Friday, March 18, 2011

The Costume

The new live-action costume:
Before we get into the complaining, I'm going to let you all know I was relieved when I saw it. It is not the revised Lee costume. It is not some ultramodern non-superhero thing. After years of "No tights, no flights" on Smallville and the general shame people engage in in comic book adaptations someone's got the guts to go and say "Look, we're going to try and do a superhero here."

But, since the vast majority of fandom is complaining, I'm going to address it at one by one so you know it's pointless to try and reason me out of my good mood. (Why yes, I did get to solder a connector today. That always puts me in a sunny mood, complaining about ops tearing up the equipment included.)

It's shiny, but I prefer Wonder Woman bright so I'm not bothered by it seeming vinyl/plasticky. (Also, I don't think it'll shine so much while she's punching bad guys in a dimly lit alley set as it does under these publicity lights.) We have Clark Kent running around in all black with an S spray-painted on his T-shirt so I'm just plain glad not to see them try and pull some sort of dark serious shit like that with her.

I am not bothered by the lack of star-spangled panties. I have been whining for years for solid blue pants, and now I have them, I like them. I don't subscribe to the "making her less patriotic" conspiracy theory because well... She's of the royal family for another country. Besides, they brought back Steve Trevor (granted, as ex-military but probably still a veteran and he works for the DOJ now) so we know she loves the troops.

I also like the bright blue. I'm sorry, Wonder Woman should not wear black. And really, there's no need to darken her with Navy Blue either.

I like the boots, yes the heels. Yes, heels are impractical, but these are pretty solid heels and Diana is nigh invulnerable so she's in that list of superheroines that can pull this off. (Batgirl and Batwoman look fucking stupid in heels, but Wonder Woman and Power Girl aren't going to suffer from having them.)

Also, they contribute to the cowboy feel. So do the gold stars on the side. I think it's the lasso, but I always kinda liked a little cowboy imagery mixed in with her Greek mythology and modern knight stuff.

The bustier? Well, it's pretty much her classic costume with pants. I can live without straps, as I have for many years now.

Yay on the tiara and bracelets.

What don't I like?

The girdle, the girdle, the awkward looking girdle. I hate that they put a half-logo on the girdle, it looks weird. Also not thrilled about the little WWs topping the boots.

She's wearing quite a bit of makeup here. I think that's actually the MAC lipgloss shade I have (named Wonder Woman).

Her boobs look... unsecure.

8 comments:

  1. Not entirely crazy about the girdle myself but I can live with it. I really wish the boots were red. But overall, nits aside, I think it's a nice looking costume.

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  2. The costume in itself is not that bad. As stated earlier, change the blue boots to red and it would flow easier IMO.

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  3. I also concur on her boobs being unsecure. One cartwheel and POP! they're exposed.

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  4. She looks pretty good from the waist up. I don't mind the shininess of the bustier so much, but I really don't like the shininess of the pants. I think that a darker matte finish would be a better contrast for the top, and not quite so...blinding.

    I do long for red boots though.

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  5. I had a lingering uneasiness about the picture, and someone just pointed out why to me. The headband and probably the bracers and some other details are just photoshoped on. Until I see her in motion in some version of this costume, I won't be convinced.

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  6. The lack of stars-on-her-butt is /great/. I could do with mild contrast between boots and pants -- just a different shade, basically. But it's OK without.

    The heels, enh. I think they'd catch too easily and all that, but I can live with that.

    The corset is just plain too tight, hence the boobage. Better fitting garments, stat!

    But all in all, she looks less ... DEK-ish? Sex-kitteny? ... than I expected. It's not the kind of confident Diana that I love, but I could see this as eminently workable.

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  7. My only real gripe is the blue boots. I don't disagree on the rest of the details, but they are DETAILS. By and large, the silhouette feels right; I can take off my glasses, stand back from the screen, and say, "Hey, it's Wonder Woman!"

    The only thing that detracts from the "instant ID at a blurry glance" impression is that the boots aren't red.

    If the Jim Lee redesign had looked like this, there would have been a LOT less bitching.

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  8. I'm having a hard time getting past the fact that she looks like she's made of plastic from the neck up to evaluate the costume. But it does seem to be three steps up from the Jim Lee one. I just with TV & movie costume designers would learn that you only need to use the logo once per outfit.

    -- Jack of Spades

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