Wonder Woman gets a daddy! But don’t worry folks, she’s STILL a feminist.

The DC Comics relaunch is well underway, and the company has thrown us some curveballs with how they’re modifying characters. And if you’ve been following the right message boards, news articles, or even some of DC’s own solicitations, you’ve probably figured out by now, (if you haven’t already been outright TOLD) that…

The “new” Wonder Woman gets her very own daddy complex. No joke. (Well, yes, I was joking, but about something that’s like, really happening and stuff… heh…)

Baby, you and me, we ain’t nothin’ but mammals. And so is Wonder Woman now, kinda…

Or rather, to be blunt, she’s going to find out that she has a father. And not just any father… he’s frickin’ Zeus, the king of the Greek Gods. So not only may good ole’ Wondy be the product of good old-fashioned coitus, which she wasn’t before, but she may be the product of godly coitus, which means she now has more in common with us ordinary humans and more that’s not in common with us at the same time. (Since most of us are here because of sex, just not sex with gods, unless you’re like, special and stuff).

And I have to admit that I’m making an assumption here. DC’s teased that Wonder Woman’s getting a father, but they haven’t shown us exactly how that’s happened yet in the storyline. I assume it means that Zeus and Hippolyta got it on, but these being comic books and all, you never know WHAT those writer-type folks will come up with to explain how it all happened.

So for now, I’ll just assume that Zeus being Wonder Woman’s father means he fathered her in the “traditional” biological way, if you know what I mean…

But first, I should probably back up a bit and explain some things for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about. In the 1940s, the character of Wonder Woman was created by William Marston, who wanted to come up with a feminist superhero who embodied female empowerment in comic books, a medium that was already full of superheroes who embodied male empowerment. Back then, male readers had plenty of costumed male superheroes to relate to and live vicariously through, but there weren’t many superhero women for women to do the same with. So, Marston thought of Wonder Woman, someone who could make things less sexist just by being fabulous, strong, and female. She’s historically been the most famous of female superheroes.

Her original origin went something like this: Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, wanted a child, and she molded some clay into the shape of a baby girl. The Greek goddesses turned the clay into a flesh-and-blood baby, whom Hippolyta named Diana. The goddesses also gave Diana superpowers, which is why she could kick so much butt as Wonder Woman when she got older. She became the best of the top female superheroes. This is the backstory she’s had for decades, but not anymore.

Now, depending on whom you talk to, there’s a lot of stuff going on there between the lines. Wonder Woman, the most well known female superhero of all time, was created by women in a women-only society. There were no men involved in her conception or upbringing. There weren’t even any male gods involved in bestowing her with her powers AFTER she was born. It was solely the work of goddesses and her mother.

She was created completely free of patriarchy and raised by a single mother and, by extension, a whole community of women because she lived on an island of Amazons. Marston seemed to be making a statement. The Amazons didn’t need any stinkin’ men to show them how to be strong or create a whip smart, competent warrior. The metaphor and message was overtly feminist. (And it’s ironic that the person credited with writing this was Marston, a man. Though, he may have had some help from his two lady friends whom he lived with and did all this bondage stuff with and… well… never mind…)

Daddy dearest

But DC’s apparently changed a lot of that. Wonder Woman’s now the result of Zeus having sex with Hippolyta. She’s not some clay sculpture come-to-life. Or at least, that’s what’s been implied in Wonder Woman #2, which came out in October. That means that now a man had a hand in creating this most feminist of all feminist heroes.

Oh, that Zeus. He’s one dirty old man, isn’t he? He’s ruining his marriage to Hera, but has he ruined our Wonder Woman, too?

Some folks have argued that this change undermines the pro-female roots of the character, like in this well-written critique on FemPop. If Wonder Woman’s not a product of women by themselves, then she’s missing some of the pro-feminist aspects of her character. Or so goes the argument.

And I think that’s overthinking waaaaaay too much. The product of her birth doesn’t have anything to do with her being an awesome female superhero. There are lots of great, strong women in the world, and in literature, who were created with some sperm involved (and, uh…. sorry if that sentence kind of irks you with its bluntness). Wonder Woman was still raised by a bunch of women and a single mother, so the fact that Zeus played a part in her conception doesn’t take away from the female independence angle.

And honestly, how many women do you know of who became role models for other people in spite of having fathers? And doesn’t that thought even sound weird to you, in any case? What’s WRONG with having a father anyway?

Granted, Zeus isn’t well known for being a very nice or active father. But, like I was saying, it’s possible for a woman to grow up strong and competent in spite of having a deadbeat dad. Of course Wonder Woman, of all women, is capable of being one of them.

I honestly think some DC writers, editors, and whoever else, were sitting around talking about how silly they thought Wonder Woman’s 1940’s origin was, or how complicated it was, and were like, “How can we change this stuff, dammit? I mean, she’s made out of clay. Seriously. Clay? That’s ridiculous.” And so, they just changed things up a bit.

They likely thought that making Wonder Woman half human and half god would set up all this dramatic potential and angst and confusion and stuff for the character. Wonder Woman can have all this, “Who am I?” stuff going on and “Why did you lie to me all this time?” stuff going on that she never had before. And plus, now Hera, the vengeful queen of the gods, can try to do all this evil stuff to Wonder Woman like she does to all of Zeus’s love children. These storylines may practically write themselves now.

DC just wants to make Wonder Woman, the No. 1 of DC and Marvel female superheroes, more relatable and dramatic for new audiences

And besides, it gives audiences a concept that may be easier for them to wrap their brains around. Which of these descriptions sounds like it has more immediate drama and conflict to a person who has no idea what Wonder Woman’s history is?  “Hey, you know Wonder Woman, right? That lady with the lasso and the invisible plane and stuff? And those star-spangled daisy dukes? Yeah, her. Remember? She’s half god and half human, and she’s trying to find her place in the world and stuff, coming from two different worlds and all that. Her parents are always fighting. And she fights all these like, mythical monsters and gods and stuff. It’s pretty cool.”

Or this?

“Hey dude, you know Wonder Woman? That lady in those star-spangled daisy dukes and the invisible plane? Well, like, she was sculpted from clay and made human by some goddesses. And they gave her powers , too.  And she’s like, super awesome and fights monsters and bad guys and stuff. She’s human, but she’s from clay, but she’s kind of not really from clay once she comes to life, sorta, and she has these godly powers and stuff, too.”

Those both sound good, but the first one has all this dramatic stuff set up from the gate. And it doesn’t have any clay. I don’t know. DC probably thought it was silly. You may not agree, but I’ll bet that’s what those folks in the DC offices were thinking when they came up with this stuff. They were just thinking simplicity and drama. And they didn’t take away any of Wonder Woman’s feminist awesomeness in the process, not in my opinion. She’s still one of the most famous and popular female superheroes, and one of the top superheroes period, male or female.

I suspect we’ll find out just what DC was thinking and intending though, or the start of it, anyway, in issue #3, which comes out later this month.

It figures that DC would consider modifying their number one superheroine a bit to make sure she stays relevant with the times. They know they’ve got a hot property to take care of for the masses in today’s saturated entertainment world. Ask anyone to name some female superheroes, list them, in fact, and she’ll be on there, at or near the top.