Wonder Woman has finally entered the 21st century. And at the same time, she also entered the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. For the first time since she debuted in 1941, Wonder Woman’s look has been updated. Why an Amazonian princess from an ancient world would wear an American flag has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but no longer: With the just-released Wonder Woman #600, writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist (and DC Comics co-publisher) Jim Lee have given Diana Prince her first major makeover since World War II. (Full image after the jump.)
At DC’s blog The Source, Straczynski says:
It’s a look designed 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?”) She can close it up to pass unnoticed…open it for the freedom to fight…lose the jacket or keep it on…it has pockets (the other fan question, “where does she carry anything in that outfit?”, it can be accessorized…it’s a Wonder Woman look designed for the 21st century….
This is Wonder Woman reborn, literally and metaphorically: fast, elegant, tough, smart…
Why the change? It’s down to the new storyline, as Straczynski explains:
Suppose you woke up one morning, or turned a corner, and suddenly the life you had been leading up to that moment…was not the life you were leading.
Suppose someone went back in time and changed one thing, and it changed your life to the point that you had little or no memory of what life had been like before the change happened. What would you do to get it back? Should you get it back? Who did it? And maybe more important…why did they do it?
Whoa: timey whimey!
Fans at The Source are not happy, if the enraged comments are anything to judge by. The mysterious Zennie62 at SFGate demands “Wonder Woman, bring back the legs, the muscles, and the flag, please.” And The Celebrity Cafe — which termed the makeover “Wonder Woman Gets Pants” — suggests that:
a lot of male fans will lament the new look, which favors Wonder Woman’s urban smarts and crisp looks, rather than her sexy poses.
So, men can’t find a woman sexy unless she’s half naked and posing in a particular way?
What do you think of Wonder Woman’s new look? Presumably this look will carry over the long-talked-about Wonder Woman movie, too: Is that a good idea?
(If you have a suggestion for a QOTD, feel free to email me. Responses to this QOTD sent by email will be ignored; please post your responses here.)
It was time for the old look to go, IMO
Welcome to the new Wonder Woman.
The pants look kind of meh, and not really all that comfortable to fight in. Could also do without the jacket.
But overall, I think it looks great. And waaaay better than what came before.
And so funny that a bunch of fans are mad over this. Why does Wonder Woman even have to be sexy? Does she not have a function beyond appealing to their libidos?
There are many ways to be sexy. Personally, I think that a cool look that still emphasizes one’s physical assets while also showing a sense of style and practicality is far sexier than a more revealing outfit that looks like it was designed for a circus performer.
Though I’ve always been in the “less is more” camp when it comes to revealing clothing. It seems to work. When you don’t show it all right away, it leaves more to be discovered, right?
I don’t like the look but more importantly I don’t like the new storyline if the decide to make it stick.
Basically they are just creating a totally new character and slapping the name wonder woman on her.
I am not sure I agree the outfit needed such a drastic revamp. I mean Batman, Superman and wonder woman have but for the most part pretty consistent in their look. Just minor changes here and there. Her new look is a bit more fighter but I don’t think that is such a good thing.
Basically I am all for her wearing something that looks a bit less like underwear/bathing suit but I am just not feeling the new look.
I like the belt, the bustier, the gloves/bracers combo, and I LOVE the choker (I’m a sucker for those). I do not like what appear to be leggings-with-built-in-boots, and I really don’t like the jacket. It’s waaaay too 90s Superboy.
Fortunately, it probably won’t last. This is part of a ‘gods-are-interfering-again’ storyline, so odds are pretty good that the original timeline will be corrected.
Wonder Woman: the next contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Oh, and just to establish my geek credentials, this isn’t the first update to her look. It’s at least the fourth. I hated most of the earlier ones, too.
What’s really dumb is that they already did the jacket back in the 1990’s. For several characters (Wonder Woman, Superboy, etc.) The only one who ever kept it was Animal Man and that was because he needed a place to hold his keys since his costume didn’t have pockets.
I don’t know why so many people are making this newsworthy. They’ll put her back in her original costume within 2 years, just like they did when they put her in her spy costume.
Aside from the fact that her legs are horrendously out of proportion with the rest of her body in this picture, I can dig it. It’s definitely superior to the attempt they made to update Superman’s costume in the ’90s.
I like how even a fierce warrior for the 21st century has painted fingernails. Very progressive!
@Newbs: Maybe it’s bullet-proof nail lacquer.
They could invent a better costume for her – a bellydance costume perhaps?
to Daniel… I agree this isn’t her first makeover but it is pretty much the most drastic of her “uniform” in my opinion.
The only parts I like are the belt and I don’t think the top is not too horrible when the jacket is off… but I would have preferred the golden WW to be more prominent . Also if we were rebooting her look- how about tone down the chestage just a tiny bit?
I suppose the tiara is a bit less over the top- I could live with that. The rest is just boring and ugly .
I have a test involving four rules when it comes to the physical appearance/costume of female characters in games, comics, or movies who are fighters or consistently involved in action scenes:
1) Comfortable Shoes
2) Athletic Bra
3) Pants
4) Practical Hairstyle
Now, if a character only has three out of four of these, it’s not a big deal. And of course, there are exceptions based on personality and in rare cases on the context of the universe. However, if a character fails on all four counts as so many women in geek culture seem to, I usually don’t enjoy the series.
If you can’t even get the basic stuff right (appearance), then there’s very little chance that you’ll be able to succeed when it comes to the much more difficult, important, and subtle aspects of character design (thoughts, speech, emotions, agency, personality).
With all that out of the way, this costume is around a 3.5 out of 4.0, which is excellent for a comic book. The boobs are a bit too over exaggerated and the hair could get in the way, but all in all, it’s well above average. Now that the easy stuff is out of the way, let’s see if they can get the important stuff right, i.e. the actual writing.
The thing that really pisses me off is when all the male characters in a geeky universe are running around with full suits of body armor and cool gear, and the female characters, who supposedly are performing the exact same jobs, are stuck in a tin foil bikini and heels with ass length hair. Any suspension of disbelief I was willing to offer is instantly squandered by stupidity like that. That reminds me…
P.S. Dear Team Ninja, Please don’t pull your usual shit with Samus. Sincerely, a feminist Metroid fan.
I’m not sure I agree with that. The spy costume was totally different from the classic costume, so I understand why they would switch back to the recognized costume. This new costume has many of the elements of the classic costume, meaning it’s still recognizable as Wonder Woman. Undoubtedly they will eventually restore the original history, but I imagine many of the changes to the costume will stay.
CrapCrapCrap… I wrote a long Comics Geek take on all this that got eaten by Internet Explorer when I stupidly clicked on a link.
Dammit. Well, two main gists were:
The new costume and storyline are part of a “villain messing with the timestream” plot, and likely to be undone in whole or in part fairly shortly, as an organic part of the story.
Wonder Woman’s actually had a bunch of costume changes. Though many are minor variations, a few were pretty major and in place for a relatively long time – the ’90s version mentioned by JoshDM, and the circa-1970 “mod” look. Exhaustive look at all the variants here:
http://carolastrickland.com/comics/wwcentral/costume_indices/wwcost1.html
Personally, I mostly like the new costume and storyline, though both are “not what I would’ve done,” which would’ve been “Keep Gail Simone on the book for a decade or three.” She’s done the best Wonder Woman stuff since her creator, IMO. I highly recommend her “The Circle” for anyone who’s never quite “gotten” the Wonder Woman character:
http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Woman-Circle-Gail-Simone/dp/1401220118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278002154&sr=8-1
In the more specific area of whether or not her svelte build is better than having actual visible muscles, I will defer to long time Wonder Woman fans. As someone who knows very little about Wonder Woman, I could do with less make-up and a slightly stockier build. She looks a little too much like Wonder Teen with breast implants. But the costume itself looks fine.
Overall I think it’s great. I wish the top looked a little less painted on, and I prefer her traditional bracelets to the fingerless gloves. Also, the boots could really be more differentiated from the leggings, but I love the jacket and the overall look. It never made sense for a Greek to be dressed up in an American flag.
The new costume seems practical enough, definitely less male-gazey than the original, and I can understand why the artist wants to downplay the blatant display of the American flag (Captain America also seems to be getting a revised, less “Go USA!” look for the upcoming film).
Having said that, I also think it’s just… not iconic. The original outfit had male-gaze and jingoistic problems, but ironically those aspects were also what made the costume immediately recognizable. The new look is more sensible, but it just doesn’t say “Wonder Woman” to me.
I prefer her Amazonian battle armor from the graphic novel Kingdom Come:
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/1940/3236afullbq6.jpg
Amanohoyo, you might like the version of Wonder Woman in “New Frontier” (both the comic and the animated adaptation are great.)
There’s a good pic of her here:
http://joeshusterawards.com/2009/05/01/wizard-names-absolute-dc-the-new-frontier-top-graphic-novel/
This article has a different picture of the outfit that shows more of what is under the jacket and the boot/leggings
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/06/30/wonder-woman-new-look.html#socialcomments
A classic reboot storyline from the 1980s found a way to explain this:
Gail Simone gave another interpretation of Wonder Woman’s costume, as derived from natural elements/omens from the night of her birth.
And I’m even more tickled by an offhand reference by Diana where she suggests the whole “wearing the flag” thing is actually backwards. Turns out Betsy Ross may have known some Amazons and gotten some ideas from them…. :)
Needs more thigh holster ;-)
Clearly this is just a publicity stunt (a la death of Superman, Killing of Bruce Waybe et al) and it’s working – just look at the amount of posts generated on what I believe to be the thinking persons movie site.
Love it or loathe it, WW’s stars and stripes are a very iconic part of the DC pantheon and they (much like Coke Classic) will return very soon with a “The fans demanded it” tagline.
I’ve seen a lot more women complaining about this look on Twitter than guys, who haven’t really chimed in at all. Even Nikki Finke made a post about it.
I can forgive any mis-proportional artwork, as it’s a Jim Lee drawing and that dude can’t draw proportionally.
The only actual issue I take with the costume are the bracelets. WW traditionally has 4 items going for her:
1 – Her lasso, which is there.
2 – Her invisible transportation, which isn’t present.
3 – Her tiara, which has been used as a weapon; it’s smaller, but there
4 – Her bracelets, which she uses to deflect bullets, and which (at one point) represent Amazonian enslavement by Hercules/Heracles. The ones she is wearing in the new costume are, in my opinion, inferior to the original silver ones.
Other than that, and even including that, this isn’t a noteworthy costume change. It is very much like her 90’s costume and I just do not understand the hoopla.
My major problem with it is that the red “webbing” on it is too reminiscent of Spider-Man for me.
Some fun links
What happened to WW’s old costume
Jim Lee’s Other WW Design
Other Classy WW Redesigns
I love that site.
How can you tell?
I know there’s a place for practical shoes, but there’s something to be said for tradition…
This actually isn’t the first major revamp of her uniform: back in the 1970s she went with an all-white business wear with blazer look that didn’t last too long (it coincided with her losing her Amazon powers and going to a kung-fu mantra). And during the 1990s when the comics were messing with continuity, Wonder Woman lost her job title to Artemis and Diana went with an all-brown spandex midriff-exposed look (later Artemis “died” and Diana got her job back).
Also wik: her pre-Crisis World War II era outfit was with a short skirt. Her mid-70s/Post-Crisis outfit was the swimsuit hip-hugger version popularized by Lynda Carter.
Can I just say that Wonder Woman has marvelous thighs? There, got it out of my system…
As for this outfit… at least it’s an upgrade from the more sexist elements of her primary costume. But losing the metal breastplate with eagle symbol? Fingerless gloves? Consider me underwhelmed.
There wouldn’t have been anything wrong if they had gone with a pleated leather knee-length skirt. There’s a Greek/Roman skirt design that looks like layered strips of leather armor, but I’m not a fashion expert so I don’t know what you call that style. I think Xena wore it.
Memo to JMS, Jim Lee, and DC Comics:
The 90’s called. They want their gutless, bloodless, accessory-obsessed concepts of costume design back.
Honestly, this costume is so chicken-shit it’s unbelievable to me.
“OK, we’ll keep the bustier, but it’ll be OK cause we’ll cover it in one of Superboy’s old jackets.” (Those comparisons are never going away, guys.)
The fingerless gauntlets are very “Flashdance”. All she needs are legwarmers. But at least they don’t cover up her manicure.
And speaking of legwarmers, what the hell is she wearing on her legs? Are they waist-high boots? Then why are they completely shapeless? Or are they leggings? But if so, where are her shoes? and what are those strappy things on her for ankles anyway?
It’s a look designed to be taken seriously as a warrior…
I really don’t see how.
She can close it up to pass unnoticed…
Perhaps then “superhero costume” wasn’t the right outfit choice to begin with. Also, that jacket barely comes down to her bust.
…open it for the freedom to fight…
This seems like the important part.
…lose the jacket…
Yes! Go with this impulse!
…or keep it on…it has pockets (the other fan question, “where does she carry anything in that outfit?”, it can be accessorized…
Oh for fuck’s sake, man! She’s a comic book superhero, not a goddamn Barbie doll! Look, if you’re not going to take this seriously, like at all…
“Seriously?” How can anyone talk of taking this “seriously” after looking at the history of bizarre, ridiculous, and gravitationally impossible getups this character has been stuck with 99% of the time?
Fanboy ranting aside: while far from perfect from a feminist or even a humanist point of view, at least this newest costume has the inescapable logical advantage of being physically plausible.
Regarding the physical plausibility of Wonder Woman’s costume, my pet geek theory:
We know that Amazon technology can build an invisible plane. We know the plane has seats and seat belts, which are presumably made of some sort of fabric. Invisible fabric, which can have many other practical applications.
I submit that Wonder Woman’s outfit is designed by Amazon artisans, and enhanced by said fabric such that it provides support wherever necessary.
Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there!
@David
Actually, the inviso-plane was ret-conned (retroactive continuity) for the modern age into being morphable invisible alien technology that she acquired during her adventures; non-Amazonian in nature.
In the recent Justice League cartoon movie where they fight the Crime Syndicate, there is an alternate origin for her invisible jet that also does not include Amazons.
That all having been said, the finger things between the index and middle fingers look uncomfortable.
Oh yes, I read comic books for the physical plausibility.
Where’s James Kakalios when you need him?
I see lots of talk about the costume, but hardly any about it being J. Michael Straczynski who is writing it. This is the guy behind the awesome Babylon 5 series. With that in mind, I think we should give him a chance to see he plans to do with the character. Seems like most people are ready to condemn the new direction, off a single picture, before even seeing the first new issue.
Ultimately, it will live or die based on whether the new comic books sell. I will be interested to see what some sort of reviews the new issue gets, though I’ve never been a big comic book person myself.
If you want her to be taken seriously as a warrior why would you put her in that? Honestly I understand the problems with the original but George Perez has put her in armor on several occasions and I think that was the way to go to keep it iconic and easily identifiable but making it a little more realistic.
I really like the new costume, honestly. Maybe I just have thing for leather jackets :p But seriously, the old one was absurd. This looks much better.
The problem with JMS writing comics is that he has yet to be able to finish what he started. I give, as an example, his Marvel Comics series “The Twelve”.
Give her a white mohawk and you got Storm from the 1980’s Uncanny X-men.
It must be annoying to constantly push up the sleeves on that jacket.
For what it’s worth, I just asked my 9-yr-old daughter “What do you think?” and her snap reaction was: “They. Are. Crazy.”
“Why?”
“I like the old costume better–it was more superhero-y. This one looks like what a normal person would wear, just with more gold and jewelry.”
Maybe she has a point. I understand the need to make WW’s outfit less sexualized, but maybe there could have been a way to do this without making the outfit so pedestrian; the armor that I and others have mentioned would have been one solution. (I also like some of the Spartan-warrior-type costumes in JoshDM’s link about other WW redesigns.)
The best superhero costumes are sui generis, a little (or a lot) outrageous, and nothing that could be mistaken for ordinary garb: Superman’s cape and tights, Batman’s pointy ears, Spider-Man’s entire outfit. Lasso and accessories aside, Wonder Woman’s new costume isn’t beyond the pale of what a merely mortal fashionista might wear. It’s eye-catching, but not larger-than-life, not mythic. And Wonder Woman, I think, needs to be mythic.
Isn’t this rather a weird question to ask on a forum which is continually taking men to task for judging women by their appearance?
Oh, well. Since MaryAnn asked the question, it only seems polite to answer it.
Then there was that brief period in the late 20th century–I’d be more specific if I were Sheldon Cooper but I’m not so I won’t be–when they replaced the American flag with the letter “W”–but apparently that costume change bit the dust when George Perez rebooted the series. And judging from the pre-Perez sales figures, there apparently wasn’t a whole lot of support for the “W” costume change, anyway, which makes me wonder how long this change will stick around.
Hey, I’m a bit of a leg man myself so I’m not gonna kvetch.
And give her a slightly larger jacket, a blonde wig, fishnet stockings and an all-black dress code and you got the Black Canary, yet another DC character who has been criticized for her costume.
The more things change…
This bit, of course, was supposed to be in blockquotes:
Bad proofreaders. Bad, bad proofreaders…
Of course, we can all agree that a lot of male comic book fans found the various incarnations of Catwoman sexy–and she was never half-naked in any of her appearances. But, alas, she’s a villain so I’m guessing she doesn’t count.
I’m no fan at all- the minuscule stars and stripes thing was always a huge turn off, but I really, really like that.
My body type has been thoroughly out of style for a long time- doesn’t exist in Hollywood, definitely doesn’t exist in fashion, and clothes that fit are almost impossible to find. The only place it ever seems to show up nowadays is poured into insultingly tiny metal bikinis in geeky stuff. So to see a superhero and go wow, she may be a drawing, but she has the same body type as me, she’s wearing a costumed up version of something I would actually wear if I was in better shape, and if I got into much better (but realistic) shape it would probably fit perfectly- wow. I’m not used to that. It’s really cool.
My only objection is that you don’t get boobs that size naturally without a fluffy stomach to match, no matter how much muscle you have under the fluff. But that’s minor. She’s not bulky, but women who are really into martial arts (at least in my family) don’t get big muscles, they get really lean, strong muscles.
The Babylon 5 guy is writing it, the plot sounds interesting, and the costume isn’t insulting for once. I may have to check it out… Also, I wish I had a jacket like that.
They actually aren’t. I measured them proportionally and they’re the same as mine at least. But then there’s a reason I never tuck my shirt in…
Perhaps you’ve seen to many runway models with no hips wearing low riders? Because that’s about how leaner women with hips are actually proportioned. We just hide them under long tops because it looks weird by modern standards otherwise.
Totally agreed on all points there except for the hair. My hair was long enough to sit on all through highschool and it was actually far more practical for athletic things than you would think, even when it wasn’t pulled back. It’s a lot easier to take care of than shorter hair, and the weight and length actually keep it out of the way. The only big danger for a superhero is that in a nasty sort of fight it’s something easy to grab.
Um, no. Do you think I’m asking you to judge the worth of Wonder Woman as a person? Are you incapable of separating a character’s worth from how that character is presented to audiences?
Or are you just yanking my chain?
I’m actually one of the few people who’s advocated a more belivable outfit for Wonder Woman, so I don’t mind it. What I find inexplicable is changing the background. Oh, look! Let’s combine Superman and Batman’s stories, as opposed to letting the premiere female superhero keep her own unique history! Oogh.
I’m fond of the old costume, but the new one is not without merit; make the pants blue instead of black, and I’m basically sold.
Any long-time reader of the Comics Curmudgeon has been terrorized a sketch of Mary Worth in the “old” Wonder Woman costume. I wonder if she’d borrowed it from Diana and refused to give it back…
This sould make an interesting storyline for a comic series or a movie. The central theme could be…. IDENTITY THEFT!!
Someone steals Wonder Woman’s identity,and uses an new costume to establish herself as a new crimefighter. All the while,the Real Wonder Woman(in the Original Costume )is exiled to the Phantom Zone. While she fights her way out(over a period of several issues),the “new” Wonder Woman is accepted and admired by the public.Other heroes(Superman,Green Lantern)aren’t quite sure what to make of her yet,but they allow her to work with the Justice League on occasion. The one hero who doesn’t like her AT ALL is Black Canary.
A few issues later,the Original Wonder Woman frees herself from the Zone and comes back to Earth to meet….and do battle with….the New Wonder Woman. The winner must LEAVE EARTH FOREVER!!!
How’s THAT for a comic storyline? Please,hit me with some feedback.
I like the new outfit (I’m the only one who liked the 90s outfits), but hate the storyline. Even if it’s eventually “fixed,” it’s still overdone. And as my ex said (to paraphrase), “They had to recon her entire history just to give her PANTS?”