Thoughts on How Steve Trevor Should Be Written?

[gwangung]

Just to be clear my "bloodless" was meant in the sense of being leaden, lukewarm or insipid. I haven't read all of the more recent stuff, but it seems like even the stuff that tries to be daring is overworked. Whereas, Marston put all of his own peculiar feelings into the work without editing himself. The best paralled to this for Grant Morrison is his Invisibles, I think--where he puts all of his own personal self into the creation.

The thing I've always felt about William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter is that they weren't immersed in the comic book world, so when they wrote and illustrated Wonder Woman they made up their own rules--and that's one reason why their work seems so out of left field. Whereas all the writers and artists since then (with few exceptions) have been folks who know how to write and draw comics, according to the rules of the time. So that work always fits within the borders of the medium.

Hm.....we talking about aspects of Amazon culture and how they translate into Western European culture? Or are we talking about sexuality (and how does your prototypical alpha male like Steve deal with variant ideas about sex, sexuality and relationships?)

[phonogram12]

The only problem I have with Steve as he is now is that he is almost too good.

It may be a bit of cliche in stories these days, but I think it's still true that you can't have heat without at least a LITTLE friction. The great thing about the character for Tom Tresser [for me] was that he hid his light under a pretty big bushel and it caused some grief between him and Diana even when they were obviously working well together.

I would prefer a Steve that does NOT agree with Diana all the time. He has to have a mind and opinions of his own. Sometimes his will end up being wrong, but maybe sometimes Diana learns something from him.

He has to contribute something to the relationship. Both personally and in the field. Again, a reason I liked Tom is that he could do things that Diana could not. She could rip the door off a bank vault with ease, but he's the one that could hack a computer system or defuse a bomb. Wonder Woman should be the star of her book, but if the purpose of Steve Trevor is to show that a man can have a girlfriend who is powerful then showing him as weak or redundant is self defeating. Its saying that only a weak or ineffectual man can be in a relationship with a strong woman.

A million times this.

[The Dying Detective]

If would write Steve I would make him a little more in line with his movie portrayal and make him a little cynical particularly towards the people at the top but he knows good men can be found among the bad. But meeting Diana made him change his mind. And he has this past filled with lots of secrets and hurt but nevertheless he knows he must soldier on to protect the people of the world. And unlike Diana who needs the Lasso of Truth to get answer Steve does not need it because he knows people and can effectively coerce people into telling him what he wants to know namely through his connections or deception. No sense using the Batman route of threatening and frightening people into co-operating. And like user brettc1 I would also need to give him a mind of his own like trying use more practical routes to solve problems as oppose to Wodner Woman's more idealistic approaches except those approaches went out the window when she killed Maxwell Lord and slaughtered people in Post-Crisis and New 52.

[Stanlos]

I wanna hear everyone's different points of view on how they feel like the character Steve Trevor should be best written?

In my personal opinion, in addition to writing the character as to how William Moulton Marston had wrote him, I also think that the character Steve Trevor should represent the very best that mankind (mankind meaning his gender in this particular context rather than humanity as a whole) has to offer.

I've always looked at Diana/Wonder Woman as the very best that womankind has to offer, I am also a spiritual person who believes in the law of attraction & in twin flames, so I think that Diana's twin flame, Steve Trevor, should represent the very best that mankind has to offer.

This thread is for all people's views on how the character is best written, not just Steve & Wonder Woman shippers like myself. You could be a Superman & Wonder Woman shipper, or ship Wonder Woman with a female, or not care about shipping at all in general, but still like (or love) Steve separately as a character & offer your view on how the character should be written.

One of the things I like about WW Rebirth is the way that Rucka and the two STELLAR artists interpreted Steve Trevor. Ubersoldier and all around decent human being. I love Liam Sharp's interp with the beard and I adore Scott's clean shaven take.

[AmiMizuno]

One thing I could see Steve and Diana disagreeing if you want to make him a person that doesn't always agree with Diana. Steve while agrees in equal rights come still have a few bias thinks due to gender and a few other things. MAybe it should also be how Diana at times come across.

[WontonGirl]

I like to see more of the "Soldier" Steve and have him interact more with Veterans in the books. I think he should be more vocal in the comics regarding Veterans rights. I think he is good with Diana as far as how they get along.

[The Dying Detective]

One thing I could see Steve and Diana disagreeing if you want to make him a person that doesn't always agree with Diana. Steve while agrees in equal rights come still have a few bias thinks due to gender and a few other things. MAybe it should also be how Diana at times come across.

Apart from gender what else could Steve and Diana disagree upon like in the movie how she wanted to get Ludendorff but Steve was thinking more of the long term way? Because we need to get a more definite idea of how Diana works to contrast how she and Steve work.

[The Dying Detective]

Well...people used to read a Jimmy Olsen book. He had an ongoing before any of the Bat-Family did.

And while Lois and Jimmy were meant to be supporting characters and can only stand on their on so much, their characters are so well defined that you can tell the occasional story with them without Clark. Lois in particular lends herself well to that. Steve, up until now really, hasn't really had that, though that is in part due to there being so few Wonder Woman-related comics at any given time compared to Superman and Batman's stuff.

There is a perfectly good reason why Steve has no solo books unlike the other supporting cast member of the Trinity. There is nothing about him all the writers think that's in his head, Diana, Diana like it's all he's about. The Steve Trevor Special was brimming with lots of potential ideas to make Steve more nuanced as a character to make him more of his own man and DC wasted it. The priority should be to focus on who he is. How has his job affected him And how has meeting the people around him affected him. And what are his goals in life. Lois Lane while married still has goals of her own. Selina Kyle still has goals of her own. That's pretty much what has been missing from Steve Trevor and pretty much a lot of the Wonder Woman supporting characters.

[Jcogginsa]

I'd play Steve as initially Captain America trying to be James Bond. He tries to be an emotionally, sex crazy action hero because media has taught him that he has to be that in order to be happy. However by meeting Diana, he discovers that he does not need that, that it makes him unhappy. This allows him to grow as a person and his more positive attributes to shine.

However, I think it's important that the romance not be centered on Steve's growth. Diana needs to be just as prominent, or more prominent, for it to work. And I'm not sure where to go with that

[The Dying Detective]

I'd play Steve as initially Captain America trying to be James Bond. He tries to be an emotionally, sex crazy action hero because media has taught him that he has to be that in order to be happy. However by meeting Diana, he discovers that he does not need that, that it makes him unhappy. This allows him to grow as a person and his more positive attributes to shine.

However, I think it's important that the romance not be centered on Steve's growth. Diana needs to be just as prominent, or more prominent, for it to work. And I'm not sure where to go with that

Forgive me for saying this but that make him kind like Hal Jordon or his 2009 movie incarnation. A more cerebral characterisation with a few quirks here and there would help make him attractive to any reader you also might want to make his goals interesting other than romantic and sexual satisfaction that's really too hard to look at. Romance should have symbiotic qualities where both parties bring out the best in each other and are there for one another.

[Jcogginsa]

Forgive me for saying this but that make him kind like Hal Jordon or his 2009 movie incarnation. A more cerebral characterisation with a few quirks here and there would help make him attractive to any reader you also might want to make his goals interesting other than romantic and sexual satisfaction that's really too hard to look at. Romance should have symbiotic qualities where both parties bring out the best in each other and are there for one another.

i agree that deeper characterization is needed, but before I get into him on a deeper level, I need to know how Diana's relationship with him works. At the end of the day Steve is Diana's love interest. So his characterization depends on how Diana is characterized, and how their relationship is characterized. Are they sweethearts? Soulmates? Do they bicker? Is it a UST situation or are they dating? etc.

[AmiMizuno]

Apart from gender what else could Steve and Diana disagree upon like in the movie how she wanted to get Ludendorff but Steve was thinking more of the long term way? Because we need to get a more definite idea of how Diana works to contrast how she and Steve work.

Diana is a person who at times doesn’t always believe in fighting . So at times Steve will fight or doesn’t fight. Another thing is Steve’s loyalty at times. Diana while helping Argus does also go against them and this can cause Steve to be on what sides. Another thing is Diana’s idea of where she places her villains. She doesn’t give them to Argus or the military but places them in a jail in Gateway that has another system

[The Dying Detective]

i agree that deeper characterization is needed, but before I get into him on a deeper level, I need to know how Diana's relationship with him works. At the end of the day Steve is Diana's love interest. So his characterization depends on how Diana is characterized, and how their relationship is characterized. Are they sweethearts? Soulmates? Do they bicker? Is it a UST situation or are they dating? etc.

Now see there's the problem writing Steve and Wonder Woman's relationship. There is never a solid effort to make them particularly Steve people. When you prioritize romance over character you wind up with pretty flat and uninteresting characters. Think Romeo and Juliet. Now granted in the Rebirth comic there were some interesting things at the start but again the same mistakes were made by the writers who did not make Steve Trevor a person again. Once you work out who a character is you can get a clear sense of how their dynamics as a couple would work. Like what are Steve's views in life and goals in life and how would it affect his relationship Diana.

[The Dying Detective]

Diana is a person who at times doesn’t always believe in fighting . So at times Steve will fight or doesn’t fight. Another thing is Steve’s loyalty at times. Diana while helping Argus does also go against them and this can cause Steve to be on what sides. Another thing is Diana’s idea of where she places her villains. She doesn’t give them to Argus or the military but places them in a jail in Gateway that has another system

You have to be clear on what will make them articularly Steve act the way is doing it for practical reasons or something?

[The Dying Detective]

I wanna hear everyone's different points of view on how they feel like the character Steve Trevor should be best written?

In my personal opinion, in addition to writing the character as to how William Moulton Marston had wrote him, I also think that the character Steve Trevor should represent the very best that mankind (mankind meaning his gender in this particular context rather than humanity as a whole) has to offer.

I've always looked at Diana/Wonder Woman as the very best that womankind has to offer, I am also a spiritual person who believes in the law of attraction & in twin flames, so I think that Diana's twin flame, Steve Trevor, should represent the very best that mankind has to offer.

This thread is for all people's views on how the character is best written, not just Steve & Wonder Woman shippers like myself. You could be a Superman & Wonder Woman shipper, or ship Wonder Woman with a female, or not care about shipping at all in general, but still like (or love) Steve separately as a character & offer your view on how the character should be written.

In my view okay Steve should be written in a way that contrasts Diana's ideals of love, peace, and truth. He needs to be the type of guy who has a more realistic standpoint of things and has a bit of cynicism kind of like the movie Steve Trevor. Think of it like how Superman's softer personality as both himself and Clark Kent is contrasted by Lois Lane tough and hard as nails attitude. But being together brings out the best in them. That is the problem with the George Perez iteration it never tried to improve the original foundation Steve and Wonder Woman's relationship was built on.