Stanley "Artgerm" Lau Wonder Woman

"Wonder Woman Return," H.G. Peter and the problem of WW's costume

Stanley Lau Artgerm

Artgerm Rebellion

I first saw this Stanley "Artgerm" Lau Wonder Woman image on an image tumbler, and thought (with some relief) it was a cover for a coming issue of DC Comics' Wonder Woman - - but no, it's Stanley "Artgerm" Lau just telling the world he prefers the old costume to the redesign DC Comics introduced last year.

Has there been any large scale good response on the costume change? All I've seen from comments here and there is a massive "no" on the change. The original suit is fairly iconic and recognizable internationally. The new suit looks fine for any generic super heroine, but Wonder Woman? Seems like it is a step away from unique to just a better than average supergal in tights.

[Below] The redesign by Jim Lee in 2010

Jim Lee Wonder Woman 2010

Wonder Problems

Understandably DC Comics is trying to deal with a number of problems with Wonder Woman: the original costume can certainly look like a garish show-girl outfit from Vegas, and it doesn't help when a frequent portrayal of the lady from Paradise Island is that of a super-attenuated Amazon with a primary focus on super-breasts stuffed in behind the golden eagle. I can't say that's a problem caused by the costume, but the result of using particular DC artists who specialize in voluptuous tot he extreme female figures.

For comparison, take a look at the H. G. Peter original drawing down below, which is more or less how Diana Prince looked for so many decades, tame by comics standards of today.

With DC Comics' always trying to posit Wonder Woman as a feminist ideal, how does that jive when the all the supergirls have the same zaftig body-type? They can't all be drawn like Powergirl, can they?

(Link: A parade of Wonder Woman portrayals by Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Aparo, and others, from DC Comics is here)

The Aging of the Comic Book Audience

Another issue confronting the Grecian heroine is that the audience for most superhero books in general are aging out, and DC Comics can certainly see the demographic reality up ahead. Maneuvering Wonder Woman away from the ogling adult male superfan toward a younger female audience, which is apparently the hypothetical fanbase for this superhero anyway, makes sense. Can these two groups overlap? Seems like an impossible task. So, toning down the voluptuous image is one step, and giving her a slightly more "street worthy" outfit is another.

Another piece of the DC Comics strategy is apparently to reduce the American identification and go for an international theme in her suit, and more so than most of the heroes that have survived from the comics "Golden Age," Wonder Woman has had an American flag directly integrated into her image from the beginning. (At this point perhaps she ought to have a Greek flag in her suit, since the immigrant ideals that underpinned Wonder Woman's original era don't get much play in the modern pop culture. But, if that were done, would it simply marginalizes the character while enraging a chunk of the fanbase?)

January 2011 Wonder Woman reactions

The negative response to the suit change is easy to find on the internet, but that's to be expected: what group is more staid than superhero fans? DC Comics surely knew there would be a backlash of a sort, but if the corporate leadership has the guts to stick with it, maybe they can win through in the end with their update scheme. And there is always throwing the old comic fans a bone by doing an "Earth-2 Wonder Woman" or alternative version from time-to-time with the old suit on display. The same has been done for Spectre fans on occasion, and other super heroes that have been "updated" into being more perfect cogs in the DCU continuity machine.

For an insightful look at the development of the character's costume, see this heritage comics web page on rough sketches by H. G. Peter which were auctioned in 2002. The artwork contained notes by both H. G. Peter and Dr. William Moulton Marston (who invented Wonder Woman in 1941, along with his wife Elizabeth) discussing the outfit, and mentions comics publisher Max Gaines' input as well.

H G Peter Original Wonder Woman

For an interesting contrast to the recent Jim Lee Wonder Woman design, compare with this drawing of her from the Just Imagine : Stan Lee creates Wonder Woman book put out by DC Comics in 2001:

2001 Wonder Woman Jim Lee - Stan Lee