Peter, the original artist on Wonder Woman, there hadn’t been a single writer or artist who ever volunteered to do that book. But in a retrospective interview with 13th Dimension, Pérez explained that writers weren’t exactly lining up to rewrite her history: “I didn’t realize at the time that ever since the death of (creator) William Marston and H.G. For Wonder Woman, this meant a new mythology. It was a smash hit, and the resulting single, shared universe offered freshly updated origin stories for the publisher’s entire stable of characters, and a clear message that these were the official biographies going forward. Pérez, a rising star and recently contracted exclusive artist for DC, not to mention the regular artist at the time on New Teen Titans (which Wolfman also wrote), was tapped to do the art for Crisis. By 1985, complaints like this had coalesced into a line-wide event that divided DC Comics’ fictional history into two eras: Pre-Crisis, the first fifty years of publications, and Post-Crisis, everything that would come after. This came to a head in 1981, when a sharp-eyed fan wrote a letter to Marv Wolfman, the then-writer for Green Lantern, to point out that a DC character had failed to recognize another, despite the fact that they’d met a few years prior in another comic. But there was no trace of this shared world when Wonder Woman first graced the pages of All-Star Comics #8 and heroes interacted in episodic, often contradictory adventures. Today, we understand the shared universes in which superheroes operate Superman and Batman are old friends, Daredevil and She-Hulk have faced each other in the courtroom as their lawyer alter-egos. In ‘86, DC had just finished publishing the major streamlining event that was Crisis on Infinite Earths, a year-long project with the specific aim of cleaning up 50 years of muddled continuity. It’s hard to overstate Pérez’s importance to the legacy of Wonder Woman. (Contrast that with the far more popular DC baddie Catwoman, who has always been Selina Kyle.) Still, of the four people (including one man) who have worn the mantle, the most memorable is Barbara Ann Minverva, who’s largely maintained a monopoly on the villainous identity since 1986, and who has the fortune of appearing in this year’s Wonder Woman 1984.īarbara’s creator is writer and artist George Pérez (assisted by the late writer and editor Len Wein). In fact, there have been a total of four Cheetah incarnations dating back to 1943, each one representing a different kind of archenemy. “She was always less interesting as a foil to Wonder Woman, because she often got overshadowed by fights with actual deities and mythological figures,” critic and DC Beat reporter Cori McCreery points out. Casual comic fans are certainly aware of Barbara Minerva, but in an absolute sea of female and feline-themed super villains, Cheetah hasn’t exactly shined. In short, she is the kind of character readers love to hate.ĭespite an entertaining debut, however, Barbara’s transformation into the ultra baddie Cheetah has not exactly rendered her iconic. In her second appearance, the very next issue, she’s flying to the United States, an absolute nightmare of a passenger, chewing out an in-flight stewardess over the preparation of her steak. She was all sharp edges and classic villainous hallmarks a long nose and a cutting jaw, angry eyes and clutching fingers. Only six issues in, the second volume of the Wonder Woman comic already had a wealth of supporting female characters, but Barbara was different. She’s a haughty character, a British aristocrat with an ancestral home in Nottingham, seen sprawled on a canopy bed in her castle awaiting a manservant with her the daily dose of news. When Barbara Minerva first appears on panel in 1986’s Wonder Woman #6, she’s a far cry from the shy interpretation put forth by actor Kristen Wiig in this year’s DC cinematic release. Who is Barbara Ann Minerva? Depends on who and when you ask.
0 kommentar(er)
