I haven't written about comics yet, and today's the day. I have written about Wonder Woman's clothes before, at least indirectly. So no we're going to return to the topic of superhero fashion, but in comics instead of Underoos.
Yes, Wonder Woman has a new costume, "in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who’ve asked, 'how does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?'" according to the DC Universe "The Source" blog. I have no doubt that's true. As a good fighting outfit, Wonder Woman's strapless bathing suit leaves a lot to be desired. I suspect that she actually would've had a pretty easy time lassoing bad guys in that outfit - I'm sure at least some of them would've been momentarily stunned when her breasts popped right out of the top.
So I understand they thought they needed a change. They also thought they needed to make her "be taken seriously as a warrior." Why, exactly, that requires making her look like a malnourished waif in bad nightclub clothes, I really don't understand. Nor do I understand why they thought it was important that her new outfit could "be accessorized." Yes, they really said that - "it can be accessorized." I like Darren Franich's quote on EW.com's PopWatch: "I wish they had come up with something slightly more colorful: between the long black leggings and the dark blue jacket, this new outfit sort of looks like Joan Jett with a jewelry budget." According to Yahoo! Buzz, the pants are actually blue, but they sure look black. Blue is marginally - only marginally - better, but if they don't actually look blue in the art, they might as well be black. And if they want to give her a jacket to put stuff in, at least make it a useful one, instead of a fashionable shrug with stars on the shoulders. Speaking of which, "[s]he can close it up to pass unnoticed…open it for the freedom to fight." What? Close it up to pass unnoticed? Nobody's going to notice that jacket after the first fight or two in it?
Furthermore, take a look at the new top in action (scroll to the bottom to see the comic panels). It won't fall completely off thanks to the double spaghetti straps, but she's still going to pop out the middle. Has Jim Lee looked at real women's athletic wear? Racerbacks, tank tops, wide straps, and higher necklines are what actual, real active women tend to wear. Why? They provide support and coverage. They work - and they can look good too. Or, heaven forbid, she could wear long sleeves and a scoop neck.
Since it seems pretty obvious based on the drawing that they were really trying to make Wonder Woman sexier and more modern, while appeasing the folks who actually want her clothed, maybe we need to remind Jim Lee and the rest of the artists out there that plenty of guys find women in real active wear sexy - and those artists have the ability to use their talents, with some creative shading and highlighting, to make an attractive, modern, and realistic costume for Wonder Woman. And one that makes her look like a superhero, not like some urban streetfighter (which is the look they say they wanted. Again, why? Why is that modernizing? And is it really modernizing in a good way?)
Of course, my opinions on all this aside, there was only one real, valid test I could administer on how good an idea this costume makeover is. Fortunately, I happen to have one live Wonder Woman fanatic little girl roaming around my house. So I showed her the new costume. LG's answer? "I don't like it. It's not pretty. It needs to have more stars on it, and she should be red, WHITE, and blue, not black!"
Out of the mouths of babes, DC.
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Yep, once again, the comic powers that be fail. I don't like the idea of changing her costume this much. I had no problem with the old one. She's ancient Greek, most ancient Greek don't wear much - naked 1st Olympics ring a bell to anyone? And the Greek guys in the issues Gail Simone was writing weren't wearing much either so this is just really stupid and annoying in my opinon.
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