DIDIO & HEINBERG TALK WONDER WOMAN

[MattBrady]

[* the cover to Wonder Woman #1 that originally accompanied this article had to be removed at DC's request due to a commitment to another publisher]

Rounding out our conversations with Dan Didio on this week’s slate of DC news, the DCU Executive Editor confirmed for Newsarama that writer Allan Heinberg (Young Avengers) will join the previously announced artist Terry Dodson as the creative team for the relaunched Wonder Woman this summer.

“Realistically, this is a hard choice for is in finding the right person to take over the book,” Didio said on the choice of Heinberg. “One of the things I’ve thought for a long time is that if you’re following someone like Greg Rucka, you’ve got to come in with something as strong, and Allan has a true passion for the character, a real belief in the character, and a real sense of direction for the character.”

As for how long Heinberg’s run with be, Didio said, ‘Allan’s on it for as long as he wants to be on it.”

“So, what I’m hoping is that one arc leads to the next leads to the next. We might give him breaks in between, but Allan is a guy who wants to be involved in Wonder Woman’s history for a good period of time, and we’re happy to let him play as long as he wants.”

Didio was less outright when asked, “What Wonder Woman will star in the series?”, given the “Two Wonder Women” speculation that began at WonderCon, partly due to this Infinite Crisis #5 cover image.

“That would be telling,” Didio said. “Things that happen in Crisis, and things that happen in 52 have a direct impact on Wonder Woman, just like they have a direct affect on Flash, Justice League, and other books that are starting with a new #1.

”As I’ve said, if we’re going to start with a new #1, we going to do that #1 for a reason.”

Newsarama also asked the Man of the Hour (or news cycle) Allan Heinberg what some of those reasons are. But first and foremost, the writer made it clear he’s been a fan of the character from “Moment 1” of his life as a comic book reader…

“The first comic book I ever bought as a kid was Wonder Woman #212 (June/July 1974) written by Len Wein and drawn by Curt Swan and Tex Blaisdell,” Heinberg told Newsarama. “It had the Justice League on the cover and featured the first of Wonder Woman's Twelve Labors to rejoin the JLA after she'd regained her powers (and given up the white pant suit).

”Looking back, I think I must have enjoyed the idea of a hero being so powerful, yet so vulnerable at the same time. In 1974 Wonder Woman's whole life had just been turned upside down - Steve Trevor had been murdered; the Amazons left the Earthly plane; and she couldn't trust her powers or her instincts. For whatever reason, as a 7-year-old kid in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I could relate.”

In addition to that “Twelve Labors” story, which served as Heinberg’s introduction to the entire Satellite-era JLA, he also cites a love for another series of WW stories, which interestingly, featured another “version” of the character, among other creative eras.

”Because of the success of the ABC TV series, Wonder Woman devoted twenty or so amazing issues to stories about the Earth-2 Wonder Woman's adventures during WWII, which was my introduction to the JSA.

”Post-Crisis, I was a devoted fan of George Perez's ground-breaking run on the book. I loved William Messner-Loebs and Mike Deodato's ‘The Contest’. I really enjoyed the love and care that Phil Jimenez brought to the book during his run. And I'm currently humbled by Greg Rucka's complex, compassionate, beautifully rendered take on the character.”

As far as how he wound up with the assignment, he credits something he mentioned in an interview for another title. Lesson to creators - readers aren’t the only ones reading these things…
“When I was initially doing press for Young Avengers, I was asked to name my favorite comic book characters, and I've had a profound emotional attachment to Wonder Woman (and the Barbara Gordon Batgirl) for as long as I can remember,” Heinberg explained. “So, when Dan Didio decided to move forward with the “One Year Later” concept after Infinite Crisis, he and I started talking about the character, and my pitch grew out of those conversations.

Like Didio, the writer isn’t saying too much in regards to exactly who stars in his series, but that question is certainly front-and-center to his plans…

“I'm afraid I can't say too much,” he said, “But the first arc is called ‘Who Is Wonder Woman?’ - an obvious homage to Wolfman and Perez's ‘Who Is Wonder Girl?’ - and unravels the mystery of who wears the uniform after Infinite Crisis while attempting to explore the character's essential nature, her morality, her mission.”

That’s not to say Heinberg has to be completely silent on “who” he thinks Wonder Woman is…

“In the simplest terms, Wonder Woman is the pride of the Amazons,” he stated. “The champion of the Greek gods - who has been sent to Man's world to be a warrior for peace.”

We also asked the writer what he views as Wonder Woman’s place in the DC Trinity?

Replied Heinberg, “As one of DC's ‘Big 3’, I think it's tempting to think about Wonder Woman in relation to Superman and Batman, but in my experience it's not a terribly useful means of coming to terms with her essential character. Her archetypal role in the DC Universe - and her essential purpose - has never been as clearly defined.

“She's arguably as strong as Superman and as cunning as Batman, but she's not the archetypal Boy Scout or Dark Knight. She's been a princess, a goddess, a politician, an author, and a superhero. She's a pacifist, yet she's arguably the DCU's fiercest warrior. She has one of the most complex histories and supporting casts in comics history. But with Wonder Woman #1 we have an opportunity to peel back the layers a bit and simply ask, ‘Who is this woman? What does she want? And what's she going to do about it?’”

Heinberg cites his predecessor Greg Rucka’s work on the series as a heavy influence, and said that he and Dodson will “attempt to continue to tell Wonder Woman's story in a way that honors his extraordinary, deeply felt work on the book.”

Another creator heavily influencing his approach to the series and character will (of course) be its penciler, Terry Dodson.

“Terry Dodson is without question one of the most brilliant artists in comics and a wonderful, generous, inspired collaborator,” Heinberg said, “The pages I've seen so far are absolutely gorgeous, incredibly sexy, and - best of all - fun. Working with him (and with Rachel Dodson and colorist Alex Sinclair) has been a complete pleasure.”

And Dodson’s particular talents in terms of drawing female characters will not go wasted either…

“The Golden Age Wonder Woman's story was originally set in motion by her attraction to Steve Trevor,” explained Heinberg. “Her uniform and her sexuality were revolutionary in the 1940's and a huge source of her subversive power at the time. So, inspired by that version of the Wonder Woman, Terry and I are hoping to bring some of her subversive sexiness to the modern age character and to the book, as well.”

Before letting the writer go, we also asked him about the series’ scheduling, first inquiring how long he plans to remain with the series?

”Right now, Terry are focused on our first arc, which continues to evolve, and could be as many as five or six issues. And I'd love to be on the book for as long as I have solid stories to tell - and enough time to write them properly, so stay tuned...”

And on that subject, we also asked if what steps are being taken to assure a regularly shipping series given the writer’s television work and other comic book assignments?

“Without meaning to sound defensive, I think there's been a fundamental misunderstanding about my scheduling issues,” he responded. “My TV and film commitments really only limit the number of issues of a particular book I'm able to do. Companies like Marvel and DC simply cannot afford to have their artists waiting around for a writer to deliver pages. And artists (who get paid by the page) can't afford it, either. If a writer is late with script pages, you lose your artist. It's an economic reality of the business.

“That said, Young Avengers (which is now bi-monthly) is an extremely labor-intensive book for everyone involved, and Marvel has been unbelievably generous about giving Jim Cheung and me the time we need to make every single issue everything we want it to be.

”As for Wonder Woman, DC has taken pains to give Terry and me enough lead time to allow us to meet our monthly deadlines. But the fact is, we're human beings and comics are a creative medium. In the end, I'd rather produce a book I can be proud of than one that comes out every month regardless of its quality.”

Finally, we wrapped up our conversation by asking Heinberg for a few teases to hold fans over until the new series launches this summer…

His reply?

“Some fresh and familiar faces, classic and new antagonists, action, romance, and hopefully a few surprises.”

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[*note, due to Crisis Counseling sessions at WonderCon and this weekend's New York Comic-Con, there will be no session here on Newsarama for Infinite Crisis #5.

Look for our coverage of the NYCC beginning Friday and Crisis Counseling will return here at Newsarama for Infinite Crisis #6]

[James Seals]

Sign me up! And here I thought I would be saying farewell to Wonder Woman.

-James

[GeorgeG]

If I bother with the title, it'll be by trade. This will have delays or gaps between arcs (by Heinberg).

[thefellowship12]

Looks cool, I'm buying it

[Astro]

This is exciting!

I hope these creators are going to be able to keep a semi-regular schedule.

Didn't realize that Young Avengers was officially Bi-Monthly now....

[SN6937918]

Yep, I will buy it.

[Dave Fury]

This sounds great, but I hope that it is Diana and I hope they find a way to bring back Diana Prince and Steve Trevor (can't the current one have a grandson named after him?). Both, I believe were as essential to Wonder Woman as Clark Kent and Lois Lane were to Superman.

[Layters]

“Without meaning to sound defensive, I think there's been a fundamental misunderstanding about my scheduling issues,” he responded. “My TV and film commitments really only limit the number of issues of a particular book I'm able to do. Companies like Marvel and DC simply cannot afford to have their artists waiting around for a writer to deliver pages. And artists (who get paid by the page) can't afford it, either. If a writer is late with script pages, you lose your artist. It's an economic reality of the business.


I didnt understand that.

Still im on board as I love this guys work. Still I wish he would keep to a regualr scheduel. Bimonthly books are becoming more commonplace.

[delawarejoel]

I'm not a big Wonder Woman fan, but I have loved Heinberg's work on Young Avengers, which could have been an incredibly stupid book but is instead consistently brilliant. I would be tempted to pick this up purely on his writing....

[s*p rules]

"warrior for peace"? interesting description.

I wonder why Didio commits to giving a writer free reign in staying on a book as long as the writer wants, without any fan feedback (via opinions or sales) after 6 issues or so into a run (when a title can be somewhat aptly judged as a success or not), and yet abruptly pulls the plug on an established creative team that has had both commercial and word-of-mouth success (i.e. simone and byrne on Action Comics) for no better reason than "well, we just like to switch creative teams on this book to keep things 'fresh' ".

I just hope WW, whomever she may be, makes it onto the new JLA roster; it wouldn't be a valid league without her IMO.

[davshaft1]

This is awesome news! Heinberg has been really good on Young Avengers and his JLA arc was great as well. The societal criticism and spot on depiction of the chracters from YA makes me belive he will not only add some drama to WW but will also have some of those real-world societal issues to the book that a character like Diana really needs. I was sold on the book just when i heard Terry Dodson would be on it. Now I can't wait!!!

[Dream Boy]

Awesome! Long-time Wonder Woman fan here and I was really worried about her post-Infinite Crisis. Glad to see a creative team named, especially one that I have a great deal of faith in. Should be fun!

[WC Brooks]

Originally posted by Dave Fury
This sounds great, but I hope that it is Diana and I hope they find a way to bring back Diana Prince and Steve Trevor (can't the current one have a grandson named after him?). Both, I believe were as essential to Wonder Woman as Clark Kent and Lois Lane were to Superman.

Brother, do I agree with this!

[Dave Phelps]

Originally posted by Dave Fury
This sounds great, but I hope that it is Diana and I hope they find a way to bring back Diana Prince and Steve Trevor (can't the current one have a grandson named after him?). Both, I believe were as essential to Wonder Woman as Clark Kent and Lois Lane were to Superman.

Huh, different strokes, I guess. I dearly hope they DON'T go the Diana Prince/Steve Trevor route. Perez tossing that stuff out helped get Diana far away from the "Superman mythos in reverse" business that bugged me about the Pre-Crisis version and made her a much more unique character. It would be a shame for that to go away.

Wouldn't mind seeing Diana with a love interest for a change (they didn't go that route too often - a couple of potential suitors during the Byrne run and that Trevor guy in the Jiminez run is all I can think of), but there's no need for it to be Steve Trevor, and I really don't want the "triangle" back.

[superboy072]

Something about that interview made me wanna buy it.

Curse you newsarama!

[Wade Wilson]

I just hope that they go the Conan route with the scheduled fill-ins adding to something. I have no problem with Allen doing the book I just hope the fill-ins are done by the same writer/artist(s) combo every 4 to 5 months. I would not be upset if Drew Johnson were the artist on the fill-ins, no sir not at all.

[IvCNuB4]

I like the modified tiara with the HUGE star, and the return to the eagle-style "W" breast-plate .....

[TCJohnson]

.....I have never liked this character.

But I love Heinberg's stuff. I will be trying the first issue. It will be the first Wonder Woman I have bought in decades.

[SpyGuy]

Originally posted by MattBrady
Rounding out our conversations with Dan Didio on this week’s slate of DC news, the DCU Executive Editor confirmed for Newsarama that writer Allan Heinberg (Young Avengers) will join the previously announced artist Terry Dodson as the creative team for the relaunched Wonder Woman this summer.

So, is the "summer" release date late June, July, August or early September?

And what about the ALL-STAR WONDER WOMAN series?

[SaturnKnight]

Originally posted by Dave Phelps
Huh, different strokes, I guess. I dearly hope they DON'T go the Diana Prince/Steve Trevor route. Perez tossing that stuff out helped get Diana far away from the "Superman mythos in reverse" business that bugged me about the Pre-Crisis version and made her a much more unique character. It would be a shame for that to go away.

Wouldn't mind seeing Diana with a love interest for a change (they didn't go that route too often - a couple of potential suitors during the Byrne run and that Trevor guy in the Jiminez run is all I can think of), but there's no need for it to be Steve Trevor, and I really don't want the "triangle" back.

I second that emotion.

George Perez set the standard for the modern era of Wonder Woman for everyone else to follow (Joss Whedon, you of all people should pay special attention to *that* ).

That said, I'm thrilled about this creative team. The writer of Young Avengers teamed with the artist on Marvel Knights Spider-Man? After all these post-Perez years, we could finally see Wonder Woman back in the Top 10 with Superman and Batman where she belongs.

Thank you, Dan DiDio and everyone at DC for making the DCU better than it has been in 15 years. Bravo!

[LikeaPhoenix]

Does this mean Marvel is losing Heinberg to DC? Heinberg's incredibly talented and I'm extremely enjoying his Young Avengers. I just realized that Heinberg wrote an episode of Sex in the City and it's about a comic book guy, whom Carrie dates.

[Don Mega]

If it weren´t for that awful Dodson artwork I´d love to read WW. But I just can´t get myself to buy a book where every female is visualy reduced to a porn-star....

[Steve J.]

Everyone's a critic, but something about WW's waist in the pose strikes me as awkward.

[shy guy]

As a huge Wonder Woman fan, I'm really looking forward to this.

It seems like DC has finally realized that pimping our their "Big 3" is useless unless Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have quality books that people actually want to read.

With all of the creative teams that have been announced (I'm on-board for Action Comics, Detective Comics, Batman, and Wonder Woman so far), it looks like they're getting it right.

[SaturnKnight]

Originally posted by Don Mega
If it weren´t for that awful Dodson artwork I´d love to read WW. But I just can´t get myself to buy a book where every female is visualy reduced to a porn-star....

But the cold hard reality is that DiDio and Heinberg are right: it'll sell. Like hotcakes.

This may end up being the bestselling Wonder Woman book in 20 years. Possibly even outselling Perez. Let's face it---this book has "commercial success" written all over it.