How about getting written up in the New York Times when you put him on a project?
Maybe, but I don't recall his other projects getting much non-comics coverage at all. And if he doesn't bring in the sales, what difference will the article have made, especially since just changing the costume would've gotten just as much interest?
Having my own (rather strong) views on nationalism, I've stayed out of the discussions in which it has found a place; but I have to say in this case, I don't think the tossing out of the star-spangled costume is necessarily related to any wider anti-patriotic agenda.
Actually, DC disagrees with you. "...One test of the design was to imagine how it would look standing next to, say, Batman’s politically neutral ensemble. 'The original costume was the American flag brought to life,' Mr. Lee said. 'This one is a little more universal.'"
(Because the Justice League--where Wonder Woman has stood next to Batman on many occasions, has certainly never sold outside the United States, right? I hear the cartoon was a complete flop, simply because Wonder Woman's panties were US blue instead of EU blue...
I've never been able to figure out why a Greek princess would deck herself out in the stars and stripes in the first place.
Probably because she's not Greek (or wasn't, when created) and moved to a country that was strong on symbolism and encouraged immigrants to be a part of the country. You could ask the same of Superman, whose costume is nearly as patriotic as Wonder Woman's, but never seriously questioned.
It's the "melting pot" idea, where immigrants assimilate, versus the "fruit salad" mentality, where immigrants shouldn't change anything about their prior lives and stick to their ethnic communities (cough--ghettoes). Twenty years ago, your national origin was as incidental as your eye color, not something that decided how you should dress or who you should associate with. Heck, when I was a kid, the immigrants were more likely to strongly support the United States (culturally and politically), not less, like today.
But I suppose that's another conversation for another time and place.
That being said, I think the new costume is craptastic in the extreme. How a phoned-in piece of garbage like this got approval at DC, let alone why the Times is giving it any attention, I don't believe I'll ever know.
It's not bad, per se. It's just...busy, and yet also boring. If the bracelets were solid silver or gold, she lost the choker (seriously, you're making a statement about having something useful to fight crime in, and you put a noose on her? I call "fetish"), and clean up the boot-things, and it could work. Instead, there are lines wandering in every direction with no unification.
I pity the poor guy who's going to have to animate this, some day.
(Minor correction: Now that I see the action shots, further down the page--were they there, yesterday?--the fact that the top is now some sort of spaghetti-strap backless nonsense brings us back to stupid.)
