DAVID CHRISTENSON wrote:
>
> Aren't comic books a legit topic? Wonder Woman, at least? Wonder Woman
> was conceived as a sort of feminist comic book, way back in the '40s, a
> real standout in that era. (If anybody has a collection of these early
> stories, I'd like to trade for it.) I was wondering how comics fans on
> the list felt about the treatments of the character since that time,
> particularly the current series which I believe is being done by John
> Byrne. Worth checking out?
As a long time Wonder Woman reader, I can respond to this question. WW
has been through good times and bad in her various incarnations.
Nothing recent has been quite as bad as when they depowered her back in
the late '60s or early '70s and turned her into a martial arts, "Kung
Fu" type crimefighter. I think the best she's been in recent years was
when George Perez started his run on the series and they brought her
back as if she were a completely new character, coming from Paradise
Island to man's world for the first time. (This was in the early to mid
'80s, as I recall. There was quite a trend for old comic characters to
be brought in again as new and freshened up.) The series got bad again
a few years ago (IMHO) when they seemed to treat her as just eye candy
for adolescent males and made her breasts larger than her storylines.
John Byrne has been redeeming the character since then, but it's not as
good as it was under Perez.
One really positive thing they've done with the new Wonder Woman is give
her normal looking teenage girls as friends for her to relate to and be
a role model to. They're very believable as characters and I hope that
young girls will find this comic and enjoy it.
Berni
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:42 PDT