Yellow Dog #11/12

excerpt from Eclipse Magazine #5 (1982) - illustrated by Trina Robbins

Women and the Comics

Issues #1 and #4 of The Legend of Wonder Woman mini-series - cover art by Trina Robbins

Wonder Woman #98 (1995) - "80s punk nightclub" costume - art by Mike Deodato, Jr.

Wonder Woman v1 #189 (1970) - Diana Prince "white outfit" - art by Mike Sekowsky

The Legend of Wonder Woman #1 (1986) - Wonder Woman meets Suzie. Illustrated by Trina Robbins

Wonder Woman Annual #2 (1989) - Diana meets Trina - illustrated by Ramona Fradon

Wonder Woman #181 (1969) - Diana's boutique - pencilled by Mike Sekowsky, inked by Dick Giordano

First up: your first published work (that we know of) was for...That's right. That was in the late 60s -- 1968 or 1969.That was pretty much as underground/indie as you could get...Absolutely undergound.Shortly thereafter it was theone-shot in 1970.That was the VERY FIRST all-women comic book, and I produced that.From then on, you had a pretty steady career working in underground comix and voicing your opinion on women (and feminism) in comic books. You had some work published in 1981'sI did in the 80s. And here -- [handsa book, the book is's] -- this is a series that I serialized forin the 80s that is now being collected into graphic novel form and will come out in 2017 this year.was a very beloved pulp writer in the early 20th century -- this story is from 1919 -- and he's probably best known as the creator ofYou even co-authored thebook with[pronounced 'Ironwood'] in 1985.That was the VERY FIRST history of women cartoonists that we did together. I've done many MANY since.So, now that we summed up your background, what were the circumstances that led you to work atin 1986?The four-partseries that I drew in 1986? They were between comics, as it were. I mean, they had just killed her off in theirandwas working on reconstructing her, but they had this four month period with NOTHING. So I always felt that they just had this meeting and were likeand somebody saidSo I think THAT'S what happened.Wonder Woman was put on a temporary hiatus for at least a year between the end of(1986) and(1987). How was fandom feeling about Wonder Woman at the time? In your opinion... was she in need of a MAJOR OVERHAUL?I think she has OFTEN been in need of a major overhaul. I adore Wonder Woman, obviously -- I'm sure you know that -- but the trouble is that she IS a comic book character and she's owned byand they don't have any SET rules. So, whoever takes her over can just do whatever they want with her. Sometimes it's wonderful and sometimes it's terrible.I agree.The artists are always guys who can't keep their hands off her costume -- they always want to redesign her costume. There was this one outfit that looked like it was from a 1980s punk nightclub or something. Terrible outfits. Right now I love what she's wearing.How about the Diana Prince white outfit?Ugh! Ugh! That was in the late 60s, and that was based on's catsuit from theTV show. It was terrible.You are credited as being the FIRST woman to illustrate acomic in 1986'smini-series. (A woman illustrating aseries makes perfect logical sense, truthfully.) I'm understanding that the mini-series was a 'send-off' to the character -- this was both yours and's 'good-bye' to the character?Busiek wrote it and we co-plotted it. At the time, I didn't feel secure enough to write it myself. If this were to happen again today, I would totally write it myself.I scanned carefully for any easter eggs you may have included in your art, but I couldn't find any... side-stepping the obvious that Suzie is meant to represent a 7 year-old you -- care to indulge us if we missed anything?Susie was indeed me. I even have a photo of me at home with my braids looking just like her.1989'shad a predominantly female staff of writers, pencillers, inkers, colorists and letterers. You even wrote yourself into your contribution of that Annual.Oh yeah! The was a Wonder Woman special -- 'all-women'!Do we have you to thank for that?No. It wasor maybewho thought it would be a good idea.In your opinion, as per Wonder Woman's publication history, what was done RIGHT about the character and what was done WRONG? I realize you're a longtime fan, so I'd like to hear this.You mean, in all 75 years that there was Wonder Woman?Okay, well I think the original Wonder Woman was PERFECT. As far as I'm concerned, that's the TRUE Wonder Woman.I think they really went wrong in 1968 when they took away her powers and put her into the. And she opened a boutique! I mean, what kind of Wonder Woman opens a boutique?I think, more recently, oh my god -- I've forgotten his name -- I've mercifully forgotten his name. He brought in all those Greek Gods... he brought in a character called. Wonder Woman was just, like, kinda following along and was kinda observing, and it was all about these OTHER characters and not her. It was terrible. He then invented this horrible thing about her father beingand she's NOT made out of clay. This is a guy who knows nothing about mythology, the great heroes --- I mean Adam [of Adam & Eve] for God sakes -- and lots of other mythic heroes are created out of clay -- and she IS a mythic hero. In fact, tomorrow there's going to be a panel on super-heroines and I'm going to be on it JUST to talk about Wonder Woman.In 2005 there was a story in which Wonder Woman broke Maxwell Lord's neck. I thought that was really out of character.That WAS totally out of character. Wonder Woman doesn't kill. She's no Batman. She reasons, she has compassion, and she uses her lasso. She doesn't kill.A little off-topic, but you actually have a co-creation credit on's(1969). I found that out just a few weeks ago by accident.That's an exaggeration -- all I did was design her costume. People think I created her and I'm always correcting them because I do not like to take credit for something I didn't do. I never drewSo you knewof(aka) ofandeven referenced you in a song? Which other famous musicians were you friends with?I have my memoirs coming out fromcoming out this. We'll leave it at that. ;)Will do. Thank you for chatting with us,fromalso interviewed interviewedabout her work as the first female artist onand her comic book roots. Great read! Check it here