This is going to be an incredibly unpopular opinion, but it’s one that I will defend to the death: the world doesn’t need Wonder Woman. By all accounts, Wonder Woman is a redundant, useless, and pointless character that is surrounded in confusion on all accounts and therefore, she should be forgotten.
Please don’t interpret this as some message about how strong female characters are unnecessary in comics, because that is the farthest thing from the truth. Female role-models are one of the best things about the comic book medium (despite what Women in Refrigerators wants you think). In the superhero world, there are many powerful women who can stand toe to toe with men. Yes, Wonder Woman has been “symbol” for female empowerment for decades now, but I can’t help but wonder (get it?) how strong of a character she really is.
EXPERIMENT: Poll a group of people about the origins of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Compare the accuracy of the origins.
I was in Dr. Closser’s American Novels class and we read a book called Sharpshooter Blues by Lewis Nordan. In that book, a character tells a story about how a man was struck by lightning and turned into Wonder Woman to which Dr. Closser asked if that was really her origin. When I informed the class that this was NOT her actual origin story, they asked me what it was. I tried to explain, “Well, she is from an island of women and she was molded from clay there. She left the island to come to the world of man in order to spread of message of hope and peace. Also, there are Greek gods in there somewhere.” It’s convoluted and too complex compared to the origin of Superman or Batman.
Next, take the argument about how Superman and Wonder Woman should be together. This mentality follows a high schooler’s idea of how relationships work; if two people are really similar, then it has to be a perfect match. You remember those couples in high school that got together because they were popular? That same philosophy falls on Superman and Wonder Woman not to mention the racist implications it has (their offspring would be perfect!)
Lastly, Wonder Woman’s message of peace is a bit of a mixed message. Coming from an island of warriors, Diana spreads her message of peace to the world of man . . . that is until she has to fight, then she is all about battle and sometimes murder. This reminds me of Charlton superhero, Peacemaker whose motto was: “He loves peace so much he’ll kill for it!” Because THAT makes sense.
Black Canary and Powergirl
The DCU has plenty of other positive female role-models at least. Black Canary is ferocious, and was promoted to the leader of the JLA at one point (granted, McDuffie didn’t DO anything with her, but at least Meltzer tried to give a woman some power in the DCU). She holds her own against her husband, Green Arrow and she can be seen as the sane, reasonable one of the two.
Powergirl has recently been promoted as a powerful female role-model, but I’m not so sure how positive she really is. I think guys just like to draw her.
Since Brad Meltzer’s run on JLA, Vixen has been a character that has received some attention. She had a short mini-series that didn’t do very well, but at least there was an attempt.
Catwoman is fan favorite because of her sexuality and her ability to get the upper hand over Batman. She is one of the few villains who can legitimately take down the Dark Knight. She is strong and independent.
Batgirl is one of the strongest role-models of the DCU. She isn’t sexualized, and she can kick some butt. When I was teaching high school, I used to lend out my comics to a girl and I remember lending out Batgirl: Year One. A week later, I saw it had been passed around to four other girls in the school. I’ve never been so happy to see kids read comic books. There was definitely something special there.
Personally though, none of these female stars can compare to Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. With an origin that is incredibly simple (she’s Superman’s cousin!), and powerful pathos, Supergirl has become a comic that is necessary to read every month. Kara struggles with her identity which is relatable to teens, but she can defend herself which is empowering. She is the ultimate teenage hero and it’s a shame more people don’t read her comic (I know, I talked about this in my podcast, so sue me. I love this comic).
Wonder Woman could take some lessons from Supergirl. The Wonder Woman comic is convoluted and the message is contradictory. Supergirl’s initial premise is simple and the story is universal. Kara Zor-El is an incredibly powerful female role-model that has a purity to her that other heroes don’t have and I wish more girls would use the Supergirl comic as a gateway into the comic book medium as a whole.
I haven’t read much Wonder Woman, but last month I was visiting a friend who loves pretty much every comic he can get his hands on. He had me read the first issue of J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Wonder Woman (it was the only thing that had come out at that point). I was curious what you thought about it, if you’ve read it.
I thought it was interesting, especially how he seems to have restructured her origin a bit. Sure, he re-interpreted Spider-Man’s origin as well, but that was a case of taking a simple origin and mythologizing it, while in Wonder Woman he is taking a convoluted origin and simplifying it. Straczynski also did some interesting commentary on the Wonder Woman mythology in Supreme Power.
Thus ends my knowledge of Wonder Woman.
I’ve heard the JMS run has changed the origin, but I haven’t read it yet. I’ll probably check it out in the trade.
Personally, I own only one Wonder Woman comic and it is Hiketia by Rucka. It’s fantastic, but not much else has been done to improve her image.
Great point Cody. I never really got into the Wonder Women books just for these reasons. you crystallized my thoughts on the issue. Im gonna try and check out super girl but I have a question. is there a new Batgirl? didn’t she become the Oracle after being crippled by the Joker?
Barbara Gordon was indeed crippled and she is Oracle now. She can be found in the comic Birds of Prey (another excellent book that features wonderful female role-models).
The current Batgirl was once Spoiler and the comic is worth buying for the covers alone. They rock.
Could Harley Quinn count as a anti-role-model? She’s kind of a nice rule of what not to do.
She can take on Batman sometimes (specially after Ivy juiced her), she had a fairly successful solo career (even a short lived stint as batgirl…kinda), she has a good sense of humor, and she even escaped hell with a positive message about homosexuality.
But she has the whole battered girlfriend thing, which could help to point out the issue, she could be very successful in her own right but she’s held back by her investing so much of herself in the joker. And as an anti-role-model she could serve to teach girls a positive message. Kinda like how Jessie was addicted to pills in a “very special” episode of Saved by the Bell, or the asian girl from the Mr T cartoon had anorexia that one time.
The JS storyline isn’t an actual retcon of her origin, its more of an alternate origin to the character. Because everyone knows that this story won’t last in the long run. That said, it is a neat story.
Wonder Woman has always been pretty convoluted, but i still enjoyed a bunch of her stories. My favorite arc i think was when she was leading up to the fight with Medusa a couple years back. It was just refreshing to see her act like the warrior amazons are toted to be. But i also think Gail Simone did a good run with her, but she’s pretty amazing as a writer in general.
A female lead in the “funny books” has always been a sore spot for me because of the way they are handled by the companies and the writers. My bigest complaints?
1. Oversexualization: They call her Wonder Woman because, well, how in the hell does her costume stay up while fighting? Those watermelons strapped to her chest have got to be a bit of an impediment. Didn’t Amazons cut off a breast to allow for more movement? Still, I guess if you’re going to be a representative to “man’s world,” you need two fun globes to be taken…I was going to write the word “seriously,” but I just can’t take her seriously while she’s fighting crime in a swimsuit.
In general, women are oversexualized. Thank you, Image comics and other 90′s companies for bringing impossible proportions to our heroines.
2. They are written as men: Yes, they are…I don’t care how good they are as a writers, it seems the comic scribes pander to the lower base of comic readers. The women are dressed, and speak, like they are written for hormone infused 16 year old boys instead of the average comic reader.
If you look at the main female leads for the big two (there’s a joke in there, somewhere), they’ve all had “checkered” approaches:
Marvel:
Invisible Girl: The most “down to Earth” mother figure of the MU. She’s had two kids and rocks the body of an 18 year old. Has been known to wear the sluttiest variations to her uniform (though I love the Byrne years, did he really need to give her a bi-level haircut and cut out the tummy of her costume?).
She-Hulk: C’mon, really? Her first series was Hulk with a ripped bodice. Her “Byrne years” actually featured an entire issue dealing with her sexual appeal and, though I applaud the idea, it seemed…odd. Recent books featuring multiple She-Hulks have not helped. Red She-Hulk looks like a leather fetish prostitute.
Ms. Marvel: At times the strongest, and the weakest, of all Marvel’s leads. Her original costume, considered “good gilr art” had her flying around the city in a mini-skirt. Good girl. Right. When Claremont revamped her in the 70′s, he gave her a swimsuit and thigh high boots. Uh huh. Her now cancelled modern series never could find a mix between her social life and her crime-fighting.
DC Comics:
Supergirl: A mess. Always has been. First…the skirt issue…dumb. I’m not buying innocent in a mini and boots. Second, there’s too many of ‘em! She died in Crisis, but the real crisis is for the reader. How the hell do I tell them apart? I liked Peter David’s take, and yes, I am enjoying the new series, but she has no personal life, and thus, she’s a one-note character — Superman with boobs.
Batgirl: Same problem as Supergirl. The new series is MUCH improved (except that last issue…geezus). Perhaps the problem here is the shadow cast by Batman. He’s a baddass…she’s a blonde college student with purple accents on her costume. Me afraid…not.
Wonder Woman: I started reading her when Messner-Loebs was writing her, creating the Artemis character as a replacement for Diana. Then, the series drifted, then “Hiketea” hit and I was stoked, only to be let down again. I’m waiting to see if JMS can do anything…
So…this post went on too long. Sorry. But, my point is that we as comic fans NEED female characters in the books. But, I want them written, and drawn, well….better. My favorite DC book was the old run of “Birds of Prey” because I felt that these were strong leads done right. Perhaps I just liked Gary Frank’s artistic interpretation, but the early writers nailed it. Babs kissing Dick (okay…mind outta the gutter…let’s go with “Nightwing” here) in issue #8 was a runaway hit because it made sense from a character perspective, was a fanboy fantasy, and WORKED. Why can’t we have more of that?
Michael – I agree with you up until the part about Supergirl. Since Sterling Gates started his run on the book, it has been successful in making Kara into a believable character and even the little weird things with her current continuity were streamlined and have begun to make sense. Gates is like Geoff Johns jr. and he really has his stuff together.
I’m ashamed of Marvel and how poorly they handle their female characters. How many comics do they have that feature female leads? When was the last time a female lead the Avengers into battle? For all the “progressive” things that Marvel has done, they sure seem to hate their women a lot.
No worries on the length of responses because these are the kinds of things I like to see.
Cody: I’m reading the Gates run, and you’re right…better. However, I really hate the current storyline with Bizzaro-Girl, but that’s another story. I do enjoy the lighthearted S-girl portrayed by Gates. There’s hope. Costume is still an issue, but yeah, better.
Marvel women are definitely a mess. The Avengers run of the late 90′s wrtten by Kurt Busiek attempted to use Ms. Marvel as a leader, then promptly turned her into a female Tony Stark, complete with “demoness in the bottle” as she battled alcoholism. Thank God they dropped that BS.
Perhaps some exceptions to the Marvel heroines don’t work come in blips, depending on the writer. Some of the “New Mutants” leads have actually enjoyed decent runs (the first 80” series early on felt right, the new series not too bad with some exceptions, but better). Claremont’s take on Storm in the 80′s was refreshing. I know, X-Men overexposure takes its toll on the characters, but they sometimes get it right.
Early Rogue is a good example. Her first appearance was cool. She took down the friggin’ Avengers by herself. I know I’m getting my geek on here, but several issues of ROM actually fleshed out the feminine, and young side, to a Rogue, moving her from villainess to a grayer character, something that Claremont used to great effect in Uncanny 171. For the following several storylines, Rogue was a strong female lead. Sadly, they slutted her up.
Oh, well…for better female characters, I’m reading Terry Moore’s “Echo” right now.
Steven wrote about mentioning Supreme Power by JMS. I have to agree with him here…his take on WW for Marvel was interesting, and I really enjoyed the Gary Frank art. I miss that series.
First of all, really enjoyed the article. I don’t disagree that Wonder Woman does have a convoluted origin, but I really appreciate her character. The whole “message of peace” thing doesn’t really make much sense, but she is an incredible warrior. The DC universe needs her to do what sometimes has to be done, we all know Batman couldn’t have killed Maxwell Lord.
I am really digging Stephanie Brown as Batgirl. It brings the fun back to comics, I mean, how amazing was the Batgirl/Supergirl Dracula issue?! I’ve always loved Supergirl, especially back when she had her best friend Boomer, he was a great foil for her.
And I also noticed that you guys were trying to stretch for strong females in the Marvel Universe, but I would like to remind you of Kitty Pride during Joss Whedon’s run on the Astonishing X-Men and Spider Woman. For some amazing Spider-Woman stuff, check out her motion comic or New Avengers #14. I also have a soft spot for X-23, I know she’s basically just a female Wolverine, but she has a really strong origin story that takes into consideration the need for a motherly figure.
Terry – Marvel certainly has a handful of women who can be considered positive female role-models, but there isn’t ONE that has had a regular, on-going book for a very long time. When Bendis started Spider-woman with Maleev, I jumped at the chance to read it because I wanted it to be Marvel’s Wonder Woman, but after seven issues, they decided to end the series because Maleev didn’t want to make it into a motion comic anymore. It bothers me because they just wanted to make a motion comic instead of a comic with a strong female lead. Oh well.
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