Why-No-Wonder-Woman-

Wonder Woman -­‐ p. 15
April 15 th , 2013
The move to re-launch DC Comicsʼ entire universe was met with overall
approval from publishers, as it was viewed as a shrewd move in order to
continue to compete in the ever increasingly competitive comic book
market. Indeed, sales of DC Comics have risen since the re-launch, and
The New 52 has garnered much talk and discussion within the comic book
community. However, the reception has not been uniformly positive. Many
fans initially met the re-launch announcement with both skepticism and
suspicion. As the new titles began their publication, many readers
lamented the loss of storytelling depth that occurs when characters lose
decades of history and character development.
DC Comics was also hit with claims of sexism from both critics and fans
alike. Many people noted that the number of female contributors at DC
Comics dropped from 12% to 1% in the wake of the re-launch, and critics
have pointed out that many female characters were demoted in their status
or dropped altogether. To address this criticism, DC Comics broke with
their usual tradition of staying silent on issues of gender and race, and
posted a letter on their official website dated, July 29, 2011. This letter
highlighted several upcoming projects of female generated content, and
more importantly, acknowledged the problem and pledged to address it in
the future.
Perhaps one of the most interesting points of this story is that simultaneous
with these claims of sexism, Wonder Woman has been often ranked as the
best of The New 52 re-launch by both critics and fans. Everything from the
storyline, to the new depths and complexity of Wonder Womanʼs character,
to the artwork of the new series has garnered rave reviews. Writer Brian
Azzarello and artists Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins have succeeded in
creating a Wonder Woman who is both intelligently written and gorgeously
rendered, and their narrative reveals just how far Wonder Woman has
come since her debut over 70 years ago.
When Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8 in December of
1941, the character was revolutionary for the era. She was a woman who