New Wonder Woman!

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by Starscream

My problem with Wonder Woman is not the original character herself (who broke stereotypical gender roles when she was introduced), but the constant need to redefine and revamp her character every couple of years. We don't need a complete makeover each and every year.

She's not the only one, Andy. Both DC and Marvel have put characters through the ringer for maybe 15 years now, feeling the need to shake things up every year or two. Me, I put most of the blame on the "Comics Boom" in the '90s (which coincided with the more-familiar to Inmates "Cigar Boom" of the same period . . . by coincidence??), and which came close to bankrupting the industry when it fizzled. Once "investors" found out that their un-read mint condition bagged-and-boarded alternate cover issue of a comic printed by the millions was NOT gonna fund their retirement, they fled in droves and left the genre to the fanboys . . . where it belongs. But it took the marketing experts at the publishing houses too long to recognize this fact, and to reduce their output to better reflect the diminished market. Thus all the redos, makeovers, crossovers, death and resurrections, and whatever trick they could pull to try and artificially stimulate sales.

Now I understand they are making Aquaman into a villain . . . as if old Bubble-breath scares anybody.

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by The Poet

She's not the only one, Andy. Both DC and Marvel have put characters through the ringer for maybe 15 years now, feeling the need to shake things up every year or two. Me, I put most of the blame on the "Comics Boom" in the '90s (which coincided with the more-familiar to Inmates "Cigar Boom" of the same period . . . by coincidence??), and which came close to bankrupting the industry when it fizzled. Once "investors" found out that their un-read mint condition bagged-and-boarded alternate cover issue of a comic printed by the millions was NOT gonna fund their retirement, they fled in droves and left the genre to the fanboys . . . where it belongs. But it took the marketing experts at the publishing houses too long to recognize this fact, and to reduce their output to better reflect the diminished market. Thus all the redos, makeovers, crossovers, death and resurrections, and whatever trick they could pull to try and artificially stimulate sales.

Now I understand they are making Aquaman into a villain . . . as if old Bubble-breath scares anybody.

Yes, that is true, but it seems she gets it more than any other big name character (with the exception of GL). Superman, Batman, Spidey, and Wolverine go through lots of changes, but they are the same characters of old. Wonder Woman seems to be rewritten completely every few years.


I was a fan of the 90s stuff. Loved the Death of Superman and Knightfall gimmicks, but you're right that there was way too much and that resulted in the death of the comic book/graphic novel. The industry still isn't out of the woods yet, IMHO. My biggest problem in the 90s were the constant variant covers (foil, gold, different artists, etc) which merely raised the price of the issue by a dollar or two more.

Nice comparison between the Cigar Boom and the Comic Boom.