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Yikes! In case you missed it in the comments of Laura Sneddon’s controversial Wonder Woman post, former Wonder Woman artist and writer Phil Jimenez has jumped in with an in-depth analysis of what makes the character tick from his viewpoint.

Good doesn’t mean “not flawed.” It simply means that Wonder Woman, like Superman, is relatively incorruptible. We’ve seen her quick to anger, jealous, sad, make mistakes, be naïve, etc. – all very human mistakes. But she works far less well, as both character and as icon, when one tries to bring her humanity into sociopathic territory. She is good, she represents good, and that’s okay. I think the tendency to rail against “good heroes” says much more about the inherent distrust and resentment readers have toward such behavior than the characters themselves. Many of my fellow creators are in agreement that one of the things that makes Wonder Woman terrific is that when she walks into a room, her very spirit makes you want to be better; makes you want to be good, and do good, for yourself and for those around you. Her innate goodness matters because, in play, it inspires others to greater goodness. And if you’ve ever been with someone who does that (and I have), you know how potent a power that truly is.


Much more in the link.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Wow, somehow I managed to miss those comments by Phil Jimenez on the original post. Thanks for the heads-up, as those are some hugely intelligent and interesting thoughts on the character of Wonder Woman.

  2. Oh I just love this so, so much. Thank you so much Phil for saying this.

    I totally agree. It says such poor things about our current cultural mindset that we automatically default to “boring” when it comes a person that is truly, deeply good. It says so much more about us than it does about them.

    Thank you for this!

  3. I stand with Phil, Audrey, and JSF on this.

    The likes of Superman and Wonder Woman have become images of hope and what being a strong person is….why its so hard for some people to enjoy this I don’t understand. It’s like comic fans want nothing but Wolverine and Batman and Punisher cookie cut outs…

    I for one like the “aww shucks” quality of characters like Superman and Capt.Marvel (oops…. I mean Shazam).

    It makes them much more interesting when they have to toe the line when the real bad stuff happens.

    Sadly, the goof balls running DC don’t understand this…

  4. Look at arguable the best, if not most influential Superman story (issue) of the last 15 to 20 years….ACTION 775.

    What’s so funny about truth, justice and the American way? Superman proved in that issue that you don’t have to be a “dark” character to be a great and compelling character.

    Hell…the spun it into an animated feature for crying out loud. That’s how good/important a tale it was.

    I’d like a little more of stories like that…help balance things out a bit…

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