First woman to write five issue arc of Wonder Woman.

by: Lufguy 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 16 hours ago 1

Email Article  Print Article

Per Pop Candy

Thanks to the success of Picoult’s comics-inspired novel, The Tenth Circle, DC Comics has recruited the writer to pen a five-issue arc of Wonder Woman. Not only does this make Picoult one of the first female Wonder Woman writers (believe it!), this adds her to a growing list of novelists turned comics scribes.

Last week Picoult called me between stops on the book tour for her new novel, Nineteen Minutes. (The book peaked at No. 2 on USA TODAY’s top 100 list.) Here’s what she had to say about being a real Wonder Woman and writing the fictional one:

Hi, Jodi. I wanted to talk to you about this new gig, because I’m a big comics fan, and I was so psyched to read a Wonder Woman issue that was finally written by a woman.

Yeah, go figure, huh?

So how did it come about, DC contacted you?

They did. My 13th novel (The Tenth Circle) had a graphic novel embedded in it, and the main character was a comic book penciller. And someone at DC Comics had read it. They contacted me over the summer by e-mail and said, “Would you be interested in writing Wonder Woman?” And I remember thinking, you know, That’s really cool, but I don’t have any time to do that.

I actually wound up going down to dinner and talking to my kids and my husband about it, and my kids looked at me and they were like, “Mom, you totally have to write Wonder Woman!” So I wound up reorganizing my life a little bit and writing five issues for them. It was great fun. I just turned in my fifth issue. It’ll actually come out on time, which I know is a big deal in the comic-book industry, so it’s all good.

So were you a Wonder Woman fan before they asked you?

You know, when I was a kid, I actually read X-Men a lot. I read Wonder Woman sporadically, but certainly not passionately. And yeah, you know, she’s a cultural icon. It required doing a lot of research on my end so that I did know where the character had originated, how she’s changed over the years. I mean, she’s 66 years old, so you can’t just sit down and decide to make it all up.

In terms of writing comics, did you study sequential art at all?

Well, I was fortunate in that when I went to college, one of the kids who lived across the hall from me was Jim Lee, and, of course, he’s an incredibly famous comic-book penciller now. And when I wanted to write The Tenth Circle, I contacted him. I came out to San Diego, and I spoke to him about what he does, how he writes, how he came about to envision the characters that he’s worked on, to really kind of get down in a nutshell not only what the comic-book industry is, but how a penciller goes about approaching his art, because that was a really important concern for me.

So, in a way, I had sort of background knowledge of how the comics industry was put together and how a script can turn into finished art and how the collaboration goes between a penciller and the writer. But I had come at it first, ironically, from the penciller’s side. So I had to then go back to it as a writer.

What rules did DC give you? Did they tell you what you could and couldn’t do with the character?

Yeah. Like, right off the bat, I tried to get her out of her bustier, ‘cause let’s face it, no woman would ever fight crime in one. But that was a no-no. (Laughs) And basically, if I had made a misstep Like, for example, if you want to have another character from the Justice League in your book, you have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to make sure they can guest star.

For the most part, what surpsised me was trying to organize my narrative into 22 pages and to really have to focus on pacing and action vs. dialogue, and how to get my story across in a very finite format, because, obviously, when you write a novel you have all the time and space in the world.

I love that the first issue is probably the first time we’ve ever heard a feminist theory class being referenced in a Wonder Woman comic.

(Laughs) Isn’t that fun? And that was kind of a nod to the fact that there was a very famous piece about Wonder Woman that was written about Gloria Steinem and whether or not she’s supposed to be a feminist icon or, if based on what she is and what she does, she’s more restricting to the female psyche or whatever.

I think that one of the great bits of fun I had with this book was being able to sort of pepper it with cultural references. I think that’s the beauty of comics. I think the fact that they can offer social satire is really important and really fun to do as a writer.

And what’s important about that particular scene in the book, too, is that it comes immediately after Diana Prince is having a little pity party for herself on a park bench because she just doesn’t get it. She can’t figure out what she’s supposed to do to make things better. And I think that’s again something many women struggle with. When you think about how the word “wonder woman” is used culturally today, it’s a label for the woman who’s jugggling career and family and private life. And even if they’re making it look easy, knowing it’s never easy. I think that’s something I wanted to tap into when writing the book as well.

Did you write it thinking or hoping more female readers would pick it up?

Absolutely. It was very hard to gauge her readership. She obviously is drawn for the adolescent male. She has a lot of adult male fans reading her because of that and who are very tied to her and want to make sure she’s not ruined by anybody. She has a huge gay following for both men and women. I think that DC has always hoped she would be a superhero for young women as well, but many of them at this point are reading Japanese comics.

Again, I think part of the answer to that is coming up with a story that makes Wonder Woman someone you can relate to, not just someone you can admire.

Since your kids encouraged you to do it, what do they think of the finished product?

OK, well here’s the big joke: The book has sold so well that I couldn’t get one in the state of New Hampshire, and I tried about eight places! I actually just had to have a copy shipped to me by my editor on tour.

My middle son, he was in many ways my research helper, because he is a huge comic book fan. He was with me when I was doing a lot of the background research on Wonder Woman, and he was reading it along the way and saw not just my script, but how my script turned into art and then how the art was lettered, and what it starts to look like in a comic-book format. I think it’s been really interesting for him to see how much work goes into it.

There’s this misconception that a comic book is something disposable and that it’s pulp fiction, so it’s not something anyone should give any credence to. And, actually, it’s a phenomenal amount of work for the writer, the penciller and the editor, not to mention anyone else involved in the process. I’ve been made much more aware of that by being a part of it.

Do you read many comics?

I read graphic novels. I was a big fan of Neil Gaiman’s stuff, I think he’s brilliant. And I read the stuff that Brad Meltzer did as well, because he, too, was a novelist who crossed over into the dark side. But the serial comics are the ones we usually buy for my son.

So what else are you working on now?

I’m working on standing and remaining upright while I’m on book tour. (Laughs) I actually finish the American book tour (this week) and I launch straight into a book tour in the UK, where they’ll be publishing the book as well. And then I will go back home and edit the 2008 book, and I’ve finished the research for the 2009 book and will write that after I finish with the 2008 one.

Wow. Well, I hope you eventually return to comics.

You know, I’d love to. I’ve been asked by my editors if I would consider doing it, and I absolutely would in a heartbeat. She was great fun. I really hope that people enjoy where the art goes and where she goes as a character. Right now I have to do my real job, but I’d love to go back to it one day.