outlines on the pants, did she borrow a pair of Batman’s pants from TDK movie? That’s a bit too modern.
The jacket is iffy. I like the length of it but the shoulder pads are a bit much. Maybe if the pads were more ornate like her belt and gauntlets?
I’m sold on the direction but the look needs some more work.
Was this in the back of the comic or am I hallucinatig?
On the costume: I applaud the attempt at changing the costume, but it just doesn’t work for me. I always thought part of the appeal to WW was that she was a strong, sexy woman who could kick your ass and roll with the best of the best. She’s tough enough that she doesn’t take shit from everyone, so why would she change her dress just to make other people more comfortable? Plus, the elements of her costume that stuck around (the tiara, gauntlets, W, etc.) feel like they are there out of obligation rather then inspiration, so they just made them as small as possible. I would have much preferred them to start from scratch.
On the origin and character changes: I don’t think WW needs a reboot, especially one that makes her darker, grittier, or more like Batman in any way, shape, or form. I’ve noticed this with Green Arrow as well, and I’m not a fan when either company tries to make their character more like whoever is most popular at the time. WW isn’t a dark and gritty character, and I don’t think she should be. There’s already enough of that going around.
Also, I don’t think WW need to change in order to sell more books. People said the same thing about Power Girl, and look what happened. All WW needs is a creative team that sells her on her biggest strengths: she’s tough, compassionate, and all around epic.
If anything, I thought they’d make it more Greco-Roman, given the success of "300," "Rome," and "Sparticus" (that last one is arguable).
@icn: That was my pitch too: "Lord of the Rings, meets 300". But then I read JMS’ little story in WW 600 and realized he won awards for a reason.
@JumpingJupiter because he does awkward retcons that other better writers manage to use as a jumping off point for decent stories?
It takes a special sort of old, out of touch pair of professionals to look at that costume and think "Yup, right up to date. Cutting edge, yet timeless. No way we regret this."
Jim Lee has just made his yet to be released and now ironically names "ICONS" book look obsolete. as it features "old look" Wonder Woman on the cover.
Good bye Wonder Woman. 🙁
@icn: That’s exactly what I was thinking, how’d you know? *rolleyes*
"We have to remember here that when Wonder Woman was introduced in 1941, nearly 70 years ago, her outfit was designed with a 1940s sensibility."
Really? Can’t we say basically the same thing about Superman? And Batman? Do they need a complete overhaul? Those usually go over well, right?
Essentially, in three or four years we’ll get a "Triumphant return of Wonder Woman!" and she’ll be back in something that looks like her old costume but it will be made with High Fructose Corn Syrup (Coca-Cola Classic joke!).
I want to see the New Wonder Woman stand next to Superman and Batman. Is her new costume going to be iconic enough next to supes and bats, or is she gonna look like a second tier hero?
I don’t know about all of this. I’ve decided that I’m going to check out 601 and if I don’t like it then I’m done. This is hard for me to say, I’ve been reading WW continuously since the ’80s. I think that the costume change wouldn’t bother me so much if all of her past wasn’t changing. I hope some of those old elements end up creeping in.
The sad part is this all of a sudden this is going to be a hot buttom topic that media outlets will jump on I see the stories coming already from the right-wing blogs like
I’m not gonna read this series, but I read the prologue bit in #600, and nothing about this feels like a permanent change. She’s in an alternate reality and will be there for a year or so, and things will go back. If you think you might enjoy the story, don’t skip it on account of some "continuity" issue you think you have.
I mean, Batman is running around in the past, and it’s awesome.
@Josh: I second that motion.
I read the preview on comixology and I might pick this up after all . . .
I’m sure I’m not the only one whose major reason for watching the Wonder Woman TV show was the Perv delight and suspense that came from wondering when she was going to fall out of her cardboard looking costume. That 70’s get-up was made for a “wardrobe malfunction”. Obviously DC didn’t want that as the new motivation for watching Wonder Woman.
The new costume resolves all of that much the way Black Canary’s relatively recent costume reboot solved her costumes similar “fall-out” potential. This new Wonder Woman allows Diana to hang upside down, wrestle on the floor with a combatant, and for that matter can be filmed from the ground up.
Fortunately many of us will just have to grow up and mature our tastes.