An Interview with John Byrne
by Michael David Thomas - 08-22-00
Excerpt:
MDT: Many were excited to you take on an icon and maybe do for her what you did for Superman. What were your goals for the Wonder Woman at the outset? Did you feel you achieved them? If not, what was left on the scrap heap?
JB: I was filled with trepidation, following in George Perez's very large footsteps, even a decade after the fact. I had enjoyed about 90% of what George did with the character, and saw ways I could address that "missing" 10% without damaging what he had done. So I did!
MDT: Some fans were disappointed with the direction you took Diana. What was your reaction when you saw some of the negative press on this series that you obviously worked so hard on? Did you feel it was warranted? If so, why? If not, why not?
JB: The negative responses mystified me. Mostly they seemed to come from the "anything that is different is wrong" mentality, so prevalent on the InterNet - but sometimes they seemed to come from utter confusion. Nothing I did altered in so much as a whit what George had done - though there were some things people thought George had done, which he actually had not, that I treated as presented, rather than as they thought it had been presented. Those were viewed as "changes", though in fact they were not. Mostly, my whole thrust was to give the character the kind of position she really deserved in the heirarchyt at DC. People would invoke the "Superman-Batman-Wonder Woman" triumverate, yet so often the fans dismissed Diana as a much-less-than-second rate character.
MDT: What was the reaction from DC on your work on Wonder Woman?
JB: I understand they have pretty much undone everything I did. Perhaps they want her a much-less-than-second-rate character.
