It’s disappointing to hear that DC Comics, which released a rebooted Wonder Woman #1 to great acclaim only a few weeks again, have got it so wrong again, and so quickly. According to previews of issue #3, Diana is to discover that she has a long lost father, Zeus.

The reason so many Wonder Woman fans are up in arms about this, is because it directly contradicts her origin story, the one that creators have been working off for the last nearly-70 years or so, in which Diana was formed from clay by her mother, Hippolyta, and brought to life by the Greek goddesses. Taking a character with such a unique beginning, and changing her parentage, is a change akin to deciding Bruce Wayne’s parents didn’t die after all, or that Superman was actually conceived when Martha Kent cheated on Jonathan with Zor-El.

“When they relaunched their entire line of comics last month, DC Comics figured it was a good time to break the mold.

“Everybody’s got a father,” [writer] Azzarello said. “Even if he’s not the nicest guy in the world.“

But no, actually. Not everyone has a father. And while there are very interesting stories to be told about superheroes and superheroines and their fathers, there are actually a bunch of those out there already. Batgirl and Batwoman spring to mind. The whole point of Wonder Woman is that she comes from an all-female society, and that she in fact DOES NOT have a father. Her relationship with her mother has been handled differently across the decades, and by different writers, and explored through all manner of permeutations. Hippolyta has been antagonist, rival, replacements, friend, confidante, hero, and of course, Diana’s queen and ruler as well as her mother. Their connection is one of the many interesting things about the mythology surrounding Diana, and the collison of ancient myths and traditions with the modern concerns of “man’s world” is indeed the point of Wonder Woman as a story.

And don’t get me STARTED about the whole issue of how ‘relatable’ Wonder Woman is. Every time I hear that word come out of a man’s mouth, I want to smack him over the head with my Xena: Warrior Princess box set. I’m not saying that everyone who’s ever hated a Wonder Woman comic is sexist, because let’s face it, there have been some dreadful stories over the years, but that’s not the character’s fault, it’s down to poor writing choices, and poor artistic choices.

But if you, honestly, can not relate to the concept of a woman who is also a powerful superhero, then I would suggest that this is Your Freaking Problem, and that it’s not Wonder Woman, in that case, who needs to be changed. I would also suggest that a writer or publisher who thinks Wonder Woman is not relatable should not in fact be allowed anywhere near the character. Here’s a fun idea: why not find a writer who thinks Wonder Woman is an awesome concept, and who is going to be revolutionary in writing her a comic which allows her to be awesome, without fundamentally changing who she is and where she comes from?

She’s a warrior from another kind of world, stuck in this one, trying to do good. That’s the premise. The other trappings are what makes her story unique, as opposed to Superman in a skirt. Her connection to Paradise Island and her mother and Greek mythology are not something to be brushed under the carpet as if you’re embarrassed about them – they should be embraced! More problematic are the 1940′s specific military trappings, but why not embrace those too?

What exactly is Zeus as a father going to add that makes Wonder Woman more ‘relatable’? Is it that every 40 something male comics reader has a Dad who goes around shagging swans and throwing thunderbolts at people? Or is it just that it will make it a tiny bit easier for everyone to pretend she’s actually Hercules, and have done with it?

It’s especially disappointing because Wonder Woman #1 was s promising – it looked like it was going to be a story that was unashamed of Diana’s mythological past, and appealed to male and female readers alike. At the same time, Batwoman #1 showed you can have a highly acclaimed comic that’s almost entirely about women – it was heralded by many as one of the top 3 of the new 52.

So why are DC Comics still so embarrassed by Wonder Woman that they want to turn her into something she isn’t?

[UPDATE: @GailSimone said it best on Twitter: Wonder Woman doesn't need a dad, she has a thousand moms already.]

Tags: dc comics, women in comics, wonder women