Ali Colluccio over on iFanboy has the best response I’ve seen so far to the new Wonder Woman direction.
But I really feel like this could, and maybe should, be an Elseworlds tale. I know that it may sound like I’m saying that the story isn’t good enough for a main title, but that’s not it. I wish there were more (or any) alternate timeline/out-of-continuity stories for Wonder Woman. Superman and Batman are getting their own OGNs this year, and I feel like every other month there’s a new Batman mini-series being written. But, right now, Wonder Woman is the only title in DC’s line of comics that features Wonder Woman. There’s no Wonder Woman OGN this year, no Secret Origin or Next Wave or All-Star mini-series with a superstar creative team in the works (yeah, I know about All-Star Wonder Woman, but get back to me when that actually comes out), and I don’t think Sensation Comics is coming back anytime soon. I guess what I’m saying is there should be more Wonder Woman stories out there in the DCU and JMS’ tale should be one of just a couple stories out there, not the one in the flagship title.
Yes! There should be two or three Wonder Woman series running concurrently and then we wouldn’t have this problem every time DC tries to revamp her.
From a purely capitalist standpoint, it’s the smart thing to do. (Me, arguing for capitalism? I know, crazy.) Batman and Superman (or Spider-Man/X-men/Wolverine) do so well not just because they’re male characters, but also because of the plethora of product. A smorgasboard of tie-ins, spin-offs, miniseries, Elseworlds, original graphic novels, etc. suggests to readers that these characters are big and important. So they buy the books, and DC puts out more, and it’s a self-reinforcing feedback loop (this is where capitalism really shines, by tapping into human psychology to convince people they “need” or “want” your product first, and letting them justify their decision after the fact). And if not all of those titles is a hit, it’s not life and death and doesn’t require the firing of Gail Simone, because you’ve still got a bunch more filling the shelves and a half dozen more ideas on the burner. Readers don’t like this version of Wonder Woman? No problem: they can choose from All Star or Rebirth or Sensation or the main WW title or Donna Troy or Cassie as Wonder Girl (in her own book *and* Teen Titans) or the Paradise Island series or Hippolyta’s adventures in the Golden Age, or or or -
I’m not saying that if DC started putting out three different Wonder Woman titles next month it would be an automatic success – Wonder Woman will never do as well as Superman or Batman because she is a woman. And just like women in the real world have to work twice as hard to get the same amount of recognition, DC needs to work twice as hard, not less, to get people buying her. There should be more people writing and drawing her, and then every new writer on the book wouldn’t be her last, best hope for success. After all, when Paul Dini makes a hash of Batman, we don’t blame the character for being a “cipher” that “no one can write”, do we?
Ali talks more about the impact of this alternate-timeline story on the rest of the DCU:
I’m also very concerned about what this means for the rest of the DCU. Wonder Woman played a decent role in Blackest Night, and before all the upheaval she was a pillar of the Justice League. So now what happens with this new timeline? Is Wonder Woman wiped from the shared consciousness of the DC Universe? We just got Superman back, don’t take Wonder Woman away! If this was a Bat-book or a Superman title, Donna Troy would be starring in Wonder Woman and this JMS storyline would be happening in something like Wonder Woman: Rebirth or a newly resurrected Sensation Comics.
Indeed. A “year without Batman” did not in fact mean anything of the kind. With Dick Grayson in the “main” books and Bruce Wayne in the now-alternate continuity Superman/Batman, Batman Beyond and the kids’ books, Batman seems to be in more books than before! (I counted eleven titles for Batman in June.)
Did you know that in 1969, Batman was only the number 9 best selling book, while Lois Lane was number 3? I didn’t! That’s because DC hasn’t published a Lois Lane ongoing title or co-feature since they rebooted their universe in 1985, while they’ve published a shit-load of Batman.
DC is reinforcing a perception both inside and outside the company that Wondy is not as good as Supes and Bats because she only merits one book a month, while they get three to ten. If Wonder Woman had a publicity agent, she would fire them for doing such a poor job of marketing her. DC wants to boost Wonder Woman’s sales? Then show us she’s worth our interest by giving us more options (and maybe scale back on the Bat books a bit?). Don’t force her to succeed or fail on one book alone.
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I agree completely. The worst part is some of those Batman titles are really truly terrible. They are only being published because of the success of the Batman movie Dark Knight. He has become the most Over-Marketed Over-Exposed Character currently in DC comics. And he’s supposed to be dead! I mean i understand having a legacy character fill his place but Dick Grayson is no Bruce Wayne. Is it really that hard to put Wonder Woman in a few different books. If you look at it out of all the titles DC puts out only 7 feature female characters. And Wonder Woman isn’t even the top selling woman title it’s Supergirl..=). But still that’s pretty sad for a the most well recognized female superhero EVER to sell that low and only have one book. If i’m right Supergirl and Batgirl were the last female superheroes to even have an Elseworld’s. At least DC took some right steps with Birds of Prey back and Supergirl being marketed so well including an origin movie, having her join the Justice League, and team ups with Batgirl. But amid all the accusations of racism among DC right now do we really need to add sexism. Is it me or does it seem like instead of moving forward DC and comics in general are starting to move back into the time of earlier comics.
To your last sentence: Yes. Oh yes. DC is holding onto the past for dear life.
A couple of years ago, Wonder Girl had her own series. Are the current sales figures not high enough to support a second book? Look at all the Batman junk that’s out there: Can anyone explain why “Gotham City Sirens” and “Azrael” outsells Wonder Woman, for God’s sake?
However, Wonder Woman having only one book has an advantage: in today’s tough economic times, readers only have one book to follow per month. Compare that to the dozen mostly mediocre Batman books flooding the shelves each month. Compare that to the Superman franchise, where I’ve spent the last two years buying dozens of books starring D-listers like Mon-El and the Guardian. That’s a mistake I will not make again. If DC Comics finally gives Diana the starring role in two other books, I would hope that they are quality books. That’s the only way DC will be getting my hard-earned money.
You have a point about one book being a plus. That’s the reason I was never a Superman or Batman or Spider-Man reader – there were too many books to follow, and I just wasn’t big enough fan to buy 3-4 books starring Superman a month. I don’t like him that much. It’s too daunting and I just don’t want to spend that money. Even though I buy more books now, they are all one-book characters or teams. I’ve always sought out the less popular characters because, well, they’re easier to collect :) So I miss out on a lot of characters because, egads, too many books are overwhelming!
However, someone is buying all those Goddamn-Batman (grin) books. I think marketing plays the biggest part in moving all those. I’m right there with you in buying all those Superman books (although to make a confession: I dropped Mon-El almost immediately and Action Comics pretty soon. I caught up on them in scans near the end, and boy was I glad I’d saved my money.)
I wrote this post more from a promotional viewpoint than what I actually want as a fan. I personally prefer one book, but I do think DC could do a whole lot more to sell Wonder Woman. I also thought it might be nice to have a choice of more than one book in case the main one sucks.