Ethan Van Sciver And Other Former DC Creatives Roast Publisher’s Queering Of Wonder Woman
JB Augustine
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The current-year crop of writers, artists, and editors at DC have proven they can’t help themselves when it comes to tinkering with timeless characters in defiance of the time-honored canon. Wonder Woman is far from the only one, but she is a notable example. In time, she might not resemble or represent what she used to for generations.
Wonder Woman in Justice League: Warworld (2023), Warner Bros. Entertainment
And this might happen sooner than anyone thinks as the shift didn’t start that recently. It has been so slow and creeping for nearly a decade. One of the most salient things they have tried to alter about Wonder Woman in that time is her sexuality — precisely the openness and fluidity of it — since she is an Amazon.
She grew up on an island populated solely by women so she must be bisexual or queer/genderqueer, right? There is a difference: the distinction is one category is gender binary and the other is across a spectrum. In 2016, Digital Spy ran with the idea proudly, declaring “Wonder Woman is queer and it’s extremely important,” and that most knew this for years.
Superman/Wonder Woman #12 (2013), DC
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The piece cites Greg Rucka and his “Year One” storyline’s exploration of her origins and proclivities. On the question of Wonder Woman’s queerness, he said, “Yes. I think it’s more complicated though. This is inherently the problem with Diana: we’ve had a long history of people – for a variety of reasons, including sometimes pure titillation…say, ‘Ooo. Look. It’s the Amazons. They’re gay!’”
Rucka continued, “And when you start to think about giving the concept of Themyscira its due, the answer is, ‘How can they not all be in same-sex relationships?’ Right? It makes no logical sense otherwise.” He clarified, however, that “an Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, ‘You’re gay.’ They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist.”
Diana (Gal Gadot) begs Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) to stay in Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Warner Bros. Pictures
Throwing Steve Trevor under the bus, Rucka further declared, “[Defining her as queer] needs to be yes for a number of reasons. But perhaps foremost among them is, if no, then she leaves paradise only because of a potential romantic relationship with Steve. And that diminishes her character. It would hurt the character and take away her heroism.”
Ergo, never mind Diana’s affectations for Steve Trevor, and occasionally for Superman, which occupies more of her history in print and other media than the constrained push for representation. Wonder Woman is down for anything now, say Digital Spy and Greg Rucka. No one is more stunned by this revelation than Ethan Van Sciver and the COMICSGATE KINGS, who reacted accordingly on a recent livestream.
Billy Tucci was on that panel and remarked how amazing it is Digital Spy ignored everybody else who ever worked on Wonder Woman titles over the years, including Dave Finch. A cover he drew was used in the article but Finch was not reached for his thoughts on the queering of DC’s premier heroine, a member of their trinity.
Ethan and the panel concluded that the retcon was ridiculous. All DC is trying to do here is a “one-to-one” fulfillment of the mythical Lesbos fantasy that won’t work despite its presence in mythology. They compare it to making Captain America a Nazi or HYDRA agent. Both twists went over with fans about the same.
Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) flashes a smile after sitting through a spot of Marvel humor in The Flash (2023), Warner Bros. Discovery
The truth is readers and most comic talents don’t consider or read much into the orientation, “spectrum,” or personal preferences of the characters they follow, adore, or work on — not as much as Rucka does, anyway. To do so would go too far and deep into the weeds as the COMICSGATE KINGS did for satirical purposes.
On the road to the slippery slope, you have to confront the logic at play. If, for example, the Amazons are gay/queer in light of their circumstances, then could the same be true of The Smurfs? They’re all male, EVS suggests, except for Smurfette so the same rules for “romantic relationships” should apply to them.
Wonder Woman deflects a sniper’s bullet in Wonder Woman #1 (2023), DC
Except, no, it’s a cartoon and they don’t have to explore sex or romance among themselves. Conversely, pursuing love with Steve does not diminish her character as it never has.
What do you make of the Comicsgate Kings roasting this push to queer Wonder Woman?
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