Now, you all know I fucking love Green Lantern, and I love the Flash. But something's off lately. Early this century, it was all about the Big Three: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. They were there for everything. But for some reason, there's been a rise of Green Lantern and a quiet shuffling to the back of Wonder Woman. More and more I'm seeing promo images with Hal rather than Diana in it, and it's starting to weird me out. Not to mention there are now three Green Lantern books while there's only ever one Wonder Woman book, and he's getting a live-action movie and a sequel to his animated but her sequel was canned and her live-action movie is perenially in development hell.
And now we have the Flash on there, and no Wonder Woman. Is this because of the costume shakeup? Or are they just giving up on even pretense now?
Something just seems terribly, terribly off lately. Maybe we should break out the stationary and pens and remind them we're interested.
I hate to be a dick, but after reading Wonder Woman Showcase number 2 (or number 3) I can understand why. The only reason Wonder Woman is relevant is because she's a woman, and as far as I can see, for no other reason. The aforementioned Showcase revealed to me a character that was pretty weak (why didn't she kill Merman? GOD I HATED MERMAN! Why didn't she tell Steve to relax?), and very mishandled. Most of her villains are unremarkable, and who she is and what she is unknown. GL and Flash are just better characters.
ReplyDeleteYou kind of answered your own question. It's about brand recognition. A GL movie is coming out, so where would DC be if GL didn't show up in their logos? Flash isn't that far behind. I think the real question is, why is she completely left out? What's wrong with the Big Five?
ReplyDeleteWhile I deplore the absence of Wonder Woman, I would have to assume that they are trying to build some interest in Green Lantern, given that he's getting a movie in a little while. They are doing the same thing with Thor over at Marvel. He went from one to about a bajillion books in a matter of months. I LIKE Thor, so I'm not complaining, but still...!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand...I'm jsut thrilled to see Hal, because I'm shallow.
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman aren't the "Big Three" because they are DC's three most popular characters. They are DC's TWO most popular characters and their most popular female character. If you ask me, instead of hating on DC for dropping the pretense that Wonder Woman is as popular as Superman and Batman, we should be applauding them for keeping it up for so long.
ReplyDeleteI always considered them the big 3 not out of popularity, but out of importance. Plus, I think if you went outside of the walls of the comic community into the average person, they know Wonder Woman more than they know GL or Flash. Wonder Woman, like Supeman, is one of those characters that people can be big fans of without ever having picked up a comic or kept up on the continuity.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's probably based on the fact that her conception broke ground, not the fact that she has trades that sell in bookstores, but what's wrong with that? She's still one of the top three most recognizable icons worldwide.
Wonder Woman is unknown? News to me.
ReplyDeleteDid I just see someone seriously suggest that Green Lantern has more brand recognition than Wonder Woman?
ReplyDeleteI mean, really. I'm a Green Lantern fan through and through, but honestly? Ask a random person on the street who Green Lantern is, and ten to one you're going to get "Didn't Bruce Lee play his sidekick? Kato?"
The movie might change that, but there are people who weren't even BORN at the time who remember Lynda Carter's spin.
Kalinara, I was just about to say something of the sort! Admittedly I'm in the UK where people seem to be less familiar with comic characters, but most people I've met who don't read comics get confused with Green Hornet if I mention Green Lantern. I doubt most people have heard of the Flash either but everyone knows who Wonder Woman is even if they never picked up a comic book in their life. I don't see how anyone can say she isn't up there with Superman and Batman. They're the only three DC characters most people have ever heard of in my experience.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I used to carry a Wonder Woman lunchbox as a handbag until it broke and people were always commenting on it :)
re: kalinara
ReplyDeleteBut how many of those people *care* about Wonder Woman? How many read her comics? How many will venture to the theater, braving high ticket prices, out of nostalgia for some cheesy old TV show? The A-Team flopped pretty badly.
Brand recognition only counts if people *buy* based on it. As Darcy said, lots of people who recognize Wonder Woman "never picked up a comic book in their life" and therefore aren't making anybody any money.
Merchandizing is an amazing concept.
ReplyDeleteJust because they won't buy the COMICS, doesn't mean that they don't buy the dolls, backpacks, bicycles, lunchboxes, halloween costumes and so on and so forth.
One thing that surprised me when I worked at the toy store was how often I saw people buying Supergirl merchandise (even before her appearance on Smallville or her comic revival took full swing.)
Supergirl =/= Wonder Woman, but it's the example that most pops into my mind from my personal experience as to how brand recognition works far beyond the original product.
Ack! Second "Anonymous" here, with kalinara saying I suggested GL has more brand recognition than WW. That's NOT what I was saying at all. Kind of the opposite, in fact. I'm saying that with a big movie of GL coming out, DC will want to make sure that they get brand recognition credit for it. They're thinking the GL movie is going to be big, so they're making a point to put a GL icon into their logo. With the Flash movie in the works, they're making sure he becomes more high profile *now*.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's not lose my main point. It really shouldn't be about "what happened to the Big Three?" It should be, "Why the heck can't Wonder Woman fit in amongst this He-Man Woman Haters Club" icon? I see lots of space for her.
This return to the silver age has serious problems for racial and gender issues. In the silver age there are only a few solid female characters to work with. Wonder Woman is the most well known. They are having real trouble making Wonder Woman's book interesting to men or to women because she was not so fully fleshed to begin with. I would love to see a Black Canary, Batwoman or even Saturn Girl as these characters were silver age women who are selling well now. The only problem being that they are not as well known as Wonder Woman.
ReplyDeleteProbably haven't summed up my thoughts as well as I would have liked, but something to chew on anyway.
I would
I think we're seeing a confluence of (1) buildup for the Green Lantern movie, (2) not wanting to reference the current version of Diana, which looking quite forgettable, and (3) a deliberate attempt to expand the Big Three into the Big FIve.
ReplyDelete-- Jack of Spades
It's just Geoff Johns plan for the DC Universe and characters in action. He has openly stated that he wants Green Lantern and the Flash to "get an upgrade" into "Trinity Level". Since he is now "Creative Director" or something, he gets a say in these kinda things, so this is just his giant hard-on for Barry and Hal showing up on the promotional level. Also, i don't think he's such a big fan of Diana either.
ReplyDeleteAlso also, they may not want to put Diana there until her status is finally settled. Someone could throw a fit if they used regular suit Diana that everyone recognizes instead of the all-new, all-betterer version that i don't really think will stick around.
So yeah, you're not being paranoid. Just noticing the new trend in DC's promotional interests, i think.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification, Second-Anonymous. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure lawyer-woman.
ReplyDeleteWonder Woman fans dodged a bullet when it came to multiple titles. Multiple titles suck.
ReplyDelete