What defines YOUR Wonder Woman mythos?

[Powerboy]

I can't help but notice that more than a few people here have their own views and interpretations and ideas that go into their own personal canon or fannon for Wonder Woman. Since its always endlessly fascinating to hear someones views or timelines or ideas of how to approach the many elements of Wonder Womans mythos, I was wondering if anyone wanted to talk about their respective ideas.

Personally im still working on my own somewhat. As I really like the movie concept of Wonder Woman being a century old, and im trying to ponder a means of connecting Wonder Womans disparate history into something that would account for a century of superheroing.

I think this happens with most characters. We all have our own head canon or at least our preferences to which version we like most our consider truest to the concept. For me, it's the Perez version, the Princess of Peace here to show Man's World a better way. I have nothing personal against Rucka but, for me, his version was what ended and destroyed my favorite version.

[Largo161]

I think this happens with most characters. We all have our own head canon or at least our preferences to which version we like most our consider truest to the concept. For me, it's the Perez version, the Princess of Peace here to show Man's World a better way. I have nothing personal against Rucka but, for me, his version was what ended and destroyed my favorite version.

Are you referring to Rucka’s first run? Besides the fact that there were so many writers between Perez and Rucka, did Rucka’s first run erase any of Perez’s continuity?

[DrNewGod]

I've given the take on what I'd prefer to see done with WW. If I had to identify an existing take that I prefer, I'd go with immediately-pre-Crisis WW, followed (at some distance) by Perez' WW.

[Joao]

I would like to see that.

Think of the Flash Gordon story, but make Princess Aura the wise-cracking hero, and Flash, the virtuous, enduring love interest. Then, invent, from whole cloth, a super-villain, as grand and magnificently nasty, as Ming the Merciless, and pit him or her against the heroic, leading lady, ..with a world as strange, lurid, epic, VIOLENT and ridiculous, as Mongo! Add a morbidly obese coed-cowgirl and put all of this together, ..EVERY month - every month - and you're coming close to what Wonder Woman aspired to be and often was in the Golden Age.

That's what we've lost. That's the mythos, as I see it. Are we getting anything even close to that back, in the next quarter of a century? Don't think so.

Something better, maybe? Maybe. I hope so. Sure, I like the Marston model, but, there are others. I would like to see some genius make Wonder Woman ..SENSATIONAL, again!

I get what you are saying but I'm torn on this discussion. We've seen the talking gorillas in Simone's run, which are closer to the older stories and were divisive to say the least. We had Rucka, who gives a more palatable Wonder Woman (think Year One) who is not so badass is the Xena/Croft sense and it works, but the more unique/weird concepts are not there. And we had the successful movie that is traditional badassery with notes of love and compassion etc. And it was a hit.

So is the old Wonder Woman mythos really appropriate for nowadays? Sci-fi and fantasy are not on their brightest days if you ask me, and maybe the toned down weirdness and traditional superheroics is the wave she has to be surfing on right now to be on top.

[WonderScott]

Pluck Diana out of that picture, and slip a certain, quirky BBC hero into her place, and you have the perfect Doctor Who episode. That's what we've lost, and it's depressing, ..because I don't think we're ever going to get that back. The 'wonder' in Wonder Woman...

What we've got now is a Xena comic, with some primary colors added ..and flying, ..but, it's what people want and expect. We haven't seen Wonder Woman in her purest, most powerful and inspiring form, for SO long, that pastiche characters and superheroines, like Lady Death and Vampirella, become the standard we hold her to. That is very sad.

She's so far above them, in so many ways. She's such a silly, absolutely absurd character, in so many others, while still surpassing them. I think Wonder Woman is a brilliant creation, ..and the mythos should reflect that.

Perfectly stated that we're missing the wonder in Wonder Woman.

I think it's very possible to ground her as a character (I'd argue she's always been grounded despite other interpretations) and have her foray into the fantastic "that could be."

[Jackalope89]

I'm focusing on the Amazons here: they are the daughters of Demeter, and were charged by her and Artemis, Hestia, Aphrodite, and Hermes to teach mankind about justice, civilisation, and loving authority. They founded the first city of Themyscira by the river Treme in modern Turkey, but they also traveled the world to teach and learn.

The first generation of Amazons were very long-lived, but they also gave birth to daughters who they raised. The boys were given in the care of their fathers. Themyscira was otherwise closed to men, except that they were allowed to live there for a limited time in certain quarters. The Amazons turned into outstanding scholars and artisans, and many of them had talents as seers.

After Theseus and Heracles conquered Themyscira, and the Amazons freed themselves, this also had repercussions with the gods of the Olympos. Athena, who earlier had been neutral to hostile to the Amazons, was angry over the behaviour of Heracles, while Zeus was angry at them over killing/defeating/humbling Heracles. The Amazons were charged with protecting a several important artifacts and retreated to their current island, also named Themyscira, where they built their new city.

Many of the Amazons were pregnant when they arrived at their new island, including Hippolyta. The daughters they raised, while the boys were given in the care to Hermes and Artemis. That included Hippolyta's son, her first-born child. She prayed to the goddesses for help, and they told her to sculpt a daughter from clay. Thus Diana was born as the youngest of the children born on the island, though by less than a year than the next youngest one. Unbeknowst to her mother, Diana was also blessed by the goddesses with different powers and abilities.

While on the island, the Amazons who arrived there were sworn never to leave the island or face Zeus' wrath. However, the Amazons born on the island were free to leave it. While on the island, the Amazons are immortal, but if they leave it they become mortal though aging slowly.

The Amazon society is small and nurturing, but not without tension. Some of the Amazons broke away from the deal with the gods, and formed the Bana-Mighdall; they were pursued by the wrath of Zeus until they could reach a refuge in a far-away country. Those Amazons who were away from away from the first Themyscira when it was conquered were cut off, most integrating with Man's World, but some managed to join the Bana-Mighdall. Within Themyscira, there are different opinions on the view of men, on theology, but also based on simple personal animus.

Most of the time, Themyscira is magically shielded and inaccessible from the world, but at times it connects with different places, leading to the island having a very varied flora and fauna. It is always possible to leave the island, however, but often with little control where you end up. At times shipwrecked men have ended up on the island, they have been brought to a small island just off the main one, nursed back to health and released back to the world to tell fantastic tales.

When Steve Trevor crashed on the island, he however told tales that Man's World was a very different place, and the Amazons received omens that it was time for them to take a more active role in the affairs of men. Thus the choice to hold a contest to choose their emissary. Meanwhile, Amazon artisans repaired Steve's plane, turning it invisible in the process. Diana took part in the contest, against her mother's wishes, and won it. She was charged, according to the old tradition of the Amazons, to teach and learn in Man's World. To get back to Themyscira one of the pegasi living on the island is charged with seeking her out when the island becomes accessible, and bring her and her new-found knowledge back.

I'd also make Steve Trevor a gay man, partly because of the humour value of having a gay man on a fantasy island populated by women, partly to give Diana greater freedom in seeking relations. Also, somewhere in Man's World Diana might have a half-brother that she doesn't know about, that is an old and painful memory to her mother and several other Amazons.

Good, but like Largo, I disagree on the Steve Trevor part.

[WonderScott]

I think the badassery of the bad girl trend comics, like Lady Death and Glory, and similar themes in films have cultivated an appetite for people, who read WW. The difference between today and the Marston days is ..it's not badassery for Diana's love of freedom and what she will dare to pursue it, anymore. Today, for some readers, it's badassery for badassery's sake.

Is Wonder Woman badass enough? How can 'they' make her more badass, like Xena and Lara Croft?

There's an expectation that's been cultivated...a standard that shapes the mythos. We must ask ourselves, in contemplation of modern badassery, ..if the WW comic is too sophisticated or sexy for kangas, mental-radio tiaras, cowgirls ..and invisible jets. That's not a problem, but, it does distance us from the Marston model, and, yes...Lady Death, Xena WP and Angelina Jolie movies had a lot to do with it.

All that aside, it's not the end of superhero comics ..or even of WW. While I appreciate the Golden Age WW for what it was, I welcome a skilled writer to introduce us to a better Wonder Woman and Wonder-mythos, than any we've seen to date.

I said it a few times, but the whole DCnU take on the character, especially outside the title of Wonder Woman, essentially Conan-ized her.

We need to get back to Wonder Woman and Diana and the mythos having the heart of Marston and the accessories (not a shield and not a sword to me) that other writers developed over the years. To me, those are mostly Perez, Jimenez, Rucka, Simone, and some Kanigher thrown in for good measure.

Wonder Woman is really her own thing that needs to be unleashed. She doesn't need to be made simpler or streamlined when you get her heart and soul and intelligence and humor and joie de vivre and empathy and ethics and strengths correct.

[The Dying Detective]

Perfectly stated that we're missing the wonder in Wonder Woman.

I think it's very possible to ground her as a character (I'd argue she's always been grounded despite other interpretations) and have her foray into the fantastic "that could be."

I mean if you write her adventures into the weird world and try to get the reader to somehow identify with these it should be no problem. i mean people love a story about a quest to destroy a ring with a soul inside it in world with elves, dwarves, little people, talking trees, ugly creatures better known as orcs, etc. How more difficult can doing this for Wonder Woman be?

[WonderScott]

I mean if you write her adventures into the weird world and try to get the reader to somehow identify with these it should be no problem. i mean people love a story about a quest to destroy a ring with a soul inside it in world with elves, dwarves, little people, talking trees, ugly creatures better known as orcs, etc. How more difficult can doing this for Wonder Woman be?

Truth.

To me, it's about getting to and showing the "heart" and "head" of who the characters are, how they present that heart and head (and any discrepancies in that considering who they are), the choices they'd probably make, and the challenges they'd probably face.

Then you get to start mucking all that up with whatever conflict you can think of them and force them to make good or bad choices and deal with the consequences and ramifications of their actions (or inaction.) I have no interest in seeing a perfect Diana, Steve, Etta, Hippolyta, etc. No paragons please.

[The Dying Detective]

Truth.

To me, it's about getting to and showing the "heart" and "head" of who the characters are, how they present that heart and head (and any discrepancies in that considering who they are), the choices they'd probably make, and the challenges they'd probably face.

Then you get to start mucking all that up with whatever conflict you can think of them and force them to make good or bad choices and deal with the consequences and ramifications of their actions (or inaction.) I have no interest in seeing a perfect Diana, Steve, Etta, Hippolyta, etc. No paragons please.

If you can get the reader to care about these people Wonder Woman is helping yeah. Also it generally is hard to mess up Wonder Woman at least not when you write Infinite Crisis mos in the case of Steve Trevor and Etta there is very little you can mess up considering how little personality the comic book versions of them has. It will take time for someone to get the idea that to fix that. Hippolyta nothing much either since you barely get to see her.

[DrNewGod]

What we've got now is a Xena comic, with some primary colors added ..and flying, ...We haven't seen Wonder Woman in her purest, most powerful and inspiring form, for SO long, that pastiche characters and superheroines, like Lady Death and Vampirella, become the standard we hold her to. That is very sad.

Agreed. Every time I see Diana waving around a sword and shield my teeth grind just a little bit.

So. Absolutely. Not. what the character was created to be...

[7-Love]

This (below) ..defines MY Wonder-mythos. The WW comic used to be a place, where, literally, ANY-thing was possible: immortal Amazons, giant spacefaring kangaroos, genies, invisible jets, butterfly-winged Venusian warrior-queens and morbidly obese cowgirl sorority-chicks, ..all in the same comic. Sometimes...all in the same STORY! [LOL] Somewhere, amidst all the WOGs and taking Wonder Woman way, wa-aay too seriously, ..we lost this.

This is the sensational world of Wonder Woman. We need to get it, back.

I agree. Wonder Woman's world used to be so wondrous, unique, and original, now it's just your typical, generic, badass chick comic.

[Restingvoice]

So far, with the exception of Azzarello's run, only the beginnings are interesting. In both the Pre and Post Crisis run I'm interested when they're telling the origin, fighting Ares where he's usually the first mega arc villain, up until the introduction of classic enemies like Cheetah, Circe, and Dr. Psycho. Maybe with additional arc like Challenge of The Gods.

Beyond that, I lost interest.

So what defines Wonder Woman mythos for me is the mythical elements. Once they get to her daily activities and daily heroism, especially once she adjusted to live in man's world, in my eyes she becomes no different than other heroes and so not unique enough to follow.

[Vakanai]

I just, this very day (technically yesterday since since it's now 2 am here) got three different origin stories for Wonder Woman I ordered from Amazon (Legend of Wonder Woman, True Amazon, and Year One). Each very different. I love the sword and shield daughter of Zeus version from the movie to pieces. I thought the Earth One version was pretty interesting. I have been exposed to the Lynda Carter version in reruns the past couple of years. And I still remember the Justice League cartoon version fondly. So what defines Wonder Woman to me isn't whether she's made of clay or has a dad, whether she fights with or without a sword, or even if she has an invisible jet or has ever ridden a kanga. What defines Wonder Woman to me is her character, the personal strength and compassion. You can pretty much put her in any setting in any era and strip or add any external factors you want, but as long as the core rings true she'll be a character I'm interested in.

[Largo161]

I just, this very day (technically yesterday since since it's now 2 am here) got three different origin stories for Wonder Woman I ordered from Amazon (Legend of Wonder Woman, True Amazon, and Year One). Each very different. I love the sword and shield daughter of Zeus version from the movie to pieces. I thought the Earth One version was pretty interesting. I have been exposed to the Lynda Carter version in reruns the past couple of years. And I still remember the Justice League cartoon version fondly. So what defines Wonder Woman to me isn't whether she's made of clay or has a dad, whether she fights with or without a sword, or even if she has an invisible jet or has ever ridden a kanga. What defines Wonder Woman to me is her character, the personal strength and compassion. You can pretty much put her in any setting in any era and strip or add any external factors you want, but as long as the core rings true she'll be a character I'm interested in.

Yeah...but for me, when it comes to superheroes, the core of the character stems from the origin, the power set and the costume. You change those things too much and you have a different character. These are comics, not literary fiction.

DC tried to convince me with the end of The Truth arc that the origin doesn’t matter. Pfft. I didn’t accept that then. Don’t accept it now.