Should there even be a Diana Prince

[Eliseu Gouveia]

I like Azz's version, she's just rocking it out as Diana in the real world, being Wonder Woman, with no Secret Identity.

The Fantastic Four seem to have been pulling it off for the past 50 years.
Doesn´t make them "dettached from humanity", whatever that´s supposed to mean.

[Rob_Olivera]

I don't think it's a horrible idea to have a secret identity. It doesn't have to mean that it is being done for deceit. I just think that it would be nice to go out to dinner at a restaurant without being hounded by fans, photographers, enemies, star-gazers, etc.. etc...

See the graphic below? I think this is the WRONG time for a fan to come up to her for an autograph. Being Wonder Woman is the LAST thing she wants at this moment. Yes, she had her bracelets on, but it goes right with her outfit. If I was her, and someone came up to me at this moment I would've said my name is "Maryanne" or something.

In essence, you could say she was in secret-ID form right here.

[Agent_Dark]

No she doesn't need a secret identity, and it balances her really nicely in the trinity if she doesn't. Bruce Wayne is the cover for Batman; Superman is the cover for Clark Kent; Diana needs no cover because Diana and Wonder Woman are one and the same. She doesn't need to hide part of who she is, and I really like that.

Besides, Wonder Woman is all about promoting peace and trust and honesty - one of her signature items is a Lasso of Truth. Having a secret identity is the antithesis of all that, it pretty much flies in the face of everything she stands for.

[americanwonder]

Yes and as well, something like teaching women the way of the amazons and talking to them. Like volunteer or work as a personal trainer or defend teacher

I like this idea, UsagiTsukino. I love the embassy setting, but I don't think she needs to start there right away nor spend all of her non-superhero time there either. She should be out, teaching, volunteering, exploring, dancing, enjoying a cup of tea as a sea side cafe, etc.

[stk]

No she doesn't need a secret identity, and it balances her really nicely in the trinity if she doesn't. Bruce Wayne is the cover for Batman; Superman is the cover for Clark Kent; Diana needs no cover because Diana and Wonder Woman are one and the same.

I like Wonder Woman as her own character, not because she balances two other characters who also happen to currently be much more popular than she is. Maybe too much focus has been put on how she balances others rather than on being the character she was created to be.

No she doesn't need a secret identity, and it balances her really nicely in the trinity if she doesn't. Bruce Wayne is the cover for Batman; Superman is the cover for Clark Kent; Diana needs no cover because Diana and Wonder Woman are one and the same. She doesn't need to hide part of who she is, and I really like that.

Besides, Wonder Woman is all about promoting peace and trust and honesty - one of her signature items is a Lasso of Truth. Having a secret identity is the antithesis of all that, it pretty much flies in the face of everything she stands for.

You don't think Marston gets to decide what his own creation stands for? This attitude baffles me.

[TrekkieGal]

The fact is Diana Prince is synonymous with Wonder Woman since her creation. It may not fit the current formula it seems to me they were trying intention to right it off (just like many aspect to the character).

[Red Mask]

I like Wonder Woman as her own character, not because she balances two other characters who also happen to currently be much more popular than she is. Maybe too much focus has been put on how she balances others rather than on being the character she was created to be.

You don't think Marston gets to decide what his own creation stands for? This attitude baffles me.

Marston is no longer here.

[Agent_Dark]

I like Wonder Woman as her own character, not because she balances two other characters who also happen to currently be much more popular than she is. Maybe too much focus has been put on how she balances others rather than on being the character she was created to be.

So you're saying you'd prefer for Wonder Woman to be treated as the lesser member in DC's trinity? Batman/Superman, and then Wonder Woman? And not Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman? I personally prefer to read Wonder Woman as a true equal amongst peers, and the Trinity is the best example of that. Whether or not writers are liberated enough to portray that is up to them. I know how I interpret the characters.

You don't think Marston gets to decide what his own creation stands for? This attitude baffles me.

Marston's dead. Been dead for a long time. In fact, he died like 6 years after Wonder Woman was created. Times and characters change, and trying to behold them to old creations is ridiculous. Especially when Marston's original character stood for "loving submission to the bondage of a woman". And we're talking literal bondage - the guy seemingly had a huge fetish for it.

[RandomFalls]

Maybe. It would depend on the story.

I do think it's a bit late to introduce it now. She's been out in the world for five years and it feels weird that she might suddenly be donning the Diana Prince id. I like the Azz pretty much already has her hiding in plain sight without the need of a secret identity. We've seen her hanging out in public places in normal clothes and she hasn't been bothered by the public. Or random super villains dropping in on her either.

Personally I've always liked that she doesn't have a secret identity. She is who she is, and she's Diana of Themyscira. There are plenty of other heroes who do the secret identity thing, it's nice to have one who doesn't and live sin the public eye. There's also the issue of it being a lie, which doesn't sit well with me for some reason. Clark Kent is Superman, he was raised as Clark; Bruce Wayne is batman, he was raised as Bruce. She wasn't raised as Diana Prince, so it feels false to me and these days not in the spirit of the character she's grown to be. But I'm not against her having one, and my enjoyment on it would entirely depend on how well the story is executed.

I think they should have used "Diana Prince" as a civilian identity, something she set up with the government for if she needs to sign anything official. She doesn't hide behind this identity but it is something she occasionally uses when needed. That would have worked out pretty well for me. Like, since we know she worked for Argus, they had her on file as Diana Prince Agent of Argus, but pretty much everyone there knew that she was Wonder Woman.

[slvn]

I don't think it's a horrible idea to have a secret identity. It doesn't have to mean that it is being done for deceit. I just think that it would be nice to go out to dinner at a restaurant without being hounded by fans, photographers, enemies, star-gazers, etc.. etc...

Not a horrible idea, no. I can definitely see the usefulness of it from the character's point of view. But going around town incognito is one thing, and having a full-fledged secret ID--and secret life--is another. But I think the secret identity has been done and isn't interesting enough, from a storytelling point of view, to get heavily into again. And I like the idea that Diana would prefer to live out in the open as much as is feasible.

See the graphic below? I think this is the WRONG time for a fan to come up to her for an autograph. Being Wonder Woman is the LAST thing she wants at this moment. Yes, she had her bracelets on, but it goes right with her outfit. If I was her, and someone came up to me at this moment I would've said my name is "Maryanne" or something.

In essence, you could say she was in secret-ID form right here.

I dunno--the bracers go nicely with her outfit, sure, but they're distinctive. Wouldn't people in the DCU recognize them immediately as Wonder Woman's bracers? And then there's the W choker (and armband, though you can't see it in this pic) that she wears both in her superhero costume and in this outfit. Wouldn't this be iike Clark going wearing the Superman logo on his civilian suit?

I figured that the clubgoers--Wonder Woman's "community," as Zola calls them--knew to give Wonder Woman some space, and even knew to tell newbies to give her some space.

[Outside_85]

I dunno--the bracers go nicely with her outfit, sure, but they're distinctive. Wouldn't people in the DCU recognize them immediately as Wonder Woman's bracers? And then there's the WW choker. Wouldn't this be iike Clark going wearing the Superman logo on his civilian suit?

Well Clark gets his t-shirt from a store in Metropolis that sells it to him and whoever wants one, could be the same with jewelry.
That said a change of clothes is sometimes enough, if people are out looking for WW, then they are imagining her in her normal outfit and can quickly be thrown off if she wears something else.

[slvn]

Well Clark gets his t-shirt from a store in Metropolis that sells it to him and whoever wants one, could be the same with jewelry.
That said a change of clothes is sometimes enough, if people are out looking for WW, then they are imagining her in her normal outfit and can quickly be thrown off if she wears something else.

Right, but does Clark wear that t-shirt when he's being Clark? Seems like that would be asking for trouble, if he really doesn't want people to associate Clark and Superman too closely. If Diana is wearing three or four elements (bracers, arm bad, choker and, in other scenes, tiara-as-headband) of her Wonder Woman outfit, then I don't think she's really trying to protect a secret ID. She's somewhere in the middle ground between secret ID and making herself as conspicuous as she possibly good. And that's good--I don't think she's about saying "look at me!" all the time, but I like that she's not about hiding herself wither.

[TrekkieGal]

So you're saying you'd prefer for Wonder Woman to be treated as the lesser member in DC's trinity? Batman/Superman, and then Wonder Woman? And not Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman? I personally prefer to read Wonder Woman as a true equal amongst peers, and the Trinity is the best example of that. Whether or not writers are liberated enough to portray that is up to them. I know how I interpret the characters.


Marston's dead. Been dead for a long time. In fact, he died like 6 years after Wonder Woman was created. Times and characters change, and trying to behold them to old creations is ridiculous. Especially when Marston's original character stood for "loving submission to the bondage of a woman". And we're talking literal bondage - the guy seemingly had a huge fetish for it.

The sad fact if that's how you see the creator of Wonder Woman, the you probably never liked the character at all. It's one then to sit and judge ones character, stated so bluntly. Just because of his flaw as a human being that gives us the the right to change whatever he did? This is a tough crowd indeed, let me go find a more OBJECTIVE Thread.

[brettc1]

Marston's dead. Been dead for a long time. In fact, he died like 6 years after Wonder Woman was created. Times and characters change, and trying to behold them to old creations is ridiculous. Especially when Marston's original character stood for "loving submission to the bondage of a woman". And we're talking literal bondage - the guy seemingly had a huge fetish for it.

And that's a bad thing?

[Rob_Olivera]

Well Clark gets his t-shirt from a store in Metropolis that sells it to him and whoever wants one, could be the same with jewelry.
That said a change of clothes is sometimes enough, if people are out looking for WW, then they are imagining her in her normal outfit and can quickly be thrown off if she wears something else.

To SLVN:

I think this is a case of giving people perhaps a little more credit than they deserve.

And I'm being lenient with my opinion because of something that happened to me personally. I went to a restaurant with a couple of friends wearing a Marlins shirt, and the manager (without confirming) came up to me and handed me his card and offered all sorts of goodies on future visits thinking I was a baseball player from that team. I don't really follow baseball, so I guess I must look like one of the Marlins baseball players. That, combined with the shirt, created the scenario. I didn't want to make him feel bad, so I did not deny it and certainly I didn't go back with my Marlins shirt to cash-in on the gracious offers.

Now, if she's going to pay taxes, and receive all kinds of job-benefits from a Diana Prince (or Marinka Smith or whatever) identity there are all kinds of legal and/or moral issues involved. But that, would be reading too much into it if you ask me. I'd extend my suspension of disbelief just that much farther. Not something others around here (and elsewhere) may do.