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Art Editor Linda Stein responds to Wonder Woman’s new depiction and persona in “Wonder Woman Confronts a Makeover Moment: A Missed Chance.”
DC Comics had its chance, and it missed the moment. In wanting to give Wonder Woman a trendy present-day persona, it released her new look on June 30, 2010 in issue number 600, and passed on its opportunity to create the first non-objectified female superhero in contemporary pop culture.
DC could have done the right thing. Instead, it went for a replay of the typical male wish-list and the diminishment of women.
The comic book company claimed to The New York Times that it was modernizing Wonder Woman, bringing her “into the 21st century”, and it wanted to “be bold.” So what did it do? It catered to bottom-line male hunger and styled her as more trashy, more sexualized, more violent.
As an artist who has studied and written about Wonder Woman, and referenced her in my sculpture for almost a decade, I’ve observed closely her beginnings as a peace-loving crime fighter, and followed her images, development and growth in the past 69 years. So it’s hard to see her becoming more trampy and less focused on ethics and justice.
Continue reading “Wonder Woman Confronts a Makeover Moment: A Missed Chance”in The Cafe at On The Issues Magazine.
Linda Stein’s desired depiction, below, and Wonder Woman’s new costume, here.