Wonder Woman R.I.P: A Eulogy to Comics Most Prominent Female Hero 1942-2011

Immediately you have to wonder what this is about? Wonder Woman's still around. DC just relaunched her title as part of their new line of comics right? Surely this must be some sort of mistake! I'm sorry, but it is not. Wonder Woman, comics greatest superheroine, is dead this month. Yes, we still have that "Wonder Woman" comic, but the woman headlining it is nothing like any Wonder Woman I've ever read and bares a much stronger resemblance with Red Sonja or Xena, the Warrior Princess than Diana, Princess of Themyscira/Paradise Island.

You see, Wonder Woman used to mean something to the world both in the comics and without. She represented a better way. She was a peaceful warrior, one who could to quote her 70's theme song, "make a hawk a dove". She represented the strongest aspects of femininity and the greatest potential that humanity could attain. Wonder Woman came from a world that was vastly superior to ours and she came to our world to teach us a better way. Wonder Woman's goal was not only to teach us that we should think and try different ideas first before throwing a punch, but also that even the most dangerous of villains can be reformed. Over the years, Wonder Woman has gone through some changes, but these principals were always part of her. She always had her Golden Lasso of Truth as her major weapon and she managed to change the world more than once. Wonder Woman always stood as more than just a character in comics, but a symbol and not just for the truth that she's recently been associated with, but also that of reformation, hope, transformation (both figuratively and literally), femininity and peace.

Now, however, all that has been thrown out the window. In Wonder Woman #1, a new character appears claiming to be Wonder Woman and while there are superficial similarities. The character, whom I will call Warrior Woman for the purposes of this blog, has shown to be very violent, aggressive, and doesn't represent the character that she is suppose to be modeled after. The very first thing we see Warrior Woman actually do is grab a woman by her neck and essentially strangle her. Now yes, Warrior Woman was sleeping and this new character appears out of no where, interrupting that sleep, but a Wonder Woman should be able to react to that without immediate violence. She should assess the situation and see if she's been threatened, not that she automatically IS. After all, Wonder Woman grew up on an island of full of peaceful women. Why would she automatically assume someone is going to attack her? She wouldn't. Warrior Woman, however, DOES. After that, Wonder Woman runs to her armory (it apparently contains her costume, but we never see anything other than her tiara in it). We clearly see a battle axe, a sword, a helmet and a shield. Apparently Warrior Woman goes around with a personal armory, Wonder Woman would go to battle with just her Golden Lasso, armed with that knowledge that her magical weapon that is made to restrain, would be sufficient for her battle. Warrior Woman, however, has need of a vast array of deadly weapons. Maybe that's just me, but that doesn't seem like a very peaceful idea. It also cannot be over looked that Wonder Woman basically threatened Zola, stating that she could take the key from her if necessary. She didn't ask for it, instead she demanded it with a hint at least in my mind of violence.

Then Warrior Woman leaps into a battle and yes, she defends her new charge with her bracelets, but apparently said arrow is rocket powered or Warrior Woman isn't very strong since she ends up in the air (and subsequently on the ground) from the arrow shot. The sequence of events up until that, do not play out for the dramatic shot we get and why Warrior Woman couldn't have blocked the arrow with one bracelet as Wonder Woman could is beyond me. Anyhow, pitched mini battle begins in which Warrior Woman finally gets a hold of her favorite weapon, a sword. Meanwhile, innocent charge has been kidnapped by a centaur, so Warrior Woman, being the ultimate warrior, hurls her sword to chop off the centaur's arm! Not only that, but she has to chop off the arm of a fleeing opponent that has shown her no harm. This creature hasn't even attacked her. Not only that, the creature wasn't even threatening her new ward. So why was such an aggressive and threatening move needed? It's not as if Warrior Woman had, I don't know, a magical lasso on her that she could have stopped the centaur. Nope, there was no lasso.. Oh wait, after chopping off a centaur arm, she whips out her lasso and grabs her new charge. So apparently, a sword is a weapon to Warrior Woman and a lasso is used to grab people, not as a weapon. I guess as a highly trained warrior, Warrior Woman had no other option than to slice off an arm. After that of course, she abuses Zola by using the lasso to grab the woman and pull her closer basically making ti so Zola slams into the ground twice. Very compassionate and very nice to the woman who has just been through a world changing event. Does Warrior Woman apologize for manhandling this young woman? Nope, instead she seems annoyed that Zola didn't stand by her while she was attacking another centaur. It's so very.. brutish and aggressive. When has Wonder Woman ever acted this way? If she had, do you think Cassie would have gone to such great lengths to be Wonder Girl? Do you think the Julia and Vanessa would have taken her in and given her a place then loved her as a sister/daughter? I do not think so.

I would like to re-state that I did enjoy the story, I just don't feel that Wonder Woman is present. The new character, Warrior Woman, is vastly too aggressive and cold to be Wonder Woman. There is no sense of wonderment in this Wonder Woman. There is nothing peaceful or compassionate in her composure. Her treatment of Zola is one of aggression and annoyance, not caring and compassion that she has shown to those she previously protected. She has no regard for the creatures she's attacked, one of whom did nothing to her and didn't appear to be trying to harm the woman in her protection in any way. In fact, they were fleeing. Yes, they were trying to kidnap Zola, but the centaur had a knife in its hand, so it could have tried to murder her then and there rather than run off with her. I think a true Wonder Woman could have found a better way to deal with the situation. She could have dealt with Zola with more caring and compassion. She could have found a better way to deal with the centaur especially since she had to know they were just recently harmless horses. I think Wonder Woman should be a symbol, the way Superman and Batman are. Unfortunately, her goodness has been sacrificed to make her "edgy". What's really sad? That the new woman who has been named Wonder Woman cannot represent a woman that young girls want to become. She's no longer a role model. She's no longer about being better and teaching all of us, boys and girls, about how to be a better person. She's about cutting off arms and being aggressive.