Wonder Woman's new look: At long last, pants!

[stj]

The new backstory turns Wonder Woman into a contemporary woman who happens to have magical powers. It's not that the new costume is wrong for a woman with magical powers like nipple grip. The new costume isn't right for a contemporary woman who's doing serious fighting.

In modern melodrama, animated or not, the young characters are written with much more adult accomplishments but their sensibilities are written much younger. A younger contemporary woman who was dressing up in a costume like this (no way it's working gear) would have the tastes for tattoos.

So it seems to me, anyhow.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Sonia Harris at Comic Book Resources on WW's new costume.

 

[Hermiod]

Sonia Harris at Comic Book Resources on WW's new costume.

So what's her problem? That they redesigned the costume or that a man did it?

Perhaps she could just wear a 'Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them' t-shirt and a pair of baggy combat trousers.

 

[Skywalker]

I improved it a bit since that last doodle with the help of a higher rez version of the picture and getting my tablet to work momentarily. Not particularly polished, but it fixes almost everything I have against the new costume and I think makes it pretty damn snazzy. I'd get rid of the choker too, but that seems like too much effort right now:

Love it. The gold works better than the silver on your original attempt, but it's really the boots that make the biggest difference. I like the "pauldrons" you created out of the jacket, too.

 

[Admiral2]

Sonia Harris at Comic Book Resources on WW's new costume.

So what's her problem? That they redesigned the costume or that a man did it?

Perhaps she could just wear a 'Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them' t-shirt and a pair of baggy combat trousers.

I'm a boy, and I thought the critique was brilliant, and spot on. (In malls, boys ogle girls, not what they're shopping for.)

 

[Guy Gardener]

After reading 600, well most of it. I kind'a started to skim when I began to think it sucked, but JMS does that , sucks for a while till you figure out where he is going and then you have to reevaluate everything...

The mythology and characterization is so off (as if JMS has had the time to read any wonder woman comics in the last 20 years? 40 years even?) that I don't think it's Diana or even possibly I don't think it's Earth I?

If it's not the "real" Wonder Woman, then it hardly matters what she is wearing.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Sonia Harris at Comic Book Resources on WW's new costume.

So what's her problem? That they redesigned the costume or that a man did it?

Perhaps she could just wear a 'Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them' t-shirt and a pair of baggy combat trousers.

I'm too bogged down trying to figure out your problems with women, feminism, WW and DC. Once I get that sorted I'll move on to Sonia Harris.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Sonia Harris at Comic Book Resources on WW's new costume.

So what's her problem? That they redesigned the costume or that a man did it?

Perhaps she could just wear a 'Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them' t-shirt and a pair of baggy combat trousers.

So, after people viciously criticized the new costume as shitty, horrible, unpardonably out-of-character, a pox on everything Wonder Woman stood for (whatever it is), when it's a woman criticizing it from a designer point of view, all of a sudden she's a man-hating lesbian that doesn't shave her armpits?

Uhm, ok. I see what you did there.

 

[Hermiod]

^Read the last paragraph. She seems personally offended that a man designed the new costume.

Nerys - the problem with Wonder Woman us that she isn't allowed to be a person by her supposed iconic status. People need to stop treating her like she's special. P

I don't care if her costume changes or not, only that people stop treating every change like it's some sort of political statement. Wonder Woman's actions define her as a character, not whether or not she wears trousers.

 

[Nerys Myk]

She's a fictional character. She's as much a "person" as most "iconic" superhero characters. So you'll have to elaborate on meaning of that.

 

[iguana_tonante]

^Read the last paragraph. She seems personally offended that a man designed the new costume.

No, she finds it "criminal" that a (typically male) comic-book geek is designing clothes. Hyperboles aside, it's hard to fault her: comic books fashion is rarely current or even tasteful. She's not worried about genders, she's concerned about the iconic look of the character. Also, she appears to love the old costume, and that was designed by a man, too. So your statement makes not sense.

But you just blurred everything except "man" and went for your usual tirade.

 

[Hermiod]

Nerys - Superman has a wife, friends, family, a job. Wonder Woman's not allowed any of that because it makes her 'weak'.

Do we even know what the inside of Diana's bedroom looks like? Does she have photos on her wall of friends and family?

 

[Hermiod]

^Read the last paragraph. She seems personally offended that a man designed the new costume.

No, she finds it "criminal" that a (typically male) comic-book geek is designing clothes. Hyperboles aside, it's hard to fault her: comic books fashion is rarely current or even tasteful. She's not worried about genders, she's concerned about the iconic look of the character. Also, she appears to love the old costume, and that was designed by a man, too.

But you just blurred everything except "man" and went for your usual tirade.

And you blurred out everything except Hermiod and went on yours.

 

[iguana_tonante]

This was your post in its entirety:

So what's her problem? That they redesigned the costume or that a man did it?

Perhaps she could just wear a 'Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them' t-shirt and a pair of baggy combat trousers.

Please, point out at any insightful content that I failed to address.

 

[Hermiod]

This was your post in its entirety:

So what's her problem? That they redesigned the costume or that a man did it?

Perhaps she could just wear a 'Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them' t-shirt and a pair of baggy combat trousers.

Please, point out at any insightful content that I failed to address.

I'm not going through this with you again.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Nerys - Superman has a wife, friends, family, a job. Wonder Woman's not allowed any of that because it makes her 'weak'.

Do we even know what the inside of Diana's bedroom looks like? Does she have photos on her wall of friends and family?

She's had a few jobs, most recently as a government agent. But her main job is being Wonder Woman. Her friends include Steve Trevor, Etta Candy and Cassie Sandsmark. ( to name a few). Her family includes a mother and a sister. I recall seeing pictures of her, Donna and Hippolyte over the years. We saw her apartment in Gail Simone's recent run.

 

[flemm]

Basically that review boils down to:

1) I don't like the new costume because it is not fashionable: Jim Lee is ignorant of current fashion trends and is not qualified to redesign the costume.

2) I like the traditional costume because, though I recognize it is silly, I am used to it, so it doesn't bother me. I will also make an unconvincing attempt to explain how it "speaks volumes about her power" by showing some skin.

3) Last sentence: "Drastically changing Wonder Woman's costume is absolutely criminal, and to do so to a geeky man's specifications is doubly criminal. She is a brand, and icon, and a hero," a sentiment also expressed earlier in the review as a portent of doom: "This low-rent anti-fashion statement cheapens the brand of Wonder Woman, and it's a brand which cannot take this kind of abuse."

I'm certainly willing to take her word on Jim Lee's lack of a fashion sense, but the rest of it strikes me as misguided. Change is good for the brand. It shakes things up and gets people's attention. There's is nothing especially fantastic about the traditional costume anyway, and it would doubtless be the target of withering critiques if it were introduced today. Fans are just used to it, and are therefore willing to produce elaborate justifications for why it is ok, and the new look is "criminal," as is the case in this review.

 

[Hermiod]

Nerys - Well, that's a start I suppose.

I just think she's too burdened by being this iconic figure she's supposed to be. JMS' change helps that a lot but still the complaints about the costume come.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Please, point out at any insightful content that I failed to address.

I'm not going through this with you again.

As you wish. I just find your fervor highly misguided most of the time.

 

[Snaploud]

Gah! I just saw the comic. The preview picture made it look as if the pants were made of some sort of fabric, but the story art uses leather pants. It doesn't look very flattering.