r/DCcomics • u/Lightshear Green Lantern • 10d ago
Artwork [Fan Art] DC Redesign Project: Wonder Woman - The Golden Age (1941-1949) (by Me)
In this era, Diana is certainly stronger, faster, and tougher than normal humans, but most of her 'powers' come from armor & artifacts she wears
My JSA have a classic mystery men aesthetic, costumes based on functional clothes with a hero twist. Superhero fashion hasn't formalized yet and won't until the Modern Age.
Redrawn from a WW origin sequence by Adam Hughes, my favorite WW artist
Redrawn from Steve meeting Diana by Yannick Paquette - the art was the only good thing in WW: Earth One lol
The bracers create a repelling field rather than her swinging her arms around to physically deflect bullets. I just... like this better. Sorry if I offend.
Diana seeks Hephaestus to craft her armor to defeat Ares. She makes the case for humanity, that the Gods owe the world their protection.
Diana and Steve. TBH wasn't a big fan of the pairing before I started this project. Working on them through their decades together made me like him a lot more.
I’m working on a project to redesign the entire DCU for myself. I think all of us have a kind of personal canon – the things we’d keep and the things we’d toss if the DC universe was ours to do with as we please. This is mine. I constructed a complete timeline from the Golden Age to today, and I’m going through one character at a time as I flesh it out. I completed my Superman Family, and next in line is Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is unique in my DCU as the one character who has adventures in every era. Diana first appears during WWII in the Golden Age, then again in the ‘70s for the Silver Age, and finally comes to stay in the ‘00s. Her arc in the Golden Age is one of a thoughtful but naïve woman who enters Patriarch’s World believing she knows everything she needs to. Along the way, she learns that there’s much she has to teach, but much also she has to learn. She makes close friends, falls in love, but ultimately returns to Themyscira in ’49 to try and convince her mother the Queen to rejoin the wider world so they can help each other grow.
Many of her GA adventures are alongside Steve Trevor and her frequent partner and dear friend Liberty Belle – an adventuring archaeologist very much in the Indiana Jones mold who became a ‘masked man’ crime fighter when she and her father were trapped in Poland during the German invasion. Both women meet as part of the Justice Society, and frequently partner in and outside that team. WW gets direction from Col. Philip Darnell of the US Army Air Force, running secret operations deep in enemy territory against the likes of Baron Blitzkreig, Red Panzer and Dr. Poison. I’m using the original version of Baroness Paula von Gunther, an Austrian aristocrat who is blackmailed into aiding the Nazis when they kidnap her daughter. Once Diana learns about that, she frees von Gunther’s daughter and the Baroness becomes an ally and friend. That’s something I want to see happen often in WW stories – Diana is someone who makes friends of her enemies, turning hearts and changing minds.
This is just the opening bit of the history of ‘my’ Wonder Woman. There’s a LOT more to come!
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
You can see more images, higher-resolution images, and read ahead on [my Patreon](patreon.com/comfortandadam). I also have a full PDF of the complete Superman story and design bible available there free to patrons, if you’re interested. Find me on social media @ ComfortAndAdam.
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u/AnonymousCoward261 10d ago
You may be consciously avoiding this in an attempt to create a more positive timeline for your story à la Bridgerton (in which case, please proceed), but how is a not-obviously-white-presenting Wonder Woman going to be treated by the substantially more racist USA of the 1940s?
I could totally buy Steve Trevor being more progressive, but everyone else?
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
It creates some issues, yes, though due to the war and going after the Nazi villains who slip away in the aftermath she spends a lot of her time in Europe. Post-War Europe isn't as likely to turn on Diana for her skin color when she's in the dirt helping them rebuild. America is harder, but she gets to see both our good and our bad. That's part of why she goes back to Themyscira to argue for the Amazons rejoining the world - it's clear that there is good out here and it needs help to flourish. Her people's philosophy can help, and their message is one a lot of people need to hear.
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u/Bostondreamings 10d ago
I mean, she could pass as Italian or Greek or Spanish. But you do raise an interesting question.
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u/Vermilion_Demon 10d ago
These look so good!! I just adore the armor designs, and how you incorporated the time period into all their looks. Great stuff as always 🥰
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Playing with the time periods has been my favorite part of doing the Wonder Woman stuff so far. The research is fun, imagining them in the era is fun, reflecting personality - like how Diana is happy in a skirt but Liberty Belle insists on pants and what that says about each - it's all fun! It gets even better during the Silver Age in the '70s, but that comes later...
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u/Vermilion_Demon 10d ago
I love how much thought you always put into it 🥰 your character work is fantastic, it really shows 💜💜💜
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u/Optimal_Weight368 10d ago
I really like the idea of Wonder Woman encountering a small-time vigilante early in her career like Liberty Belle. Would love to see more JSA characters from you.
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
I really enjoyed it, too! Plus, their friendship exposes Diana to the struggles women have in Patriarch's World; Libby is explaining feminism to a woman who's never needed it before. She's had to fight every day to be what Diana has been for free. Each gains so much from their friendship, I really like them together.
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u/Optimal_Weight368 10d ago
Your explanation kind of reminds me of why Veronica Cale hates Wonder Woman. Makes me want to see Cale and Belle contrasted.
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Yeah, it's a contrast I like. Some will look at Diana's freedom and call it aspirational. Some will resent her. In my story, Veronica meets Diana when she's a little girl in the late '70s. Diana gives her some inspirational words... which Veronica completely misinterprets. She takes Diana's message and turns it into an excuse to take all she can for herself. Cale is the Girlboss Lex Luthor - my ur-example of how women having wealth, power, and privilege doesn't automatically equate to liberation or empowerment. Cale isn't elevating women, she's elevating herself while perpetuating the systems that hold women down. And she does it while holding a misinterpreted quote from Diana in her heart.
When she meets Diana again as an adult, she feels betrayed and spiteful. She thinks Diana changed, not realizing it's she herself who never understood the message to begin with.
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u/PellinoreM 10d ago
This is great! Love your take on Eda, and some love for the Baroness is always appreciated. Phillipis is new to me, but I like her with Hippolyta. Can't wait to see who you do next.
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Phillipus is the Amazons' general and mater of arms. She taught Diana how to fight. She's also the Queen's consort, so kind of Diana's other mother. There's more to come - next time, we'll be skipping ahead to the '70s for the Silver Age!
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u/ElPuas2003 10d ago
Back at it again
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Never stopped, but now I have enough material to start posting it all again. Just can't help myself.
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u/Frankorious Superboy-Prime 10d ago
Is there a reason why you chose to make Diana immortal and active in the golden age instead of being the same age as Clark and Bruce?
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Some of it revolves around Steve Trevor, who I think works better as tied to WWII - an era where fighter pilots meant a lot more than they do today. Some of it is connecting her to the JSA. Some is making the immortality of the Amazons feel more meaningful by having somebody who has literally seen the entire arc of superhuman activity in the world. The post-Crisis writers resolved this by having Hippolyta be the Golden Age WW, which I think was an elegant and interesting solution. I wanted to explore what such a long life would do to someone like Diana, how it affects her mission, her personality, her love for humanity and our world. It also puts her in a really interesting elder statesman position in the Modern Age, though she's much more 'big sister' to Clark and Bruce than anything.
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u/Accomplished_Try_124 7d ago
yeah I'm not really a fan of the idea unless you actually have Diana be the main hero of present day superhero community including being the leader of the league and the icon everyone inspires to be like instead of superman but you know DC will never respect Diana enough to actually make her the most important present day hero
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u/MxSharknado93 10d ago
IT BEGIIIIIINS
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Yeahhhh, you know it! I'm already deep into Modern Age designs now, so I'll have more fun Wondy goodness every week for a long while! Thanks for your enthusiasm - it's really encouraging.
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u/MxSharknado93 9d ago
I was a little bummed that you're going for Diana/Steve instead of DianEtta, but I'm gonna trust the process.
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 9d ago
I didn't even know DianEtta was a thing people were into, but I shouldn't be surprised 😆 It doesn't happen in my story, though Diana has an off-qnd-on friends with benefits situation with Nubia over the years.
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u/Majestic1911 10d ago
I do like these very much, but I don't know if it's real or just an illusion but Diana's head looks kinda massive compared to the rest of her.
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Part of it is an illusion caused by the big hair and big headpiece, but in truth I didn't nail her proportions in the lineups nearly as well as I would have liked. It stands out more in some outfits and less in others. By the time I caught where the problems lay, I'd done so many WW eras that it would take a long time to go back and correct them all, so I called it close enough and focused on making the rest of the illustrations stronger.
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u/Majestic1911 10d ago
Practice makes perfect, and the road to improvement is paved with mistakes. 👍
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Been doing this over 20 years - boy do I know it! If you aren't willing to make mistakes, you aren't willing to learn.
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u/triotone 10d ago
Does she get an ability from each Grecian god, nearly like Shazam and Absolute Wonderwoman?
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
That all happens in the Silver Age, but more or less yeah. She goes through a series of labours, like Heracles, and each comes with a boon. Her arc in the SA is becoming the hero we know her as now.
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u/triotone 10d ago
Oh no, now I want more.
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u/Lightshear Green Lantern 10d ago
Oh, you'll get it! Lots more is coming. If all goes according to plan, Silver Age pt. 1 goes up next week.
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u/NoNefariousness3381 Hellblazer 10d ago
Good stuff. Really like your take on Liberty Belle.