My thoughts on yaoi. I mean, Wonder Woman's new costume.

[meganbmoore]

So, that costume change of Wonder Woman's?  The one that's actually a pretty decent costume except for the jacket even if it doesn't particularly suit her?  And has men whining about how women just won't shut up about the sole widely-recognized iconic superheroine* becoming less recognizable?

My thoughts are:  It will not last.

Fort one thing, the Wonder Woman comic actually doesn't make DC a lot of money.  They do things like this and that horrendous "Amazons Attack" thing that I'm still trying to purge from my memory to try to get more guys to read it who needs more gals reading comics?  but they do make scads of money off of various Wonder Woman merchandise, and have to keep putting the comic out to keep the licensing to put out that merchandise.  To do so, they have to keep her easily recognizable, and not have her looking like two separate characters. Anyone remember Superman's electric blue phase?  You know, when he was all glowy and had electric powers?  If you don't it's because it lasted about 5 minutes.  Just long enough to get attention.  This is the same.  The costume change might last for a less iconic character, but the iconic characters may get their looks tweaked, but rarely drastically.

In addition, it simply isn't an iconic look.  The jacket alone sees to that, not to mention dates it.  While no superhero costume starts out iconic, the looks that become iconic are simple and  straightforward.  They're streamlined, have only a few colors, and basic designs with just enough embellishment to make them unique.  They stand out because they're easy to spot and remember, and they don't vary much.  This may be a nice costume, but it isn't one that is going to cry out "Wonder Woman!" to the masses ("Wonder Woman's BFF/sidekick, maybe) and she can't not be easily recognizable for long.  It would be bad for business.  While the comics may, financially, be a smaller part of the Wonder Woman franchise, it's still a part that needs to visually fit with the rest.

And these are my deeply controversial thoughts on yaoi on changing the costumes of iconic comic book characters.


*There are other widely-recognized iconic female comic book chracters, but they aren't superheroines.
 

Comments

[lea_hazel]

I also think it will be reverted in no time. WW's costume has actually changed a ton, and I would love for it to change to something more attractive practical, but it would have to be done stealthily over a period of several years, and it would require a consistent writer/artist team with an agenda and good communication skills.

My thoughts are DC knew something like this would make mainstream news, and it'll vanish within about 18 months. They're just trying to drum up publicity.

My most controversial thought about WW's costume is that the bottom bothers me a lot less than the top. The first thing I would do to change the costume is change it from an almost slipping off corset-style top to something with straps and a back. And I would nix the spangles under the excuse that it's disrespectful to the flag. But really, I just thing the costume looks too busy with so many patterns.