Does Wonder Woman play second fiddle to Superman?

[Sacred Knight]

No, he really doesn't. Well, clearly in your mind, but I don't think much anywhere else. You missed the point entirely. People can read the Adam West Batman, but it doesn't change the status of the current batgod. But not many people are going to go further back than Perez to read about Wonder Woman, and if they do they are likely to skip Kannigher entirely and go straight to the source, which are kooky and fun, and don't feature loser Steve.

Its not just a conjuration in my mind. I'm not some wacky conspiracy theorist, these aren't even controversial points, this is all pretty much common knowledge. Everyone knows he's an in-general unpopular character and has been for most of his existence. And I didn't miss the point. Its just not a very good comparison to support your point. I said before that Steve Trevor requires a concentrated effort from DC to get him out of his doldrums. Batman was there once upon a time, in part because of the 60s show. It at one time was a negative burden on Batman. He was at one time doing horribly. In the 70s though an effort was made to restore him to his roots. That concentrated effort culminated by the 80s, and the character recovered. It recovered to the point where the negativity 60s Batman once had on his reputation changed into something more playful and positive because the character was restored to a better place. Celebrating the silly camp instead of bemoaning it became an option and that indeed is what happened. Thus it proves my point on two fronts with tangible, historical evidence. History is remembered in comics, and reputations last in comics until the strong effort is put in to change things for the better. If they were to do that with with Steve and have it succeed, then his past as a lame duck will no longer matter.

But Steve Trevor has received no such renaissance in his character to date. The failures of the past remain pretty much as is as negative perceptions and interpretations. A stink can last till you use the present to remove it and that can take time. If it took time for Batman it'll surely take time for a supporting character of a franchise that has only just recently started getting any love. We're getting close to a decade to his return in the comics, and that was a step forward, but just one step. Not much has been done with him of note since. Putting him in a successful movie franchise has helped more, but that's a positive that needs to be transferred into the comics and hasn't just yet. So there's work to do. Further I think you're way off in your theory that if people decide to back, they'll only go back so far or skip certain things. It takes time to wade through vast sources of materials, but in general, the comic book fan does just that. Its in the DNA of the fandom, for the most part.

In any case if this is too far off-topic I apologize to everyone for the drift. I will say though that when it comes to WW and her fighting for recognition over the big-guns, Steve really plays no part in that. This was by no means devised as a deflection. He just came up in certain romance hypotheticals in which I felt it was indeed relevant to point out. But that's been discussed to death at this point. Cheers to everyone and happy new year.