With “Odyssey,” the J. Michael Straczynski-Phil Hester storyline that relaunched Wonder Woman nearing its conclusion, Colleen Doran – who worked with JMS on Book of Lost Souls over at Marvel years ago – has started to share some of the early design work she provided for the storyline… including redesigns of the title character that are pretty damn wonderful, actually.
As Doran explains,
I know this will set the internet into a tizzy, but this was more rumination than reality. I was not asked to draw a series, just to do some concept sketches. It is very unlikely any of these sketches will be used for anything.
Well, they’ll be used for eBay – Doran is selling the original sketches, as well as prints of the colored versions. Go here to buy them.
July 26th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
No pants
July 26th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
I like these better than what she is wearing now.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Looks worlds better than the Jim Lee designs. Jim is a great comicboook illustrator- don’t get me wrong his pencil work is lovely, but no costume designer.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Jim was always hit-or-miss for me. His Cyclops and Rogue designs were awesome, Jean not so much.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Is Wonder Woman wearing a tie around her waist in the middle drawing? The three “Wonder Womans” here are blah in my opinion.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I like the middle design the most, except for the tie over her private-area.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
in a sense, we were cheated. how disappointing but the middle image i like the most
July 26th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
The one on the left looks a little “Isis” to me but I like the one on the right a lot. My guess is, it’s not enough of a superhero costume – Not because it’s not tights and capes but it’s not distinctive enough to be copyrighted and slapped on an action figure.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
I love the one on the right.
July 26th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Jim Lee = FAIL
July 26th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I like the middle design, but then I have problems with the long tail on the belt where it just begs to be grabbed all the time.
Back to the DCnU costume designs. I realize that Jim Lee was in charge in doing, but could Lee not have pulled a Kingdom Come like Alex Ross and gotten friends to help with some of the DCnU costume designs? I guess by having Jim Lee do and coordinate the costume designs, it probably helped to keep the DCnU more under wraps until the official announcement.
July 26th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
They are pretty darn sharp. I kind of like the current costume, but Doran’s give Diana a regal look with a simple design.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
These are nice but they dont fit the story at all. Im not a huge fan of the pants and jacket look, but it was always intended to be temporary and it fit the story.
July 26th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
I like the one on the right best; is she wearing a backpack? The one on the left is standing like a dancer. Very nice. Can imagine her doing pirouettes to change costume
Why does she have straight hair though?
July 26th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Love the one on the right, though it’d be terrible for Diana in battle, it looks great for her normal day-to-day life.
July 26th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
You know DC can tout that Superman is an alien and Super Girls. They are playing up the alien part. Well Wonderwoman is an alien too. Why not go back to that with her DC?
July 26th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
What are you talking about? Wonder Woman is not an alien, she’s a made-for comics mythology figure (specifically, she’s kind of a golem) which they have said they are going to focus on this time around, and have already focused on for much of her history, so I’m not sure where you’re going with this.
July 26th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
@Kooster: Don’t know if you’ve been avoiding stories or not, but Lee did have help from Cully Hamner, as well as input from writers and artists on the books themselves, in the design process. Not sure how much involvement Ross’s help had in the KC designs, but Lee is hardly working alone.
July 26th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
My least favorite is the one on the left but the other two would have worked fine.
July 26th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Any & all of them [including what's presently being courted] are OK w/me. Anything that brings Diana closer to Promethea than not.
Really.
Let’s just get it on.
July 26th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Doran says in the comments at the link that these designs were not for the “Odyssey” storyline but a different “fantasy-oriented” project that JMS was working on.
July 26th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Doran: “BTW, I’ve been asked if these were for the “Odyssey” storyline. I don’t think so. From JMS’s description, it appears they were for a completely separate tale, as in a high fantasy concept he was working on.
“JMS didn’t get into a lot of detail about plot, just described a fantasy mood he was looking for. He’d say ‘Yes. No. Get rid of that,’ and we’d move on. I don’t know much else about what he had in mind”
July 26th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
As ever, Colleen Doran proves she has a better understanding of costume design than most.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
Im sorry, those are all horrid. Im not saying Jim Lee is the greatest costume designer (enough with the jackets over spandex, man) but the pants look great and the cover to WW#1 looked great until they put her back in her panties.
July 26th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
These are hideous.
July 27th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
These look pretty great.
July 27th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Prefer the pants, honestly.
August 13th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
please please please please please boycott the Wonder Woman forum over at Comic Book Resources…its main moderator known as AEGISBEARER has been arrested on two charges of indecent exposure with two pupils that he teaches.
So far CBR have refused to fire or even suspend this disgusting individual…please join the Facebook campaign to remove this ‘person’ asap.
Thank you for your time.
August 13th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Id heard about this incident but didnt know what the hell it was all about…so its true then? I used to post on that particular forum until the bullying got too much and decided to leave. If id known what was going on Id never have taken part there. That forum is getting worse and worse.
October 5th, 2011 at 6:34 pm
I like the pants…these designs look a little cumbersome for super hero work. And they all have an ‘apron’ thing going on with them…