"New 52" Wonder Woman

Prepare yourself to be surprised. Naturally confident, strong-willed and compassionate, Wonder Woman is Princess Diana of the immortal Amazons from Greek mythology. When army pilot Steve Treveor crashes on their secluded island paradise, Themyscira, Diana is compelled to experience the outside world. With superhuman strength, stamina, and the ability to fly, Wonder Woman is a warrior for peace who embodies beauty, intellect and equality. We've had two Wonder Woman action figures from Mattel before (in both vanilla and strawberry varieties), but now none of those are in continuity anymore. Thanks, New 52! Hey, speaking of which, we don't know if that bio is still accurate: she's got a new origin now (no longer sculpted from clay, she's now officially a daughter of Zeus), so who knows if that Golden Age-y Steve Trevor stuff is still canon? All you need to know is that her book is one of the best to come out of the reboot, and if you're not reading it, you should be. Get on that. The figure gets a new head, even though Mattel absolutely could have gotten away with reusing the DCUC4 head. Yes, she has a different kind of tiara in the new comics, but it's not so different that the correct coat of paint wouldn't do the job. Her hair hangs more to one side than the other, and is wearing dark makeup. The vast majority of the body below the neck is a new sculpt, which I think will come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Mattel's usual modus operandi. The legs, hands, upper arms and shoulders may be shared with the original figure, but the rest has been resculpted. Her silver bracelets come to points on the outside of the arms, rather than being straight all the way across, so those aren't shared. Her costume is sculpted with all those Jim Lee-designed New 52 armor panels, so the torso had to be redone from scratch. Where was this attention to detail when DCUC was dragging along?! Her chest armor is more clearly shaped like an eagle now, rather than stacked W's, and the legs suggest the points of a star - which match not only the white stars on her panties, but also the four unpainted stars formed by the lines of the armor on her abdomen - and as much as people like to complain about Jim Lee's costumery, that's damn good design. Her girdle is more like a thin belt, so there's no more confusion about how she can bend over in it. The only downside is that the W band on her left bicep is only painted on, not sculpted, and that the mold lines haven't been scrapped down as much as they should have been. Diana's eyeliner and lipstick aren't the only things about her that are darker now - there's also her general attitude. Ha! Zing! Okay, not really: she was a badass warrior before, she's a badass warrior now. No real change. What's really darker is her costume: she's still wearing a red bustier and blue panties, but they're not as bright and vibrant as they were pre-reboot. The silver used for her armor helps offset that change, though, since gold is relatively dark. Her boots are blue now instead of red, but still have white stripes down the front (technically the stripes should come to a point near the ankle rather than continuing to the toe - that's how we know they're a reused sculpt). Despite being sculpted, the edge between the white and the blue on the boots is kind of a mess. There's also some paint-scrape on the silver areas. WW comes with one acccessory, her sword. It's a Greek Xiphos, fittingly, and has a rather ornate pattern on the blade. The hilt is the same red as her shirt, and she can hold it in either hand. If you don't want her to hold it, there's a small loop on the back of her belt that looks like a tail, but is actually meant to hold the sword. Of course, she has her golden lasso on her right hip, but it is, as ever, non-removable. Her articulation is mostly Mattel-standard, but her torso is just a swivel with no hinge. Knowing that Mattel can barely get these toys into stores, I ordered this figure from my local comicshop - and after I did, I regretted my decision, thinking I should have gone for DC Direct's New 52 Wonder Woman instead. After all, Mattel's was just going to be a repaint of a figure I already had (twice), while DCD's was a new sculpt. Turns out I was wrong, because she gets most of her new details molded on, and has the advantage of articulation that a DCD figure could only dream of. -- 05/16/13

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