- FIONNA & CAKE Gets Second Printing Comics and Graphic NovelsJanuary 11, 2013
- Pull Back the Curtain with “Comics About Cartoonists” Publisher UpdatesJanuary 10, 2013
- The Savage Side of Wolverine Publisher UpdatesJanuary 10, 2013
Wonder Woman’s Costume Is Political Hot Potato
With a massive environmental disaster washing up on their beaches, two on-going wars, a potential double dip Great Recession looming and a new appointee for the Supreme Court being questioned by Congress, Americans are consumed by Wonder Woman’s new costume. The story has cut a swath through the national media since it was broken by the New York Times (with exclusive images provided by DC Comics) on June 31. Initial reporting focused on the style of the superheroine’s new togs, but the debate has taken an interesting political turn since a Fox News piece yesterday. Fox spun the change as a sign that patriotism was being left behind in favor of globalization and hundreds of T-baggers jumped in to agree.
Fox News said:
Wonder Woman may have finally been given a pair of pants, but has she been stripped of her patriotism?
The new and allegedly improved Wonder Woman (a.k.a Diana Prince), has been given a head-to-toe makeover by artist Jim Lee, replacing her signature American flag decorated briefs with skintight black pants and purging the super hero of all her trappings of Americana.
Fox quotes an anonymous “comic book artist who has worked with DC Comics, which publishes the Wonder Woman comic books and owns her image, says the removal of the flag symbolism probably has a lot to do with international commercial intentions.”
“This new sleek and fashionable Wonder Woman will translate well to a film franchise centered on a female action hero. That wouldn’t have worked as well with the bright and flashy red, white and blue costume, and it definitely wouldn’t have played in the very lucrative international markets,” said the artist, who wished not to be named because of ties to DC. “The new Wonder Woman costume looks like something you could put on Angelina Jolie, or on one of the bad guys from the ‘Twilight’ saga.”
Indeed a Wonder Woman movie is in development and slated for release in 2013.
Comments on the Fox story piled up with many writers expressing outrage at what they perceived as a liberal perversion of an American patriotic institution.
I agree, change of costume and change of name and history. She is no longer wonder woman defender of what is good and american, she is whorific woman defender of globalization and everything that can be sold for a buck, including your soul.
American are not permitted to cheer too loudly for anyone representing our country for fear of upsetting people of other nations. I, for one, am sick and tired of being to hide my patriotism. Forget all this globalistic garbage. There is nothing wrong with proudly wearing the red, white, and blue or the stars and stripes. If you live in America these symbols represent you no matter what nationality you are. We are AMERICANS first and foremost followed by our other nationalities second and we need to remember that. Hiding Wonder Woman under this new costume is akin to changing Uncle Sam’s clothing. Stop messing with tradition.
I am surprized she is not draped in a mexican flag. What an ugly consume
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
While I agree that the reaction from some of the more conservative views is a bit over the top, I cannot say that I disagree with the “inside source”. WB is a company looking to make money on a property. They will make changes as they see fit. However, for people that read the book, its a temporary change. I don’t see, however that the person that posted this, Veitch, has anything to feel superior over with his gratuitous “T-baggers” comment. He’s no different than the rest in that he uses a derogatory remark to gen up interest in his article.
And may I ask, while there can be a bit of over reactive patriotism out there, why is it okay for other countries to be patriotic, but not the US? I frequently see other countries flying their flags proudly after sporting events, such as FIFA, but for an American to do it, its somehow gaudy and indicating a lack of “worldly intelligence”. Sorry, I just don’t feel the need to apologize for America, if the rest of the world isn’t willing to apologize for their lack of leadership, their unwillingness to stand up to petty thugs and dictators before they create such a mess the UN then asks the US for help… and then blames the US for having to do so.
There are two sides to every story. And plenty of people, while perhaps a bit more strident than necessary, are tired of being told to fork over fortunes in donations, lives of servicemen and women, etc… all the while being looked down on.
I consider myself patriotic, and more or less right-wing in my politics, and I sympathize with much of what the “Tea Party” movement stands for. But I agree that their members (by the way, it’s highly offensive to refer to them as “tea baggers”) should be worrying about other things besides Wonder Woman’s costume change.
Despite the “star spangled bikini,” it’s a little weird to think of Wonder Woman, especially as originally conceived by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter, as an American patriotic icon. She was not, after all, born (or molded from clay) in America, but on Paradise Island, an absolute monarchy. She’s a princess. The old Moulton stories were a bizarre mixture of American patriotic imagery with highly “un-American” concepts such as the idea of slavery and “loving submission” being beneficial. The last reboot established that Wonder Woman was an ambassador *to* America from the foreign nation of Themiscyra (aka Paradise Island) so she couldn’t very well be an American herself. And though I haven’t yet seen the start of the JM Straczynski reboot, I gather part of the premise is that Wonder Woman grew up from a very young age living in America, with only very vague memories of Paradise Island, so the new version of WW might feel *more* identification with America than the old one.
Anyway, I don’t think the people who miss the star-spangled bikini have too much to worry about. Even if the JMS verson of Wonder Woman is a huge hit, I suspect there is too much merchandising and public familiarity connected with the old costume for DC not to bring it back eventually (as they did the *last* time they got rid of it, back in the late 60′s-early 70′s “mod Diana Rigg” period WW.)
I really wonder how many of these outraged conservatives still collect comic books. If they were still in the comic collecting/reading hobby, the re-boot might not be required. Re-boots, removal of powers, death of major characters (and their 2-3 year return) all speak of bringing former readers back into the comic. With a major change, it highlights the comic industry, brings some people back to a comic that is/was floundering. If these pundits and concerned people actually still collected Wonder Woman, she wouldn’t need to have a reboot by JCM/Artist. She would be popular in her Granny Panties as she was when I was a kid, as she was when my dad was a kid. But I no longer read her comic either – and to bring me back into the comic, this reboot is hopefully the trick.
But it is this that has kept me away from Super Hero comics – the marvel House of M, the removal of all mutants, the civil war, the dark age and all these – they last for a couple years of upheavel, but in the end, they return to the normal (Marvel’s new return of the mutants) or past way of comic book life.
Be Well.
Theocrat
As a patriotic American citizen who bleeds red, white and blue and values the foundational principles upon which our great nation was founded, disagrees with the relativism that has for years been eroding the moral values and Christian fabric from which our nation was formed, I heartily endorse the new Wonder Woman costume. It’s never looked better. Jim Lee, and any others responsible for the new design, did an outstanding job in creating the new costume.
Wonder Woman’s original costume, and the ensuing variations, were a product of her character’s story lines during WWII where she, like many other comic book superheroes of that era, fought against the axis powers on the side of the allied powers.
Wonder Woman was not, and has never been, an American by origin. She was, and is, an Amazon ( Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, or Paradise Island ).
Being written as a heroine who is willing to defend people of any nation on our planet does not make her anti-American in the least. Those who believe it does either aren’t familiar with her character and are making their statements based on emotional knee-jerk reaction or, if they are familiar with her actual history are making their statements in spite of the facts and for political partisanship alone.
Regardless of the source of the diatribes they are wrong.
Great job, Jim Lee and DC. Wonder Woman is on my pull list… and I can’t wait to see what the new DC Universe that’s about to be revealed has in store.. Whatever it is I’m sure it will all be as great as Wonder Woman’s new outfit.
I’ve been buying comics since the 1960′s and I’m as excited today as I ever have been.
Thanks,
Tim Kretzer