SubscribeNote: Thanks for all the emails and messages requesting a Project: Rooftop response to DC’s new Wonder Woman’s costume. I obviously had thoughts, but I wanted to check with the rest of the P:R crew. Everyone chimed in last night and this morning with thoughts and ratings, using our usual 1-10 scale. For more on the new Wonder Woman redesign, check out the awesome posts from our pals at Comics Alliance and Robot 6. Okay, here we go. – Dean Trippe
Dean: 7. I don’t really care for it, but remember, it’s a temporary situation. Like Batman or Superman, Wonder Woman’s costume’s never going to stray too far from her iconic look for too long. I liked the recent Terry Dodson redesign, and I think at least half the finalists from our Wonder Woman Wardrobe War contest are better, but while this new look’s here, let’s take a look.
First off, for an alternate reality(ish) take on Wonder Woman, it’s not awful, it just feels random and uninteresting. The inclusion of black seems like a bad call (I mean, visually). In the original design sketch, the pants appear to have similar detailing to the blue jacket, implying a similar material and form. Blue armor-y pants might work. Plain black tight pants feel incongruous with the rest of the look to me. Black jacket and pants or blue jacket and pants would solve this.
The new wristbands are needlessly complicated, and in red and gold in the ratios used here, recall McDonald’s or ketchup and mustard or Iron Spidey more than Wonder Woman, whose simple, iconic bracelets need little improvement. Obviously, these new gauntlets may function entirely differently storywise. In the above page, they seem to leave “W” marks. This extra “W” is a bit counter to my way of thinking, as Diana’s now decorated with two “W” logos, star emblems, an eagle design, and lots of bits of detailing. Wondy’s always had a lot of elements in her uniform, but the extra “W” bugs me. Why not use the same shape from her, um, bosom clasp?
Most problematically, while the announcement at DC’s The Source blog called this look “modern,” befitting a “street-fighter” and a “warrior,” I’m just not seeing any of that. The choker, shoulder pads, and rolled up jacket sleeves all seem very dated to me, and while pants will probably appeal to a lot of folks fighting for female heroes to dress more sensibly, I don’t see this strappy top as any more sensible than Diana’s usual look. This fashion backwards trend is incredibly common in superheroine redesign, as we saw in the last big Supergirl update, which included the already-ten-years-late belly shirt for no reason.
To my eyes, the detailed, jewelry-like appearance of her new tiara and belt look more fragile, less battle-ready than her traditional look. Again, I don’t hate it, I just think it could’ve been really slick with another pass. But who’s going to ask Jim Lee for one? I flipping love Jim Lee’s art. His work has gravitas and power, and makes the phrase “mainstream superhero comics” sound awesome for 22 pages at a time. But I tend to not care for his superhero redesigns. Remember his dog-collared Kyle Rayner Green Lantern? His belly-windowed Huntress? His short-sleeve, logo-gauntleted (hey, wait a minute) Superman for Wizard magazine? All weak designs that look passably cool when he draws them, and terrible when anyone else does.
Like a lot of things in superhero books these days, this new Wonder Woman smacks of attempting to make the character more film-ready, paradoxically, by making them less iconic, less recognizable to the public. Female costume redesigns are the area I’m the most nit-picky about, though, so let’s see how long this look lasts before worrying about it too much. (Stephanie Brown’s new Batgirl look on the other hand…sigh.) And, all of this said, I think the new series artist Don Kramer is drawing the hell out of the preview page, and while I’ll probably be skipping his new Superman run, I’m down for a timestream altering in-continuity Wonder Woman retcon by J. Michael Straczynski.
Chris: 8. Wow. Regardless of where people’s opinions come down on this design, I’ve got to give DC some respect for doing such a drastic redesign of one of their key characters. Just realize for a second—this isn’t an alternate, ultimate or Earth One version…this is THE character. I think the last time something this drastic has been done on a flagship character was probably the electric Superman of the late 90s. Anyway, getting into my personal feelings on this—I’m cautiously optimistic here. While I’m in lock-step with Dean on the pants issue (I’d rather see a dark blue with the piping like in the Jim Lee sketch than in the comic pages), the rest of it could be good. Notice how the costume is played out in the silhouette here, giving those gold elements play over a black silhouette. With the design Jim’s done here, he’s prioritized those gold elements (the tiara, the bracelets, the belts), giving some clue that these aren’t just nameless things but probably have some mythical powers of their own. The jacket to me reads like something out of Rogue’s 80s wardrobe, but I think WW might be able to pull it off. And with the retcon, it doesn’t erase the original costume—but puts it as the Golden Age costume—much like the Flash has his, and then the Silver age. With what JMS is laying out here, it’s beginning for a cross-time team-up with the original costumed-Wonder Woman, this new current WW, and Wonder Girl. As an aside, given DC Comics close nature with their animation side (recently shown with the new Aqualad debuting near simultaneously in print and in animation), I’m interested to see how soon this design bleeds over to other iterations of the character.
Tim: 6.5. I like the pants. But she’s wearing what looks like Animal Man’s Member’s Only jacket from 1989 (and it apparently shrunk in the dryer in the past two decades) and spurs and wrist guards for bowling. Watch out, Friday night bowling leaguers! It’s a pretty hideous mess of an ensemble, overall, even if I like some of the parts—like the belt and the size of the WW insignia. And the Jim Lee top looks different—in terms of amount of skin showing—than the one Don Kramer’s drawing on the page. I have a feeling that this will be looked back on the way we look back at the Mike Sekowky run now. “Wonder Woman went through a phase where she dressed like THAT?” Actually, it won’t even have the charm of the Sekowsky period. It will just seem bland and weirdly dated, even though this looks nothing like the fashion of today.
Still. I don’t really like anything about Wonder Woman’s more traditional costume, as seen in Gail Simone’s recently-concluded run. It’s iconic, sure. But it is a ridiculous costume for anyone to wear, outside of some oddball Toddlers In Tiaras reunion show.
(Though I will add that I showed the picture to my six-year-old daughter, who is a gigantic Wonder Woman fan and a girl who draws fashion portraits on every scrap of paper around the house, and she saw it and said: Ten! Ten, ten, ten. Ten, ten, tennnn! So there’s that.)
Jessi: 4.5. One would assume that Lee was going for more of a modern, street warrior look with the redesign, but it’s incredibly outdated. In this get up, Diana would fit in more with one of the gangs from ‘The Warriors’ than she would in the JLA. Perhaps this Wonder Woman design took a page out of Cassie Sandsmark’s book with the bustier type top and jeans. Tight Boots? What are those shoes she’s wearing, exactly? I have to agree with Dean that her tiara and metallic accessories look a tad too fragile and not tough enough. This is Diana, Princess of the Amazons for christ’s sake! She’s stronger than Hercules. She kicks ass and needs a super outfit to express that you shouldn’t mess with her. She doesn’t need a ‘W’ brander on her gauntlets for baddies to know who just whooped their butts. Instead of “baddass,” though, this new look is more appropriate for a background dancer in Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” video. I also have to point out that any of the artists’ redesigns featured in the Wonder Woman Wardrobe War contest would have been so much better.
Khouri: 1. My Zatanna-cosplaying girlfriend just walked in, saw this Wonder Woman design, asked what it was and remarked, “Kind of looks like a tranny mess if you ask me.” I don’t think I have anything more to add.
Jon: 0. My immediate reactions:
- Ah, it’s Jim Lee, is it? In case it’s been unnoticed up until now, here’s how Jim Lee designs superhero costumes: he designs a perfectly passable if unremarkable superhero costume. Then he puts a jacket on it. I kid, or course, sometimes he puts an overcoat on it.
- I cannot believe it’s got a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up AND fingerless gloves. Where’s her Lennon glasses and single earring? How will readers know how extremely Nineties she is without Lennon glasses and a single earring??
- It doesn’t help that the illustration up top is posed so that it looks like they’ve Photoshopped out her cigarette. “Light me up, Ares?” She looks like an Aerosmith groupie. She looks like an Aerosmith groupie’s mom … who is also an Aerosmith groupie
- Additionally—I just noticed that her enormous carpal tunnel-support wrist braces leave “W” shaped scars on her opponents’ heads. Oh good. So, after Blackest Night – after Diana was given a Star Sapphire power ring and tuned into the unfiltered overwhelming cosmic font of pure unadulterated love and the readers were promised (once again) that the dark times were over and we’re due for a return to good ol’-fashioned heroism -Wonder Woman has decided that what she really heroically loves is smashing her John Hancock onto anonymous thugs’ faces. Perhaps they can arrange it that her lasso leaves rope burns and her tiara can have a spring-loaded boxing glove in it that smashes villains’ noses in and also maybe she can spend a lot of time parking the invisible plane’s back wheels on her enemies, then locking the front wheels and spinning out.
ANYWAY, with that out of my system, here’s what’s wrong with this costume: There is nothing strong about it. It has no interesting shape, silhouette, color or branding. No lines draw the eye anywhere interesting or define anything significant. Every element is given as much strength and focus as the others. It is thoroughly uniconic. Wonder Woman is an icon. She needs an iconic look. This ain’t it, a thousand times no.
Vito: 7.5. I don’t hate it. It has actually grown on me in the 12 hours or so since I’ve seen it. But, since I didn’t give it a 10, I have to have some problems with it, right? First fix, ace that jacket. When Artemis was Wonder Woman for a year or so, Diana had a similar jacket and spandex spanks on…and it was awful. This jacket, while designed better, just brings to mind that outfit. I think the shirt under is plenty and it could be the costume staple. I’d agree to navy blue pants with maybe fifty small stars going down the sides, but the black doesn’t necessarily disagree with me. There was no need to change the bracelets or the tiara, but to me, those are minor infractions. Bottom line is this; when we do these roundtables on redesigns, the one question I always ask myself (above function and artist ability) is whether or not I recognize the character in the piece. Robin has to have an “R.” Superman has to have an “S.” Captain America needs to look like the flag. Wonder Woman…while she doesn’t need to wear a bustier or a one-piece bathing suit, does need to embody femininity (not necessarily feminism, per se). When P:RT did the Wonder Woman Wardrobe War contest, I opted out of judging because I had some strong feelings about what a Wonder Woman costume redesign should entail, but I wanted to throw two up here as examples of what should and could have been used by DC to get all that I want out of a new look. First, Joe Quinones (who was the winner of our contest) should have been called purely for his imagination. But, if you were dead set on using pants, then Yasmin Liang has what I think is the perfect look. Bottom line, whether or not this is permanent or temporary, we have to assume that Jim Lee’s design serves a purpose, and that it serves the story Straczynski is writing. I don’t know how readily fans are willing to embrace the new look (as I mention in this interview that literally happened as I was writing this) but I think we’re all guilty, myself included, of holding on too tightly.
Rachel: 6. It’s not bad, and there are elements I really like, but it’s not iconic or visually consistent. The elements seem to come from about three different costumes, and the choppy lines affect the flow. Also, it screams 90s Rogue.
As for the leggings, I like the idea more than the execution. A field of black that large—and, like most superheroines, WW has Barbie proportions, so her legs are disproportionately long—throws off the balance of the outfit.
In summary: I’m not floored, but there’s potential, and I’ll be watching to see how it evolves across artists and stories.
Dean: Good thoughts, everyone! I think Rachel’s “It’s not bad…but it’s not iconic or visually consistent,” sums it up pretty well. Looking around the nerdosphere, it looks like DC’s already in defense-mode on the change. While I don’t think all the criticism is going to change anything about this look, I do hope DC and other comics companies do take notice, and maybe they’ll start to realize that major character costume redesign is important and requires more for public appreciation than a superstar artist’s signature. That’s part of our mission here at Project: Rooftop.
Now, let us know what you think about Wonder Woman’s new look in the comments!
Tom Brazelton
/ June 30, 2010I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this redesign of Wonder Woman’s costume looks like Diana raided Black Canary’s wardrobe. It’s like they put a leather jacket on her because they couldn’t think of anything else for her to wear.
Rick
/ June 30, 2010The jacket makes the costume seem to 90′s but at the same time if you remove the Jacket it just becomes Bland
my favorite WW costume is this one: http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz302/rvancetal/RuckWW.jpg
WhitneyD
/ June 30, 2010I really don’t like the leggings. Mostly because you can tell they were trying to work in some details that are impossible to see in a dark blue/black field. So there are a fair amount of details and structure in the rest of her costume and then it looks like they just hit fill in Photoshop. And, who wears a choker these days?
I’m intrigued by the gauntlets, mostly because that seems to be part of the most obvious change to her character by the change in history. I’m willing to go along with that. But the bridal tiara needs to be more substantial and the choker has to go. Plus, nobody wears cropped jackets like that. She could have something longer and it’d look great.
In short- ditch the choker, make the leggings a bit more interesting and get the woman some boots!
Tom
/ June 30, 2010This was the first thing that came to mind.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p44/automaticdaddy/NewWonderWomandesign.jpg?t=1277930567
Chris G
/ June 30, 2010I don’t nerd rage about these things anymore. I don’t care that they’ve tweaked Wonder Woman’s outfit and origin but the WAY Lee redesigned is uninspired and phoned in. The jacket is tacked on and will not really be of any use in battle or whatever. The pants make her look like a ballet instructor. It’s rough but Lee drew some seams in there to imply it is some kind of armor but Kramer is drawing them as simply black shiny pants. Some seams, shoe laces and soles would make it look like something she’d street fight in rather than 80′s tights and a 90′s short jacket. The bustier is pretty nice though they’ve still managed to force some cleavage out of it even though it rides up more than past designs have!
Mike Lunsford
/ June 30, 2010yeah first thing I thought was “Black Canary”….but really its just the jacket, this design seems incredibly dated for something that is trying to look modern. Actually lose the jacket and its not half bad.
Furious Williams
/ June 30, 2010I think you’ve all summed up my feelings on this. I basically, applaud the effort (of redesigning a mainstream iconic character), but I am put off by the 90′s style coat and spandex look. For Dianna to have access to a super-model colleague, I can’t believe that she’d wear the coat. If it were not for the coat, I think I’d almost like this… sort of.
(I also hate the gold strappy things around her feet and the little tiara thing.)
J. Evan
/ June 30, 2010I don’t like this trend of taking American flag-themed costumes and redesigning them by making the entire lower half black. Utterly unimaginative.
Alex
/ June 30, 2010I really don’t think it’s THAT bad. I’d just nix the jacket, it looks out-of-place with the rest of the ensemble. But otherwise, I don’t think it’s atrocious or anything.
James Figueiredo
/ June 30, 2010This is awful beyond belief – I mean, it IS clearly a Jim Lee design (Jon hit the point right in the head), but even so…wow. For all the talk about how out-of-touch, and insular, and oh-she-needs-to-appeal-to-new-readers-in-the-new-century, you’d expect AT LEAST some effort in actually pulling that off. This design looks absolutely generic and dated, what’s remotely “iconic” about it?
Andrew
/ June 30, 2010Jon’s review made me spit coffee all over my keyboard and monitor. I’ll be sending him an invoice for new ones.
But seriously. Spot on. I had some opinions too:
http://bossbattle.tumblr.com/post/753911401/anopenlettertojimlee
dnwilliams
/ June 30, 2010The jacket and choker are what really kill this design. Shorten the boots on the Joe Quinones design and it’s perfect…I find it weird that DC don’t pool their talent on things like this.
Travis Surber
/ June 30, 2010So we steal Superboy’s 90′s outfit and give her a twist on Batman’s origin so she’s a street warrior instead of an Amazon and she’s relevant?
Wonder Woman is an Amazon.She is the second strongest hero on Earth.She is powered by the gods.DC already has a street level fighter it’s Batman.Wonder Woman needs to battle monsters and legends.She needs to be on the frontline protecting us from rampaging gods and crazy magic wielders.She needs to look like a warrior not a New Warrior.
Francesca
/ June 30, 2010HOLY BAJEEBUS
She does look like an escapee from the 90s. Even the little pose is just so… Jubilee putting up her fireworks. No. No. No.
For a temporary look its painful. Just painful. Can Tim Gunn comment please…
Aquaman
/ June 30, 2010I think Jon’s thoughts are dead on. Great review Jon. Overall I think you all have gotten the idea. Sure it’s new, but it’s not iconic. It’s 90′s Superboy meets Black Canary.
Jemma Salume
/ June 30, 2010Gotta respectfully disagree with like, everybody here. This new design is an awesome party, and everything I could have possibly wanted to happen in WW’s costume — Leg covering! Flat shoe soles replace go-go stripper boots! Her top isn’t an armored swimsuit anymore! Interest in her bracers! Her hair is a reasonable length! Badass removable armored jacket!
Sure, it’s hella 90s, but like, the “iconic” (blech) getup is hella *40s*. I’d rather she be 10 years out of date and obviously designed by Jim-freaking-Lee than *70* years out of date, and obviously designed by an bondage s&m fetishist.
Here’s hoping this revamp leads to the Wondy-punching-everybody movie of my fangirl dreams! Her lasso will snare the heavens! Woohoo!
TBolt
/ June 30, 2010lose the idiot jacket and the pants and it might be ok. Keep the top with the old school star spangled longer shorts
Dean
/ June 30, 2010I think the Dodson update will always be my favorite. Combined double-W and eagle emblems, boots without heels, etc. It’s so Wonder Woman, most people don’t even notice the changes. Like my Supergirl redesign.
http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv113/erick_nerites/WW_Cv5_solicit.jpg
TBolt
/ June 30, 2010ohh, and Alex Ross and Jim Lee please stop redesigning iconic characters.
dnwilliams
/ June 30, 2010I actually think a skirt is preferable to the star spangled panties AND the black leggings she’s got going on now.
Wonder Woman’s costume should literally be a more colorful version of this: http://tinyurl.com/grecianwarrior
Blue
/ June 30, 2010As soon as I heard about the redesign I felt compelled to do one of my own. I’d love to hear some thoughts.
http://bluedelliquanti.blogspot.com/2010/06/re-new-wonder-woman-costume.html
And, yeah, I did just discover your guys’ earlier Wonder Woman contest. I’m a bit late to the party, but I regret nothing! :P
Alyssa
/ June 30, 2010It looks like J. Michael Straczynski had a lot of specific requests regarding the costume:
http://comics.ign.com/articles/110/1102826p3.html
“So my requests were pretty specific: toughen her look, make it more dynamic, more serious. Give her leggings or pants, keep some of the more iconic elements but incorporate them into a more streetwise, urban look which is what she’d have access to. Give her something that she could wear without drawing too much attention beneath a jacket, which she could take off or keep on for actions scenes and when she reveals herself. Make the bracelets more stylish, tied on the inside and over her fingers, even more beautiful looking but also more dangerous, with a script W on them that she can cross to reveal the WW, and which leave a mark when she hits you with it. This is a woman who signs her work. It took a long while to get to a final design, but I’m very, very happy with the result.”
Adam
/ June 30, 2010I’m with Jemma. I think its an awesome costume but it just needs to be reworked a smidgen. Lose the choker, Simplify the belt, bodice and tiara, get the old bracelets back and make the jacket less bulky. That being said though, even though I love this costume I really can’t see Diana wearing this. To me this seems more like a costume Cassie would wear.
I would just like to make it very clear that I love those pants!
Dean
/ June 30, 2010Adam: “I love it. They should change it a bunch, and it’s not right for this character. But I love it.” ;)
Jean Sinclair
/ June 30, 2010Hey someone tells to Jim Lee to add the Rollerblades in-line and a MP3 player loaded of Avril Lavigne songs on her outfit. He forgot those itens.
JEEZ!!! I HATED THIS! This agreat example how to destroy a myth.
Best wishes.
Jemma Salume
/ June 30, 2010Dean, why you gotta be like that to the only dude that agrees with me? Help a girl out, here! :P
S.H. Segal
/ June 30, 2010I’m pretty much with Jemma too. The design ain’t perfect, but it feels like a step toward a character that might actually attract a new audience. (Though Lee’s design drawing looks way classier than that promo piece with the flag and the logo and the insanely gratuitous cleavage.)
Actually, I’m surprised that no one here finds it at all reminiscent of Jamie McKelvie’s awesome 2006 P:R redesign (which has stronger lines but a less traditional palette): http://www.tencentticker.com/projectrooftop/2006/04/26/wonder-woman-by-jamie-mckelvie/
Mat
/ June 30, 2010Huh… Leggings (possible jeggings)… Denim jacket… Costume jewelry… Kind of looks like wonder-woman turned hipster; give her a can of PBR and her super power is sarcasm and her weakness is apathy!
Calvin Vankeersbilck
/ June 30, 2010I think this works exactly as well as the electric blue superman worked. I like the idea of giving her pants and sleeves but the execution is so far off. I don’t know why she’s wearing a choker.. no one wears those. I never see those ever. Why would wonder woman wear one?
I think it was actually really bold of JMS to knock the Mod design while he promoted this look. Although I agree that was a pretty bad era for Wonder Woman (although Mod is personally my favorite time period of fashion) this is just as out of touch.
In comic history usually the best design changes are the ones that come subtly like Tim Drakes Robin outfit, the original design is there but with something a little more dignified and sensible rather than an outfit that’s a total change from the original design.
Dean
/ June 30, 2010S.H. – I think Jamie’s is lightyears better. The color scheme is simplified to avoid tackiness, the clothing articles are modern (and make physical sense), and the logos aren’t overly complicated.
Adam
/ June 30, 2010Dean: There’s a old saying Dean, “You hurt the ones you love” and as much as I do love the new costume as a whole, its those elements that I feel make it overly complicated and redundant. In many ways, Jemma’s latest contribution in Fan-Art Fridays is exactly what I was thinking about. It’s simpler, sturdier and all together less zeitgeisty. All I’m saying is, it’s a step in the right direction.
As for the character, well I’ll admit as much as I know (or hope) this is going to be a temporary change as all great costume changes are in comic history are (Black Symbiote Spider-man suit anyone) this just doesn’t say Diana to me. I don’t know, maybe I’m too stuck in my ways when it comes to THE comic book superheroine but all I get from this when I see it is Cassie Sandsmark. Wierd I know.
Viktor
/ June 30, 2010I think this outfit has potential, it just needs minor alterations. Lose the jacket, simple blue pants or black with a bit of piping, dump the filigree on her belt(which will happen the instant the artist draws it in a dozen panels), and give the woman some shoes. Other than the jacket, these are minor changes, but I think it could make a big difference in how it looks(simpler and less nineties).
And lose the backstory-retcon, but I’m pretty sure that’s going to happen as soon as the movie comes out anyways. The real question is what she’ll wear after that.
lizzelizzel
/ June 30, 2010Yikes! They chose to go with leggings right when they were, once again, beginning to go out of style!
Hoylus
/ July 1, 2010Here’s the thing.
I saw this response to the response to the redesign of the costume on The Source:
“They give Wonder Woman modest, more practical clothes and the fans FREAK”
And I wondered what people thought?
For me, there is a problem when an acceptable super heroine costume is this – http://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/322132551_f843c6067d.jpg
But, ultimately is what we have been given here an achievement?
To take an iconic super-hero and give them a ‘more modest and practical’ look?
Does Batman have a ‘modest’ or ‘practical’ look? (I mean, the cowl in reality would limit his field of vision, the cape isn’t exactly going to work for acrobatics and martial arts.) Superman (pants on the outside and no mask or gloves when you go to such lengths to hide your identity?). and all superhero costumes are skintight. Not modest.
For me, a superhero costume must first be iconic.
Because a superhero in jeggings and a leather jacket is… boring.
Michael Heide
/ July 1, 2010> I’d rather she be 10 years out of date and obviously designed by
> Jim-freaking-Lee than *70* years out of date, and obviously
> designed by an bondage s&m fetishist.
Amen.
I love the new costume. It’s more practical AND less sexist than the non-timeless original or the countless minor variations of it, while still looking like something that Wonder Woman would wear, especially under the circumstances in the story.
Brodie
/ July 1, 2010Those silly Ws on the bracelets are going to look like Ms 90% of the time too.
Hoylus: I don’t think anyone is going to argue that the costume you link to is a great costume. We’re just not freaking out about it as much because we don’t care about her like we do about Wonder Woman. WW is an icon and deserves to look like it.
King
/ July 1, 2010“a tranny mess”
Booooooooo
QoE
/ July 1, 2010It sucks and it’s obvious a man designed it. Judging from the comments above, men can’t seem to fathom a women fighting if she has any skin showing. WW has kicked plenty of ass with her iconic outfit. If anything, I agree with DNwilliams about the older, Greek, look.
BTW, kids, Members Only jackets, single earrings and leggings are from all the way back in the 80s – so these are some seriously outdated togs….
Dean
/ July 1, 2010THOSE DAMNED MEN.
Robert
/ July 1, 2010While I’m not a fan of the new outfit, I don’t completely dislike it. I think it just needs some simple editing – Use bracelets instead of gauntlets, take off the jacket and choker, and I think you’ll have something passable. Where’s Tim Gunn when you need him?
Calvin Vankeersbilck
/ July 1, 2010I don’t see it as being a more modest costume. After seeing the costume in action during wonder woman 600 there are so many beefcake panels in there that it looks just as modest as it always did. So if what they were going for is modesty I think they really failed in that department. Personally I’d give her a western dress, with a type of pant underneath. Not skin tight. She’s a strong female character, but her costume has never really said that. She should look feminine and always respectable.
Chad
/ July 1, 2010I really shouldn’t have gotten discouraged after the whole Barda fiasco. I made a long-pants Diana suit a long time ago. It even had stirrups! I shoulda submitted it when you all had the WW competition.
Lexie
/ July 1, 2010I really like the redesign; I think it’s a step up over the old costume in terms of practicality, and I’m big on that.
And for the record, reading the word ‘tranny’ startled me. It’s a pejorative, especially in the context of the phrase “tranny mess.” Seriously? Not okay.
Ronny
/ July 1, 2010Put a practical design on a normal person. There is nothing normal about Wonder Woman. She’s almost invulnerable with strengths and powers gifted from the gods. Like with most costumed heroes, her previous look was a tad ridiculous but that’s what makes comic books fun. She had a look that was distinct and you could spot her a mile away. Now she just looks like every other comic book character that has donned a leather jacket. The wonderment is gone.
skalja
/ July 1, 2010The weird thing is that many of the fashion trends used in this costume are fashionable RIGHT NOW, but they’re applied in such a dated way.
And I agree with Lexie — “tranny mess,” really? No.
Brodie
/ July 1, 2010I agree with Ronny, with a few exceptions of particularly street-level heroes, I don’t have any desire to see practical, sensible, or muted designs on superheroes. Give me flashy. Give me vibrant. Give me SUPER.
Chad
/ July 1, 2010It’s interesting that we seek to brand Wonder Woman as a super hero but then do further positioning placing her as the kind of hero who doesn’t do street-level cimefighting. I can understand that sentiment, but I’m forced to consider two things: 1. The writer wants to tell a story on a street level, and 2. Who am I to suggest that Wonder Woman, long held as the ultimate super-HEROINE, is above, below, or “doesn’t fit” a certain kind of superhero story.
Batman is a street level hero who owns spaceships and fights on planets as part of the JLA. Superman travels to storybook dimensions, is compared to gods, and has a meager job as a newsman. If Wonder Woman is going to the streets, maybe her brand should seek to INCLUDE the ability to dim the lights or brighten the camp, rather than hem and haw over “appropriateness”.
Mike
/ July 1, 2010Nothing about it tells me anything about the character. She might as well just be one of the many on-stage-off-stage rotating mutants from the X-Men comics.
I wish they’d designed off what she already had rather than what they think she should be wearing. I would go so far as to describe it as a ridiculously conservative design. I think one of the most iconic things for Wonder Woman, to me, is having that bare upper-torso and arms because it shows off the fact that she’s super-strong and, for me at least, conjures images of ‘Diana the Riveter’, especially in the cover on the middle. Drawn there she looks like she could tear apart a tank.
In the new design she looks like she might have torn a nail. That doesn’t look like a warrior, let alone an invulnerable amazon.
Hoylus
/ July 2, 2010Yeah, so we agree.
My point is, although the SS costume is too much I’d prefer it to this – http://www.juicystoreuk.com/images/juicy-couture-tracksuit/juicy-couture-tracksuit-online-pink11.jpg – because at least it goes for something extraordinary.
Superheroes wearing normal clothes is dull.
Pxtl
/ July 2, 2010Honestly, if they’d left off the jacket and the choker they probably could’ve gotten away with it – thanks to Ultimate Thor, I think the simple tank-top costumes are popular with street-fighting bruiser superheroes.
But as it stands, the costume is, I agree, hopelessly dated.
Could somebody explain one thing to me: why does WW dress in the American flag? I mean, I know that Athena gifted her with the wisdom of knowing every language, so she doesn’t obviously come off as woman from a mythical Greek island… but still, she ain’t local.