“There’s nothing more daunting than re-designing an icon, but what was refreshing and novel in Joe Straczynski’s directive to be bold in our choices was that we were starting with no preconceptions. This was no mere tweaking, no change of half-measures like haircuts or alterations of color schemes. We decided to go for broke, take no prisoners and let me tell you—it was difficult. Wonder Woman’s costume is so infused into our understanding of the identity of the character that it took many numerous back and forths ’til we broke down what existed, got back metaphorically to the clay from which Wonder Woman started and something new started to form. A design worthy of the mantle of Wonder Woman but one that didn’t scream classic superhero! So we played down and scaled back the iconic elements—the stars, the eagles, the double WW’s, lightened up the motifs and added armor which could pass as street gear. Visually, the character seems edgier than before but stylish enough to warrant a second, albeit cautious, glance. The jacket and boots confirm the costume’s functionality and the open, thinner tiara and shaped bracelets reveal a lighter, even youthful, bent to the Amazonian Princess. All in all, a difficult but rewarding reworking of an iconic costume to usher in a new age; a fresh look worthy of the character defining journey JMS has in store for her ultimate rebirth!”

“We have to remember here that when Wonder Woman was introduced in 1941, nearly 70 years ago, her outfit was designed with a 1940s sensibility. Though the skirt and heels have come and gone, it’s almost identical to what we have today. While other characters, from Batman to Superman and others throughout the DC Universe, have undergone substantial changes over the years, Wonder Woman has remained pretty much the same in appearance. (With the exception of a mod look used briefly in the 1960s…about which the less said, the better.) What woman only wears one outfit for 70 years? What woman doesn’t accessorize? And more to the point, as many women have lamented over the years…how does she fight in that thing?

“So my mission statement going into Wonder Woman was real simple: If we were to design her today, without any prior history…what would she look like?

“This is a character that is interesting enough and compelling enough to merit being in the top twenty books at minimum…so why was she languishing? The reason, I felt, was that she’d concretized over the years, had turned into this really cool Porsche that people kept in the garage because they were afraid of denting it rather than going flat-out on the open road. She had become, for lack of a better word, stuffy. She became the mom of the girl next door you wanted to date.

“This was really underscored to me when I used Wonder Woman in Brave and the Bold #33, and many were appalled that Wonder Woman told a joke…that she flirted…that she was relaxed and having fun. One podcaster said that Wonder Woman had become like his grandmother, and he didn’t like to see his grandmother being flirty.

“It seemed to me that the only way to address the situation and turn the character around was to go in prepared to make massive changes in how we think about Wonder Woman. It wasn’t going to work with half-measures. We had to be willing to go the extra mile. We had to be bold.

“So we came at this from a 21st century perspective. Visually, I wanted her to look strong and tough but still quite beautiful. Let’s give her clothes that she can fight in, that add to her presence and her strength and her power. It took a while for us to get there, precisely because we’ve all become so locked-in to how we see her character, but in time we came to a final design.

“Rather than have the W symbol all over the place on her wardrobe, I wanted to highlight it in one area and make that our statement, letting everything else feel more youthful and street-wise. The exception would be the bracelets, which would be solid on the outer side, with a stylized, almost handwritten W symbol there so that when she crosses her arms you get the full effect. And if she hits you with it, it leaves a W mark. She signs her work.

“None of this would work, however, without a strong character behind it. I wanted to free her up from the weight of a lot of her supporting universe so that we could see who she was. Guys tend to see women in terms of what role they play—mother, girlfriend, wife—instead of who they are on their own terms. But I didn’t simply want to eradicate all of it and destroy the work of those who came before me.

“So the solution was to tweak time: at some point about 20 years ago or so, the time stream was changed. Paradise Island was destroyed, and Diana as an infant was smuggled out before her mother was killed along with most of the others. She was raised by guardians sent with her, and some surviving Amazons, so she has a foot in two worlds, the urban world and the world of her people, which still exists in the shadows, underground. So we keep what makes her an Amazon but mix it up with a more modern perspective.

“Those who can see those two worlds know that something has changed, and they try to get Diana to see that, but she only knows what she’s seen and experienced.

“To solve the problem before them she must a) find out who attacked Paradise Island and why, b) stop those who are trying to kill the remaining Amazons now, c) rescue any more surviving Amazons, and d) find some way to straighten out the timeline and reconcile what was to what is. So we continue to get glimpses of Wonder Woman as she was juxtaposed against Diana as she is.

“The result—storywise and visually—is a character who is fiery, dynamic, a bit more vulnerable (she’s still working her way up to her full set of powers), tough, determined and smart and, due to her background, tragic. She keeps her roots in the Amazonian universe while growing up in a more modern setting. The result will, we hope, be a redesign that is as current with the zeitgeist of the 21st century as the original was with 1941.”

Starting today, Wonder Woman will appear like you’ve never seen her before.

As you may have seen in THE NEW YORK TIMES, bestselling artist and DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee has redesigned her costume for the modern era, just in time for BABYLON 5 creator and critically acclaimed writer J. Michael Straczynski and artists Don Kramer and Michael Babinski to launch the Amazon Princess into an exciting and epic new era of adventure.

Starting with their story in WONDER WOMAN #600, which is in comic shops today, JMS and Kramer will begin a run that is both forward-looking and true to the legendary character, planting her firmly in the modern era. But enough about what I have to say. Mr. Straczynski took some time out of his schedule to lay out some of his plans for WONDER WOMAN right here on The Source. So, without further adieu, take it away, Joe:

Suppose you woke up one morning, or turned a corner, and suddenly the life you had been leading up to that moment…was not the life you were leading.

Suppose someone went back in time and changed one thing, and it changed your life to the point that you had little or no memory of what life had been like before the change happened. What would you do to get it back? Should you get it back? Who did it? And maybe more important…why did they do it?

That is the question faced by Diana starting in issue 600.

The Gods, for reasons of their own but which may have something to with their survival and perhaps the survival of Earth itself, have changed the timeline. In the new timeline, years ago the Gods removed their protection from Paradise Island, and left it vulnerable to attack. And attacked it was. Led by a dark figure, a veritable army descended upon the Island, equipped with weapons that could kill even the Amazons. Outgunned, doomed, Hippolyta gave over her three-year-old daughter to a handful of guardians who spirited her away as Hippolyta led one last desperate battle against the forces that had come to destroy all she had created. In that final battle, she and most of the Amazons were killed, though some managed to escape.

It’s now nearly twenty years later. Diana has been raised in an urban setting, but with a foot in both worlds. She has little or no memory of the other timeline. She knows only what she’s been told by those who raised her On the run, hunted, she must try to survive, help the other refugee Amazons escape the army that is still after them, discover who destroyed Paradise Island and why…and if the timeline can be corrected or not. She also does not yet have access to her full powers, but will be gaining them as she goes. Along the way, she will face a range of enemies — human and otherwise — who we have not seen before.

What we also haven’t seen before is her new look, the first significant change in her appearance since the character debuted in 1941 (not counting the mod look used briefly in the sixties, about which the less said the better). It reflects her origins in both the outside world and the world of Amazons: tough, elegant…a street-fighter’s look which also incorporates elements of her classic design. It reflects the two sides warring for ultimate victory, and underscores the path she must take.

It’s a look designed to be taken seriously as a warrior, in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who’ve asked, “how does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?”) She can close it up to pass unnoticed…open it for the freedom to fight…lose the jacket or keep it on…it has pockets (the other fan question, “where does she carry anything in that outfit?”, it can be accessorized…it’s a Wonder Woman look designed for the 21st century. The bracelets are still there, but made more colorful, tied on the inside and over the hand, with a script W on each of them that form WW when she holds them side by side…and if you get hit by one of them, it leaves a W mark. This is a Wonder Woman who signs her work…letting her enemies know that she’s getting closer.

This is Wonder Woman reborn, literally and metaphorically: fast, elegant, tough, smart…the savior of her people, their guardian and protector…avenging the fall of Paradise Island, searching to discover why Paradise Island was abandoned by the gods. In the end, what she discovers will change her life and the world forever…and she will come face to face with a decision that will mean life or death for the entire human race.

The headline says it all, folks. We’ve got a first look at covers for BATMAN: RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #4 by Cameron Stewart, TIME MASTERS: VANISHING POINT #1 by Chris Sprouse, BRIGHTEST DAY #6 by David Finch and ZATANNA #3 by Brian Bolland. What better way to close out Tuesday than by clicking on some lovely cover art? See you tomorrow.

Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke roll out the red carpet for the Main Man himself, Lobo, as the Last Czarnian crosses paths with Hal Jordan. Oh, and expect a few surprises, too.

GREEN LANTERN #55 hits tomorrow.

Wonder Woman is the greatest comic-book superheroine of all time, and I can prove it with math. If you need proof of Wonder Woman’s stature as the greatest comic-book superheroine of all-time, then, PLEASE, go add up all the issues of any other female character and see if you come close to SIX HUNDRED. No other female character has remained in print, consistently, since the Second World War. Think about that. Are there ANY? From ANY company? Nope. Sometimes, simple statistics speak volumes: Wonder Woman has been around, month-in-month-out, for almost 70 years. How many heroines (or heroes!) can boast such a feat? How many PUBLICATIONS have been in print since WWII? She has inspired, intrigued, and entertained - NON-STOP - through 5 American wars, 13 U.S. presidential administrations, and she’s even outlasted regimes like the Soviet Union. Wonder Woman endures because she’s the best of the best, the baddest of the bad, the bluest of the blue.

“Wonder Woman was my first introduction to superheroes and, later, my first introduction to comics books. She’s always been a presence in my life and was very much the reason for my choosing comics as a career. Working on Wonder Woman over the last few months with Gail Simone and Greg Rucka has been an absolute highlight for me and I feel extremely privileged to be contributing to her landmark issue.

My most well known Wonder Woman piece has, for many years, been a pin-up I did for my portfolio when I was just starting out. For the last few years I’ve been keen for an excuse to redo the image and here it is. With Jason Wright’s colours I think we’ve managed to achieve something nice and iconic. Wonder Woman in her purest form.”

“Did you bring your Lasso of Truth?” people ask me, and I have to laugh.

But it’s true—Wonder Woman accessorizes. She is, after all, a very savvy woman. But as we all know, form follows function. Everything she wears has a purpose: Her golden bracelets deflect bullets, her Venus Girdle endows her with superhuman strength, her tiara boomerangs and her lasso holds others to the truth that she, herself, lives by. And that’s just what we can see. Wonder Woman’s intellect is her real power. She’s honest and disarming, and she kicks butt.

I was like every other little girl who loved to read Wonder Woman comics. At the time, there weren’t many strong female role models. There was Archie’s Betty and Veronica, and then there was Wonder Woman. And they actually offered to pay me to play her on television. Imagine that! I would have done it for free. I’d been in Hollywood studying acting and was a fresh-faced innocent in that town. I was just 24, and putting on that costume—the American flag high-cut bathing suit—was the thrill of a lifetime.

That said, her costume and accessories don’t define the essence of Wonder Woman. She is the “Secret Self” inside every woman—the beautiful, unafraid, tenacious and powerful woman we know resides within us. She is the antithesis of “victim.” She is the single mother working multiple jobs, the unsung heroine, the supportive sister, the devoted daughter, the loving wife. She is the archetype of the Liberated Feminine, and that part of us is not confined by any societal role.

Wonder Woman stood apart from every woman of her time. She was always looking for—yearning for—a connection to others in this new world. To whom could she turn? Not only was she separated from her family and her roots, but she also had her alias to protect. It’s this need to connect that, in my mind, has always made her a human, likeable and complex character.

I never tried to dumb her down or treat her as a two-dimensional comic book character; I had too much respect for her to do that. I played her for real. She had two faces she showed the world, but she’s one person. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman. They’re different aspects of the same individual.

In truth, I never played “Wonder Woman”—I played Princess Diana (Diana, a.k.a. Artemis, goddess of the hunt and of wild things). She came from an island of women where she wasn’t necessarily the prettiest or the strongest. She wasn’t overly impressed with herself. She was intrigued by Steve Trevor and fought for the chance to be the one to take him home. When she found herself in this other world, the America of the 1940s, her heroic reactions flowed naturally from her values and her powers.

While I am forever indentified with the role, Wonder Woman belongs to us all. She lives inside us. She’s the symbol of the extraordinary possibilities that inhabit us, hidden though they may be—that, I think, is the important gift Wonder Woman offers women. Perhaps our real challenge in the 21st century is to strive to reach our potential while embracing her values. Wonder Woman is fearless. She sees the good in everyone, convinced they are capable of change, compassion and generosity. She’s kindhearted and hopeful, and she has a great sense of humor. These are just some of the important gifts the Adaptable Empowered Feminine has to offer. In an age when femininity is casting off restraints around the world, Wonder Woman remains an important archetype.

I loved Wonder Woman as a kid, I loved Wonder Woman when I played the role, and I love Wonder Woman to this day. She is the goddess within us all.

If Einstein is right, and imagination is more important than knowledge, then maybe what we need is to “wonder”…to open our minds and our hearts, to believe in what we cannot see.

Who knows? Maybe Wonder Woman can save the world.

Few artists are as synonymous with the character of Wonder Woman as Phil Jimenez, who who guided the character as both writer and artist during a celebrated run on the WONDER WOMAN title not long ago. What does Phil have to show us when it comes to celebrating WW’s birthday?

Here you go.

We promised big things the last few weeks, both with BATMAN #700 and SUPERMAN #700 – and we’d like to think we’ve delivered. And this week is no different, as we’ve got a big celebration of the Amazon Princess all this week.

Whether it’s spotlights on Wonder Woman creators past and present and more about the character, this is a can’t-miss time for fans new and old. And what have we got to kick things off?

Well, check back in a couple hours, won’t you?