Wonder Woman's Vanishing Boyfriend

[Falseprophet]

Ragnell has been defending Steve Trevor on her blog [http://ragnell.blogspot.com/search/label/steve%20trevor] for much of the past year. She adds additional insights, pointing out that Steve Trevor is not weak and helpless--he's actually far more noble and heroic than the vast majority of normal men. He just happens to like dating a demi-goddess who saves his bacon from time to time.

(That might have been a subversion on Moulton's part. A war hero military intelligence fighter pilot probably represented the pinnacle of American masculinity in the 1940s, so having Wonder Woman save him periodically emphasized how strong and capable she was.)

And to be fair, many civilian love-interests of male heroes aren't helpless either: Golden Age Lois and some modern interpretations of Lois (but not generally dippy, marriage-crazed Silver Age Lois) could take care of themselves in a lot of situations--just not supervillain situations.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Hmmm...the Black Canary's mum was also the Black Canary, and she was married to an otherwise ordinary police office, way back when. Only one I can think of.

 

[Rect Pola]

It shouldn't be that hard, there are plenty of ways to have him be a strong character without being the super one.

First thought: radio support. Standard conversation can yeild more character than simply "have a job to do" AND you can milk the ol'reliable "at least one side being a smartass".
Second: dude's military and by extension her ties with said military. He and his unit could be out fighting on the side while she's charging into the big bad.
Third: even easier, don't have him directly involved in her hero-work at all. He's her emotional support, not a liability. These days, hero saves weak/stupid girlfriend is tired and awkward without swapping genders.

And should you have his base be infiltrated or something, you can show he's no slouch defending himself BEFORE/IF she gets involved.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Third: even easier, don't have him directly involved in her hero-work at all. He's her emotional support, not a liability.

I actually love this idea. It would be wonderful to explore the more human side of superheroes, to see them as more than just a bunch of superpowers in a costume. There are plenty of people in the world that need rescuing; nothing says it has to be Steve in trouble all the time.

 

[Tarkand]

I suppose the underlying issue is indeed that strong women make us uncomfortable...

But to me relationship like Lois/Clark never made all that much sense. It's hard enough to find someone that you love and can relate/confide with without having to tackle the issue of super power.

Emotionally, someone like Superman essentially carries the world on his shoulders. He makes decisions (and mistakes) that affect the lives of countless people on a daily basis. Having a partner that you can confide in and understand you because said partner face the same issues (i.e. Also has powers) make a lot more sense. How does Lois even relate to Superman? He's so fast, so smart, so powerful... so inhuman. How does he relate to her? Superman dating Lois is really akin to someone dating an infant if you think about it - He is an order of magnitude better than her in every aspect (Physically, Intellectually... even morally, since he's basically super pure and good too).

Physically, he has to constantly control his power in order to not hurt Lois by accident and I'm not even talking sexually here, but just simple thing like not slamming the door too hard and blowing it off its hinges right into Lois's face for example (I'm reminded of Dr Manhatan teleporting Silk Specter to Mars and forgetting for a second that humans need to breath to live... Watchman actually handled the issue of human/super being romance pretty well). But yes, sexuality would be an issue.

And that's just 2 issues from the top of my head. A entire thesis could probably be written on this. Keep in mind here that I only took Superman/Lois because it's a well known pairing... but Wonder Woman is equal power wise to Superman (depending on who write the story she may be slightly weaker or slightly stronger, but she's always in the same league) and even without getting into gender roles confusion and stuff like that... there's the simple fact that it is hard to relate to someone who's slower, weaker, dumber and not as morally advance as you are - and again, I'm not talking a slightly difference like the physical difference between normal men and women... that's easily overlooked - we're talking about MASSIVE difference here. She might as well be dating a monkey...

Basically, the more powerful the super hero is, the more unbelievable it becomes for him/her to be in a relationship with a baseline human.

 

[Zach of Fables]

The only other example I can think of is this guy, who dated Wonder Girl:

Which was creepy and weird, even for the '70s. But he didn't have any powers, as far as I know.

 

[Sentox6]

On the one hand, I agree. If I'm going to be brutally honest, I know the idea of a woman being entirely superior to me does threaten my ego. I'm just not sure how to derive self-worth in that scenario. On the other hand, I'd probably have a similar reaction if a male acquaintance was significantly more accomplished than me (at least within my sphere of interests) as well.

On the other hand... c'mon, we all know Wonder Woman isn't really straight.

 

[Grahav]

I feel so uncomfortable with this idea that I find hard even to imagine my heroines with weaker boyfriends. The need men have to be strong is not just cultural, it is marked in our instincts (of men and women).

Hey? What makes you think that it's a biological, not cultural thing?

Also, there's quite a number of people that don't feel that way.

It is both. Which is worse than if it was only one.

Biology leaves marks in our culture. The women who desired and got strong men left strong children. Weak men who couldn't protect their families from tigers and vikings left no children. So evolution and logic worked together to make this situation a standard.

Our actual society is very young. The old culture is not dead and fighting instinct is not easy.

There are people like you said. Problem is the people who aren't.

I feel so uncomfortable with this idea that I find hard even to imagine my heroines with weaker boyfriends. The need men have to be strong is not just cultural, it is marked in our instincts (of men and women).

Trying to think...is there a male figure that is weaker than female counterpart that is considered desirable?

Yes. The prejudice comes fom both sides. Some men think they are unworthy of women, and some women feels that only princes and kings are worthy them.

 

[faefrost]

The only other example I can think of is this guy, who dated Wonder Girl:

Which was creepy and weird, even for the '70s. But he didn't have any powers, as far as I know.

A few of the writers were and still are fairly competant at breaking the perceived mold. Plus the pattern may not completely hold up under close examination. I mean yeah there are plenty of examples of strong female leads only linked with heroic men ie Black Canary... but did anyone note who her mother (the original Black Canary) and her father are? Over on the Marvel side of things, does anyone remember who Wyatt Wingfoot was, or what his long time connection to arguably the "strongest" female character in the marvel u is?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I was going to bring up the animated movie and how Steve worked fine in that one, but it was brought up in the last paragraph.
Reading the whole thing about a man being saved by a woman, and having her carry him in her arms, I couldn't help but think of

Spoiler

the ending to ICO. Yorda literally carries him out of danger while the castle is falling around them. Complete switch in the roles from the rest of the game

I always thought Wonder Woman and Batman would make a fun couple, especially after watching the Justice League cartoons. Not sure Catwoman would approve though...

 

[veloper]

It's just our instinct.
It works that way because it's allowed our species to survive this far.

Nothing wrong with breaking the pattern and doing the opposite in fiction, but the character is still impopular because of it.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

What about Batman? I am not a huge comic book fan, but I have seen some comics and specially animated movies/ series that show a connection between them.

The thing about a Wonder Woman/Batman romance is the bizarre duality to it- it makes the most sense (because Batman doesn't really have gender issues; he respects strength, honesty and character) and yet is utterly doomed to failure (because Batman is more paranoid than a coked-up bumblebee in a Venus Flytrap exhibit).

But the article itself seems to be pretty spot-on. Myself, though, I don't really care too much about that- I want whoever is capable of doing the job/saving the day, whatever race/gender/branch of the evolutionary tree they may belong to.

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

Yeah, the Steve Trevor from the animated movie was pretty awesome. Of course, being voiced by Nathan Fillion helps a little.

 

[Trishbot]

One of my favorite comic book romances was She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot. She was the "strong" one, yet she dated and loved Wyatt for several years because, at the end of the day, he was a smart, charming, courageous gentleman that still opened doors for her, pulled out her seat at dinner, and would surprise her with flowers and listen to her "girl problems" when she had them.

... And then Marvel turned her into a slut that's become notorious for sleeping with everyone. Yeah, well, there went that dream of finding a girl in comics I relate to.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Everybody already brought up the animated movie and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which in both cases, he's handled well. Although, the DC Animated Universe (Batman: TAS-Justice League: Unlimited) have me shipping Batman/Wonder Woman.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

My first statement is that I used to have a Wonder Woman volume which collected the first stories and many afterwards. Even under the original creator, Steve Trevor's role was:

Get rescued because he was an idiot.
Save Etta Candy and the other sorority girls who kept tagging along with Wonder Woman because of their collective idiocy.

While you could argue that this was pretty much what all sidekicks did, it doesn't make a convincing case to bring him back since comics have evolved beyond the superheroes always needing sidekicks around so they can explain things to them (and, by extension, the audience) as well as have someone to rescue.

This was also during the days when Wonder Woman's primary foes were mostly Nazis and other non-powered opponents. Even the original Cheetah had no super powers. The current Cheetah is less likely to tie Steve up and more likely to rip out his throat with her teeth. (I could go into the whole "darkening" of comics but nah.) That kinda limits the sidekick possibilities that were there in the early days of Wonder Woman comics.

And then there's the question of how much a lot of significant others really add to the character's personality. One of the more interesting POVs about Iris West being retconned out of Barry's life that I've read is that it was pointed out how little she actually contributed. Having read comics for well on thirty years, I thought that some parts of the article were a little harsh (Mary Jane had a tremendous impact on Peter.) but, in the case of Barry Allen, I had to uncomfortably admit that the author was right.

I guess the acid test would be:

Can you think of any stories where Steve Trevor couldn't have been replaced by a nameless soldier? Can you think of any stories which focused on the relationship between Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman which made you feel like the author could have been writing about a real couple? Can you name any ways that Steve Trevor really changed or enriched Wonder Woman's character just through their personal interactions?

If all three of those come up as "no", then bringing him back just for the sake of gender studies won't add anything to the comic or to Wonder Woman.

 

[JoshuatheAnarchist]

Am I the only one who finds it strange, that the article uses the word "we" so much? The idea of a female superhero saving her regular bloke boyfriend doesn't make me uncomfortable, for instance.

That is a pretty sweeping generalization on my part, sorry about that. It wasn't my intention to imply that literally everyone feels this way, only that it's pervasive enough to have become a kind've unspoken rule in mainstream comics writing.

 

[JoshuatheAnarchist]

One of my favorite comic book romances was She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot. She was the "strong" one, yet she dated and loved Wyatt for several years because, at the end of the day, he was a smart, charming, courageous gentleman that still opened doors for her, pulled out her seat at dinner, and would surprise her with flowers and listen to her "girl problems" when she had them.

Wow, that is a pretty good example, can't believe I forgot that one. My list when writing this only had Steve Trevor, Jason Bard, and Terry Long.

Now that I think about it, The She-Hulk/Wingfoot pairing was somewhat similar to Big Barda & Mr. Miracle, one of my favorite comic book couples for just this reason. Sure, Scott is technically speaking a superhero, but Barda's clearly the one "wearing the pants in the relationship" so to speak. She towers over him is physically much stronger, and is fiercely protective of him.

... And then Marvel turned her into a slut that's become notorious for sleeping with everyone. Yeah, well, there went that dream of finding a girl in comics I relate to.

Yeaaaah...most comic writers don't seem to be very good at making the "sexually liberated woman" thing work without it seeming exploitative. Honestly, I think that interpretation of She-hulk as worked at points, but too many writers just use it as an excuse to turn her into a male fantasy figure.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I feel so uncomfortable with this idea that I find hard even to imagine my heroines with weaker boyfriends. The need men have to be strong is not just cultural, it is marked in our instincts (of men and women).

Hey? What makes you think that it's a biological, not cultural thing?

Also, there's quite a number of people that don't feel that way.

In addition to the answers you've already gotten on this, men are, on average, physically stronger than women. That's just biology; pointing it out is no more sexist than pointing out that women have larger breasts than men, or that men tend to grow thicker hair on their faces. Sure, there's weird cases like female body building championships, but you know what? Those women almost definitely shoot up with steroids. You know what specific steroid is used to make muscles biggger (steroids are actually an entire class of hormones)? Testosterone. Face it, men tend to be bigger and stronger than women, it's just a biological fact. The idea that men should be protective of women and not the other way around may be cultural, but cultures all over the world settled on it because, in the absence of super powers and artificial steroid injections, women tend to be physically smaller and weaker than men. While there's no reason for women not to be socially equal with men, or for individual women to be socially ahead of individual men, the physical issue is very real.

 

[JoshuatheAnarchist]

My first statement is that I used to have a Wonder Woman volume which collected the first stories and many afterwards. Even under the original creator, Steve Trevor's role was:

Get rescued because he was an idiot.
Save Etta Candy and the other sorority girls who kept tagging along with Wonder Woman because of their collective idiocy.

While you could argue that this was pretty much what all sidekicks did, it doesn't make a convincing case to bring him back since comics have evolved beyond the superheroes always needing sidekicks around so they can explain things to them (and, by extension, the audience) as well as have someone to rescue.

This was also during the days when Wonder Woman's primary foes were mostly Nazis and other non-powered opponents. Even the original Cheetah had no super powers. The current Cheetah is less likely to tie Steve up and more likely to rip out his throat with her teeth. (I could go into the whole "darkening" of comics but nah.) That kinda limits the sidekick possibilities that were there in the early days of Wonder Woman comics.

And then there's the question of how much a lot of significant others really add to the character's personality. One of the more interesting POVs about Iris West being retconned out of Barry's life that I've read is that it was pointed out how little she actually contributed. Having read comics for well on thirty years, I thought that some parts of the article were a little harsh (Mary Jane had a tremendous impact on Peter.) but, in the case of Barry Allen, I had to uncomfortably admit that the author was right.

I guess the acid test would be:

Can you think of any stories where Steve Trevor couldn't have been replaced by a nameless soldier? Can you think of any stories which focused on the relationship between Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman which made you feel like the author could have been writing about a real couple? Can you name any ways that Steve Trevor really changed or enriched Wonder Woman's character just through their personal interactions?

If all three of those come up as "no", then bringing him back just for the sake of gender studies won't add anything to the comic or to Wonder Woman.

Point taken. But as you said, almost all sidekicks were just as one-dimensional & useless as Steve was back then. Lois Lane essentially did nothing but get captured & rescued, but over time writers expanded upon and developed her character. Now you can't imagine the story of Superman without her. I tend to believe that there aren't really any bad characters, only bad writers. Steve has potential waiting to be realized which, as I said, the animated movie gave us a glimpse of. Hell, he's already got an advantage over Lois, who never even played a vital role in Superman's origin, and therefore could've been much more easily written out of the story if they so desired.

I focused this article on Steve not because bringing him back was the only solution to this problem, only because it was the most obvious one, since he is probably the most famous and important example. Whether they bring Steve back or create a whole new character doesn't really matter, the point is Wonder Woman needs her Lois Lane.