Wondrous Makeover

First the Rawhide Kid comes out of the closet, now everyone's favorite crypto-lesbian finally gets a butch hairdo.

After six decades, DC Comics queen and onetime member of the US military Wonder Woman has gotten a makeover that includes "scary short" hair and a camo bustier (hubba hubba). As one of the makeover artists put it:

"If you're going to shock people by cutting Wonder Woman's hair, you don't give her something sensible like a bob or make her look like a soccer mom. You go scary short," Hughes said. "It packs more of a punch."

More power to you but for Hera's sake, why did she have to give up the magic girdle and truth-telling lasso!

Wonder Woman is part of what might be called the "greatest generation" of superheroes, springing into existence during WW2 and sacrificing her love life for the good of the nation. The story of her creator, a bigamist feminist cum lie detector and safety razor pitchman (!) named William Moulton Marston, is even more fascinating than any adventure the misplaced Amazon princess had.

Comments

[Kevin M.]

Hey, scary short is in! Rosie O'Donnel, Celine Dion, now Wonder Woman. I smell a trend.

[Franklin Harris]

As Eric says, the new look won't last. In fact, a new creative team is due on the book soon, and they will return Wonder Woman to her status quo -- almost. There already have been stories in the comics press about the minor tweaking planned for Wonder Woman's classic look, which means, obviously, a return to the classic look.

[meki]

it is a treu little ####
http://www.meki.tk/

[Eric Hanneken]

I'm sure Wonder Woman's new look is only temporary. Remember when Superman died? When Bruce Wayne retired from crime fighting, with a broken spine? Both characters are back in action, the same as they were. Why should I believe this modest change is permanent?

On the other hand, Barbara Gordon has been paralyzed for years now, and Aquaman is still missing one hand and an orange shirt.

[Franklin Harris]

This is actually a less radical makeover than the one Wonder Woman underwent in the late '60s, when she was reimagined as a Emma Peel knockoff: http://theavengers.tv/comics/cameos/cameos_graphics/wwcover.gif

[Todd]

Nice link, but what I really want to know is...who the hell is the "Incredible I-Ching"? Does he have a sidekick named "Terrific Tao"?

[Anonymous]

yeah, but she got with supes as recently as DK2! but then he died, so maybe the trauma... anyway, for crypto-lesbian amazons, make mine xena 😀

[James Merritt]

Back in the sixties, Mike Sekowsky and cohorts revamped Wonder Woman for a time. She got "I Ching," a little Asian mentor (like Ralph Macchio's Karate Kid did in the movies, many years later). She became an espionage action hero, a P.I., something like the Avengers' Emma Peel (or perhaps 1/3 of today's Charlie's Angels). Although I generally respect Sekowsky's work of that period, this particular maneuver was a total crock and WW's popularity plunged. I noticed that, within a year or two, she was more or less back to her old self. So let's see how long this current makeover lasts. I'm sure it's just a phase, to get attention.

One of the great strengths of Wonder Woman through the decades was the fact that she could be both feminine and a skilled warrior/career-person at the same time. Lesbians may see her as some kind of covert hero, but she was always portrayed as a strong woman, who liked -- even loved -- men, but could rarely find one worth loving, who was also on her own mental and physical level. In many ways, she was the archetype of modern-day feminists, the daughters of the perceived-as-man-hating 60s variety, who are today free to choose among career, family and motherhood, male or female romantic company, or none at all, etc., and who frequently make conscious choices that put them at odds with activists from their mothers' day. In that sense, I think that an undercover WW with "scary short" hair is a deconstruction and a denial of the core WW concept, which will not prove to have (pardon the expression) the "legs" of the original version. Time will tell.

[Anonymous]

How often does Wonder Woman ever get knocked out of commission due to menstrual cramps?