Thanks to the Gods, DC, Jim Lee and the fact that Wonder Woman hits its milestone #600 issue tomorrow, she finally gets a redesign(see above). After 40+ years of being the most confident, powerful stripper in all the DC multiverse, Diana gains a bit of modesty and puts on 21st century attire which looks suspiciously mid 1990s.
Please note that her entire backstory is getting an overhaul as well. (More on that at Comics Alliance.)
DC describes the new outfit as “a Wonder Woman look designed for the 21st century” that will allow Diana “to be taken seriously as a warrior, in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who’ve asked, ‘how does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?’ …The bracelets are still there, but made more colorful, tied on the inside and over the hand, with a script W on each of them that form WW when she holds them side by side… and if you get hit by one of them, it leaves a W mark. This is a Wonder Woman who signs her work.”
The “signing her work” gag is a bit much.
Cop: So you use those bracelets on all those who dare cross your path?
WW(confident): Yes.
Cop: So we have photographic and physical evidence of every street tough, criminal, and accidental bystander caught up in plans he/she could not even conceive before some Big Bad used them to get you to attack an innocent and overturn every moral principal you hold dear?
WW(visually disturbed): …. Yeeeaaah ….
Cop: You have to right to remain silent…as much good that’ll do ya.
Our opinion on the look? We like it and yet we don’t. If it were a brand new character, it looks fine, practical and sexy enough. It just does not look fitting for a well established character.
That being said, our comics Twitter(as of this post) won’t shut up about the change.
The thing we most fear is summed up in @CollectedEditions Tweet:
Granted WW’s timeline needs a fix. Not to prejudge, but if lasting, does it make the problems worse; if not lasting, be labeled a “gimick?”–@collectededitions
UPDATE 7/05/20100: While catching up on Newsarama we learned a thing or two. Tim Gunn approves!
“I love Wonder Woman’s new look,” Gunn told Newsarama writer Alan Kistler. “This new look says, ‘I’m confident, I’m powerful, I’m sexy, and don’t mess with me.’ Furthermore, she looks like a citizen of the real world rather than a creature from another land.”
On “Project Runway,” one of Gunn’s most common caveats to the designers he mentors is pointing out when outfits look too “costumey,” so it’s not surprising that he’s in favor of this design. With its long pants and jacket, it’s much more reflective of the real world than the brightly colored one-piece bathing suit Wonder Woman had worn for decades.
“I would imagine that this new look will allow Wonder Woman to morph into situations in a less noticeable manner and, thereby be even more effective at combating evil doers,” Gunn said. “[This outfit]’s no longer a costume, it’s real clothes.”
Read the full Tim Gunn article here. As others have pointed out to us, since this post’s original posting, this new Wonder Woman outfit would transfer easily to a sliver screen setting. Now all that needs to happen is to get Josh Whedon back on board, or JMS himself, and get the WW movie back on track.
Read more…
