Who IS Wonder Woman?!?
Wonder Woman is, once again, in transition. Hardly a rare state of events, but this time perhaps worthy of mention. Unlike the previous incarnation, this version appears to have a solid fan base; not just the understandable reaction of Wonder Woman fans defending their heroine despite any real fondness for who she ‘is’ at the moment. So she may be around for awhile.
Wonder Woman’s creation has altered; she has gone from being a gift of the gods to the seed of one less-than-savory god. Her upbringing has altered; rather than the loving and nurturing culture of yore, she is now from a back-biting, conniving and bullying culture not unlike the worst of own current reality. Her mother has altered; she lost the loving and trustworthy Queen Mom Hippolyte to a new reality of having been raised on lies and deception by the new [and newly blonde] Hippolyta who grudgingly admits that she had an affair with a married man - her own goddess’ husband! [is this some sort of commentary on blondes as well?! Ha!].
As to appearance; thankfully, Wonder Woman has been returned to a recognizable character, disposing of the generic and unknown ‘Walmart Woman’ outfit, and returning to Wonder Woman’s own long term and well-recognized ‘brand’ of clothes. Additionally, the majority reaction to the current art has been very positive.
But what of Wonder Woman, herself? Mercifully, she appears to have reclaimed some of her original traits of character. Sure, she displays the ‘modern’ angst and anger so commonly used to sell narratives in this day and age; but she seems to hold her own core values. She strives to be fair, she protects; in short, she appears to actually possess integrity. Thus far the tale has been centered on her discovery of her ‘real’ origin, not exactly a pleasant discovery for her. Her involvement has been more with herself than others. Where she goes from here will be the telling point.
Naturally, long-time fan reactions have been varied, but the new Wonder Woman has been very well received, overall. It has been stated, from more than one quarter, that the story seems to be focused on the gods, with Wonder Woman mixed in to make use of her well-known name. Perhaps so; but if that is the case, it still leaves Wonder Woman in good standing with comic book readers. They have shown their approval, after all, by buying the book.
So, where will our Amazon go from here? Will she recover her sense of humor or will she get wrapped up in the angst-ridden drama-queen role and lose the respect of her fans? Will she learn to control her temper or will she become even more prone to unwarranted violence? Will she start acting like a real woman or will she just play out the shallow bitch-queen scene? Will she build back up to the Wonder Woman of yore with a heart of gold and the physical and emotional strength to back it up? Will she again become the Wonder Woman who captured so many hearts and soothed so many souls?
Can Wonder Woman once again become an inspiration to people of all ages, genders, and cultures all over the globe? That would be nice!
2012 holds real promise for Wonder Woman – here’s to wishing her a very Happy New Year!
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The latest fun at the Marston Family Wonder Woman Museum!
Chris Hayes presents Al Rio!
All of the Al Rio artwork displayed has been commissioned by Chris for his website, Amazon Archives, over the years; the exception being the center piece, which Chris had done for the Marston Family Wonder Woman Museum. The line up of Wonder Woman over the years in her many different costumes is well known and heavily used these days. (and, <ahem>, usually without credit...Chris is very generous with his artwork, but please do be polite and give credit to Amazon Archives and Al Rio if you 'borrow' his art!) The re-imagined covers are less known...altho the revised #137 certainly made a solid point during the Wonder Woman Costume War that went on during 2010!
 Didn't seem right without a ribbon cutting ceremony! Chris Hayes does the honors with Pete & Christie Marston |
 Ribbon?? Well, at least the stars were WW colors! Chris Hayes of Amazon Archives 'ribbon' cutting |
 Chris and MAC Wonder Woman at the new Al Rio wall |
 Whew! We made it just in time to get Chris on his plane home! |
 Chris Hayes and Pete Marston - THAT's what started this wall! |
 Chris and Pete and MAC Wonder Woman admiring Al Rio's art |
 Wonder Woman thru the ages, envisioned by Chris and drawn by Al Rio. click image for full detail! |
 Wonder Woman thru the ages, envisioned by Chris, drawn by Al Rio, and colored by Thomas Mason |
 Had a little fun with Chris' home page image...click image to view the real McCoy! |
 And Chris had some fun with his WW line-up! click to see full size image on Amazon Archives |
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- - why are we here? - -
Pete Marston - 'WW's Bro' - has created this website to help perpetuate the true concept of Wonder Woman and to catalog some of the hundreds [um, thousands] of items that have emerged over the years bearing the Wonder Woman image.
The best way that we can see to accomplish that goal is to provide a gateway to sites all over the world - i.e., to network Wonder Woman supporters, including fans, collectors, writers, artists, producers, et al.
This site is just one of many, many, many Wonder Woman related sites - - you will find links here to some truly outstanding websites!
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Please click the image above and tell us
what Wonder Woman means to YOU!
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We're at it again! Please check back soon for numerous updates - including new pages for: WW Family Museum visitor pics, WW artists, and excerpts from the 'Share the Wonder' message project!
HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!