While many know Wonder Woman best for either having a traditional one-piece bikini design or a more battle armor motif inspired by the DCEU iteration, we have to go back to a time when a character like her was a very new concept. While women were depicted as damsels in distress or eventually stay-at-home wives after the baby boom post WWII, DC's introduction to Wonder Woman ensured she would be more than just a superhero from the opposite sex; she was willing to explore other worlds past the Amazon island she lived in for years, especially after meeting the mortal human known as Steve Trevor. A power dynamic like this was not only groundbreaking at the time, but it was also way before we had corporate Hollywood trying to go for the "girlboss" cliche that thankfully wasn't a thing with the 2017 Wonder Woman movie. It honestly feels a bit odd going back to when Wonder Woman's costume design felt even simpler in design than the mental image of her, be it pre-Crisis or New 52/Rebirth, but it is always a treat to see Todd McFarlane do a First Appearance version of her, as he had done with her fellow Trinity members, Superman and Batman. Let's see how well she and her questionable choice of a Red Platinum companion turned out for this review!
Here we have Wonder Woman in-hand, being a heavy retool of the Collector Edition Wonder Woman we got nearly 2 years ago. The boots are annoyingly the same, but we have bare arms with wrist covers applied on as parts you could slide off if you'd like, as well as a torso with simpler detail representing the logo & a skirt that contains several stars applied nicely and crisply. While this look appears very dated and plain compared to what Wonder Woman's costume is usually known for, it still has the same strokes we would spot in future versions of herself; these include the color scheme, stars, and eagle on her chest. I wish the eagle were either a proper shade of yellow or a golden paint application if we're not going to go with the flat-surface approach for the chest detailing. As for the use of her legs, I think they make more sense for her to keep them than with either Hawkgirl or Power Girl, depending on how some feel about the latter's scale, though some may find this specific design not matching the build she had at the time.
Her head sculpt captures the time period where a woman who looked like Diana was considered to be the most attractive one could ever be. Long before we had the various preferences and hair styles, in fact! Her tiara is a more traditional yellow compared to the logo on her chest, though the red star could have been painted better. Her articulation is the same with every McFarlane figure, though there is only one torso joint and she also has no toe joints. Due to the length of her skirt, her leg movement may be limited somewhat.
Her alternate accessories are solely the same hands that came with the original Collector Edition Wonder Woman. Fists make perfect sense if she is going to punch someone like Hitler in some vintage comic art, splayed open hands are great for more gestural poses, what purpose will those accessory holding hands serve is she has nothing to hold?! Not even a Lasso of Truth is included! I can defend McFarlane from a lot of the dumbass complaints people still use, but this is inexcusable, blud!
Here we have her along with Silver Age Batman and Fleischer Superman. I don't have the proper First Appearance versions of the World's Finest, but these two work better if you pretend Batman would later get bulkier somewhat to better fight stronger criminals, while Superman's COIE body is better than the Rebirth/Hush body. These three each maintain the aesthetics commonly found in the older era of comic books, from the hairstyle and facial structure of Wonder Woman matching the appearance of any model from the mid-20th century, while Batman's shading on his mask and the eye shape on both him and Superman evoke that sort of squinting, heroic male you'd find in older comics when they wouldn't normally draw eyes realistically.
As for Steve Trevor, he is a seemingly new mold with the sleeves possibly belonging to the Riddler from The Batman and I guarantee you this is the one version of the character you will need if you want to go for the side characters. Other than Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and the rare instance of Lois Lane, you could argue that Steve only had a sliver of merch representing old dolls from the Mego days, yet not even the first Wonder Woman movie could increase the amount considering how superhero toylines work nowadays versus back then. To have a comic version of the character that's articulated and in scale with the other figures in the line works great, and I love that the jacket had been painted nicely with all the straps, buckles, buttons, and badges picked out. Hell, if you don't care about comic books, you could repurpose him as a generic US soldier. The sleeves are a bit distracting for being wrinkled up compared to the jacket, but the only other issue I have would bre the knee joints being slightly mismatched; it's not as bad as on some pinless Legends but still.
His head sculpt captures that classic WWII recruitment vibe with a confident American man encouraging his fellow citizens to avenge Pearl Harbor and stand against Nazi Germany and those associated with them. That being said, blue eyes and blonde hair could make him another Steve. Not Steve Howard, a disguise that Trevor took one time, but Steve Trevor, a character from the house of ideas you may recognize for having a star spangled costume and a mighty shield. Trevor lacks a shield but he does come with a gun, and it's a miracle that he got one after the stupid WB regulated firearm ban for their mercy was lifted. Makes me wonder why Two-Face didn't get one in the digital wave!
Being Page Punchers, these two come with a comic book in the form of a reprint of Wonder Woman No. 1. This goes over the titular character's origins as being born from a clay statue before getting retconned as the daughter of Zeus. It also goes over the history of when Steve Trevor first met Wonder Woman and the beginning of their chemistry. The problem is that they share the same comic when having a subsequent comic could have encouraged fans to get one after owning the other. Granted, this may explain why Steve is a Red Platinum, and it would make sense for him to not come with one, but 1) wouldn't fans want to have him for their collection to show some proper Wonder Woman mythos rep after years of just her variant costumes and Gal Gadot retools before we have a classic version, and 2) we could avoid the issue that came with the Page Punchers wave featuring Superman, Batman, Black Adam, and Constantine where everyone has the same comic issue.
Regardless, it is always cool to go back to the past and revisit some old comics that were a blast. I'd still prefer that Steve Trevor come with his own comic to continue the story, however. At least the old art is kept intact and crisp for a reprint.
Anyone think how Steve Trevor feels about Absolute Wonder Woman, or the Absolute universe as a whole?
Here we have Steve Trevor sandwiched between versions of Wonder Woman present and past. He is shorter than them but it makes sense if we remember that Amazonians are usually as tall as men around 6 feet. Maybe Golden Age Diana should be the same height if she is meant to be the younger version of the character, but the older Diana works fine. I think both figures are generally good, but they will have to share the same decent score for different reasons: Wonder Woman's tooling is always great, but the lack of consistency between the two shades of yellow and the lack of accessories for one pair of her hands takes points away greatly. Steve Trevor could have come with maybe an alternate head without his hat on or maybe another accessory holding hands with a flask or grenade (something military related), but more importantly, he should have come with a different comic! Thankfully, Wonder Woman is easier to track down, but good luck with Steve Trevor given his Red Platinum mark.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for both)
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