Wonder Woman's New Costume

DC has seen what Marvel is doing with redefining their characters. The whole Heroic Age is sort of a Marvel Universe reboot of sorts, so why should DC be left out of the all the fun? I'm not sure though that this is exactly what fans had in mind, as it seems they're taking one of their most iconic characters and redesigning her. Yep, Wonder Woman is getting a new look.

If you couldn't tell, that's the new look above. The redesign is courtesy of Jim Lee, ripping her from her 20th century origins and attempting to modernize her in the year 2010. The change is timed with the release of Wonder Woman #600 and the character's rebirth courtesy of J. Michael Straczynski and artists Don Kramer and Michael Babinski. And Straczynski has a lot to say about the change.

"It’s now nearly twenty years later. Diana has been raised in an urban setting, but with a foot in both worlds. She has little or no memory of the other timeline. She knows only what she’s been told by those who raised her On the run, hunted, she must try to survive, help the other refugee Amazons escape the army that is still after them, discover who destroyed Paradise Island and why…and if the timeline can be corrected or not. She also does not yet have access to her full powers, but will be gaining them as she goes. Along the way, she will face a range of enemies — human and otherwise — who we have not seen before.

The Gods, for reasons of their own but which may have something to with their survival and perhaps the survival of Earth itself, have changed the timeline. In the new timeline, years ago the Gods removed their protection from Paradise Island, and left it vulnerable to attack. And attacked it was. Led by a dark figure, a veritable army descended upon the Island, equipped with weapons that could kill even the Amazons. Outgunned, doomed, Hippolyta gave over her three-year-old daughter to a handful of guardians who spirited her away as Hippolyta led one last desperate battle against the forces that had come to destroy all she had created. In that final battle, she and most of the Amazons were killed, though some managed to escape."

Look DC. I get the need to keep up with the times. To stay "hip" with the kids and what not. But this will NOT go over well at all. Not only did you change the look of one of the most iconic characters in all of comics (and probably the most iconic female character), but you essentially copied Sara Pezzini from Witchblade. Leather jacket? It looks as if she's wearing her old outfit but felt the need to "dress it up" some before going out, so she just threw some jeans and a leather jacket on over her outfit. Why the change?

According to Straczynski the change is a result of female fans asking how Wonder Woman could kick so much ass in the outfit that she wore. Really? The character has had the look for close to seventy years! I get that you have to listen to your market and maybe this is DC's way of trying to expand their customer base by appealing to more females. I just don't get why you have to change one of your signature characters' look to do that. A few years back you killed Superman, only to bring him back. Recently, you killed Bruce Wayne, leading to a new Batman, but now Bruce Wayne is coming back. NOW you're changing the outfit of Wonder Woman. Has history not taught you anything?

I can only imagine the backlash will be epic over this. I can also really only see this lasting no more than a few months at best. Honestly though, I'm not running a major comic book publisher so what do I know.