What’s Your Preferred Physique for Wonder Woman?

[KangMiRae]

Artists tend to draw Wonder Woman in many different ways that has led to some inconsistency. It’s a type of inconsistency that isn’t damaging in the long run because comicbooks are such a subjective visual medium.

Lots of artists draw Diana in 3 ways:

Toned & Defined



Slim or Lithe



A Mix of Both



__________

And that’s just the body physique. There’s still her height that is also changed when drawn by artists due to artistic liberty and rendition.

They typically draw her shorter or around the same height as the men she works with or taller than the men.

What’s your ideal Wonder Woman physique?

Mine is either Toned & Defined, also known as muscular, lol!
Or I can settle for a Mix, but never Lithe and Slim. I think it’s okay for Supergirl to be slim and lithe, very dainty, ‘cause she gets her powers from yellow sun and that doesn’t require her to have any bulk. Diana’s an Amazon, and while she has powers in a similar vain as Supergirl (and Superman), that is—through special means/supernatural means, Diana’s still trained and fought her entire life on Paradise Island. That kinda training definitely grew her muscle and bulk despite being born with superpowers, in my opinion. I'm sure she still trains and works out with an Amazonian regimen.

As for height, I always prefer Diana to be taller than the people she works around her. Batman and Superman included. Darwyn Cooke always drew her taller than them and I loved it. Again, she’s an Amazon, she shouldn’t be tinier than men.

[Tzigone]

Lots of artists draw Diana in 3 ways:

None of those.

I like this bodytype, though I'm not sold on the facial features/style. Somehow seems a little soft-focus.

bodytype.jpg

As for height, I always prefer Diana to be taller than the people she works around her. Batman and Superman included. Darwyn Cooke always drew her taller than them and I loved it. Again, she’s an Amazon, she shouldn’t be tinier than men.

Diana should not be 6'2" or taller to me. Max of 6'0" probably. Tall for a woman, but not freakishly so. 6'2" is already in the same percentile as a 6'8" man. I want the Amazons to look like toned, fit warriors (who wouldn't typically look like bodybuilders) and I definitely like them taller than the average woman just for appearance sake. But any one of them should be able to walk among us without stares (when garbed as we are).

I'm not aware of any mythological description of Amazons as larger than men, but I certainly haven't read every description of them. Certainly not apparent in the artwork I've seen. Heck, it was specifically mentioned in the golden age how they weren't buff. But like I said, I like them looking the part of warriors. Warriors, not giants.

I like the idea of a dainty Kara, given her nature and original look.

[Sacred Knight]

Toned, defined and muscular. I'm not absolutely apalled when she's not drawn that way, there's lots of artists who go for a less-defined look and I still enjoy it, but my number one preference is clear muscular definition.

[Celgress]

Toned, defined and muscular but also somewhat curvy for me (or a combination of 1 & 3, leaning more towards 1, for lack of a better visual example).

I'm 100% against Diana being depicted with a rail-thin almost frail type body (as seen in example pic no. 2).

[Electricmastro]

Will perhaps not exactly like Jack Kirby's Big Barda, I figure something like that which fits within that muscular, yet graceful physique.

[KangMiRae]

Toned, defined and muscular. I'm not absolutely apalled when she's not drawn that way, there's lots of artists who go for a less-defined look and I still enjoy it, but my number one preference is clear muscular definition.

This is my sentiments exactly. The first time I saw Diana drawn to be muscular, I really thought it fit with idea of a hero from an Amazon. There are instances, typically in fan art rather than official art (in my experience), where she's given too much bulk and muscle, and I feel like it diminishes the rest of her form.

Toned, defined and muscular but also somewhat curvy for me (or a combination of 1 & 3, leaning more towards 1, for lack of a better visual example).

I'm 100% against Diana being depicted with a rail-thin almost frail type body (as seen in example pic no. 2).

I agree! My problem was that I couldn't find a piece of art of Wonder Woman where she had the perfect mix of muscle and curves without tipping too much on one side. I settled for Paquette's work on Wonder Woman: Earth One where she's drawn with a lot more curve, but more than healthy 'cause there's tone there from all her Amazonian training. The problem with Paquette's work, in this case 'cause I think his art is awesome in general, is that while he has the curves and the tone, he doesn't bother drawing any definition into her arms or thighs like in the picture I used above.

[KangMiRae]

Diana should not be 6'2" or taller to me. Max of 6'0" probably. Tall for a woman, but not freakishly so. 6'2" is already in the same percentile as a 6'8" man. I want the Amazons to look like toned, fit warriors (who wouldn't typically look like bodybuilders) and I definitely like them taller than the average woman just for appearance sake. But any one of them should be able to walk among us without stares (when garbed as we are).

I'm not aware of any mythological description of Amazons as larger than men, but I certainly haven't read every description of them. Certainly not apparent in the artwork I've seen. Heck, it was specifically mentioned in the golden age how they weren't buff. But like I said, I like them looking the part of warriors. Warriors, not giants.

I don't think there's a set idea of how tall an Amazonian should be, but I think I've seen other people like me who've depicted them as tall sometimes just 'cause it sometimes comes with the imagination of assumption that they'd be tall women.

The other thing is that I don't need Diana to be super duper tall where it becomes freakish. As a matter of fact, I think she can be taller than the boys in the League if they were shortened. This way, it's less about Diana being super tall, and more about them being a bit shorter.

I think Darwayn Cooke drew Diana around 6'2" and I think Superman around 6'0". That effectively makes her taller than Superman, but just by a bit where it fulfills its purpose without completely ruining them visually.

[KangMiRae]

Toned, defined and muscular but also somewhat curvy for me (or a combination of 1 & 3, leaning more towards 1, for lack of a better visual example).

I'm 100% against Diana being depicted with a rail-thin almost frail type body (as seen in example pic no. 2).

You know, I think Terry and Rachel Dodson draw Diana like how you were describing. The curves from Paquette, but with visible muscle.

[Tzigone]

The other thing is that I don't need Diana to be super duper tall where it becomes freakish. As a matter of fact, I think she can be taller than the boys in the League if they were shortened. This way, it's less about Diana being super tall, and more about them being a bit shorter.

I feel like that's deliberately diminishing them (because, in our society, height in men is valued/deemed attractive/etc. and besides their physiques are just as relevant as Diana's) to "promote" Diana. That's a big no-no to me - no character should ever be diminished to make another look more impressive. And that includes Steve, who was pretty cool in the golden age. But it's much worse to do it to characters from another "family" that this fandom/creative team really shouldn't have any say on. If you have to diminish others to make your character look more impressive, you're doing something wrong.

I definitely do not like an extremely endowed Diana. She didn't start that way, but really it's the much later too-small-tops and women spilling out of them that made dislike it so much, rather than a desire to stick to original build.

[Electricmastro]

I also thought that Wonder Woman's look from Justice League: The New Frontier was ideal.

[AmiMizuno]

Also, Diana was taller than Superman in New Frontier. IN terms of Amazon height there have been Amazons taller than Diana. A few times Hippoltya is shown to be taller than her daughter.

[KangMiRae]

I also thought that Wonder Woman's look from Justice League: The New Frontier was ideal.

Also, Diana was taller than Superman in New Frontier. IN terms of Amazon height there have been Amazons taller than Diana. A few times Hippoltya is shown to be taller than her daughter.

Yes! The book was drawn and written by Darwyn Cooke who always made Diana taller than Superman. I loved it.

"There's the door, Spaceman."

[kjn]

In a way, Diana has to strike a balance between two ideals: one the modern idealised female body, the other being able to evoke strength and power. It will also depend on the exact artist: depending on their strengths one body type will suit one artist while another artist might do better with a different one.

I think there are at least two factors that goes into this. The first is posing and angles. The other is that her chest area shouldn't be emphasised. (Well, Darwyn Cooke got away with it, but he had a very specific style.)

Some artists I like how they do Diana are Jenny Frison

Wonder_Woman_Vol_5_17_Variant.jpg

Stjepan Sejic

wonder_woman-photoshop.jpg

Xermanico

Wonder Woman (2016-) 061-016.jpg

[Frank]

I like PJ's the best. Broad-shouldered, clearly strong, not overly sinewy:

PJ WW.jpg

And I am uber excited about this:

PJ WW Black Label.jpg

[KangMiRae]

I like PJ's the best. Broad-shouldered, clearly strong, not overly sinewy:

PJ WW.jpg

And I am uber excited about this:

PJ WW Black Label.jpg

Broad-shouldered is a good one. She's actually not even that slim there. Plus, I'm a big fan of the curls!