Summary
- Long-time DC writer Denny O’Neil regrets depowering Wonder Woman during his run; while he did this in an attempt to make her a stronger character, he later recognized that this creative decision backfired, hindering her status as the greatest female superhero, rather than aiding it.
- In O’Neil’s
Wonder Woman
#179, Diana lost her powers, and sought to compensate for her lack of superhero abilities by seeking a martial arts master and studing under him. - O’Neil admits his attempt to redefine Wonder Woman didn’t work as he intended, leading to one of his biggest regrets as a creator.
Wonder Woman is among the most celebrated female icons in comic books – though one of her writers admits, in retrospect, that he inadvertently damaged her reputation in his classic run with the character. Unfortunately, as comic legend Denny O’Neil noted, this happened as part of his attempt to make the character even better, which did not work out as intended.
In the documentary Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, O’Neil discussed the creative decision he would take back, given the opportunity. During his tenure on Wonder Woman, the hero was depowered, leading her on a journey to continue her heroism by other means.
Whilw his intention wasn’t to undermine Wonder Woman’s status as the industry’s premiere female comic book hero, reflecting on the decision years later, O’Neil expressed his concern that this is exactly what happened.
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Wonder Woman Writer Regrets His “Sins” Against The Character
Wonder Woman #179 by Dennis O’Neil, Mike Sekowsky, & Dick Giordano.
Instead of the woman who could move a mountain and do anything she set her mind to, Diana became a street-level vigilante with karate skills she learned by studying under a man.
In O’Neil’s Wonder Woman #179, the Amazons of Themyscira claimed that their power was waning, forcing them leave for another dimension to recharge. The Amazons requested Diana come with them, but wanting to help Steve Trevor in his latest adventure, she refused. Subsequently, Diana lost all of her power. Without her super abilities, Diana became to be the student of I-Ching, a powerful karate expert. I-Ching taught Diana everything he knew, and she becomes a formidable hand-to-hand fighter. However, the architect of this dramatic change, Denny O’Neil, would later come to realize just how much he regretted this.
As O’Neil put it in Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics:
Boy, did I screw that up. My thinking, such as it was, was this: she is a super being beholden to a male God. Let us make her somebody who achieves on her own. What I did, in effect, was take the feminist icon, and de-power her, and then, to compound the sin, give her a mentor who is a male, and then to compound that sin, name the male after one of the classics of Chinese literature.
Wonder Woman has always been a feminist icon, and Denny O’Neil tried to expand on this with mixed results. One of the major parts of Wonder Woman’s lore, in some interpretations, is that she’s the daughter of Zeus. Many fans disagree with, this since another interpretation was her being made out of clay, from the love of the Goddesses, so that Diana was created with no male involvement. Attempts to sort this out, such as in Wonder Woman #179, have often done more harm than good to the character’s legacy.
Instead of the woman who could move a mountain and do anything she set her mind to, Diana became a street-level vigilante with karate skills she learned by studying under a man. This change didn’t last long, and eventually, Wonder Woman was brought back to the powerhouse that fans know her as.
Denny O’Neil Admits He Made The Wrong Creative Choices For Diana
This is remembered as a bizarre era in Wonder Woman’s history, and even with Denny O’Neil’s good intentions, he ended right back where he started with the character. Wonder Woman is one of the greatest female characters ever made, and in no way was Denny O’Neil trying to diminish this, he was trying to make her even better. That said, due to the time and Denny O’Neil’s own misguided idea of how to push the character forward, he ended up doing the exact opposite.
Instead of the woman who could move a mountain and do anything she set her mind to, Diana became a street-level vigilante with karate skills she learned by studying under a man. This change didn’t last long, and eventually, Wonder Woman was brought back to the powerhouse that fans know her as, in what can only be described as the right creative move. Years later, it was one of Denny O’Neil’s biggest regrets about his work on Wonder Woman, making it even more clear that the attempt, whatever its motivations, was not a highlight of the character’s storied career.
Wonder Woman
#179
is available now from DC Comics.
Source: Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics
