Yesterday, comic guru Grant Morrison appeared at the Ediburgh International Book Festival panel ‘Comics History Stripped Down’ to discuss the comic book medium and his own book ‘SuperGods’. During the panel, Morrison was asked about his long-rumored take on the ‘Wonder Woman’ series.
Morrison says that part of the reason for the delay is that DC Comics might be shying away from the series since his take on the character is based on the original ‘Wonder Woman’ as envisioned by ‘Wonder Woman’ creator Moulton Marston. Marston was a psychologist who was known to be an advocate of the free love movement. Marston even based the original Princess Diana on Olive Byrne, the 18-year old lover that he shared with his wife. According to Morrison, Marston’s original vision for Princess Diana’s homeland of Themyscira was one of Amazon women where they were into bondage, slavery, and imagined cannibalism.
Morrison went on to say that Marston’s original vision of ‘Wonder Woman’ vanished with his death in the 1940’s and that the character has never recovered the lost popularity of those early years. He went on to say that, “Superman is meant to be this ultimate expression of masculinity and he still gets to be sexual, while Wonder Woman’s meant to be the ultimate expression of womanhood and yet she isn’t allowed anything to do with sex.” With that vision, it’s easy to see why DC would balk at Morrison’s adaptation of the Amazon princess.
As is usually the case, I find myself disagreeing with Morrison. ‘Wonder Woman’ has evolved beyond the prurient vision of her original creator and become the most recognizable female superhero in the world. She is definitely one of the strongest women in the DC universe, both in her disposition and physical prowess. To turn her into an S&M fetish figure wouldn’t do justice to the Wonder Woman and the comic creators that have done so much to distance the character from her sexist beginnings.
