Opinion: The Wonder And Woes Of Re-Invention
You ever get the feeling that perhaps things way back when, weren’t quite as good as you thought they were? I’m sure you’ve picked up a comic from the stack, blown the dust off the plastic jacket and tried to read it, only to find that it really wasn’t all you remembered it to be. Truthfully, a lot of the comics of my childhood, while they might hold a special place in my heart, don’t hold up to much scrutiny today; we live in an age of digital drawing, modern storylines and far better representation. For a lot of us, we started reading comics in the 90s boom time and in lucky households our first dips into the comic pool were some truly timeless and amazing things like Preacher and its kin.
Unfortunately, the 90s also brought us a lot of pretty terrible stuff too. It saw the true rise of the gimmick issues; great if you’re doing a special 100th or 500th story but totally destructive to the fanbase, and to the Universe in general, when every second issue was essentially nerd-bait. It was expensive and exhausting trying to keep up with those specials. I’m going to try not to mention much about the Swimsuit editions in particular but seriously, the Punisher cover still haunts me. If Frank Castle were real, some cheeky artists would have woken up on a downward spiral from a plane into an active volcano. On top of that, a lot of the general artwork and stories were sloppy; day time soaps in paper form at best. When you find yourself counting extra fingers on a character as they’re trying to struggle out of a super-powered love triangle, you tend to take a moment to question your enthusiasm for a series. Now, there are still some dodgy comics being made, but the rule of the land is still whatever sells more in most cases keeps going. And good books usually sell well.
There is an issue, however, in that more and more recently people keep bringing up this idea that artists above all else should stay true to the original, that fans suck for preferring current works over old. That, somehow, twenty years ago everything was better and the character you’re currently complaining about was so much more and better than the present version. ‘Whatever happened to that character? I hate this, I want the old version back’ has been thrown around a few times in my circles. Grant Morrison recently voiced his distaste for the current Wonder Woman, though it was more toward the overall tendency for militarised superheroes in general. He’s written Wonder Woman: Earth One as a way to take her back to where he feels she should be; back to the beginning. When you hear that, you find yourself asking the question ‘What’s so wrong with her now?’.
Honestly, I’m not sure I could ever answer that fully. Nothing and everything isn’t much of an answer. If you’re looking to try something different, go for it. If you want to see if you can reimagine the origins of the story with a new more modern vision and artist, that’s fantastic too. Heck, if you don’t think the current version does the characters or Universe justice and think you can do better, I am so on board. But when artists feel that they want to go back to the original simply because it represented the initial vision, I’m going to have to question it; to ask what it was about the original that makes it better and why is it bad now? I’d be looking for a good answer as well. Luckily for Wonder Woman, Grant Morrison is a legend and I’ve no doubts we’re going to see something spectacular. My cringe-worthy, possibly over-the-top hatred of vagina-inspired aircrafts and a tamer representation of Wonder Woman notwithstanding, I will personally rant about his direction but I’ll leave my feelings at the door when it comes time to see where he goes with it. It’s Grant Morrison after all; if there was ever a writer who’d make me eat my words and like them, it’d be him.
There’s always going to be change. There needs to be. And because of that, where these stories and characters start and end up, are often going to look very different. The problem with a fictional Universe of potentially ageless super heroes is that change is always going to be hard but it’s otherwise inevitable. In the way that militarised heroes have begun to prompt Morrison to lose interest, the original characters and stories often become, not only outdated, but tedious to read. In the case of Wonder Woman, the scientist, the healer and the warrior; the current versions show her with more muscle than ever before. She strikes powerful, dominating poses and wears functional armour. She’s unapologetic but fair. She’s fierce. When she has to, she can throw down with the strongest heroes and villains in her Universe. In today’s modern world she depicts a slowly growing acceptance that the line between genders is often blurry. Wonder Woman is a status symbol of unquestionable femininity yet also a representation of a type of strength and power, both physical and mental that has traditionally been a male dominated one. They exist in her, side by side, as a force for good. That’s powerful stuff. Especially for a culture with such a mixed history concerning the depiction of women.
I understand and accept that not all change is ever going to be great or even welcome, but you can’t find out what works without trying something new. New being the word. And you always, at some point, need to consider changes when your characters have been around as long as some.
The main question boils down to changing the fundamentals, about the original ideas and concepts behind a lot of current works and whether the original direction is something that should be beyond reproach or tampering. Sacrosanct. The problem with comics is that everyone lays claim to a tiny piece of them. They become so many different things to so many people that any kind of change can feel almost like a death. This presents a problem when trying to classify the quality or need for the changes that are happening; when you aren’t sure if you hate it because the changes are bad, or because the changes take it away from where you remember it being. Sometimes you can’t even tell the difference. Personally, I’ve found that a lot of the older origins and concepts just aren’t going to appeal to a more current audience. Some of them even stopped appealing to me as I got older.
The reasons for the changes often become more important than the changes themselves. If you want something to go back to the beginning with a story or character ‘just because it’s the original’ I don’t feel it’s a good enough reason on its own. Comics tend to return to concepts that work and sell. If it hasn’t already reverted to an older idea you need to ask yourself if there’s a reason for that.
The next time you pick up a modern comic of an old hero and think to yourself, or out loud, “Why have they changed it? I loved the original.” Ask yourself seriously why the old one is better and if you can’t come up with some honest, quality answers then maybe leave your opinions at the door for the moment and give it a chance.
Who knows, it might even be good.
