It’s Wonder Woman’s 75th anniversary, and the Amazon superhero is starring in a new title that goes back and forth between her past and present. Part of that past, says series writer Greg Rucka, is the fact that Diana has to have had romantic relationships with women.
The current Wonder Woman title aims to represent and streamline the character’s mythos after decades of sometimes conflicting continuities. Historically, Diana has been romantically connected to soldier Steve Trevor, in a relationship that starts after he washes up on her home island of Paradise Island/Themyscira. In most of her various origins and interpretations, Diana’s meeting with Steve is presented as the beginning of her relationship history. That wasn’t the case in Rucka’s Wonder Woman #2, where other Amazons talked about Diana being romantically involved with multiple women.
A more intimate relationship with fellow Amazon Kasia is hinted at earlier in the issue.
In an interview on Comicosity, Rucka says that the mainline version of Wonder Woman that he’s crafting is one that’s been with women in a place that had no label for such a thing:
…This is inherently the problem with Diana: we’ve had a long history of people — for a variety of reasons, including sometimes pure titillation, which I think is the worst reason — say, “Ooo. Look. It’s the Amazons. They’re gay!”
And when you start to think about giving the concept of Themyscira its due, the answer is, “How can they not all be in same sex relationships?” Right? It makes no logical sense otherwise.
It’s supposed to be paradise. You’re supposed to be able to live happily. You’re supposed to be able — in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner — to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women.
But an Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, “You’re gay.” They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist.
Now, are we saying Diana has been in love and had relationships with other women? As Nicola and I approach it, the answer is obviously yes.
And it needs to be yes for a number of reasons. But perhaps foremost among them is, if no, then she leaves paradise only because of a potential romantic relationship with Steve [Trevor]. And that diminishes her character. It would hurt the character and take away her heroism.
When we talk about agency of characters in 2016, Diana deciding to leave her home forever — which is what she believes she’s doing — if she does that because she’s fallen for a guy, I believe that diminishes her heroism.
She doesn’t leave because of Steve. She leaves because she wants to see the world and somebody must go and do this thing. And she has resolved it must be her to make this sacrifice.
Rucka goes on to talk about the larger real-world context of this approach, mentioning that it’s not been an editorial issue for DC Comics:
And I really don’t like the idea that there are people out there who might think DC is being mealy-mouthed about this. They’re not. No one wants to be taken out of context by ignorant people, but nobody at DC has ever said, “She’s gotta be straight.” Nobody. Ever. They have never blinked at this.
And when they have had questions about how we represent this, it’s always been about representing what the story needs. I think every publisher can be lit up for moments of negligence and mistakes they made, but it matters a great deal to me that DC be given their due here.
They would, I think, like any business, prefer this not be an issue to anybody. But most of us human beings would also really rather this not be an issue for anybody anymore. It is what it is. This is how the Amazons live.
Do go and read the whole interview on Comicosity, as it’s a fascinating look at how one of comics’ top writers approaches one of the medium’s most important characters.
Comments
9 responses to “Wonder Woman Writer Greg Rucka Says Diana Has ‘Obviously’ Had Relationships With Women”
Well I mean she lived thousands of years (depending on the lore) on an Island only, ONLY populated by women, she ONLY knew women.
It would be utterly inane, insane and stupid to think she would never, ever in that time find companionship with another woman at all?
Over the years I will admit freely I figured this was just how it was for Wonderwoman, that she didn’t see ‘sexuality’ that she just sort of ‘saw everything as everything’.
Exactly….
Although given that a character is really just the will of a writer, I would say that broaching this subject some years ago might have ended badly.
The Starfire controversy springs to mind (The Killing Joke movie only recently)
Thymiscera might have ended up the new Island of Lesbos xD
It’s weird, I like WW done right. Not as a super bimbo fantasy or political agenda mouthpiece.
Yeah exactly, I get that say in the 80’s, having Wonderwoman be essentially bisexual but not even recognising the term, just seeing it as ‘the gold standard of life’, would have been utterly controversial. lol @ the new Island of Lesbos.
But Wonderwoman has moreso in recent years become one of the most fascinating comic characters again after enduring decades of being ridiculed, like Aquaman slowly has.
Dude still ‘sleeps with the fishes’ though…
Its always the way in comics/fiction create a complete society based on a concept and skip over all the social impacts of that concept… like the numerous city of immortals that seem to have a birthrate of one child per family every 10,000 years. (Like Odin of Asgard only having one legitimate child in all his years of marriage).
Thats a factor this doesnt highlight Amazons were also immortal, and their culture evolved as such… they would of either paired off or had open relationships… the gossiping seems to imply pairing off is more common.
Then Diana is created and grew up and became a distrubtive element to those relationships, a new hen in the hen loving hen house.
Maybe she was exiled to bring back stability…
Finally, somebody who grasps the concept of it being a natural progression in a culture removed from our own standards and definitions.
This allows for deeper writing that doesn’t get bogged down in fan service or bandwagoning.
I had a similar discussion after playing The Last of Us dlc.
A few friends commented on Ellie being gay and I even read an interview with ND on the subject.I was surprised it even needed to be labeled given the world they live in and the life they shared together.
I mean obviously it’s the easy call, but personally I was moved by the organic beauty of it all. A little bit of humanity in the apocalypse that spoke for itself if you will.
Wondy as a character is proof positive that ‘once a tale leaves its teller’ it can be iterated upon, and even improved upon, and the reader is the one who benefits. There are still stick-in-the-muds who to this day want everybody to know that Wonder Woman was created by guy with a bondage fetish.
The fantastic Justice League animated series featured a quite mature (for a cartoon) take on a lot of themes, and in many ways the fact it was still restrained from doing ultra violence and overt sexuality made for smarter story-telling.
One episode was practically Wonder Woman as James Bond in a Bond-ass James Bond-esque plot, and she even had a ‘Bond girl’.
Help me out here, please: What titles do I have to pick up now this latest reboot is in effect? Are they still subtitling the new issues with “Rebirth”? Did they start from Number 1 again?
The first issue of this run, “The Lies Part One”, was released as part of DC’s Rebirth relaunch. They’re subtitled with Rebirth, started from #1, and began in August 2016
I always thought she should have been asexual. Considering she’s a statue.
The real question is whether or not Wonder Woman or the Amazons are into bondage like Marston wanted and Morrison went back to in Earth One.