When She's Bad, She.....Looks Really Good!

I've noticed something with Wonder Woman's costumes over the last few years.


Many times when they have a story arc or event where a superheroine goes bad and gets a different costume, the new outfit, and consequently the corrupted heroine herself, tend to get more sexualized. The most blatant example recently was Mary Marvel in "Countdown" and "Final Crisis", but this goes as far back as Sue Richards as Malice back in the 80's Fantastic Four book.


But in the case of Wonder Woman recently, I've seen the exact opposite. The sexual elements actually get played down. The warrior aspects get played up. As a result, whenever Diana swings to the dark side, her costumes are pretty badass.


Take Blackest Night, for example.


Sure, there was a lot of uproar about Star Sapphire Wonder Woman....

....but before Wondy was saddled with that purple monstrosity, she was turned into a Black Lantern and looked like this....

Sure, this costume's about as revealing as Wondy's classic outfit, but it also looks more foreboding.

And here's the full outfit.

Looks kind of like Xena by way of 30 Days Of Night.

Hell, even Greg Horn couldn't make it look pornographic.

Black Lantern Diana is someone you don't want to mess with.


And now Flashpoint: Wonder Woman And The Furies#3 continues that trend.

While I'm not thrilled at yet another "Savage Amazons" event, this outfit might be a bright spot.


What makes these costumes work is that they emphasize the "warrior", rather than the "sexy siren".  And that's something comic artists should keep in mind when designing costumes for women who'll spend the bulk of their time fighting.