Warning: Spoilers for Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed.
While we may have to wait longer to see Chris Pine play veteran heartthrob Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman: 1984, DC Comics have given us our Steve Trevor fix in a new graphic novel. The thing is, it’s a Steve Trevor like never before.
Earlier this month, DC Comics dropped the new graphic novel Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson, Leila del Duca, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Saida Temofonte. The graphic novel is a new take on Wonder Woman’s origin story and follows her as a teenager on the Amazon island of Themyscira.
As the graphic novel’s synopsis goes:
“Princess Diana of Themyscira believes that her 16th birthday will be one of new beginnings—namely, acceptance into the warrior tribe of the Amazons. But her birthday celebrations are cut short when rafts carrying refugees break through the barrier that separates her island home from the outside world. When Diana defies the Amazons to try to bring the outsiders to safety, she finds herself swept away by the stormy sea. Cut off from everything she’s ever known, Diana herself becomes a refugee in an unfamiliar land.”
“Now Diana must survive in the world beyond Themyscira for the first time—a world that is filled with danger and injustice unlike anything she’s ever experienced. With new battles to be fought and new friends to be made, she must redefine what it means to belong, to be an Amazon, and to make a difference.”
“Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is a story about growing into your strength, fighting for justice, and finding home.”
Steve… AND Trevor?
Clearly, this graphic novel is a new take on the archetypes within the Wonder Woman mythos. But possibly the biggest change to the story was done to Steve Trevor. Normally, Steve Trevor acts as an ally and love interest to Diana Prince. But now, Steve Trevor is not only out of the running to become Wonder Woman’s lover, but he’s also been changed into two men. Two men who are, coincidentally, married to each other.
As WeGotThisCovered reports, Diana lands in Greece in the graphic novel. Like the hero that she is, Diana comes to the rescue of a young girl who is being mistreated by soldiers running a refugee camp. It’s there that she meets a United Nations inspector named Steve Chang and his husband Trevor.
But that’s not all, not only was Steve Trevor turned into two gay men, but they are also two gay men of color. Steve Chang is an Asian-American medical physician and Trevor is an African-American soldier. This isn’t the first time that the character has been “racebent,” however. Steve Trevor was re-imagined as a Black soldier back in 2016 by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette in their Wonder Woman: Earth One series.
Of course, this creative choice is interesting for many reasons. First, it brings diversity to the story with two men of color acting as aids and allies to Wonder Woman’s world. But also, it creates more LGBTQ representation in the DC mythos. Though, this isn’t the first time that LGBTQ factors have played a role in a Wonder Woman story. Back in Greg Rucka’s 2016 take on Wonder Woman’s origin story, Diana’s bisexuality stood front and center. When speaking on the decision, Rucka said to CBR:
“It’s supposed to be paradise. You’re supposed to be able to live happily. You’re supposed to be able — in a context where one can live happily, and part of what an individual needs for that happiness is to have a partner — to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship. And the only options are women…But an Amazon doesn’t look at another Amazon and say, ‘You’re gay.’ They don’t. The concept doesn’t exist.”
With that in mind, we celebrate this Steve and Trevor idea presented in Tempest Tossed. DC Comics regularly produces new takes on characters’ origin stories, just look at the recent Aqualad graphic novel, and we appreciate new and creative ideas presented in each one. And making room for queer people of color is a bonus as well.
But if you want to directly see how the characters are delivered in the graphic novel, Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is out now.
Sources: CBR, WeGotThisCovered
