New Look Wonder Woman

By now, just about every comic fan has seen the image on the left there: the new look for Wonder Woman as designed by Jim Lee, lifted from the article over at DC's The Source blog.

New costumes are the staple of superheroes; I'm struggling to think of one character that hasn't had a different costume at some point, by which I mean a completely new look, not just tweaks of the costume due to the styles of different artists.  The differences between one costume and the next are usually fairly minor but when major changes occur, it's not long before the character returns to their classic, usually early, look. Power Girl went through a couple of costume changes when she was with the Justice League but the white costume/red cape ensemble she's wearing now is roughly the same as when she debuted back in the 70's; while Zatanna may have started off in a dress, it's the top hat and fishnets that became her regular look and to which she's returned (though I've always been a fan of the JLA satellite-era look with those big red earrings!)

According to this Newsarama article, Wonder Woman's old costume was "effectively a one-piece swimsuit - often considered either sexist or simply impractical" which, I suppose, is fair enough. However, it is what not only comic readers but also the public recognise. Wonder Woman is one of those characters that has broken out of the comic book audience and into mainstream, probably due in large part to the 70's Wonder Woman series starring Lynda Carter. Should the oft-talked about Wonder Woman movie ever get off the ground, it's a fair bet that she will be appearing in something closer to her classic outfit than the new one pictured above.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not against costume changes. Characters grow and alter (well, mostly) and there's no reason why a fresh approach can't be taken from time to time. But I don't think this change will last very long, maybe a year at most. If anything will reverse the decision, it sounds like it'll be the storyline itself which involves a new timeline and Diana's fight to get back to the real one. There will be struggles along the way but, at the end of it, the main timeline will be resolved, though I'm sure there will be consequences that carry over, and things will largely return to what they were a month or so ago . . . including the costume.

Fan reaction has, perhaps predictably, been vociferous and largely negative. From the Source article's comments:

disconnectedsmile says on June 29th, 2010 at 6:37 pm :
she didn’t need to be redesigned for the modern era.
Wonder Woman is a global icon. you can’t change her look anymore than you can change Batman’s or Superman’s.

i don’t know who that’s supposed to be in that costume, but it sure isn’t Wonder Woman.

thebigburton says on June 29th, 2010 at 6:45 pm :
This has to be a joke. I am literally sick to my stomach right now. This is a joke. You CANNOT destroy my reason for loving comics and superheroes like this. Not even for a single issue. Please stop this NOW!

ipstenu says on June 29th, 2010 at 6:51 pm :
This had BETTER freakin’ end with Steve Trevor stepping out of the shower and it’s all a dream.

I was willing to lay the One More Day Spider-Man fiasco on Marvel, but now this?

No. I’m sorry, JMS, I love you for B5, but this is ... this is horrific and wrong.

No.

Bad.

Done.

thebigburton says on June 29th, 2010 at 7:01 pm :
I actually just threw up... how dare you do this. THIS IS DISGRACEFUL. I hope you lose the rights to WW. I am now done collecting comics. GOOD JOB!

I love the way thebigburton feels sick at 6:45, goes and throws up and then comes back to tell us at 7:01!

The poll at the bottom of the Newsarama article has (at the time of writing this) results of

5 Stars: Fantastic! Best look for Diana yet! 12% (304 votes)
4 Stars: Like it more than the old one 15% (394 votes)
3 Stars: Like it about the same as the old one 12% (306 votes)
2 Stars: Like it less than the old one 20% (518 votes)
1 Star: Hate it! Why Mess With A Classic? 41% (1,054 votes)

Change isn't always welcomed - not being a big Wonder Woman fan, I don't have any strong feelings either way, particularly as I don't think the change will last. All I'll say to those currently wailing and gnashing their teeth is remember this:

Monday Covers #6

Legends of the DC Universe #21

C'mon: Green Lantern + Westerns = What's Not To Love?

Share And Share Alike

Just a quick note about a new addition to the blog - sharing buttons which appear at the foot of each post. At the moment they look like this:

but if you roll over them, not only will they change colour

but, as you can probably guess, they'll let you share whatever marvellous piece of eloquent, well-researched and pithy post you've just read to the major social networks.

Enjoy!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #87

Like you needed a reason not to piss Zatanna off....

• BATTLEFIELDS #7 - Anna Kharkova returns from The Night Witches, joining a fighter squadron, and was anyone surprised when the NKVD offcer turned out to be a coward?
• GREEN ARROW #1 - and we're back with the grim and gritty Green Arrow, newly separated from Black Canary and patrolling Star City's built-in-five-minutes forest. Oh, and the mysterious Isable Rochev? I'm going out on a limb and guessing that'll turn out to be Ollie's mother.
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #49 - and the big bad guy behind the Alpha Lanterns' revolt is revealed as Cyborg Superman. And if Tony Bedard breaks up Kyle Rayner and Soranik Natu over this Jade nightmare Kyle's having, I may have to send him a harsh letter. Can't the guy have one relationship that doesn't go down the pan?
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #4 - I thought it was kinda cool that it was Booster who worked out that Max Lord was behind the JLI getting together again, though the new Rocket Red seems a little . . . forced, I think.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE RISE OF ARSENAL #4 - I for one won't be following Arsenal into the pages of Titans; that one-shot where Ryan Choi's Atom got killed off was enough for me.
• POWER GIRL #13 - the comic that I've been dreading for some time finally turned up: Judd Winick's first Power Girl issue. As expected, it was nowhere near as much fun as the Palmiotti/Gray issues that preceded it and, judging by the solicitations for subsequent issues, it's probably not going to be much fun either. That said, so far it wasn't dreadful; the art was kinda nice, for example, and the Justice League: Generation Lost tie in was no surprise. I guess we see where this goes.
• TIME MASTERS trade paperback - picked this up on something of a whim; I like Rip Hunter as a character and time travel's always a good plot device but it was something of a shame to discover Hunter's a bit of a dick in this story.
• ZATANNA #2 - quickly rising to the top of my list (despite being last alphabetically) Paul Dini continues to write a good fun series with some lovely art. Fuseli may sound like a pasta dish but the nightmare demon almost managed to give Zatanna a run for her money. Despite ending up in the top hat, I think he might show up again. And the ghost on the last page? That's not going to end well!

And what made me smile:

Some people will put any old crap on their blog . . .

Friday Night Fights - When Universes Amalgamate Again

The whole thing with Minimum Clonage is that we fighters can't us the same main characters more than once; due to my earlier fights, Spacebooger says I can't use Catwoman, Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan, Joker, Guy Gardner, Starman, Superman or Talia A-Pocalypse.

He didn't say anything about not using the same fraggin' amalgamated universe though!

Everybody say hi to Lobo the Duck and Ambush the Lunatik, two of the most ridiculously fun things to come out of the whole Amalgam experiment!

Of course, this being Friday Night Fights, there's little time for discourse . . .

Hey, maybe if we all write to Keith Giffen he can have Ambush Bug fight Lobo for real in the pages of Doom Patrol?

Despite my love for Ambush Bug (or even this pale pretender) there's only one winner here:

Remember, folks, head over to Spacebooger by clicking on the picture below, check out the other fights and then vote for your favourite.

This frankly bizarre battle first appeared in Lobo The Duck, cover dated June 1997, written by Alan Grant, with art by Val Semeiks and Ray Kryssing though the scans come from the Return to The Amalgam Age of Comics: The DC Comics Collection trade paperback.

Monday Covers #5

The Pro

Ah, Amanda Conner gloriously illustrating everything a superheroine shouldn't be!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #86

The understatement of the year from Blackest Night #4

• The Boys #43 - remember that time when you were reading Preacher and you realised that beneath the cheeky charm, the devil-may-care attitude and the all round bloke-iness, Cassidy wasn't a nice guy at all? I just had the same feeling about Butcher.
• Brightest Day #4 - man, is Hawk a complete idiot or what?
• Crossed: Family Values #2 - it could be so easy to turn this series into another zombie story but, for better or worse, David Lapham throws in some hideous family relationships that make the series more than a little repulsive. It's not gratuitous, though, and because it's deftly done it remains readable.
• Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Journey Begins #2 - Aileen, billy-bumblers and invisible men, oh my!
• DC Universe: Legacies #2 - ah, the Justice Society facing off against the HUAC hearings never gets old, does it? And while part of me cringes at the stilted, Chinese accented language of Wing's journal entries in the back-up story, part of me can't help thinking that it's appropriate for the time of the story.
• Magog #10 - so that wraps up Giffen's run on the title, then? Not the most earth-shattering of reads, I have to admit, but enjoyable from a Giffen point of view.

And what made me smile:

Man, and I thought I was attached to my computer . . .

Friday Night Fights - When Universes Amalgamate

For last week's fight, I headed to the wonder that was DC Versus Marvel. As you may remember, the result of that series was the Amalgam Universe where characters from both publishers were somehow combined into new and (sometimes) exciting characters . . . well, slightly exciting. Okay, more vaguely interesting.

So guess where I'm off to this week:

That's right - the Amalgam Universe! Here we find that dark and moody justice seeker, Dark Claw facing off against his on-again, off-again beloved, Talia A-Pocalypse . . . no, really . . . in the style of the then current Batman animated series.

Convinced she's not a bad sort at heart, Dark Claw gives her a chance to (from her point of view) avenge the death of her father:

Them's some mighty big claws she's got there, mate, you might want to -

Too late! Talia calls his bluff and the Dark Claw is down!

If you liked this fight, head over to Spacebooger, check out the others and then vote for your favourite!

Tonight's edition of claw-my-bluff first appeared in Dark Claw Adventures cover dated June 1997, written by  Ty Templeton with art by Templeton and Rick Burchett, though the scans come from the Return to The Amalgam Age of Comics: The DC Comics Collection trade paperback.

PS - Dark Claw gets better!

Blue Beetle Live Action Series - Follow-Up

I'm probably not telling you anything you didn't already know, but DC's Source blog has stills from the live action test of the potential Blue Beetle series here and they look superb!

So Beetle's in Teen Titans, appears in the Batman: Brave and The Bold cartoon and might have a live action series?

Can we please get a new ongoing series for this guy, DC?

Freedom Fighters #1

Yes! Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters return which is good enough news - that it's back as an ongoing is even better - that it's written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray is just too awesome for words! This isn't going to go a long way to ease the blow of losing them from Power Girl.

Blue Beetle Live Action Series?!

I've been away for the weekend so have just read this over at Superherohype - there's the possibility that a live action Blue Beetle series may be in development featuring the Jamie Reyes incarnation of Beetle!

Awesome news - can we now have another ongoing series, please?

Monday Covers #4

Running through some of my favourite covers in no particular order:

Countdown #44

Okay, so Countdown itself was, on the whole, pretty awful and the whole Captain Atom / Monarch / destroyer of worlds seems to have been forgotten for the most part but this cover is still pretty cool, I think.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #85

Black Alice produces the best Etrigan rhyme ever!

Bumper week this week following the no-show of my comics last weekend.

• Booster Gold #33 - understandable that the title's tying in closely with Justice League: Generation Lost and the whole hunt for Max Lord thing, but it was nice seeing the JLI-era League once more.
• Brightest Day #3 - nice, too, to see J'onn J'onnz being a detective once more, working out who was brought to Earth before him; and is it me or is Ronnie Raymond looking waaaaaaaaaaay younger than ever before?
• Doom Patrol #11 - oh man, and they thought Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol was weird! This is cool, though, with Ambush Bug helping the team out - the line about "saving that for last" almost got the Cocktail post this week as I literally snorted when I read it!
• JSA All-Stars #7 - from the cover you'd expect the service to be a closed casket affair as Damage is laid to rest; there's a touching eulogy from Judomaster which runs throughout most of this issue, giving it a quieter, respectful air. Very well done.
• Co-feature Liberty Belle & Hourman - the good guy / bad guy team up continues to make this an enjoyable story even if it is starting to drag a little.
• Justice League: Generation Lost #3 - it's Fire's turn to be tricked by Max Lord into becoming a renegade as the team, now with extra Blue Beetle which is always good, continue the hunt. Great line from Ice when she explains she doesn't know what the OMACs are - "I'm pretty sure I was deceased when they showed up the first time!"
• Justice Society of America #39 - now that, my friends, is a cliffhanger! Excellent issue!
• PunisherMax #8 - three stories running in parallel this issue with lines being crossed by the end of it.
• Secret Six #22 - aside from the splendid rhyme quoted above, this issue had several cool moments ranging from the cold with Catman and his father, to the sad with Black Alice and her father, to the funny with Ragdoll . . . just being Ragdoll, really.
• The Stand: Hardcases #1 - the focus of the story shifts to the bad guys as Flagg begins gathering his troops.
• Superman: New Krypton Vol 1 - picked up the trade of this pretty much on a whim so will read it over the next few days.

And what made me smile:

Booster Gold stands up for the JLI!

Friday Night Fights - When Universes Collide

It's Friday Night Fights once more, with Spacebooger preventing the fighters using any of the main characters  they've used in previous rounds - this means I have to steer clear of Catwoman, Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan, Joker, Guy Gardner, or Starman for the remainder of the competition.

This week, I've gone all out for the big guys: Superman vs the Hulk:

Force to fight to save their universes (don't you just hate being put in that position?) Supes and the Hulk are transported to the Grand Canyon where they can whack seven shades of shite out of each other.

Which they do.

DC's biggest and best (even when sporting a mullet) against Marvel's biggest and greenest. An epic fight between two powerful heroes but, really, there was only ever going to be one winner:

And he does.

Remember, folks, to check out the other fights which you can find by clicking on the picture below and vote for your favourite:

Blue vs Green was first seen in DC Versus Marvel #3, cover dated April 1996, written by Peter David and Ron Marz with art by Claudio Castellini and Paul Neary.

Happy Days!

Just this minute read this over at Newsarama from the report on the DC Nation panel at HeroesCon:

Has the "Who's Who?" started production yet and also, what about recap boxes so people can catch up? Sattler wishes they had the resources for a bibliography, but some people don't need them and yes the Who's Who is coming out.

A new Who's Who has been talked about for a while - I half suspected DCU Legacies might be instead of it - but this makes me happy!

Monday Covers #3

A run through some of my favourite covers, posted each Monday for the next few weeks.

Hitman #14

Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium has long been a stand out storyline in the consistently excellent Hitman series; two issues of sheer genius, pitting Tommy Monaghan and his friends against the undead inhabitants of an entire aquarium. The cover above just makes me chuckle every time I see it.

No Cocktail Post This Week

Due to a shipping error, my local comic shop didn't have a delivery so I am once again left comicless.

However, I do have this to brighten my day:

It's from a first look at promo art for next year's Green Lantern movie - you can see more here.

Friday Night Fights - There's A Starman Fighting In The Sky

After a brief hiatus, Spacebooger returns with Friday Night Fights!

Anyone remember when James Robinson was spoken of with respect? You know, back when he was writing Starman? Before the whole Justice League: Cry For Justice debacle?

Yeah, me too:

After almost wrecking Opal City, the Mist's son Kyle finally gets to square off against Jack Knight, the reluctant Starman who is (understandably) pissed off about Kyle having killed Jack's brother.

Goaded by Kyle and almost defeated, Jack does something most heroes never do:

He kills the bad guy.

Okay, this fight isn't representative of Starman at all but it makes for a nice reminder of times past.

And remember folks:

This flying high fight first appeared in Starman #3 cover dated January 1995, written by James Robinson, with art by Tony Harris and Wade von Grawbadger whose name I have always loved. The scans come from the trade paperback.

Captain America Costume?

Regular readers will know that this blog is pretty much DC-centric and that I don't dabble too much in the Marvel world. That said - this looks to be pretty sweet:

This is apparently official costume art from the forthcoming Captain America movie. Full story (such as it is) over at Superherohype.

J. T. Krul To Write Teen Titans

Okay this probably isn't news to a lot of you out there by now but it's the first I've heard of it after a busy couple of days. From the Source blog:

"starting later this year, J.T. Krul will step in to chronicle the adventures of the DCU’s premiere teen team."

I enjoyed his rung on Blackest Night: Teen Titans but Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal is still leaving me a bit cold. However, almost anybody is better than the current writer Felicia Henderson. As mentioned in my last Cocktail post, I had pretty much made up my mind to ditch Teen Titans purely because of the writing; with someone new coming in, though, I'll stick it out.