Writers Who Write Wonder Woman Well Vs Writers Who Write Wonder Woman poorly

[Timothy Hunter]

It appears that Wonder Woman is one of the hardest characters for comic writers to get right. Who are some writers that understand the character, and what did they get right what others got wrong?

[I'm a Fish]

I see our complaints on DC Comics: MOST EGREGIOUS OUT OF CHARACTER MOMENTS have peaked some curiosity.

Hmmm, tough question indeed.

I think William Moulton Marston (naturally), Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly, George Perez, William Messner-Loebs, Phil Jimenez, Greg Rucka and Steve Orlando have all understood the character well.

Most Wonder Woman writers of the past decades have understood the character well, I think. Even Azz, as decisive as his run was, understood the character better than others, though I think his execution was off at times.

I'd say the writers who don't (or at least, didn't but maybe they do now) understand the character are Geoff Johns, Tom Taylor, James Robinson, Bruce Timm (for the animated series).

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What they got wrong?

First, is that the character stands for equality, and she has to practice what she preaches. I think if you get that first step wrong, everything else about the character tumbles after (and it's really not a hard first step...).

Second, forgetting that she is a hero before she's anything else. Before she's a princess, a warrior, a woman, she's a hero. A hero who is nice to people.

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I think those are the two key steps to writing Wonder Woman. IMO, it's when people don't include those steps is when they miss-write the character (when they are trying not the miss-write her of coarse ).

[Gaius]

It’s good sign when the writers they know she doesn’t exist to make Superman and Batman look awesome.

In addition to what Fish said, if you try to come at the character by trying simplify to just a one adjective descriptor. Which is usually “warrior” because that’s what most who work at DC and Marvel are more comfortable with/interested in. This seems a common theme I notice in creatives on WW I don’t care for (Timm, Taylor, pre-2015 Johns). That isn’t exclusive to WW. Superman and Batman (to a lesser degree) also have this problem but I’d say it hurts her more imo at least.

Some other good creatives who’ve worked in her not brought up: Renae DeLiz, Gail Simone, Darwyn Cooke, Si Spurrier.

[Restingvoice]

The most egregious and essential for me is The Way of Gaea/Aphrodite vs The Way of Ares, both in action and personality, because belief informs culture and that informs thoughts, motivation and decisions

[John Venus]

When it comes to writers who don't get Wonder Woman. A lot of the problems can be traced back to them not valuing the Amazons and what they are meant to represent. If you cannot wrap your head around what they are supposed to represent and think they are just a misandrist culture which Diana needs to rebel against, then you've failed the first and most crucial step.

[Psy-lock]

Samuel R Delany didn't understand the character at all

And Will Pfeifer of course. Horrible depictions of the Amazons, Cheetah and Circe. Frank Miller and Matt Wagner are also pretty atrocious. Chris Claremont never really wrote Diana in a major way but based on what he said about her I'm glad he didn't.

[WonderLight789]

I see our complaints on DC Comics: MOST EGREGIOUS OUT OF CHARACTER MOMENTS have peaked some curiosity.

Hmmm, tough question indeed.

I think William Moulton Marston (naturally), Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly, George Perez, William Messner-Loebs, Phil Jimenez, Greg Rucka and Steve Orlando have all understood the character well.

Most Wonder Woman writers of the past decades have understood the character well, I think. Even Azz, as decisive as his run was, understood the character better than others, though I think his execution was off at times.

I'd say the writers who don't (or at least, didn't but maybe they do now) understand the character are Geoff Johns, Tom Taylor, James Robinson, Bruce Timm (for the animated series).

-

What they got wrong?

First, is that the character stands for equality, and she has to practice what she preaches. I think if you get that first step wrong, everything else about the character tumbles after (and it's really not a hard first step...).

Second, forgetting that she is a hero before she's anything else. Before she's a princess, a warrior, a woman, she's a hero. A hero who is nice to people.

-

I think those are the two key steps to writing Wonder Woman. IMO, it's when people don't include those steps is when they miss-write the character (when they are trying not the miss-write her of coarse ).

I did not see any of them do a good job with her. Her personality under them sucks and she is weak.

[Gaius]

Samuel R Delany didn't understand the character at all

And Will Pfeifer of course. Horrible depictions of the Amazons, Cheetah and Circe. Frank Miller and Matt Wagner are also pretty atrocious. Chris Claremont never really wrote Diana in a major way but based on what he said about her I'm glad he didn't.

Just out of curiosity, what has he said?

[Dr. Poison]

Some of the best writers who got Diana *right* IMO:


Phil Jimenez
Greg Rucka(2nd run especially)
Alan Heinberg
Charles Soule
Steve Orlando
Renae De Liz
Becky Cloonan & Michael Conrad


They all get that Diana tries compassion before bloodshed, has a diverse mythological and non-mythological supporting cast and rogues gallery, has adventures in different places(i.e. Themyscira, Washington D.C., Skartarus, Valhalla, Mexico, etc.), and is a powerhouse in her own right.



The writers who wrote the worst Diana IMO are:


Brian Azzarello(way ahead of any others in terms of bad, bad, & bad)
Frank Miller
Peter Tomasi
JMS


These guys did things like have Diana act impulsively violent, play only in the world of mythology, or presented as a sex object. Some of them even gutted Diana's known supporting cast and rogues gallery in favor of new or public domain characters that had little to no lasting impression.

[Psy-lock]

Just out of curiosity, what has he said?

I don't remember the exact words but basically he's one of those people who think she's not relatable because she's made of "dirt".

[John Venus]

That was such a weird criticism especially since comic regularly have clones, body swapping, androids, living figments of other people's imagination, primordial beings of no real origins, etc.

Then you have Christians who believe that Eve was born from Adam's rib.