Originally Posted by
Mel Dyer
I've got some ideas. Very few new ones though.
For the regular cast - that means every or every other issue - I would go back to Azzarello's 'Diana's Army' model. It was simple, practical and efficient, as well as interesting. It gave the supporting regulars (at the time: Zola, Queen Hera, Lennox, Orion, Lord Hermes) ..something to do in the comic.
My regular cast would represent nearly every significant era in WW's long history. It would feature the leading lady, Diana, fighting the forces of darkness, with the help of Etta Candy, Steve Trevor, Mala and Ferdinand - each gifted, with a unique skill or talent that often proves useful on Diana's adventures. Etta and Steve are primarily soldiers - Steve also having useful military connections - while Mala is a scientist, and Ferdinand is reimagined, as Diana's expert in mysticism and ancient civilizations.
I think adding Mala to the regular cast, which means getting her OFF the island, indefinitely, is important. It gives Wonder Woman a confidante, in the regular cast, who connects her to the Amazons, ..AND, who understands Diana's Amazon beliefs and motivations. I also think Mala's sunny optimism challenges Etta's gritty, gung-ho attitude. Between Etta and Mala, the more hopeful and fiercer aspects of Diana's personality are challenged and reflected. I think Diana needs that, and the comic needs that.
The 'Army' cast model would also make Steve firmly part of a narrative that revolves around Wonder Woman. I think there is presently a lot of confusion about Steve's proper role in the WW comic. I think I know a way to fix that, permanently.
The idea of Steve and Wonder Woman, as co-heroes would be over. As the most capable member in the new Army, whatever is going on with Diana and her needs will always determine how Steve is used in a story and, more importantly, how much or little we see of him. Steve and Diana, and in that order, will never again be co-heroes in the WW comic. Diana is the star; the comic will revolve around her, and the very impressive Steve, soldier and lover, will help her fix something in her story, before going back to his life, doing interesting things for ARGUS that Diana doesn't always agree with. Again...Steve is Diana's angel, who pops out of a figurative genie bottle, does his thing and climbs back in, until Diana actually calls him or a writer decides she needs him - that would be the operative Diana-Steve (in that order) dynamic.
Furthermore, much of Steve's panel-time, more than ever before, would be spent interacting and playing off of the other regulars, whose personalities will conflict or compliment his own - Etta's recklessness, Mala's blind optimism, so forth...so on. That's less time to stare in Diana's eyes, apoplectically mumbling, "Angel this--angel that," ..and thank God.
That's how I think I'd handle the Steve problem.
I would also base the cast in a colorfully iconic and fictional city, from which Wonder Woman's adventures could be launched - Washington, DC's fictional neighbor, ..a new Georgetown. This Georgetown would basically be a super-Washington, combining elements of real-life DC, Arlington AND Annapolis, ..with oversized monuments, uniformed military personnel and beatnik artists on every corner, military machines in its harbors and town squares, ..and ARGUS Central Command, at its center! Etta may already have a house there, and after some supervillain blows it to bits, she can move in with Diana - with Diana's arsenal, Mala's workshop, Ferdinand's study, a few trophies and an Invisible Jet, all under one roof! More than anything else, Georgetown and Diana's brownstone would serve as a launching pad for the leading lady's adventures, which would often find her in far-off lands, alien worlds, other dimensions, lost civilizations, time warps and mystical realms! Once in a while...
Even to Paradise Island! After Diana's frequent visits there to confer with the Queen, the Island would become a far-off locale we would all be waiting to return to, ..because my WW comic would NEVER revolve around what's going on, there. Paradise Island and the Amazons deserve a separate comic, in which to unfold rambling epic stories, with little or nothing to do with the familiar, mortal world around it. I would try to make the prospect of Sensational World of Wonder Woman an irresistible venture for DC's execs - the TWO-comic Solution that I'm always whining about.
Oh...if only I was clever, imaginative and disciplined enough to pull all of this off. Now, that ..would be a story, in itself! LOL