I asked Yanick to draw Steve Trevor so that his posture, framed by billowing parachute silks, resembled Botticelli’s famous Venus Rising From the Waves. His collapse is designed to echo a detumescing erection.
The traditionally blonde and blue-eyed Steve Trevor functioned as Wonder Woman’s inciting incident in the original story. A USAF pilot, crashed on Paradise Island during World War 2, Steve is saved by Wonder Woman and the Amazons. When she learns of the War beyond the shores of Paradise, she decides to join the fight.
As a character, Trevor was designed to play the Lois Lane role in the original stories. Lois Lane, however, was a unique creation whereas Trevor was a generic action hero type created as a male foil for the lead character.
Steve is often rescued by Wonder Woman, and we are assured she finds him attractive although he’s rarely convincing. At his best, Trevor can be played a kind of Han Solo, Indiana Jones figure. A swaggering, male adventurer, the equal of the world’s most Wondrous Woman. In practice, it’s clear Marston’s interest in Steve was limited and the character’s lack of charisma seemed baked in.
(The only time I’ve ever believed in the Wonder Woman/Steve Trevor romance was with Gal Gadot and Chris Pine in Wonder Woman)
So, sticking to the formula, Steve’s Trevor’s role in the story is essentially feminine (these divisions into what is feminine, or masculine are not necessarily my own but reflect the binary world in which the Amazons operate. I trust most people know what I’m talking about…) – he gets in trouble and motivates the lead character. He takes a back seat in stories while helping to move the plot along and set things up for the lead etc.
Notable also was our decision to make Earth One Steve Trevor a black air force pilot, unlike his Aryan counterparts in the canonical DC universe. The intent again was to generate some interesting friction with ideas Marston and his Amazons simply take for granted – as seen in the later ‘dog collar’ scene and again in Steve’s speech to the Amazons at the trial, where he explains why he’s decided to take their side.
Steve’s dramatic arc continues through the background of the entire trilogy and tells its own distinct story.
We never play him as Wonder Woman’s ‘boyfriend’. He himself considers this immortal Princess ‘out of my league’, and she has no context for romance with a mortal man. They appear to be good friends.
The subtle feminizing of this version of Steve Trevor can be regarded as ‘problematic’ or ‘progressive’ depending on how you feel that day…
We almost showed Steve’s ordinary human fiancee in Volume 2 but preferred to leave his sexuality undisclosed. He’s Diana’s tough, dependable pal and that’s all he needs to be.
Basically, Steve Trevor is Ken!