CBR: Wonder of Wonders - Jan 20, 2010

[CBR News]

In this installment of STAR-SPANGLED PANTIES, the marketing of Wonder Woman to the mainstream public, specifically little girls, is explored and the lack of readily available Wonder-paraphernalia is lamented upon.


Full article here.

[vbartilucci]

One Google-brand web search later, here's a page that may feature every bit of Wonder Woman clothing on the market today...

http://www.superherostuff.com/charac...nderwoman.html
The leather boots are a delight, but the kicker is they actually do have Star-spangled panties.

[superion]

Interesting article but doesn't it contradict the idea that WW is extremely profitable to Warner Bros because of her merchandising? It seems the Hulk has exceeded her in this area and GL and Flash also seem to be getting more attention.

[Mart]

Brilliant piece, Carol, some great ideas there - and I love the pics. Poor old Dora!

I'd love to see someone in US health circle take Diana on board as a mascot, she is indeed a character who has traditionally defined vitality.

[Xeres]

I actually laughed at the Dora pic. See? I'm in favor of Diana killing!

It was a good article. Coincidentally, I have a... er... Wonder Bridge that I can sell you!

[Sijo]

Well, I found the Dora pic doubly disturbing: first because it's about killing a little girl because she gets better merch than Diana (!) and second, it's obviously based on that odious WW-Kills-Max Lord incident, which I detest. Yeah, I know it's supposed to be funny, but there ARE limits to good taste, you know? Couldn't Wondy have dunked Dora in a puddle or something instead? Sheesh!!

As for the article itself, well it's true, and I can understand the frustration of having DC's-Supposedly-Third-Best-Known-Character get the short end of the stick, but the answer is simple: Diana has never had the pop culture exposition Superman or Batman have. She needs her own movie, or animated series, and a good push by Warner Bros, and THEN you'll get even WW stationery for sale everywhere. Maybe now that DC has been "rearranged" to exploit its characters, we'll finally get all that!

[CarolStrick]

...here's a page that may feature every bit of Wonder Woman clothing on the market today...

And absolutely ZERO of it is available in any brick and mortal store within 200 miles of me! Whereas I can trot over to Wally World and grab any number of Superman and Batman wearables.

If DC marketed Wondie better, perhaps her movie might be moved up on Warner's schedule.

If kids saw she still existed as a vibrant, exciting pop symbol, they might be curious to check out her book. Or her DVDs. But no, unless they're familiar with kid-unfriendly comics shops, they have to Google to discover her existence. Why not make it easy for them?

The other morning one of the first things I heard on TV was "Wonder Woman." It was a line from "Angel," in which Lorne was bolstering Fred's ego. To me that proves that SOMEONE thinks Wondie is recognized and valued by the general public.

Why doesn't Warner-DC recognize her? Why not plug her into a unique marketing niche (while not ignoring the usual stuff) and see how far she can fly with it?

And along the way, why not update all of her licensing pictures? Aren't we all exhausted of the same ol', slightly redone Bronze Age shots of her?

[Free-Man]

I like black humor as much as the next guy....but not that pic..sorry. Dora is just as good a, if not a better, role model for children. And I can totally understand her lack of merchandising. She hasn't done anything since the TV show. The other guys have had movies, video games, and tv shows. Until she gets that, I doubt that'll change.

[Free-Man]

And absolutely ZERO of it is available in any brick and mortal store within 200 miles of me! Whereas I can trot over to Wally World and grab any number of Superman and Batman wearables.

If DC marketed Wondie better, perhaps her movie might be moved up on Warner's schedule.

If kids saw she still existed as a vibrant, exciting pop symbol, they might be curious to check out her book. Or her DVDs. But no, unless they're familiar with kid-unfriendly comics shops, they have to Google to discover her existence. Why not make it easy for them?

The other morning one of the first things I heard on TV was "Wonder Woman." It was a line from "Angel," in which Lorne was bolstering Fred's ego. To me that proves that SOMEONE thinks Wondie is recognized and valued by the general public.

Why doesn't Warner-DC recognize her? Why not plug her into a unique marketing niche (while not ignoring the usual stuff) and see how far she can fly with it?

And along the way, why not update all of her licensing pictures? Aren't we all exhausted of the same ol', slightly redone Bronze Age shots of her?

It's a chicken or the egg scenario. Why would you risk marketing a character who has no tv show, no video game, or no film?

[DeltaBadhand]

Enjoyable column Carol!

[aegisbearer]

Carol, I really enjoyed this column. Wonder Woman's merchandising needs serious attention, and I mentioned that to my LCS tonight, as a matter of fact.

Thank you for your hard work -- it's appreciated!

Aegis

[Atomcrush]

And absolutely ZERO of it is available in any brick and mortal store within 200 miles of me! Whereas I can trot over to Wally World and grab any number of Superman and Batman wearables.

Same here. I KNOW that Wonder Woman is a merchandise cash cow, but I'm also acutely aware of how little of that merchandise is available in stores.

[ThePinkPeril]

I like black humor as much as the next guy....but not that pic..sorry. Dora is just as good a, if not a better, role model for children. And I can totally understand her lack of merchandising. She hasn't done anything since the TV show. The other guys have had movies, video games, and tv shows. Until she gets that, I doubt that'll change.

The Dora picture is going a tad overboard.

I love Wonder Woman as a character, but I have to agree about the merchandising issue. Warner isn't going to spend money and time on products that don't sell well outside the established fan base.

[Gail Simone]

Wow, great article--very thoughtful!

[Javier Velasco]

We have a card novelty store here in San Diego. Its called Babette Schwartz. They always have a ton of WW merchandise. Note pads. T-shirts. Cookie jars. Wonder Woman's Advicebook for Working Girls.

But I agree with Carol. All of the images are from the Bronze Age. Why not use some of George Perez or Adam Hughes images as t-shirts? Did those later artists have more royalties attached to their contracts?