June 30, 2010 | 4:53 pm

Wonder Woman gets modest makeover

Posted by Adam Wills

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Covered arms, shoulders and legs? Say hello to the new modest Wonder Woman. The busty Amazon beauty has ditched her barely there singlet for a body suit and jacket. (Yes, she still sports her iconic tiara, bracelets and lasso.) The new look—courtesy of Jim Lee—is the first significant change to the character’s appearance since her debut in 1941 (not counting the 1960s mod look—less said the better).

The tough-but-elegant outfit is generating mixed reactions, drawing opinions from Hollywood writer Nikki Finke and Linda Carter.

From DC’s The Source blog:

Starting today, Wonder Woman will appear like you’ve never seen her before. ... bestselling artist and DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee has redesigned her costume for the modern era, just in time for BABYLON 5 creator and critically acclaimed writer J. Michael Straczynski and artists Don Kramer and Michael Babinski to launch the Amazon Princess into an exciting and epic new era of adventure.

...

It’s a look designed to be taken seriously as a warrior, in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who’ve asked, “how does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?”) She can close it up to pass unnoticed…open it for the freedom to fight…lose the jacket or keep it on…it has pockets (the other fan question, “where does she carry anything in that outfit?”, it can be accessorized…it’s a Wonder Woman look designed for the 21st century. The bracelets are still there, but made more colorful, tied on the inside and over the hand, with a script W on each of them that form WW when she holds them side by side…and if you get hit by one of them, it leaves a W mark. This is a Wonder Woman who signs her work…letting her enemies know that she’s getting closer.

Under the headline “DC Comics Has Ruined Wonder Woman,” Deadline Hollywood’s Nikki Finke wrote:

Of course, it took a bunch of men to ruin her. ... she looks ready for Goth Day at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. (Shame on Diane Nelson, the head of DC Entertainment, for allowing this to happen. And for not finding a talented woman writer to update the icon’s saga.)

But Linda Carter, who played Wonder Woman on television in the 1970s, told ABC News she likes the new look:

“I think it will take time for people to get over not seeing a lot of leg ... [But] I think it’s going to be very sexy and it’s new and I love the little cap sleeve. You know, she’s a hip girl.

“I think Wonder Woman has a mind of her own. And I think she was just kind of ready for something new. She’s got an attitude and if this is the new thing that she wants to wear, well, by God, she’s going to wear it. And I like that. And I hope that in the story someone mentions, where’s the old one? And she says, get over it!”

And Willa Paskin at New York magazine’s Vulture blog—excited that Wonder Woman gets to wear pants—describes the “overall effect to be fairly badass, and nicely common sense: It really is much easier to focus on fighting crime when one isn’t worrying about accidentally flashing lady parts.  And, for those fanboys worried too much has been covered up, don’t worry: These pants are way too tight for pockets.”

Bottom line: observant fangirls just got a new outfit choice for Purim/comic-cons/cosplay.