I started collecting Wonder Woman back in the seventies. Yes, I sat enraptured
as Linda Carter jiggled across the TV screen. Since I was only 10 years old,
and had very little sex ed, I watched because this was a *woman* kicking bad-guy
butt all over the screen.
Wonder Woman was created by Charles Moulton in 1938. She has gone through
several transformations since then, usually for the better but occaisionally for
the worst.
Most of the changes in Wonder Woman had to do with changing times. Her
hairstyle changed, from her original 40's poodle-cut to a 60's boufant, to just
plain long and straight. the bottom half of her costume went from a skirt to
shorts that grew progressively shorter over the decades. She wore high-heeled
boots, then greco-roman sandals, then a different pair of high-heeled boots.
When George Perez breathed new life into her in 1987, he went with his own
variation of the classic costume and volumes of long black curly hair. She had
the star-spangled short-shorts, suitable for running, leaping, and punting, but
more importantly, he got rid of the stupid high heels. She wore knee-high,
flat-heeled boots. All the better to protect one's legs and keep one's balance
when climbing out of the rubble.
He also gave her a strong faith in her gods, the same ones worshipped by the
Ancient Greeks. He re-wrote her mythological roots, making them a more visible
part of who she was. This trend continued when Perez moved on to other things in
1992, and William Messner-Loebs took over the story writing.
Then disaster struck, and his name was John Byrne.
