Wonder Woman Redesign. Blech

I mean I’m torn…do I want Diana out of her super impractical strapless swimsuit bustier?  Of course I do.  Do I want her to be in some cheesy garish 90’s jacket/pants/bustier combo that has no lasting iconic imagery?  No…no I do not.  I’m all for having Diana a bit more covered up and practical…but this is a swing and a miss for me.

Read more and get fan reactions on CSBG.  And the original DC Source Blog Post.

I wish DC would have pitched this to Project Runway.  They already did some great Wonder Woman designs when it was just for fun, imagine the response they would have gotten if DC was genuinely looking for a re-design.

http://www.tencentticker.com/projectrooftop/2007/11/26/wonder-woman-wardrobe-war-winners/

Also…Corey Walker probably could have done this in his sleep.  He’s done about 154 Supergirl designs over the last year or so and most of them are fantastic.

http://corenthal.blogspot.com/search/label/supergirl

I mean…from an iconic standpoint how does it compare to something like Batman…?  Wonder Woman deserves more.  I’m bummed out.  In fairness, I think DC is trying…I just think this is a failure that should have been left on the drawing room floor.  I don’t suppose this means the new #600 JMS reboot (which releases Wednesday) is doomed…but it certainly doesn’t bode well for me at least and I was pretty hesitant to begin with.  Le sigh.  Another day in comics.

6 comments

  1. Hutch’s avatar

    I don’t like the jacket. I don’t like the new bracelets/gloves. I kind of like the bands on her feet, but they would work better if you could see an actual set of boots that they were attached to.
    I do like the top though. I think it looks pretty decent.
    As an overall package though — just too much miss and not enough hit.

    I also can’t say I’m excited about the new plot direction. I’m hoping this alternate time-line is rather short lived and Diana returns back to her iconic status in the DCU.

  2. Mortenzen’s avatar

    It’s funny you talked about the jacket has being from the 90’s as this is exactly what went through my mine the first time i laid eyes on that new design… And what does she need shoulder pads for?

  3. LAndrew’s avatar

    Yeah, uhm . . .so why is she wearing Rogue’s old outfit, again?

    Feels rather dark and not very colourful, which may be good for realism, I guess, but (hypothetically speaking) if I’m reading a comic about an Amazon warrior created by the gods who is fast enough to deflect bullets with her bracelets and flies around in an invisible airplane, perhaps “gritty urban realism” was not was I was expecting to see.

  4. ShadowMD’s avatar

    I don’t see why everyone is so upset. I love the redesign and think it works well with the storyline they are planning with the new run. There’s nothing wrong with the jacket even if it reminds some people of ’90’s fashion, the ’90’s were not as long ago as a lot of people like to make it seem and as a character with her age in continuity having a fashion sense a decade off in picking a jacket isn’t that bad.

  5. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    @hutch/Mortenzen/LAndrew: Yeah, sounds like we’re in agreement and we’re not the only ones…though there are certainly people who like it as well. I think the most hilarious and also most spot on comment I’ve heard is that she looks like the love child of Rogue and Gambit. And that’s just…not how Wonder Woman should look.

    ShadowMD: Well some people seem to like it just fine and think it’s an improvement since she’s not in the swimsuit. Which is fine. But for me, as I explained in the post, I have some major problems with it, mostly that it’s just not well designed, and seems like an antiquated throw back to costumes we have already seen in comics in the 90’s. It also looks very “Image” to me, instead of DC/Wonder Woman and I think that’s a problem.

    But the biggest issue for me is that there’s nothing iconic about it.

    You don’t intrinsically know it’s Wonder Woman just by looking at her. And even with the story reboot…I think it would be nice to show that despite a change in her past (a de-powering and less of her Amazonian heritage known to her etc.) it would be nice if Diana still just oozed Wonder Woman…I think that would be a nice statement in a way to help illustrate that no matter what changes Diana still IS Wonder Woman at her core…and I don’t feel that here.

    It also hurts that there are already better re-designs out there. This Jamie McKelvie drawing feels modern, clean-lined, fashion forward, and definitely more of the “street wear”/practical they seemed to be going for without being derivative:

    http://www.tencentticker.com/projectrooftop/2006/04/26/wonder-woman-by-jamie-mckelvie/

    And for reference:

    90’s Rogue: http://blog.1979semifinalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/083-jim-lee.jpg
    90’s Sersi: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/sersi1992.jpg
    90’s Crystal (and Sersi): http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3244976016_bd48cd6561.jpg

    I can’t find a decent image but this was also a pretty standard look for image characters in the 1990’s as well (likely because Jim Lee created Rogue’s costume, and the new Wonder Woman costume, and many of the Image costumes).

    I like some of those characters just fine (Rogue is a particular favorite of mine) but Wonder Woman is a marquee female supe that has been around for 60+ years…she should never be wearing something derivative of them from 15 years ago.

  6. LAndrew’s avatar

    @1979semi-finalist–I think we agree on the biggest problem–it doesn’t “read” as Wonder Woman. I posted on CSBG that it seemed the redesign was in the spirit of the Captain America costume that Bucky wears–and attempt to strike a middle ground between “practical/realistic” and “costume.”

    But this errs to far towards “practical,” and not even all that pratical really. All the basic WW design touchstones are downplayed (the “WW” interlocking motif is pretty durable in terms of good design, as was the eagle it replaced and, of course, the stars) and nothing especially compelling is put in their place.

    Also, it’s just too darn dark–the dark blue on the black leggings against the darker red makes it seem far too muted really, for a superhero, much less an “iconic” one like WW. The chest logo is way too small, as is the tiara, and the stars on the shoulder pads are far too small.

    Bucky-cap’s outfit is substantially different from the basic Cap outfit, but it still “reads” visually as Captain America. I look at this and it could be anyone, really.

Comments are now closed.