Submitted by Clinton Johnston, Dec 13, 2007 12:54

Thank you for your coverage of America's Amazon. Whereas clearly some fine research was done into her history, Hendrix only tells part of her story (maybe for space concerns). This is a shame, since it's a discussion of the other part which leads us to an understanding of where she's been and where she is today. Wonder Woman has always been a character forged by conflicted hands. Yes, Martson touted claims of "the new type of woman" and female strength, but he also used Wonder Woman to work out his humiliation, subjugation, and bondage fantasies. In fact it is safe to say that Martson only built his fantasy power woman up to have her tied, shackled, enslaved, de-powered, emotionally overwhelmed, and torn down. Once Martson was out of the picture, I fully believe that this character would have faded like so many other female heroes from the forties except for one thing -- the idea of a physically and emotionally strong, heroic, kickass woman from an enlightened world that knows little of male-dominated socialization, who has come to save us from our corrupt, imploding patriarchal system was too appealing for both female and male fans to pass up. They could not ignore the promise of the character, a promise, unfortunately, that has never been fulfilled. Never forget that since their inception, American superhero comics have been created by men who were mostly ambivalent, if not hostile, to the worth of women. So with our favorite Amazon princess, they were faced with a difficult problem, "How do we write about a positive, powerful woman when we don't like positive, powerful women? What do we do with a character who promises to defy the very stereotypes we wish to propagate?" And therein lies the root conflict you see played out throughout so much of Wonder Woman's history, the underlying reason for the numerous reboots that Rucka cites. It's a case of writers and editors trying to make the character work without supporting her core concept. And so ... She's super strong, but in one phase of her early career it was considered "unappealing" to have her actually conquering people physically (thus the Cheetah dance contest). She comes from an island of intelligent, men-free women ... who send her to our world dressed in a bustier and briefs. She's a princess, but while wealthy patrician Bruce Wayne's aloofness only adds to his mystery and sense of command, Diana must be accessible, considerate, and gracefully approachable (and, under some writers, motherly -- an interesting choice considering the character's problematic relationship with parents in general and mothers in particular). Of course, such a list of conflicts can go on and on. So if Simone, a very talented writer who has distinguished herself over the last few years, is finally turning to face this character head on, the real question will be how much Didio and DC (brandishing strong editorial hands these days and suffering increasingly from claims of growing mysogyny in their characterizations and plots) will let her.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.