Oregon Quarterly: America's Amazon

[4PointOh]

The president of my company decided that she wants my department to take our magazine to the web and slowly do away with the print version. She used the University of Oregon's site as an example.

I perused the site, not really thinking much of it (although, I did like their "page turning" tech). Then I came across one of their articles. It was about Wonder Woman! Can you imagine that? I'm going to ask my director if we, too, can write an article about Wonder Woman.

Anyway, here's the article. Enjoy!

First page:

http://pubs.sgsdigital.com:8080/erez/erez?width=1541&height=2000&left=0&top=0&right=1&bottom=1&tmp=fsi&save=1&src=Pubs/Journal%20Graphics%20Digital/UO/UO%5FWin09/UO%5FWin09%208%5F0001.tif&&fext=.jpg

Second page:

http://pubs.sgsdigital.com:8080/erez/erez?width=1541&height=2000&left=0&top=0&right=1&bottom=1&tmp=fsi&save=1&src=Pubs/Journal%20Graphics%20Digital/UO/UO%5FWin09/UO%5FWin09%209%5F0001.tif&&fext=.jpg

[4PointOh]

Do you agree with the writer of this article that there's nothing primal about Wonder Woman's origin? Do you think Gail Simone's retelling addresses that criticism?

[Gail Simone]

I'm going to say that...man, this always feels weird to say.

I love the origin, and I love the remake of the origin.

But it definitely feels masculine to me, or a male's idea of how females respond to birth.

My idea was to show that there's a bit of a scary, messy side. It makes the end result, when the baby first cries, something even more precious.

[4PointOh]

I'm going to say that...man, this always feels weird to say.

I love the origin, and I love the remake of the origin.

But it definitely feels masculine to me, or a male's idea of how females respond to birth.

My idea was to show that there's a bit of a scary, messy side. It makes the end result, when the baby first cries, something even more precious.

Which is precisely what I find problematic in the WW animated film. The darkness was there, but there was no urgency. Diana was essentially, according to the film, Hippolyta's consolation prize.

[Gail Simone]

The origin is a lot longer in my script.

[AndyMangels]

The president of my company decided that she wants my department to take our magazine to the web and slowly do away with the print version. She used the University of Oregon's site as an example.

Gail and I appeared at the University of Oregon late in 2009, at the closing part of their original comic art exhibit. I presented a slide show and interviewed Gail for about 90 minutes, in which we discussed "Gender and the super-hero" and focused a lot of time on Wonder Woman.

It was supposed to be taped, but for some reason wasn't. :frown:

[TimothyLaskey]

I'm curious -- Gail, what is it about Diana's origin that seems masculine? I know you've said before that it doesn't really resonate with the reality of childbirth, which is an extremely powerful event, given that you are a mother and have experienced that firsthand.

I always felt that it was a symbolic birth - that Diana was really not "given birth to" so much as created from elemental forces, and given a soul by the combination of the goddess with Hippolyta's love. It almost, to me, seems like not enough power is involved; that it is too magical, too impossible. Not grounded in physics the way we understand it. It's very whimsical and that generally (not that I believe so, but it is encultured within us) translates as feminine. In other words, no painful event and no masculine, dire transformation equates to a peaceful, feminine, creation.

I like what you've added to Diana's origin a great deal. Combined with the Perez relaunch origin, it really feels epic.