My love for Wonder Woman has spanned more than three decades, as evident in the photo collage below. (I have to censor my kid face and my old face but I assure you, they’re me.)
(I don’t know what happened to the original Wonder Woman figurine in the kid photo, but I bought the same one on eBay in 2019, for nostalgia sake.)
When my boy classmates in primary school were talking about Superman this and Batman that, I was busy watching Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman and daydreaming I was her.
The George Perez Wonder Woman comic book run was first published in the US in 1986, but it wasn’t released in Indonesia until much later. I waited impatiently every month for the new issue, and I remember feeling distraught when the ninth month came and went and there was never a new issue. That was one of my earlier disappointments and many more would soon come.
Fast forward to a few years later when I could read and write English. I was probably around eleven. My family would go to this mall in Jakarta called Atrium Senen. While everyone was doing their own thing, I’d hang around in a tiny bookstore called Rubino. The store was basically a rectangle with sparse collection of books (mostly in English), with glass display counters that separate the staff area from the customer area.
For whatever reason, this bookstore (inside a mall in a not-so-great neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia) had a comic book section, but everything was locked in the display case. I was probably one of their very few customers. I remember purchasing Wonder Woman comic books and perhaps some other books about dinosaurs.
Customers were super rare and the very friendly staff (a guy and a girl, maybe in their twenties) would actually let me sit on a stool in the staff area behind the counter and give me comic books to read while I waited for my parents to fetch me.
(I forgot what the staff names were, but I hope they’re doing well and thriving.)
The mall didn’t do so well. The anchor department store (Yaohan) folded and its Jakarta outlet wasn’t attracting that many customers to begin with since it wasn’t exactly in a premium location.
The bookstore also closed (surprised, surprised), and for many years, I’d be Wonder-Woman-less.
Decades later, Gal Gadot’s Diana of Themyscira happened and blew me away. She was the highlight of Batman vs Superman (which I like) and Daddy Zack Snyder’s Justice League (which I also love, although it’s such a long movie).
And yes, I still think Wonder Woman 1984 is an amazing film. I loved the first Wonder Woman, but the second one hit me in all the right feels. But Pedro Pascal is just so hammy in there. I know a lot of people love him, but dude.
So, what exactly makes Wonder Woman my favorite superhero of all time?
She’s strong, super smart, disciplined, and compassionate. Although even as a child, I never felt sexually attracted to Diana. Heracles and Steve Trevor, on the other hand…
But out of all her powers, my favorites are her mastery of languages, especially the language of animals, and her proximity to magick. Justice League Dark is one of my favorite books of her (and Zatanna).
Then, of course, Diana is also queer, vegetarian, and an immigrant. I mean that’s basically me (minus the superpowers and the supermodel looks).
For National Superhero Day, I also gave Galadriel (Matt and Chrissy’s tuxedo cat) an Amethyst cosplay.
I never knew who bought the Amethyst comic books (in Indonesian). I must’ve been five or six when I found her comic books as I was rummaging through my older brother’s comic pile. She actually predated my discovery of Wonder Woman and was my first DC superhero love.
Amethyst is just fabulous. My birthstone is ruby but reading her comic book made me wish it was amethyst instead. Also, her adventures spawned my love for jewelry and shiny things.
Yeah, I was a super gay kid.
After her first short run in 1983 (my birthyear!) in Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld, Amethyst enjoyed two cute revival books (published in 2020 and 2021) that are geared toward young adults.
I’m not going to write anything about what Wade and Thor are wearing, because Marvel movies bore me, including Black Panther.
All I know is that Wade wears a Captain America costume (sans sleeve) and Thor wears a Thor cape.
So here they are:
Wade as Captain Arm-Merica (because the costume is sleeveless and he’s showing off his biceps)
Thor as… just Thor, I guess
Galadriel as Ameowthyst, Princess of Napworld
and Chrissy as Wonder Dude, Diana’s skanky, slutty very distant cousin who’s on her speed dial every time she needs a makeover, a rant, or a shoulder to cry on.
BTS Thoughts:
Chrissy’s Wonder Woman costume is from Hot Toys’ Wonder Woman parts that are modified. I cut out the eagle emblem and belt from the Wonder Woman Hot Toys BvS action figure. The boots and arm bracelet are also from the same figure. The bracelets are from the Wonder Woman Comic Version Hot Toys figure, and the tiara is borrowed from the new Wonder Woman 1984 Hot Toys figure.
I want Chrissy’s Wonder Woman outfit to be sexy and revealing because, well, that’s just the way he is.
Matt (Chrissy’s actual fiancé) is just not that into superheroes and the only other doll who’s into comic books is Wade (Chrissy’s fuck buddy). Unfortunately, Wade is the opposite of Chrissy in a lot of ways. Chrissy loves DC and hates Marvel, Wade loves Marvel and dislikes DC. Chrissy is a cat person and Wade is a dog person. Chrissy is a sub-bottom slut and Wade is a dom top.
But then again, that’s why opposites attract.
Dollsexposed showcases queer erotica, kink, fetish, and activism through twelve-inch doll photography. Their adventures in the doll world began in 2011 before establishing a home on dollsexposed.com eleven years later.
Dollsexposed's works have been displayed at Seattle Erotic Art Festival and Los Angeles Leather Getaway.