Wonder Woman's New Era

IGN Comics: One of the things that has defined Diana for some time is her connection to the Amazons and Paradise Island. It was one of the elements that set her apart from the other female superheroes out there. And yet you're shaking this up considerably. Do you feel like those defining concepts were actually working against her?

Straczynski: I think they worked for her for a long time. But over time, it just overgrew her, like ivy overgrows a wall and you can't see the wall anymore. So the question became, can you retain elements of that while giving her room to breathe? Which is why I thought putting some of that against an urban environment would give you a great contrast. Having Diana go to an oracle who -- in the alternate timeline lived in a high tower over Paradise Island – is now living under a bridge give the book almost a Sandman feel. It puts the mystical next door to the mundane, and the contrast illuminates and enhances both sides.

IGN Comics: You're removing Diana from some very familiar settings and a supporting cast that has been established for years – decades even. Do you plan to give her a new supporting cast, or do you think that distracts from your focus at this point?

Straczynski: Yes, but again, I don't want to add more weight she has to carry in terms of supporting characters. They will be there minimally, to be supportive and as background, not to get in the way. I'm trimming the hedge, not trying to grow a new one. So as tempting as it is to come up with a big supporting cast, I'd rather just focus on her, and on coming up with a really compelling rogues gallery of characters we haven't seen before, who can give her a real run for her money.

IGN Comics: Obviously your bold changes are attempting to bring this character into a new era, redefined for a modern age. Yet the idea of twisting time is bound to be controversial with the fans. Was it difficult to convince yourself – and DC – that a sweeping change like this needed to be made? And what would you say to the fans who cherish some of the past 20 years that are about to be altered in support of this new direction?

Straczynski: That's kind of the beauty of the concept. It's not like we change the timeline and that's over and it never happened. It did happen, and some of those around her remember that other timeline, including the Oracle she consults, and some characters we'll meet along the way, like the Phantom Stranger and Deadman. In a way, what she's doing is fighting her way back to that timeline, if she can, even though she herself has no memory of it.

The premise on all this is that the gods -- for reasons of their own, but having to do with their own survival and the survival of Earth -- changed the timeline to remove their protection of Paradise Island. The island was attacked, most of the Amazons killed, including Hippolyta, in a final desperate defense of their home. Before the end, Diana was smuggled out by the queen's guards and handmaidens. She was raised in an urban setting by those same people, so she has a foot in both worlds. Her task is to find out who's trying to kill them and why...find other surviving Amazons and rescue them...recapture Paradise Island...and discover the secret behind why the gods took this action.

So really, both timelines still exist. We haven't invalidated a single Wonder Woman story. They're all there, just around the corner...and she's fighting her way to that corner. But what she finds when she gets there...ah, that's the question, isn't it?

IGN Comics: In terms of the actual time change, does Wonder Woman start to realize something is wrong now, that somewhere in her past something was altered? Or has she been searching for this evidence ever since she was a child?

Straczynski: She doesn't know or feel it herself -- though she does have occasional dreams in which she sees the Wonder Woman we all know fighting something terrible, but she doesn't know what that means yet -- and it's not initially her main concern. Her agenda at the beginning is to find and save her people, and stop the forces trying to destroy them. There's a lot of pressure on her...there's the sense that when the Princess returns to her people, everything will be fine again, and that's a lot to bear.

IGN Comics: I want to get to the costume in a second, but I know one of the underlying ideas behind changing it is to evolve a character that has remained relatively static since the '40s. You're changing the history, the costume… are you tweaking who Diana is at this point? Do you feel like people even know enough about the character to warrant changes?

Straczynski: Well, that's the question, isn't it? How much of who we are is nature, and how much is nurture? How much is what we were when we were born, and how much of it is where and how we were brought up? Is it the tree, or the ground the tree is planted in? She can be exactly the person she was, but raised in an urban setting (albeit one still populated by Amazons), how does she react differently, think differently? Putting her in this position allows us to make her a bit more youthful psychologically and more accessible to a wider audience while retaining that which makes her Wonder Woman.

So the bottom line is...if you've never read a Wonder Woman book, this is a perfect jumping on point. No prior history is required. Again, we're taking her out of an environment where you pretty much needed a Cliff's Notes breakdown to follow the world, into one where it's much simpler while at the same time, more mysterious and action oriented.