Is Wonder Woman’s New Makeover Targeting Teen Girls?
Goodbye gold eagle bustier! Hello sensible Ann Taylor jacket! Wonder Woman went shopping and got herself a new outfit.
Wednesday is a good day for Wonder Woman. This 69-year-old superheroine, published by DC Comics, will don a new — and less revealing — costume and enjoy the publication of Issue No. 600 of her monthly series. The costume ties into an alternative history for the character devised by J. Michael Straczynski, the new writer of the series, and into a quest by DC to shine a critical and creative spotlight on the heroine, who stands with Superman and Batman in its primary triumvirate of superstars, despite her series’s modest sales.
Wonder Woman honestly doesn’t look bad for a broad pushing 70-years-old.
“She’s been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941,” Mr. Straczynski wrote. “If you’re going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up, and give her a modern sensibility.”
Not really having an opinion either way on the character I’m going to guess the costume change is an attempt to appeal to a young, female readership. For that they will have to rely on storylines involving some type of love interest or young girls will stay addicted to Twilight or the next romance/sci-fi fad to hit shelves.
Sadly, unlike Wonder’s change to be less revealing, teen clothing trends are going in the opposite direction. They look eerily similar to WW’s original outfit. Take a walk around your local mall. Little girls don’t need truth lassos anymore, they just need an outfit from Justice to make boys talk to them.
Do you think this is an attempt to appeal to a young, female fan base?
Makeover for Wonder Woman at 69 [New York Times]
J. Michael Straczynski on Wonder Woman’s New Costume [DC Universe]
