Okay, I may not be a huge comic book buff (yet still a huge fan!), but I’m willing to learn if there’s something I’m missing. I’ve always loved the idea of Wonder Woman – a powerful female warrioress from Ancient Greece/Amazonian culture (iirc), a Xena-like character who fights for virtue, honor, truth, all those good things. She plays with the big boys, and not only keeps up, but shows them how it’s done.
If that’s so, then…whywhyWHY is she most always shown in a skintight, strapless, pantsless, thong/swimming suit/flimsy piece of spandex???? I know she’s pretty indestructible, but do you know how HARD it is to fight in a leather corset, where there’s no straps to keep that gigantic chest in place?
It makes me VERY sad that such a famous, prominent figure of feminine power is mostly seen as a sex icon, mostly featured in sexy/escher-esque poses, wearing “clothing” that looks like it was sprayed on or hanging on with a wing and a prayer (and maybe ample amounts of superglue?), or any variation thereof? I say ‘mostly’, because I have seen some versions where she’s more practical, with pants, real armor, heck I’ll even settle for the Greek/Xena-style skirt in some versions. Bravo to those people for giving our poor warrioress some semblance of dignity.
If I understand correctly, like in the Xena universe, that is the ‘style’ of the era, the leather skirt with the bodice and shoulder armor, reminiscent of Romans and Greeks from Sparta, etc. Well okay then, give WW an outfit that actually looks/works like real armor from that period, instead of the spandex thong/corset she’s most often depicted in. Also, iirc, maybe she doesn’t wear full armor because that’s the ‘Amazon way’, IE: she’s so OP that she doesn’t need full covering. But give her SOMETHING that isn’t so obviously designed to sell sex first, and practicality last!
Spandex may be all the rage for comic books (and it’s probably easier to draw), but I’d like to direct your attention to some of these wonderful blogs for many, many more reasons why our beloved Wonder Woman deserves more than a minimal-coverage, maximum-bust corset (and why practical armor can be even more BA and gorgeous):
Unless there is a practical, logical reason why WW is nearly always shown in the aforementioned ILLOGICAL ways, let’s face it: Sex sells, and too many people are buying. And that is no excuse, because women like myself want to see our gender treated with more dignity, respect, and understanding than what is given. You know what, I’ll bet Superman is chivalrous. And so is Wonder Woman.
I challenge any WW artist to design her with something more akin to Lady Sif (from the movie version), instead of just going with the flow.
TL;DR – Wonder Woman is too freaking amazing to be treated as a sex icon. She deserves a whole heck of a lot more from us, her fans. She deserves something befitting who she is, and what she represents.
My post isn’t intended to insult anyone, I know we all have different ideas and viewpoints. I’m just expressing my own views and frustrations with society :/
/end rant (btw, I have no problem with the comic book world; check my blogs, I’m a huge nerd! But I do have a problem with how prevalent the sex industry is, especially in my fandoms! Move over boys, girls are nerds too!)
I really find it baffling that after sixty-four years and countless re-boots, re-designs, re-imaginings for different mediums, etc. DC Comics keeps coming back to basically her original costume but with no skirt:
Epic creativity.
– wincenworks
Even when she gets a skirt, it’s like a swimsuit equivalent.
It’s shaped like a W, get it?? …For Wonder Woman!
-Icy
This was the most appropriate throwback we could think of, with Justice League film and its degraded Amazon costumes coming so soon. Diana, as well as her people, really deserves better.
Even the cover above, which Icy added, is a perfect example of Wonder Woman costumes which @realms-master talks about! That armor is literally painted on her (impossibly narrow-waisted) torso, especially the boobplate that somehow conforms to gravity along with the breasts. No amount of intricate shading would mask that. Also note the dissonance between Wondy’s serene expression and triumphant pose. It’s obvious that the artist, Liam Sharp, aimed to make her more “appealing” than powerful.
As the article points out, the Justice League movie has an essentially all male executive team as well as a male costumer. There’s presumably also a Creepy Marketing Guy (or even a small army of them, seeing as this is a DC/Warner Bros production).
No matter who to blame, this is just self-demonstrably shameful.
What’s really baffling about this is that Zack Snyder and same costumer, Michael Wilkinson, did manage to create a fairly decent (fantastic by comparison, but certainly not without it’s faults) female costume design in Man of Steel, as worn by the glorious Faora-Ul:
Most of the high end production staff from Justice League also contributed on Wonder Woman. So that leaves us with several equally terrible possibilities:
Someone with executive power literally saw the early sections of Wonder Woman and decided that what it needed was more women’s body on display so asked for “sexy versions of that”
The executive(s) in charge have been starting with “playing it safe” to build hype on the initial movies, and now have concluded that since those were a success they can throw female characters and fans under the bus in favor of their own puerile fantasies
You may notice a theme of this being an executive with very poor judgement, and as much as a suspect otherwise I really hope it’s NOT Zack Snyder. Because if it is, this does not bode well for the future:
Themyscira. They seem to have a lot of potential and a lot going for them. Including a rather diverse cast. But, well there’s some common themes with the first three (primary) covers:
And well, the first page of the first issue:
It really makes you wonder who this DC Comics was hoping to sell this comic to. I mean if there was ever a series where they should have felt comfortable dropping the old myth sacred among marketing departments and just making a comic that’ll appeal people who like warrior women… this was it.
At least it seems they’ve moved away from this and toward imagery that is both more badass and more referential to the topical movie.
– wincenworks
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While Grimm Fairy Tales is an extremely low-hanging fruit, I couldn’t help but snicker at how “creative” not only the costume, but all of those covers with the same heroine are – at least two poses get reused a lot with very slight modifications, like a closeup. And her expression on a vast majority is all the same.
Also it sums up GFT’s “mastery” at conveying character through their design – I suppose this is meant to be Snow White by the apple motif on her arm-warmer and the vaguely Disney-esque color scheme (aaand that alternative #2 cover). Though didn’t she wear glasses and dress differently in those comics? Is that… a reboot? No, apparently it’s a sequel series and this is her daughter. Even in a legacy-based relaunch, Zenoscope isn’t capable of changing the status quo.
But, of course, random conventionally attractive women in battle leotards* posing “sexily” with swords totally tell me all I need to know about this mature take on fairy tale stories and characters.
~Ozzie
I wonder what they could have been inspired by…
I mean we all knew, but I just wanted to put it here so it highlights the @eschergirls type anatomy.
– wincenworks
That… “outfit”… looks like crap. Tagging this for a livestream somewhere down the line, hope y’all look forward to it.
-Icy
*Should I really call it that? It looks like a mix of lingerie, swimsuit and bodypaint.
I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.
Because that:
Has TOTALLY the same costuming priorities as this:
With lines like that, maybe Jenkins and the costume designer, Lindy Hemming, aim to be the Mari Shimazakis of Hollywood… Except Diana of Themyscira is not Bayonetta, so “she’s supposed to be very sexy and I as a lady find it empowering” excuses do not really work, even in
I want to be optimistic and am gonna assume that the crew is contractually obligated to endorse every choice made about the movie, no matter how ridiculous it is when you think about it for more than a second.
That being said, please don’t read it as an endorsement to boycott Wonder Woman in cinemas. Critics have been saying some great and interesting things about it, so if you decide to watch it, remember that you can enjoy the movie while being critical of its flaws (like costumes that contradict the story’s message). Still, be watchful of both what’s communicated on screen and behind the scenes, cause those things say a lot about how female-led stories are viewed in the industry.
