Why David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman Must Succeed

[Elizabeth Grunewald]

Why David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman Must Succeed

So much more is riding on this upcoming series than the success of the series itself.

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[cabalistics]

Is he doing this as a television series because i think it would suck on tv although I kinda enjoyed the Linda Carter it didn't really do the character justice

 

[TsunamiWombat]

First Step to a Better Wonderwoman: USE THE NEW COSTUME.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I rather agree. I admit, I'm not really a superhero comic fan, but the concepts behind Wonder Woman are things I actually find very interesting...and having more exposure for the developed and respectable superheroines is a good thing in any case.

'Course, everything I know about her <url=http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/5109-amazons-attack-prologue>I learned from one particular source, so that's probably another factor in my interest.

 

[cerebus23]

just as long as they do not get a skeleton with skin to play wonder woman i could tolerate whoever .

wonder woman is a pretty cool character thought handeled best in the modern justice league cartoon, but then again i think so the best comic character writing i have seen in the modern age belongs to that show since they seemed to nail all the characters strengths and personalties to a t.

one thing that disappoints me about the whole DC big three is the fact in tv and movies they are so stingy in letting their main guys cross over and interact, some of the best dc animated movies involve batman superman and wonder woman and their friendships and tensions as they work together and argue their viewpoints.

know part of that is nolan does not want his version of batman dilluted etc, and him moving onto superman that will move to that character. but really with marvel doing the whole mega crossover thing and working DC should take a step back and look at their best animated movies and see that it can work in the real thing if they have good writing.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

So much more is riding on this upcoming series than the success of the series itself.

There is the point that Wonder Woman was originally created by a guy living with his wife and her lesbian lover - and there's a LOT of scripts that push the whole sub-dom thing.

And yeah...

Really...

Now if there was an Emo Wonderwoman, sort of like Raven...

 

[Deacon Cole]

And interesting fact occurred to me while reading this article.

A Wonder Woman television series is not a comic book. It will never be a comic book.

 

[duchaked]

that...was basically all I knew about Wonder Woman
costum...whip...invisible jet

 

[Blind Sight]

Well, nothing can be worse then Amazons Attack, one of the worse terrorism analogies I've ever seen in comics.

 

[Gilhelmi]

I like the Carter TV series more then the original comics (can anyone say bondage comic). The 60s and 70s comics were OK but the original TV series was superb. I have them all on DVD.

I am Gilhelmi, and I am a major Wonder Woman fan.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

The problem with Wonder Woman is that nobody has really figured out what she is.

Batman and Superman haven't had much character changes through the decade. Batman was campy in the 60's, but abandoned that for the darker tone he had at the very beginning. Superman has always been the center of truth and justice, he hasn't changed a bit through all the books, movies, cartoons, and the like besides how many other krytonians are alive at any time and if he is married or not.

Wonder Woman has been everything from well...

...To ambassador to Earth to a "fish out of water" (I.E. idiot that couldn't use a gas pump) to what ever she is now with her jean suit.

 

[MovieBob]

Good piece.

The unfortunate trouble with Wonder Woman is that she's only ever really been written consistently well (in her own books) TWICE - when William Moulton-Marston (her creator, an... "interesting" fellow) was writing the first ones and when George Perez revamped it in the 80s. Beyond that, DC pretty much just relegates her to a "token diversity hire" - i.e. everyone knows she's THE female superhero, so they keep the books in print and make sure she's on the Justice League because she's pretty much the only big character they can use to pitch merchandise to "the girl market."

If you REALLY want to get depressed about how she's (mis)used lately, apply this variation on the Bechdel Test: Try and name a widely-read/seen/known "great Wonder Woman moment" of the last decade or so from the comics, the animated shows, whatever that actually belonged to her, as opposed to her being a (however well-utilized) "female foil" to a male hero, usually Batman or Superman. Remember the "widely-read/seen/known" part. It's kinda barren. That's pretty-much her "job" in the DC Universe right now - to stand in the huddle with Bruce, Clark, Hal and Barry so that DC looks "diversified."

My great worry about another TV series is that all the things that make her interesting as a superhero - the connection to Greek mythology, the notion of being a warrior as opposed to a do-gooder (Superman) or a vigilante (Batman), the outright magical (rather than scifi) background, the very specific elements of rarely-explored female wish-fulfillment (DC's Amazons have babies without pregnancy or birth, for example) are all things that are probably too "odd" or expensive for network TV. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[matrix3509]

My great worry about another TV series is that all the things that make her interesting as a superhero - the connection to Greek mythology, the notion of being a warrior as opposed to a do-gooder (Superman) or a vigilante (Batman), the outright magical (rather than scifi) background, the very specific elements of rarely-explored female wish-fulfillment (DC's Amazons have babies without pregnancy or birth, for example) are all things that are probably too "odd" or expensive for network TV. I hope I'm wrong.

The agree with you here. I was pretty much under the impression that being able to have babies without a man's...*ahem*...input was every "real" feminist's wet dream. Maybe I'm misinformed...

 

[Sniper Team 4]

So much more is riding on this upcoming series than the success of the series itself.

Now if there was an Emo Wonderwoman, sort of like Raven...

But then it wouldn't be Wonder Woman, it'd be Raven. It'd be too much of a character shift. Did you see how upset people got when that "Teenage Superman" art was posted several weeks ago? Probably end up being the same thing here.

I had no idea Wonder Woman could talk to animals, but I do know other stuff about her. I loved the animated movie they put out on her. It does seem like she's been relegated to the side lines though. Changing her costume didn't seem to help either (please leave in alone. I like it). This show could go either way. It'd be nice if it was good...

Can we PLEASE make a Teen Titans animated movie now? In the same vein and Batman/Superman: Public Enemies, Wonder Woman, and all the rest?

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Batman and Superman haven't had much character changes through the decade. Batman was campy in the 60's, but abandoned that for the darker tone he had at the very beginning. Superman has always been the center of truth and justice, he hasn't changed a bit through all the books, movies, cartoons...

I thought I read that in the really early days Superman was champion of "the little guy" against the powerful. Very Great Depression. He doesn't really do that any more, does he? More of a general, abstract "truth and justice" thing.

American comic book heroes change, either to meet the times or because of the artist/comic writer who gets their hands on the rights to make a comic out of them.

Batman use to be light and camp, now he's more known as dark and fearsome.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Eh, I won't be watching this. Never was interested in Wonder Woman and I rarely bother with TV anymore.

 

[MovieBob]

The agree with you here. I was pretty much under the impression that being able to have babies without a man's...*ahem*...input was every "real" feminist's wet dream. Maybe I'm misinformed...

I don't know that it's quite as... "edgy" a thing as all that. You have to keep in mind that most superheroes, especially "golden age" ones like Superman or Wonder Woman, were thought up almost-exclusively as children's characters initially. The DC Universe Amazons' variation on "pregnancy" - essentially you make a baby-doll out of clay, wish really hard and then POOF! you're a mommy - reads very much like something a fanciful six year-old would concieve of as a more ideal way of getting to that point. It's the maternal-instinct version of little Billy Batson shouting "SHAZAM!" and morphing all-at-once into full-grown man Captain Marvel.

My point is more that in ANY other creative industry, stuff with an obvious "demographic appeal" like that would be hyped like crazy... but in the comics world DC is always actively fleeing from the more fanciful, fairytale-esque aspects of this character because they have no idea how to sell comics to anyone other than 30 year-old men who've already been reading comics their whole lives.

 

[WolfThomas]

Batman use to be light and camp, now he's more known as dark and fearsome.

That only was only the silver age, before then in the golden age he was actually more violent then nowadays, he snapped villain's neck and often carried a gun. He seems to fluctuate between extremes everynow and then. Even recently he seems to be becoming less serious (but hopefully not camp) with his son as Robin and forming a team of Batmen.