Is Steve Trevor Wonder Woman's One True Love?

[Robanker]

The melodrama of this page will never not make me laugh.

You just know he heard Bruce tell Alfred he wasn't home.

[SiegePerilous02]

Eh, to reach their own. SuperBat has no appeal for me. I feel it is too obvious and thus easily written. As an author, I prefer a challenge. I also feel the pairing is too antsy which I despise second only to reform pairings (of villains and heroes "your love saved me" and all that ****), so lazy and trope ridden. So, a hard pass from me.

Eh, I don't take SuperBat seriously as a canon ship. It is fun to joke about it though, and c'mon there IS more to work with there than the drab, bland "passion" that meanders across the page whenever one of them is paired with Diana.

Case in point:

This never gets old. What is it from and what is the context?

The melodrama of this page will never not make me laugh.

You just know he heard Bruce tell Alfred he wasn't home.

Super Hearing. No way he didn't.
And Bruce knows he heard, and is just being a drama queen anyway

[Gaius]

The melodrama of this page will never not make me laugh.

You just know he heard Bruce tell Alfred he wasn't home.

Eh, I don't take SuperBat seriously as a canon ship. It is fun to joke about it though, and c'mon there IS more to work with there than the drab, bland "passion" that meanders across the page whenever one of them is paired with Diana.

Case in point:



This never gets old. What is it from and what is the context?



Super Hearing. No way he didn't.
And Bruce knows he heard, and is just being a drama queen anyway

World’s Finest 294, I think it was supposed to be after Batman formed the Outsiders.

It’s the 80s soap opera mood lighting that kills it for me.

[Jim Kelly]

I remember that Batman-Superman scene as being the time when Batman became a putz, as he still is to this day. Before that, writers had no problem teaming up Superman and Batman, but after that it was some sort of mental struggle where it was all Bruce could do to be civil toward other human beings.

It always seems to be with Diana's love interests that they have to be so exemplary--even if they're no good guys, they still have lots of muscle and courage. As if, because Wonder Woman is so powerful, it would demean her to go out with an ordinary fella. Just once I'd like to see her dating a regular guy--someone that's perfectly comfortable with being not as strong, not as smart, not as heroic but still has value.

When "Charles Moulton" wrote Wonder Woman, Steve wasn't supposed to be on the same level as Diana. William Moulton Marston believed that women were inherently superior to men and therefore no man could hope to be their equal. But men could learn from women. That's the purpose that Steve Trevor serves in the Charles Moulton stories. Through him, we see how a man can learn to be a better person. Just as Wonder Woman serves as a role model for other women. She lifts them up. So Steve doesn't need to feel any shame for being less than Diana--he could never achieve that and he knows his place in the relationship.

Of course, there are thousands of stories where the woman takes second place to the man--we hardly question it when the man is the star and the woman just his helpmate. But somehow, the men who ran National Comics couldn't stand to see Steve put in this lesser position. So they were always trying to fix him, to make him a guy that deserved to be with Diana. The fact that she loved him and cared about him wasn't enough--he somehow had to prove himself as worthy.

[Robanker]

World’s Finest 294, I think it was supposed to be after Batman formed the Outsiders.

It’s the 80s soap opera mood lighting that kills it for me.

The single tear and Shakespearian "tell him.... Tell him I'm not in!!" That's what slays me every time.

You can hear the canned music swell, the filter go soft and the vhs crackle as this thing keeps rolling. 80s soap is the perfect description.

I remember that Batman-Superman scene as being the time when Batman became a putz, as he still is to this day. Before that, writers had no problem teaming up Superman and Batman, but after that it was some sort of mental struggle where it was all Bruce could do to be civil toward other human beings.

It always seems to be with Diana's love interests that they have to be so exemplary--even if they're no good guys, they still have lots of muscle and courage. As if, because Wonder Woman is so powerful, it would demean her to go out with an ordinary fella. Just once I'd like to see her dating a regular guy--someone that's perfectly comfortable with being not as strong, not as smart, not as heroic but still has value.

When "Charles Moulton" wrote Wonder Woman, Steve wasn't supposed to be on the same level as Diana. William Moulton Marston believed that women were inherently superior to men and therefore no man could hope to be their equal. But men could learn from women. That's the purpose that Steve Trevor serves in the Charles Moulton stories. Through him, we see how a man can learn to be a better person. Just as Wonder Woman serves as a role model for other women. She lifts them up. So Steve doesn't need to feel any shame for being less than Diana--he could never achieve that and he knows his place in the relationship.

Of course, there are thousands of stories where the woman takes second place to the man--we hardly question it when the man is the star and the woman just his helpmate. But somehow, the men who ran National Comics couldn't stand to see Steve put in this lesser position. So they were always trying to fix him, to make him a guy that deserved to be with Diana. The fact that she loved him and cared about him wasn't enough--he somehow had to prove himself as worthy.

I've long felt that Steve's greatest trait should be his masculinity and how it's devoid of the toxicity that gets lumped in with it. He could just be a regular dude but he'd have no problems with Diana being better than him and he wouldn't be so insecure. She loves him and that's rad. If someone thinks he's not man enough for her, that's their problem. Just go big, confident and charming.

Lois Lane is Superman's match because of the strength of her character. Yeah, she's the best reporter that ever lived, but even if you take that away in a story and never highlight her might with the pen, she can still be Lois Lane.

The problem with Steve is the toxic belief of what men "should be" to deserve Diana. He needs to love and support her without being a neurotic mess. He just needs to be a person who loves and supports her, like anyone in a relationship.

And yet here we are making him into some nebulous superspy who is totes skilled but not as much as our other superspies we actually tell stories with.

How is Steve going to be worth Diana because he's a cool spy when he's not even DC's best spy? Make his worth come from within and stop making the dude such a goddamn drag.

Chris Pine had it down. He never lost faith in her and did his own thing the entire movie. They didn't need to tell us he was the best spy or something. He was just Steve Trevor and it worked because they bothered to make him likable without any toxic belief that he needed to prove he was a man all the time. He did instinctively try to protect Diana in London but it came across more as his reflex of trying to help people and perhaps some misguided sense of chivalry, but he immediately drops it because Diana absolutely did not need his help.

[WonderScott]

I’m down with Diana and Steve dating other people for the sake of drama and soap opera, but I’ll always want to see them come back together.

[PCN24454]

I like the idea that Steve is her one true love, but I also believe that OTLs as a whole is a flawed concept so I don't want any writers to feel forced to cling to it.

[Psy-lock]

"Regular guy" is not exciting as a love interest. If Steve is defined by being lesser than Diana in everything then he's utterly worthless as a character.

[PCN24454]

"Regular guy" is not exciting as a love interest. If Steve is defined by being lesser than Diana in everything then he's utterly worthless as a character.

I wouldn’t say that since there shouldn’t be anything wrong with being “normal”.

It’s being defined as normal that’s bad.

[Jim Kelly]

I really don't find the standard super-hero stuff to be all that interesting anymore. Some really handsome, white, straight male with big muscles and perfect teeth can solve any problem, gets all the women, leads his own team of elite super-people who all are better than the rest of the people in the world.

I would much rather read stories about challenged, trans homeless folk who are struggling to survive in a world that doesn't care about them or their problems. Those characters are more interesting to me.

If Wonder Woman is such a great woman and a champion for human rights, why does she spend all her time hanging around the popular kids? They don't need her. She should be getting to know those people who others treat as garbage. I'm not saying she should fall in love with such characters (maybe Wonder Woman should stay away from romance comics), but she could devote more time to those that really need someone fighting in their corner.

[The Kid]

Tbh I feel like the only people who fit 'one true love' status in DC are Lois, Mera, and Iris. Steve may be the most well known love interest but I don't think the comics should be beholded to him. And I'm gonna be the honest, the only time I truly loved Steve was in the 2017 movie (which is a good thing for him since he nailed it in the most widely viewed WW story). Chris Pine is Steve Trevor to me honestly. Steve's ranged from bad to whatever for me outside of that portrayal

[Celgress]

Tbh I feel like the only people who fit 'one true love' status in DC are Lois, Mera, and Iris. Steve may be the most well known love interest but I don't think the comics should be beholded to him. And I'm gonna be the honest, the only time I truly loved Steve was in the 2017 movie (which is a good thing for him since he nailed it in the most widely viewed WW story). Chris Pine is Steve Trevor to me honestly. Steve's ranged from bad to whatever for me outside of that portrayal

I couldn't have put it better, bravo.

[TheCape]

This scene wouldn't be out of place in the soap operas that my mom use to watch lol. I can almost hear the corny music

[The Kid]

I def agree though that the romance should always be with people in her own sphere. The Superman romance was a nice change of pace and it's ok in the Elseworlds but overall I think Diana's love interests should be characters in her own book or if you have to put her with a superhero, one that could easily be a part of her book without any problem

[Gaius]

I def agree though that the romance should always be with people in her own sphere. The Superman romance was a nice change of pace and it's ok in the Elseworlds but overall I think Diana's love interests should be characters in her own book or if you have to put her with a superhero, one that could easily be a part of her book without any problem

I can’t really say SM/WW pairing has worked in Elseworlds either since it’s always presented as Clark’s rebound/consolation prize for not being with Lois.