In which I apologize for my absence and start talking individual icons!

Hey all. Sorry for the absence. School stuff, and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for this column. Well, right now, since there’s a lot happening with individual characters, I figure I’ll discuss a few! We start with the Trinity, and since I’ve been on a Wondy kick lately, I’ll begin with the Trinity’s least used member, Wonder Woman!

I will not deny I absolutely adore Wonder Woman. It wasn’t always this way. At the beginning of my comic book fan journey, I was very ambivalent toward her. The costume didn’t thrill me, and she seemed boring and stiff, and wasn’t interested in being “told” that this was my female role model. Also, it was around the OYL relaunch, so the comics didn’t look that great. Part of me WANTED to like her…here was a chick that could stand toe to toe with Superman! The most well known superheroine of all time! But I didn’t see anything to like about her.

But Gail Simone was announced to write her series. I had read Gail’s Birds of Prey run at this point, and absolutely adored it…so I thought “Wow, Wonder Woman will be cool now!”

In preparation for the day, when I saw a Wonder Woman trade at the library, I grabbed it up. And I found I really liked it. It was “Eye of the Gorgon” by Greg Rucka, one of the best WW trades out there. I really loved the mix of badass Amazon Warrior, compassionate hero and random Greek mythology shenanigans with feminism added in. I’ve always been a sucker for Greek myth, because it is crackTASTIC and Athena is very cool. And Wonder Woman’s regal, tough, but loving personality won me over.

Since then, I have not only loved Gail’s Wonder Woman, but loved the works of Greg Rucka, George Perez and Darwyn Cooke’s portrayal of the character. I like that she’s sensible enough to kill when it’s needed. I like her lasso of truth and how glowy and powerful it is. I like her entire island of awesome warrior women. I like how she campaigns for equality and actually tries to FIX the problem instead of just beating up the bad guy. I like her invulnerable bracelets. I like how many elements of mythology are in her stories, and the cool mythological creatures and people she fights and meets. I like the epicness about her.

So why don’t more people like her? Her title does not sell nearly as well as Superman and Batman’s. She got like, one panel of being cool in Final Crisis. She doesn’t have a movie and never had a cartoon.

People argue with me it’s a weakness in the character. I don’t believe it. I believe it’s a weakness in promotion. Right now, Wonder Woman is in the middle of a huge (and very well done) arc and fighting her personal Doomsday.  I do not see nearly as much advertising for this as I saw for New Krypton and Batman RIP, and in my humble opinion, it’s a much superior arc so far than those two turned out to be. DC complains that the sales don’t support a second title, but then basically doesn’t give the title the same exposure as Batman and Superman’s. She doesn’t get the same role in big events.  She got a crappy and poorly planned relaunch after Infinite Crisis as opposed to Batman’s and Superman’s. I can’t find any Wondy George Perez trades past “Destiny Calling” even though I desperately want the rest of his run.

Most writers seem to think of her like Grant Morrison does:
NRAMA: Regarding the big legends of the DCU: Superman got his mini-event, Batman took on Darkseid, Flash tries to outrun death, Green Lantern overcomes granny . . . but Wonder Woman turns out to be Anti-Life Patient Zero and spends the bulk of the series as a disfigured thrall. Why does Wonder Woman not have a comparable moment in that context?

GM: I wondered about that myself. I love what Gail Simone (especially) and other writers have done to empower the Wonder Woman concept but I must admit I’ve always sensed something slightly bogus and troubling at its heart. When I dug into the roots of the character I found an uneasy melange of girl power, bondage and disturbed sexuality that has never been adequately dealt with or fully processed out to my mind. I’ve always felt there was something oddly artificial about Wonder Woman, something not like a woman at all.

First of all, nice back handed compliment to Gail there, Grant. “I love what you’re trying to do, but it’s bogus!”

And I love how he used girl power like a dirty word. We can’t have those girls thinking they have power! And of course it’s entirely impossible for girls to like bondage or enjoy sex! And how he gets to judge what’s “not like a woman at all”. Why isn’t she a woman? Because she’s strong? Because she doesn’t need a man to hold her up? And how the hell would you know, Grant, not having boobs at all yourself? Well, I’m a woman, and I say Wonder Woman is also. It’s part of her freaking name after all.

Writers complain Wondy has too many contradictions. Well, I’m sorry, so does Superman who represents humanity while not actually being human and Batman, who upholds the law in Gotham City by dressing like an animal and tying up people. You guys just don’t want to work hard enough to get the contradictions because she’s just some girl. Honestly, I think her contradictions make her interesting.

DC says Diana’s part of the Big Three of DC. They need to put their money where their mouth is. It’s not her character- after all, there’s a REASON she’s the world’s most famous superheroine, and it’s because she has appeal. But by not giving her any spotlight, DC’s losing her popularity. So for God’s sake, give her a damn movie- and make it a huge, well made, mythological, emotionally charged, action packed EPIC with good acting and directing, not a contemplation on how good she looks in her bathing suit.

There’s a reason I didn’t know Wonder Woman’s strengths before Gail Simone came along- because they weren’t sold to me. As long as everyone ignores her, nobody will see the worth of the character.

So move it or lose it, and don’t try to tell ME my heroine doesn’t cut it.