Mythic Motifs at Work - #4 - Wonder Woman
So, at the end of Comic Con on Sunday, I finally caught up with one of the editors I like to chat with each year, Matt Idelson. I enjoy talking with him, as just another person, of course, but I also chat him up because... well, he's an editor I'd like to get a writing gig from. As one of the editors for DC Comics, he currently oversees Superman and Wonder Woman. The last few years, he and I have chatted about a second book for the Wonder Woman "group" (which is only one title right now), focused on Wonder Woman's sister, Donna Troy. He likes the idea of having it, and he knows how much I want to write it, but when it comes to company properties, they often have to wait on "big event stories" and sundry other things. And so the Donna Troy idea sits in waiting.
But Matt's a good guy, and he knows I've got more going on than just trying to get a writing gig out of him. Last year, I'd given him a copy of The Scribbler's Guide to the Land of Myth, and he asked how things were going with that. I had to admit that things are currently a little bit stalled -- there are marketing matters I need to sort out, so that it can be carried in stores, and I need to retool my advertising approaches. But, I added, I had started a blog, to do little bits on popular entertainment, drawing from aspects of the book. He thought this was a good idea, and asked if I had done (or was going to do) anything on comics. I said no, not yet. He observed that he'd have thought it would be right up my alley.
At the time, what crossed my mind was "More on comics? I don't know. I mean, I've covered Batman and Superman in the book." But on my drive back from San Diego, I thought about his question. "Why not do something on Wonder Woman?" I thought. My friend, Gail Simone, is currently the writer for the title, and I love what she is doing. But even so, I keep running across people who say that they don't "get" Wonder Woman. They don't know how to plug into her character. So it occured to me to write up something about the difficulties in the character -- why she isn't easy to write or to connect with.
So, here it is, the latest in my "Mythic Motifs at Work" -- THE PROBLEM WITH WONDER WOMAN.
Hope you enjoy it.