Gail Simone is a Wonder Woman

This is a post on two rarities in the comic book industry: a famous female comic book character, Wonder Woman, and a successful and fan favourite female comic book writer, Gail Simone. I'd also like to hear some thoughts from women and men in the comments, about how and why (or why not) you like Wonder Woman.

A number of friends are fans of Wonder Woman, but aren't comic book readers. So here are some recent developments on the Amazonian Warrior Princess that may get the folks to venture into a comic shop, or at least investigate the trade collections in Chapters-Indigo.

Wonder Woman has been around for years. In comic-book narratives she is considered one of the iconic "Big Three" of the DC Comic company: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman. The basic premise is that she is a warrior princess of the female-only society of Amazons, empowered by the Greek gods of myth. She comes from to "Man's World" as an Amazonian Ambassador, and to beat down on the occasional mad scientist super-villain. She's as strong as Hercules, as quick as Mercury, has a lasso that compels anyone ensnared in it to tell the truth, has bracelets that deflect bullets, and is generally depicted as the personification of an empowered, strong women.

Wonder Woman is the most famous female super-hero, but hasn't had the mainstream or even comic-book success of Batman or Superman, who typically have 4 simultaneous series featuring them, as opposed to the single ongoing Wonder Woman title. Frankly, I think the largely male comic book buying audience considers her a "chick book", and (big secret here), guys are intimidated by strong, smart women. So there hasn't been an audience or a truly compelling take on the character for years. I've bought plenty of comics in my lifetime, but rarely have I read Wonder Woman. When I was a teenager, it's because it had that stigma of being a "chick book", and as an adult, there just wasn't anything there that appealed to me. But I like the new writer who's coming onto the series, Gail Simone, and I plan to check out her writing.

Gail Simone, the new writer on the Wonder Woman comic book series, gives her take on the character:

The book is about the best goddamned warrior planet Earth has ever known, and she happens to carry a mystical arsenal around just for the hell of it.

If a writer can’t make that interesting and fun, they really shouldn’t be writing superheroes.

There are layers upon layers of the character, and we’ll get to them all. But let’s just make it very clear that Diana is the premiere asskicker in the DCU, period.

Batman and Superman have other things that make them special. Diana is the one who occasionally carries an axe if someone gives her lip.This is actually in my first issue, but the quote is, “When a giant robot attacks Metropolis, send Superman. An alien attack? Get Green Lantern. When a car is hijacked by an escaped loony, turn on the bat signal, by all means. But if an ARMY shows up on your doorstep, that’s when you call in Wonder Woman."

Simple.

Gail Simone, in an interview with Newsarama.com

Gail gets it. That's how you sell the character. How come the movie version has been languishing in script and casting limbo for so long? Considering the success of The 300 and the Lord of The Rings movies, you think Wonder Woman would be easy enough to do: Buffy + The 300 = Wonder Woman. Strong, ass-kicking warrior woman, who is trying to adapt to being an icon to women everywhere. That's the take you go with. But there's been no movement on casting, and director Joss Whedon has left the project.

Gail's only the third woman to write Wonder Woman series in the 60+ year history of the character. It's indicative of how many women have worked in the largely male-centric comic book industry. Look at any number of comics and you have some grossly exaggerated takes on the female anatomy that make you question if the artist has ever looked at a woman. Seriously, how would someone be able to walk, let alone chuck a tank at some villain, with a body like that?
Female superheroes tend to typically be cyphers or poor stand-ins for male counterparts: Batgirl, Supergirl, Spider-Woman. The female hero was secondary to the male, and usually used as a plot device to motivate the male hero in his actions. Then you have Gail, who comes into this small title, Birds of Prey. It teamed up 2 or 3 female heroes who have never been able to sustain their own titles for long, and made this "chick book" into a kick-ass successful book about these smart, strong women. Other writers built the foundation, but Gail's run really took the book to the next level.

Gail Simone is pretty cool, outspoken, open to chatting with fans, funny as hell, and isn't afraid to call out "The Boys Club" of the comic industry occasionally. One of the most well-known instances of this is her website Women in Refrigerators, which listed the many instances in which female comic book characters were the victims of violent attacks on their womanhood (rape, miscarriage, murder) or whose attacks were used as a plot device for a male character. The notoriety of the website led to Gail being "discovered" and put her into contact with the comic book companies.

Gail is a pretty great writer, deftly weaving humour, action, and characterization into the mix. In Birds of Prey, she evolved the characters of Oracle (former Batgirl, paralyzed by a bullet from The Joker) and Black Canary (superhero and on-again off-again significant other of The Green Arrow), and made these two strong characters that didn't depend on their male counterparts/boyfriends to define them She wrote their friendship as a genuine, believable thing. The comic's industry could use a few more writers like her. Her run on Wonder Woman starts with issue 13.

Wikipedia: Wonder Woman
Wikipedia: Gail Simone

Gail Simone's blog: Bloodstains on the Looking Glass