Sunday, July 04, 2010

Alternate Realities

As in, the multiverse. But first, a few more thoughts on the new Wonder Woman outfit (I can't bring myself to call it a costume).

As many folks have pointed out, it would work better for Donna Troy, though I prefer Donna's black starfield jumpsuit. If I were younger, I would love to wear it, actually. Now I don't think those leggings would be all that flattering on me.

I think tweaking a costume is fine. Most of the time I don't notice. So many people (and I'm really sorry for not having links but at the time I read all the posts, I didn't think I'd want to revisit the topic over here) have blogged the history of Diana's WW costume. I've never paid much attention to her belt or the symbol on her chest, how stylized the eagle design is, if her boots are flat or heels, and so on. I notice a cape. I noticed two stars on the bottom of the costume vs a great many. I even notice when her bracelets grow or shrink in length. And I don't usually care. Because the costume still says Wonder Woman.

In fact, the only tweaking I never much cared for was Power Girl's costume, when the high neck with the cutout for her cleavage was replaced with a scoop neck, making it look like any old swimsuit off the rack. The top with the oval cutout was different, eye-catching, not something you see every day. Happily, the cutout is back. And when I realized that, I realized another thing about Diana's new outfit that bugs me.

The damn thing, pretty though it is, looks like it came off a rack at the local department store, Macy's, perhaps. I get the feeling Diana's real costume was in the laundry, so she rummaged in her closet and dresser drawers and came up with a nice, red stretchy top and black leggings (or possibly very tight pants) and thought, "Heck, this will do."

It's not iconic. It doesn't scream "Wonder Woman" because, minus the accessories, anyone could wear it (well, most any woman) and might be likely to wear it or something very similar, and no one would notice. Anyone walking around in Diana's iconic outfit, or a tweaked version, would stand out. Same as if they were wearing Supergirl's costume, or even Black Canary, because even that is a stylized look, blending the old Canary costume with a more modern approach.

Which brings me to that multiverse thing. I love the multiverse, so I decided I'm reading about Earth 53. I think there are still 52 earths, so I came up with Earth 53. On Earth 53, there was no Cry For Justice (or if so, Prometheus was quickly nabbed and eliminated as a threat). So, Ollie didn't kill anyone and Star City is intact. Corrupt, but intact. Ollie and Dinah are happily married, still (I'll have to see how well this fantasy of mine meshes with BoP as things play out there), and Lian Harper is alive and well. Roy is still the happy-go-lucky, yet responsible parent, still dating heavily and looking for the right woman to be Lian's stepmother. Without the need to avenge his daughter, he has not killed and might be back in the JLA. I can envision him fighting alongside Dick/Batman and Donna Troy.

The Dibneys are alive and well on Earth 53, too. Somehow, they were restored to life after Blackest Night, but no one knows yet. Not part of the special dozen whose story is currently being chronicled in Brightest Day, they moved to a busy city where Ralph, eschewing his Elongated Man identity, has opened a PI business with Sue, the two of them happily solving mysteries.

Anyone else we should resurrent/retcon on Earth 53?

10 comments:

  1. Aah, Earth-53, a.k.a. the Fanonverse :-)

    Ted Kord is alive, Max Lord isn't evil, there is a new Young Justice team, and Jaime Reyes is still Blue Beetle (and has an ongoing series to boot)!

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  2. Yes, Ted. How could I have forgotten Ted. He was brought back with the Dibneys. He still has his fortune, kept safe for him while he was dead, and he's providing the financial backing for Ralph and Sue and he even helps out with cases! And Jaime continues as the Blue Beetle in his own book.

    And Kate Spencer, the Manhunter, has her own book, too!

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  3. Earth 53 sounds like a lovely lovely place. Dmitri is still alive and with his family, and Star Sapphire didn't kill Katma Tui, so John Stewart is actually happy and well-adjusted. And Scott and Barda are still having JLI picnics.

    Batman is still grumpy though.

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  4. Yes, the more the merrier. LOL about Batman. I do like the current storyline with Dick as Bats and Bruce on his way back, so that happened on Earth 53, too. ;)

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  5. Barry Allen never died, he and Iris have been happily married all this time. The original Crisis never happened. Eventually the Titans will take their predecessors places and have Roman numerals on their chests below their symbols. Superman and Batman get together as pals in the Batcave and the Fortress just to shoot the breeze.

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  6. I don't know if I'd go that far, Paul. Much as I loved that Supergirl, I'm really enjoying the current one. To not have had the first Crisis would negate too much of what I do love right now. I suppose that could be Earth 54, where the original Teen Titans are now the JLA, with Supergirl taking Superman's place now that he's happily retired with Lois and running the Daily Planet.

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  7. The Marvels. Everyone is back in their proper roles and outfits - Billy is the Big Red Cheese again, Mary is back to normal (and preferably in her red costume), and Freddy is Junior, or whatever he wants to call himself.

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  8. Yes, we definitely need to restore the Marvels to their onetime glory.

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  9. Ryan Choi is alive, dating Giganta, and has co-founded the Atom Corps with Ray Palmer.

    Sue Dibny's rape and murder? Never happened.

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  10. Sounds good to me. I love the Atom Corps. If we have both Ted and Jaime, maybe there's a Beetle Corps, too. They could have different colors. ;)

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