comic economics
There's been a lot of talking about Wonder Woman over the past few years. That's largely because comic based entertainment related projects are a license to print money nowadays. Some of the top grossing all time earners in recent years have been projects like Spiderman 1-3, the X Men series - in which theatrical heavy weights like Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Patrick Stewart weren't too proud to appear in, and of course Ironman 1 & 2 , which brought back Robert Downey's career (hang in there Charlie Sheen). Even 3rd tier titles like ghost Rider - done by Nic Cage, turned a healthy profit. In other words to a decent comic cover and you're guaranteed a No 1 box office opening. If you're a professional actor and aspiring thespian they won't do you're career any harm either, unless you're Megan Fox. Come on and come of it Meggers - even Anne Hathaway wasn't too stuck up to take on Catwoman!shady beginnings
Now among comic book characters few names are quite as big as Diana of Themyscira, also known as Wonder Woman! For those of you who don't know about her in detail, here's some basic facts: she was created by psych prof William Moulton Marston back while he was teaching at Vassar and perfecting the lie detector (that's right - Wonder Woman & the polygraph share a common paternity!). WMM wrote under the name Charles Moulton 'cause he didn't want it get around academic circles that he was writing comics on the side line. Not that there was any shame in comics, but back in the Moulton Marston days Wonder Woman verged on soft porn and was littered with BSMD. Wonder Woman was bound and gagged in almost every issue - that is when she wasn't being saddled, bridled & horse ridden, dangled upside down and tickled,or being subjected to countless other exotic tortures. In fact some of her erotic misadventures were so over the top that she eventually got parodied by cartoonist Eric Stanton in his soft porn series Blunder Broad!
bound to be free
Marston was an Ivy Leaguer, so in addition to subjecting Wonder Woman to frequent bondage, he also gave her a mythological pedigree. That allowed her to get respectable - once she wriggled out of her chains and spit out the gag. She was a member of the legendary race of Amazons - which WMM mistakenly identified as Greek, Amazons actually came from the north east of Greece and were closer to Serbo-Croatian or Ukrainian (think Milla Jovovich!) - and was on a first name basis with several gods and goddess. Comics loved this kind of literary credibility. So by the 1980's - in the age of Perez & Jiminenz, she reached a kind of Golden Age that many hard core fans still pine for. Marston's leggy legacy continues right up to today - helped largely by an alleged codicil in his will insisting that DC continue to publish Wonder Woman every year or lose their copyright claims on the character.is Wonder Woman an easy score?
So what with the sudden rush for a easy score by covering comics it was only natural that sooner or later the powers that be would get around to Wonder Woman. She is that combo of pop culture icon and sheer sex appeal that made a star out of previously unknown Lynda Carter. That old series was beyond camp and yet continues to be a fan favorite in syndication. So if the right person could develop the project the right way, and especially find the right woman to fill those bright red boots, success, stardom, and a super pay day would be assured. Some, like Megan Fox, didn't want to be a star that way. Meggers called Wonder Woman lame, then continued to do dialogue with a talking space car called Bumblebee (Invisible Plane looks more plausible already). Other were eager for the part. Directors liked the idea too. So after a few false starts at the movie studios, Diana eventually landed on her feet @ NBC.
David Kelley, husband of Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer and creator of Ally MacBeal, decided he liked the whole Wonder Woman idea. Furthermore he announced to the world that he was giving Wonder Woman an upgrade from the old cheesy Lynda Carter schtick and into a strong independent contemporary woman - just the type he likes. That sent everyone speculating about what exactly Kelley was gonna do to her - like redesign her costume, cut her hair, or God knows what other possibilities. Well for the nervous Nellies there's finally some good news. Kelley has completed a preliminary pilot script.Though DK has tried to keep the whole script under wraps, Wonder Woman is a hard gal to keep wrapped up, for long anyway. So some of the salient details have leaked. For instance Wonder Woman 2.0 is gonna be a high powered LA executive who fights crime in her spare time. Story followers will have gathered that much. What you might not be aware of is that her executive position is as Diana Themyscira, head of Themyscira Industries. So like Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, Wonder Woman now has her own multinational organization! Diana Themyscira is her Wonder Woman alter ego - and everyone knows that one is also the other. When she's not either of those she pulls her long glossy blue black hair up in a bun, dons some sexy Sarah Palin style specs and sneaks around as Diana Prince. No one knows that Diana Prince is Wonder Woman, except for possibly her arch enemy.
Every super hero needs an enemy and in this case Wonder Woman's rival is going to be Veronica Cale. Fans will remember Ronnie from back in the day. This time she's been revived as a sort of mad scientist and rogue bitch with a 
GIFSoup
brand new spin on the same likable gal
Now before you say "WTF?" there's something you've got to know. This new spin on Wonder Woman is deliberate. It's been planned a as a goofy comedy-drama. So there's gonna be a lot of tongue in cheek. It's about damned time too. The best comic characters always incorporate humor. In his Olden Golden Days Superman was practically a sit com, until he devolved into icon status (with mistaken identity, silly disguises, and comic predicaments - you can see how Supes became Jerry Seinfeld's inspiration. Plenty of us wish that Kal El would get his funny bone back, too). Diana always lent herself to parody too - but he undeniable humor was never really explored in the comic - except perhaps during the Taco Whiz period. Diana has broken away from her soft porn bondage origins; giving her some humor might allow her to take the next step in her development; from stuffy icon spouting preachy slogans to someone more rounded, human, and ultimately enjoyable. I certainly look forward to enjoying Diana!speaking of the soundtrack
