CBR: DiDio on Wonder Woman, the Justice League's Collars & More

[CBR News]

DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio spoke frankly with CBR News about the DC Relaunch, tackling topics from Wonder Woman's most recent reboot to the online controversy over Jim Lee's costume designs and more.


Full article here.

[doordoor123]

Dan is the MAN! Hes a BOSS!
Look out Rick Ross. Theres another Boss in town.

[I-Ching]

While I'm glad that Didio is aware and stating that WW doesn't have a strong supporting (or even existing) supporting cast and rogues gallery it's one thing to be state the problem and another to implement the solution.

It's encouraging to read that he see's that the odd mess that was The Oddmessy was something he wasn't pleased with however I'm worried that they may overthink WW again and try to reinvent the wheel.

All the elements are there for her to have a supporting cast if you dive into her history...Steve, Etta, Hippolyta, Vanessa, Julia, Helena, Cassie, Donna and even others like Keith Griggs or Mike Schorr...but writers too often abandoned these characters and never developed them further. There's no reason why Cheetah couldn't be an multi-dimensional foe except that writers too often characterize her as some kind of Grade D Catwoman or Tigra.

WW needs a foundation not a reinvention but I'm encouraged that this relaunch has learned from the JMS dung pile and DC can really make a effort and achieve a worthy monthly titles WONDER WOMAN!

[PympMyQuinjet]

You know, its so easy to remark about the mistakes that DC has definitely made in the past, but hearing Dan DiDio talk about the relaunch like he did, especially in the last paragraph there, its so easy to tell that there is so much passion being put into this by every creator working there. This is one of the best things to happen to the industry, bar none.

[Joe Grendel]

While I'm glad that Didio is aware and stating that WW doesn't have a strong supporting (or even existing) supporting cast and rogues gallery it's one thing to be state the problem and another to implement the solution.

It does seem odd that DC has never sat down, looked at their various franchises' rogues galleries, and made a concerted effort to bolster the weaker ones, especially given how several major characters are really lacking.

Superman's got Luthor, Brainiac and then it's a big drop-off to Bizarro and Metallo and the Phantom Zone villains and then a giant cliff drop to everyone else.

Wonder Woman's even worse. Arguably her best-developed villain is Cheetah, whom she ought to be able to backhand into unconsciousness in the first 10 seconds of a fight. After that there's ... who? Dr. Psycho? Silver Swan? Circe has potential, but it's never really been realized, IMO.

Both of these two need a lot of help, starting with an idea of who the characters are. Superman needs more science fiction villains -- Luthor's no longer a mad scientist, so Superman needs one of those to fight. Give him some aliens and robots and other sci-fi enemies. What would a 21st century Ming the Merciless be like in the DCU?

Wonder Woman should be handling the fantastic side of the street -- which it sounds like Azzarello is doing, happily. Beyond just Greek myth, let's see her fighting dragons and mythical beasts and sorceresses and the like.

These two deserve villains the stature of Brother Blood and Mordru, who are featured in much less important franchises.

If editorial mandated that every new creator had to create one new villain meant to be as iconic as the Joker, DC's various franchises would be a lot better off.

[Roquefort Raider]

(...)I'm not really sure what they're talking about in regards to the DC button(...)

Oh, come on... It's all well and good to claim that the new 52 titles are the best thing ever, but acting that disingenuous is just silly.

[theloupgaroukid]

It does seem odd that DC has never sat down, looked at their various franchises' rogues galleries, and made a concerted effort to bolster the weaker ones, especially given how several major characters are really lacking.

But they have, going all the way back to 'Underworld Unleashed' in the 90s through to the recent 'Faces of Evil'. If anything I would say there has been too much recent emphasis on trying to make the villains credible which devolves into making them "cool" and "extreme" without a proper comeuppance from the heroes.

'Identity Crisis', 'Infinite Crisis', '52', and "the day evil won"- 'Final Crisis', all had escalations of villainy without a proper heroic reversal.

[maskedmanissue1]

You can call the collars Victorian, or whatever you want, that won't make them any less ridiculous.

The fact that Kyle Rayner already made fun of these collars when they showed up in the Sinestro Corps shows that DiDio, Lee and company don't even pay attention to their own history and make the choice of using these same collars even more hilarious.

To quote Kyle at the very beginning of the Sinestro Corps War:
"I like the collars, guys. Very Disco."

[jack-be-nimble]

While I'm glad that Didio is aware and stating that WW doesn't have a strong supporting (or even existing) supporting cast and rogues gallery it's one thing to be state the problem and another to implement the solution.

It's encouraging to read that he see's that the odd mess that was The Oddmessy was something he wasn't pleased with however I'm worried that they may overthink WW again and try to reinvent the wheel.

All the elements are there for her to have a supporting cast if you dive into her history...Steve, Etta, Hippolyta, Vanessa, Julia, Helena, Cassie, Donna and even others like Keith Griggs or Mike Schorr...but writers too often abandoned these characters and never developed them further. There's no reason why Cheetah couldn't be an multi-dimensional foe except that writers too often characterize her as some kind of Grade D Catwoman or Tigra.

To be fair, most of WW's supporting cast have not been that noteworth or indispensible.

By virtue of being her mother, Hippolyta has been the most stable and significant supporting character in Wonder Woman. But even she's not seen in each and every story, nor is her presence missed in each and every story.

I think the biggest obstacle to the WW mythos isn't that she lacks a stable supporting cast...it's that she lacks an HQ and/or base of operations...both in and out of costume.

For instance, Lois, Perry and Jimmy have been a constant in Clark Kent's life as coworkers at the Daily Planet (or Star). Pa and/or Ma Kent, Lana Lang and Pete Ross are all part and parcel of Smallville. The supporting cast comes with the setting.

At home at the Batcave or Wayne Manor, you have steadfast Alfred and a Robin (pick one). It's hard to imagine a Batcave or Manor without Alfred...even when he's not there, his presence is felt.

At Gotham City Police Department, another setting mainstay in Bat-mythos, you have James Gordon and in varying degrees, Harvey Bullock and Rene Montoya.

****

When WW's on Paradise Island, she's got Hippolyta. Maybe Philippus and Artemis.

When WW was working with the military/Pentagon (in the Golden and Silver Age), she had Steve and Etta. But the Perez era removed the military connection and there went Steve and Etta.

WW had Julia and Vanessa throughout the 5 years Perez was at the helm, but it was just odd that WW "operated" from their home. The same can be said for the 3 Byrne years with Helena and Cassie. If Cassandra didn't become Wonder Girl, she would've been obsolete after Byrne left.

Donna was never a strong supporting character to WW, even in the Silver Age. Not the way that Robin was to Batman or Kid Flash was to the Flash.

Keith Griggs and Mike Schorr were both passing fancies, like Trevor Barnes, that just blipped. Even I-Ching was a blip in terms of indelibility.

Given time, I think the embassy cast could've become staunch supporting characters.

Oddly, I think the Olympian gods became the most steadfast WW supporting character over the last 25 years. And this is probably to everyone's chagrin.

I think if WW were given a steady base of operations, that would help with the supporting cast development.

[Kiryu]

"Uniformity to uniforms" is a stupid concept, imo. So every hero in the DC decided that a high collar was what they were going to go with on their personally designed costume? Wonder Woman decided she needed a choker that resembled a v-neck collar? It works in some cases but "Uniformity to uniforms"? One of the most asinine things I've heard from Didio and I read 10 weeks of Countdown and an issue of his Outsiders.

Halfway decent interview. Makes me really wish Superheroes weren't the only big-game in town when it comes to comics cause the ageless, timeless, story repetition that they seem to be pushing.

The phrasing "A lot of our characters have been around a long time, we'd run out of stories to tell if it was all in continuity" just makes me bleh. The biggest concern I have as a reader with the reboot is having to trudge through the same old stories again. DC was bad at not repeating itself when it had an ongoing continuity. But with a fresh canvas? *shiver*. I'm getting douchechills even thinking of reading Superman/Clark/Lois triangle. And Batman vs Superman. Again.

It'd be something really amazing to have an ongoing series for years and years that wasn't chained to this mentality, which I understand is caveat of corporate owned characters, but damn if it isn't a gigantic turn-off for me as a reader.

[Scud]

"It truly is collaborative, but you always need a leader. I can't think of a better person than Jim Lee."

I can think of two without even thinking, J.H. Williams III and Alex Ross.

Also I'm nervous about O.M.A.C. having your name on it as well Didio.

[Scud]

I'm getting douchechills even thinking of reading Superman/Clark/Lois triangle. And Batman vs Superman. Again.

I think I caught a case of the douchechills over those as well.

[gerkmax]

"Uniformity to uniforms" is a stupid concept, imo. So every hero in the DC decided that a high collar was what they were going to go with on their personally designed costume? Wonder Woman decided she needed a choker that resembled a v-neck collar? It works in some cases but "Uniformity to uniforms"? One of the most asinine things I've heard from Didio and I read 10 weeks of Countdown and an issue of his Outsiders.

Halfway decent interview. Makes me really wish Superheroes weren't the only big-game in town when it comes to comics cause the ageless, timeless, story repetition that they seem to be pushing.

The phrasing "A lot of our characters have been around a long time, we'd run out of stories to tell if it was all in continuity" just makes me bleh. The biggest concern I have as a reader with the reboot is having to trudge through the same old stories again. DC was bad at not repeating itself when it had an ongoing continuity. But with a fresh canvas? *shiver*. I'm getting douchechills even thinking of reading Superman/Clark/Lois triangle. And Batman vs Superman. Again.

It'd be something really amazing to have an ongoing series for years and years that wasn't chained to this mentality, which I understand is caveat of corporate owned characters, but damn if it isn't a gigantic turn-off for me as a reader.

I agree, first on the collars. When I first saw them I thought if it's not explained (in-story) that they were designed by the same person, it's going to be ridiculous. Plus "Superman in armor" seems stupid. Again, it's going to have to be explained well.

I also agree on the need to reboot every ten years. It's ridiculous. Yes, I do think a reboot or something needs to happen to keep the characters' ages semi-believable, but... every ten years!? Especially not when, like you said, it's going to be the same old stories over and over again.

[ian33407]

I can think of two without even thinking, J.H. Williams III and Alex Ross.

my first though was Mark Chiarello, he's the man behind the Wednesday Comics godammit

[gerkmax]

And what's with the "electronic armor" on batman, superman, green lantern and flash's costumes!?