dshipp17

1. When and how were you first introduced to the character of Wonder Woman?

I’m pretty sure that the first time I was introduced to Wonder Woman was probably on re-runs from the original SuperFriends and than later on, while viewing one of the multiple updated named shows extended into the mid-80s. 

2. Why do you feel the way you do about Wonder Woman?

My feelings for Wonder Woman became more passionate upon researching her in greater detail years after viewing the SuperFriends and when I again saw her on the Justice League, due to a lingering curiosity of the character from memories of the SuperFriends. The sometimes extreme takes on her story arcs by different writers served to increase my curiosity about the character along with bits and pieces of her from fans or other motivations for writing and/or illustrating her on different websites; a lot of those were incidentally cited by me while viewing the website for something else. Interesting, because I can find a lot less of those websites these days.

3. Where do you think Diana fits as part of the DCU trinity and/or does she still carry the same level of importance as Superman and Batman?

I think Wonder Woman fits equally as important as Superman and Batman in the trinity since at least the debut of the SuperFriends. Since at least the Justice League animated serious, I believe she has been given somewhat more focus. Because Superman and Batman received more media exposure in places like their own cartoons and movies, they are more gravitated towards than Wonder Woman, but thanks to other outlets such as the Justice League, Wonder Woman is just about as important in peoples’ mind, although I believe that it is probably more of a subconscious type of familiarity of Wonder Woman. Since Wonder Woman is familiar to people to the same level as Batman and Superman, but probably because of a visual imagery of her and for reasons I think most of them could not explain, I thank that makes her carry the same level of importance as Superman and Batman; most people are just far less familiar with Wonder Woman’s origins than Batman’s and Superman’s; in the case of Batman, I believe his background is far less complicated than Wonder Woman’s background, but possibly as mysterious (e.g. speaking from memories of his animated series); plus, he’s just human, so he has a human life span, whereas Wonder Woman is close to immortal.

4. In comparison to the other heroes of the DCU, where does Wonder Woman surpass the other heroes, and in what areas does she fall behind?

Because I am probably a lot less familiar with the other heroes in comparison to Wonder Woman, I probably cannot give a good answer, but she surpasses most other heroes in terms of notoriety and combat capabilities (e.g. strength, speed, leadership qualities) but only falls short of Superman in terms of familiarity and perceived leadership qualities; in the case of Superman, its probably more gender related than anything else of tangible importance.

5. DC hands you the reins to writing Wonder Woman. What would you keep? What would you change? Why?

I would only keep some aspects of her background and very few of her rogues gallery. I would make the changes to her background so that it is more susceptibly to perceived modification.

For example, I’d retell the story of the origins of the amazons and Hercules’ association with them. I’d start with a brief story about how the amazons became captives, but were barely freed by Hercules and his army and got smuggled onto Paradise Island in an attempt to hide them, as the war persisted. However, unknown to Hercules, Paradise Island was enchanted by demons, ghost, ghouls, and goblins, and the amazons learn how to fiend for themselves overtime; the amazons have to go into constant hiding; they are unable to stay assembled long enough to find a way off the island; the island has a hidden side effect of altering their body’s physiology and granting them extremely long life spans. The creatures terrorize the amazons in all kinds of ways such as abuse, degradation, and enslavement. Due to a freak storm, while being above a cargo ship captained by Diana’s father and her mother, Hippolyta, along with a very young Diana of about six years old, the ship and its crew happens upon the island. They are greeted by a group of amazons with a warning to leave the island and a request to take the ship back for help to free their people from the island. During this brief encounter, demons attack and some of the crew are able to escape, Hippolyta and Diana are able to escape with a group of amazons, while Diana’s father is mortally injured during the attack and his body washes out into the ocean. Hippolyta and Diana than grow up on the island and also gain extremely long life spans. Constant attempts to rescue the amazons are usually thwarted, but every once in awhile, some are freed. Diana than grows upon to lead a rebellion on the island to free her people from the creatures’ terrorizing, along with Hippolyta. Diana has constant opportunities to escape, but chooses to stay behind to lead the rebellion. Sometimes, Diana does leave the island for short periods and fights against injustice in the outside world, but feels a constant obligation to return to the island to lead the rebellion. Diana also joins the Justice League; however, this is of little help in her rebellion.