The Telegraph reports that DC Comics is giving Wonder Woman a new crime-fighting outfit. The all-American tight shorts and strapless top is being replaced with tights and a jacket over the bear shoulders.
Wonder Woman had a “wardrobe issue” that needed to be addressed. “What woman only wears one outfit for 60-plus years?” Mr Straczynski asked.
“She’s been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941,” he told the New York Times. “If you’re going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up and give her a modern sensibility.”
The costume, which will debut in the 600th issue. is also less all-American. According to Jim Lee, the artist who designed the new look: “The original costume was the American flag brought to life. This one is a little more universal.” He conceded that many fans will ask the same question: “Why am I covering up her legs?”
Comic Book Resources notes the reaction from fans and industry commentators has been negative so far.
I can’t say I’m a fan of this look. The outfit looks like a derivative of so many costumes from the 90’s. Back then If you wanted to give a character a “cool edgy” look you threw a jacket on them. DC tried this decades when they took off the tiara and costume and had Wonder Woman dressed like Emma Peel from the “The Avengers” TV series. More troubling is the retro continuity thrown on the character. This can’t last more than a year.
With anything, change takes some “getting used to”…
My take is that the “American Flag” look was very key to her character and the loss of the patriotic look saddens me. Diana embraced her new homeland and proudly carried the red white and blue in her costume as she paid homage to her adopted homeland. It spoke loudly for who the amazon was deep in her heart. The new look just says, hey I’m hot and cool all at the same time… which isn’t bad but just does not sell me on the fact that this character is the true Wonder Women from tales of old.
Just my opinion!
Bear shoulders? Is THAT why she’s so strong? Wlll she shave them or just do the French thing and let it all hang out? This is taking feminism too far IMHO!
I’m all for the change. I never liked Wonder Woman’s outfit.
Ok, let me rephrase that, I always thought Wonder Woman’s outfit was the most unrealistic in practicality for super hero crime fighting.
The new look makes her look alot tougher and not like some runner up from a swim suit competition. But if all you want is masturbatory fantasies from female comic book crime fighters, then stick with the old.
Will she still tie guys up with her “special rope” and make them tell her the truth?
Excellent new wonder woman costume. Great job, Mr. Jim Lee!
It’s about time the character got an updated look! This costume screams interesting things are going to happen to the character and her book’s storylines.
I might just become a wonder woman fan..!!
The magical lasso should be still included w/ the new character costume; and it should be given additional powers too…(just a suggestion, to go with the new look).
I have nothing against changing her outfit and as a Babylon 5 fan I’m almost genetically designed not to argue with Straczynski… but… this outfit is ugly, dated and not suited for a mature super heroine. This is the kind of thing I would expect to see Wonder Girl wearing.
We could argue the impracticality of what super heroes wear all day. Truth is most of them wear silly crap that no one with their powers would be caught dead in.
I agree the loss of the American flag motif is an issue and find the idea that Wonder Woman would “sell” better to an international audience if they lose the American connection offensive as an American patriot.
They need to go back to the drawing board. See what athletic, active women are wearing these days and design something along those lines.
Rob: I was thinking the same thing… Wonder Woman needs a more athletic, more durable getup. The link below leads to what I drew.
http://twitpic.com/21gmt8
“See what athletic, active women are wearing these days and design something along those lines.”
Sports bra and Skids. It’d be a heckuvan improvement over this get up.
I couldn’t resist making a comic about it this week: http://www.supersiblingscomics.com/?p=769
“I always thought Wonder Woman?s outfit was the most unrealistic in practicality for super hero crime fighting.”
She’s got full unrestricted range of motion for her arms and legs! The Wonder Woman outfit is basically a gymnast’s one-piece outfit in keeping with her acrobatic style of combat! Also it works great for all the bondage fantasy stuff!
I said this on Comic Riffs, and I’ll say it here:
“Take away the myth, and you take away the legend. Take away the legend, and you have nothing.”
I want my WW to be the one Alex Ross gave me. An AMAZON!
Absolutely breath-takingly beautiful with a perfect athletic muscularity (like a swimmer, not a weight-lifter) that just enhanced her beauty. I want her to wear that costume, just like I want Superman to wear his traditional costume, not the over-plasticized 3-D PoS that they put Brandon Routh in.
Enough of that. The new look is not new, it’s the same tired retro-punk thing we’ve seen before.
The only costume redesign that really worked was when Spidey got the black and white look during the Outsider storyline.
‘Nuff said-
Yo, Jim Lee-if you’re going to dress her like Madonna, circa 1985, do it up! Give her a pair of fishnet stockings and some cheap, sparkly costume jewelry!
@Duane: Well costume changes for iconic characters almost never stick. How many times in the past say 15 years has Spider-Man been given a new costume only to revert to the classic red and blue? The black suit’s the only one that’s been even remotely memorable. Small stylistic changes happen all the time, but complete redesigns tend to put off existing readers and I don’t think they attract a significant new audience.
Diana’s going to be showing off her legs again in no time.
It’s great! Now she looks just like the rest of the X-Men!