All the arguing about iconography and such disregards the roots of the character.
In the beginning, Wonder Woman was a terrible character and role model. Creator William Marston - the psychologist responsible for the lie detector (no foolin’) - wrote:
“Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don’t want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women’s strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.”
Marston seriously believed that the weakness of women was their strength and that women who embraced this could rule the world.
There was also - in early issues - one HELL of a lot of bondage. Both the magic lasso - being tied up led to truth - was a bondage theme and the fact that Wonder Woman herself was constantly tied up should make most people a bit shuddery.
The relatively recent transformation of Wonder Woman as a more valkyrie sort of warrior princess is a good thing, in my opinion. It frees her up to be a better character and not so much defined by her relationships. She’s now strong because she’s strong. If that means running some bastard through then, hell, the world’s probably better off.
I don’t think it’s any surprise that the - to me - latest iconographic take on the character comes as the archetypical warrior woman in Kingdom Come.
As mentioned above, few comic heroes are all that great going back to their origins. “The Man of Tomorrow” wasn’t exactly at the forefront of civil rights, for being so advanced. They’re products of their time.
The Kingdom Come version is all right, but I wouldn’t mind the JLU animated series version on the big screen, who was a good mix of warrior and princess (though I preferred Shayera Hall/Hawk Girl myself).
I’m not really into WW or superheroes in general, but how about Amanda Righetti? The few times I’ve seen The Mentalist I thought she was pretty good. She’s not so spindly as a lot of actresses. And in terms of looks… Great Googily Moogily.
I really dont care how big Wonder Womans’ breasts are, though I do think she was created as having a nice rack. The important thing is she should look like she can kick ass. Maybe not a bodybuilder, but at least a fitness contestant. Those tiny stick arms some WW actress nominees have are totally unconvincing.
I’m all for the Marston Wonder Woman. I think she was interesting and fun, I’d love to see a totally into bondage Wonder Woman dragging supervillains to Transformation Island to learn to love their chains while Superman and Batman look on in alarm.
Yeah, I can’t take superheroes as anything but comedy, anyway.
Not exactly what I would call buxom. As Justin_Bailey notes, her general shape, including bust size, has never been consistent over the years. Some artists have drawn her as quite well-endowed, others (probably most notably Mike Deodato) have drawn her as more lithe and athletic. During the 1970s, most comics portrayed her as reasonably well-endowed, but certainly not outrageously so, and no more so than most other female characters of the time.
I’ve always thought the notion that “Wonder Woman automatically means Big Boobs” is a popular misconception, possibly created by the Lynda Carter series.
