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This story links to the ‘Tales of the Amazons’ back up feature in issue 247.

With the release of the Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot, there was understandably much debate amongst fans about the costume, though most recognised the compromises to practicality that needed to be made for the movie world – versus the costume depicted in the comics. Some argued however that Lynda Carter had managed to convincingly portray Wonder Woman in a very authentic costume and make it seem perfectly normal.

Aside from this “costume” debate, there was a particularly heated discussion about how the movie version of the Amazon Princess was almost constantly depicted armed with a sword and shield. Some argued that this undermined the whole ethos of Diana as a pacifist and that together with the gladiatorial design of the new costume, she looked more like Xena Warrior Princess than Wonder Woman.

The counter argument was that Diana was an Amazon from a tribe of warriors – and that carrying a sword and shield was in context.

Now, while I am personally in the camp whereby Diana should carry just her the iconic defensive weapons (emphasis added!) i.e. her bracelets, tiara and lasso – I also recognise that even in the comics she was often depicted with a sword and shield – as shown on the cover of this issue – even before George Perez re-booted the character post crisis, basing her on a more realistic Greek inspired concept.