“Change is good . . . unless it’s pennies.”
     -Michael Fitzgerald Troy

In 2013, DC Comics and Cartoon Network joined forces to introduce cartoon shorts that would be played in between shows during their block of DC Comics-themed Saturday morning cartoons. And, it was awesome!

The shorts were collectively called “DC Nation” and would lend the spotlight to lesser-known (or lesser-commercialized, I should say) DC characters, at times offering decidedly different takes on some of the classically themed characters. Some stand outs being Shazam!, Bizarro, and Super BFFs. Although, really all of them were primo; there are just too many to list.

Now, let’s get to the matter at hand. My favorite DC Nation short (Surprise! Surprise!) was Robert Valley’s highly stylized take on Wonder Woman. Getting Robert Valley who worked on storyboards for MTV’s cult classic, Aeon Flux, a story about a sexy, mysterious, and highly stylized assassin, was nothing short of genius!

I would not have thought it possible to like such a radical departure from the original WW mold. (Pun intended!) With highlights that included an invisible charger, Giganta on roller skates, and star-spangled boy shorts to go along with her uber chic style, this Wonder Woman was the bees knees. Valley has described the loved or lamented short feature as “Burning man/muscle car/beach theme . . . ”  Now that’s how to illustrate a point!  Some people were ravenous for it, others went rabid.

Honestly, I couldn’t get enough of it! And, therein lies the problem. There wasn’t enough of it. After the 3-part short series, “Urban Chic Wonder Woman” was to be seen no more. Or was she?

Apparently, people liked it enough for DC Collectibles to release a statue based upon Robert Valley’s version of Diana as part of their “Art of War” series. Art of War (Aphrodite help me! I despise that name!) offers a variety of artist associated with Wonder Woman and their different takes on the character. Beautifully sculpted by Jonathan Matthews, the statue perfectly captures Robert Valley’s style and looks more like a piece of high-end art than a comic book character. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

I give major credit to DC for often taking departures from their characters, even on some of the big guns like Batman and Superman. I also give major credit to the characters for being iconic enough to be reinterpreted and still retain the qualities that make them great. Sometimes, it’s a hit (like DC’s much-missed Elseworlds titles), and, sometimes, not so much (like DC’s mostly ill-received New 52 revamp).

I’m hoping the popularity of the statue shows DC this wildly popular version of Wonder Woman is worthy of her 2D debut! Hey, it worked for Bombshells. Sensation would be the perfect place for DC Nation Wonder Woman to make her DCU Debut!

For this week’s art, I couldn’t wait to do my version of kick@$$ Wonder Woman! If DC needs someone with a great idea for this version of Wonder Woman, hook me up!

Until next week, my fellow Amazons! Thanks for reading Wonder Woman Wednesday!