Since I’ve seen the Wonder Woman movie, I’ve become obsessed with her. I have read all of her titles available here from 1942 to 2015 (hope they fill in the missing Golden Age issues soon), and I’ll be caught up to the present soon. I love the character, the tie-in with Greek mythology, her mission of peace and justice, her background in war, Paradise Island (or Themiscyra), Hippolyta and the Amazons, Etta Candy, Steve Trevor, Wonder Girl, Wonder Mite, and especially Wonder Tot (and therein lies some strange plots where Wonder Woman teamed up with her younger selves by her mother mixing footage from various times in her life to create a movie of Wonder Woman teaming up with herself. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Odd flex but okay, as they say).
Anyway, I have heard tell that a lot of people find her boring, or silly, or just plain bad. They are, of course, completely and totally wrong but I would still be interested in hearing their reasoning. I will say that I have not enjoyed seeing her as a supporting character. Perhaps she looses her luster in a group setting, or writers are not sure what to do with her on a team.
Now, my wife insist I spent too much time watching Superfriends and the Wonder Woman tv show as a child and that this is just another silly obsession in my life, but my only response to that is my life has been a string of silly obsessions and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Perhaps seeing the new movie awoke a slumbering admiration for her. Who can say?
I haven’t seen a lot of buzz about her here. Only one fan group? Preposterous! (And I haven’t been checking it out because I am worried about spoilers. Some fan I am!). So what do you think of Wonder Woman? Trinity level DC icon, or just another rather dull heroine?
“Trinity Level DC Icon” sounds about right. My favorite character is Superman, but Wonder Woman is right up there as well. I definitely haven’t read as much as you have. My familiarity with her lore starts with the New 52 by Azzarello and Chiang, which is still my favorite WW run (the comics have been downhill since then imo). With Diana, the words passion and compassion come to mind a lot. To me, she is the heart of the Trinity, with Bruce the mind and Clark the moral center. Not that all 3 of them don’t possess all of the above; they do… it’s just there’s a certain fire about Diana. If going into battle, I see her leading everyone with her battle cry… especially when that battle involves protecting the weak and vulnerable. None of the above is to take away from her awesome powers or her interesting origin story and ties to Greek mythology. In short… I’m a fan!
Very impressive. That really shows your love and dedication to this this character. For me I’m a big fan of Batman and never thought of reading his series from all the way back to the present. Remarkable accomplishment.
I used to just see her as female Superman, but now I completely disagree. Wonder Woman is awesome! I love what she stands for, and she also has tons of cool weapons. From her sword, to her lasso, to her extremely rad bracelets. My opinion of her has made a complete 180.
Wonder Woman has always been one of my favorite characters. I watched Super Friends as a kid and the Seventies TV show as well. Having minored in psychology in college, I was always fascinated that she was created by a psychologist (William Moulton Marston). and I love that she is tied to Greek Mythology. I don’t see how anyone could find her boring or silly.
Love the movie! Waiting for them to tie it to the rest of the DCU and also get deeper with the back story before the story that we all know. I hope they bring it back as either a TV Show or miniseries.
Wonder Woman is a weird case. It’s a great character concept with some amazing stories under her belt, but DC spent decades wanting to keep the book in print to retain the license to the character (until finally buying it outright until the 1980s), but not really caring about the character in some misguided vision of comics fans of boys who wouldn’t tolerate humanizing women.
She should probably be the premiere hero, the nice person who everybody looks up to, but (for better or for worse, marketing-wise) writers overwhelmingly prefer to make her a boisterous warrior. She should also have a streamlined, iconic costume that’s easy to recognize from a distance and easy for children to sketch, but each generation of artists seems to make her outfit more fussy, for some reason.
Interestingly (maybe), if you look at National Periodical Publications and All-American Comics as completely separate companies—that’s not entirely true and changed rapidly, but it’s still a reasonable assumption—a lot of the characters are technically redundant, from a world-building standpoint. You have Superman/Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin/Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Quick/Flash, and a bunch of others. That’s not a bad thing, though, and those “counterparts” are all distinct, with most choices of which survived the 1950s to become icons being a coin toss of which anthology books stayed in print.
I love Wonder Woman! She’s my second favorite character. I have a fascination with Greek mythology so she’s perfect for me! I’ll admit, that her allies origins can get convoluted and that she isn’t depicted very well in team settings. I think it’s because she’s meant to be a leader, an inspiration, but doesn’t really get that title. Instead leadership roles always go to Batman or Superman, if the writer prefers.
Also, recent comics have given her a sword which makes her lethal, but Wonder Woman is about peace and love so lethal weapons don’t really correspond with what she’s about. They need to go back to using just the lasso as her primary weapon. The shield can stay though… waiting to see her throw it like Cap.
DC has also struggled to balance her Greek mythological origins with the modern world and still hasn’t really figured it out either. I think they should try a Percy Jackson type thing and see if that helps them balance it out.
I think that is much easier to read all of Wonder Woman’s comics since she rarely had more than one title at a time (a bit of overlap in the 40’s, then pretty much nothing until Superman/Wonder Woman and Sensation Comics in 2013/2014). Reading all of the Batman would be quite a feat!
1). Cheetah is my favorite overall. I was sad to lose the original Priscilla Rich, but I am also a fan of Barbara Minerva, and I did not care for the male Cheetah. She is fast, powerful, and also powered by a god (sure, a funny little plant god, but it still counts!). I like it when Wonder Woman and Cheetah team up in a frenemy way.
Giganta is fun. Whether a Golden Age gorilla or the more complicated various current versions she doesn’t disappoint and is always an enjoyable read, and I still laugh at the “wear underwear please” jokes.
Dr. Psycho has really grown on me. Golden Age was silly looking and a bit unconvincing. The current version is effective and a bit scary. That unblinking insane look and extremely powerful mind control/illusions make him a dangerous opponent. I like that in one comic he says he is Wonder Woman’s opponent just so he can be a part of her life. It’s sweet and creepy all at the same time.
The on/off friendship/enemy plots with the Greek Gods are always a treat. It’s so fluid how they all shift around in battles and alliances. Just like real families.
Underrated: I really like Dr. Cyber during the “New Wonder Woman” Diana Prince 1960’s stuff. Haven’t seen much of her since but maybe she is stuck in that James Bond/Avengers (the British tv show) era.
Agreed. There were some really weird times and oddball stories for quite a while in the late Golden and Silver Age. The various “Crisis" stories were needed to explain away the bizarre twists of character that repeatedly kept popping up.
It is quite a dichotomy between Amazon peace and Amazon war. I like both approaches so it is hard to say which is the real Paradise Island. Then again, “If you wish for peace, prepare for war”. As for the outift, I love the original skirt and eagle top, and I feel that the high riding bathing suit would just be super uncomfortable. It’s like watching the Olympics and seeing the female athletes constantly having to adkust their outfit. How are you supposed to bring your best game if you are that uncomfortable? But it sells so here we are.
I don’t remember who did the revise, but I remember reading a fairly recent issue that listed “Priscilla Rich” as one of Barbara Minerva’s aliases. I liked that.
I agree with everything you said and feel Circe, Silver Swan, and Hercules could use more time in the spotlight. Would love to see Medusa and Genocide treated like Doomsday is in Superman- with great fear and reverence.
I think you’ve just solved why I don’t like her in group settings! She just becomes a backup strong person, and it doesn’t feel like her at all.
It’s funny- I became used to the sword and forgot all about her origins with the lasso. The lasso has become an afterthought when it was originally her main weapon because it represented peace and truth.
I’m down with the Percy Jackson angle. Loved all of the Riordan series, even the Egyptian one.
That really shows your love and dedication to this this character. For me I’m a big fan of Batman and never thought of reading his series from all the way back to the present. Remarkable accomplishment.
