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When it comes to superheroes and teen sidekicks, Wonder Woman has to have the strangest history of them all. Originally it was just Diana, by herself. Then when Superboy caught on, we got tales of Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot and lord how I wish I was kidding.
Of course, when it was realized that part of Wonder Woman's origin was that she got all her magic powers as an adult and therefore the younger incarnations couldn't exist, Wonder Girl was turned into a seperate character, a young girl rescued by the Amazons and trained in their ways. Then Crisis happened, which screwed everything up.
A big moment was made out of Wonder Woman's arrival in the post-Crisis DC Universe. That would have been fine, except that Wonder Girl was already around. How could she have been inspired by Wonder Woman if WW hadn't shown up yet? So the retconning began. Fifty iterations later, the ex-Wonder Girl Donna Troy became simply Troia, clearing the way for a new Wonder Girl to be introduced later.
After helping Wonder Woman in her time of need, young Cassandra Sandsmark was given remarkable powers by Zeus. Now she uses those powers for good as a member of the re-formed Teen Titans!
When Cassie first showed up, she was, well, "dumpy." She wore a big black wig, thick goggles and a rather pedestrian costume. She first changed her look in an effort to attract the attention of Superboy, but being "outted" as Wonder Girl really helped her open up.
This figure is based on artist Mike McKone's designs for the new Teen Titans series. She's wearing all red, in a nod to Donna Troy's costume. Instead of a star-spangled unitard, though, she's got jeans and a shirt. She kept the black boots, though they're a new design, and she's got silver braclets much like Wonder Woman's.
If she's not doing more sit-ups than Huntress, then Cassie's got some sort of mystical force keeping her in shape. She's got the physique of a volleyball player, so it's no surprise she's showing it off. Her hair is detailed nicely, right down to the W-shaped hairband. Her face looks a bit too masculine, however - no idea what that's all about.
Wonder Girl is about 6 1/8" tall, which makes her look good next to her mentor. She moves at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees, and has joints hidden by her bracelets. Clutched in her right hand is her own magic lasso, a gift from Ares that has different properties than Wonder Woman's - where Diana's causes any who touch it to tell the truth, Cassie's seems to call down lightning.
When John Byrne created her, Cassie was never intended to interact with the DC Universe's other teen heroes - a rather unrealistic expectation, really. But whether her change from her frumpy outset to a more vivacious incarnation today is a good example of the character blossoming as she grows or low-brow pandering to under-sexed comic fans is something you'll have to decide.
What's the best Wonder Girl costume? Tell us on our message board, The Loafing Lounge.
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