Superhero of the Month - Sally Felton's Wonder Woman

After an incredible amount of submissions that made August's contest our most successful competition yet, Sally Felton's Wonder Woman emerged at the top of the pile! And what a submission it is!

Sally Felton - 61/70

All of our judges gave Sally's piece insanely high marks, and while it was -- as always -- a close competition, Sally's piece was the sole entry to break into the 60's of our combined scores.

Sally has the option to guest-judge our Darth Vader contest, and will automatically be entered in our anniversary contest.

Our critiques follow, and be sure to check out the full post to see the runners up!

Alex: This was the only piece I gave a perfect 10. I really enjoyed everything about it. She still looks like a woman, even though she's 90% covered up. The high-collar/shoulder/chest armor simply makes sense, and I appreciate that it ties in well with the belt and bracelets. Speaking of that belt, nice inclusion of the logo!

Let's talk about that bottom half. Pants done right, in my opinion, and a brilliant way of including the traditional stars. I love the star-zipper boots, and the inclusion of the red is inspired. It's a fine way of keeping things from getting monotonous and allows the pants and boots to stand out, rather than bleed into one another. The only thing I'm not 100% sold on are the high heels (based on practicality issues), but everything else is so spot on, I can easily let it go.

Mitch: This is a nice costume. It's got nice solid colors, it's got a warrious feel without losing the superhero charm, which I believe to be a big thing about Wonder Woman. The pants are very well done and look great with the sash above it and nice boots. My nitpicks are few. That collar? Love it but for a person who uses mobility as well as Wonder Woman does, a tight fitting collar might get in the way. Maybe it was a little
shorter? And I've never liked WW in heels.

Chantaal: I absolutely love this one. I'm not so sure about the heels from a practical standpoint, but the rest of it is incredibly sleek and eyecatching. I love the star spangled pants, the high boots, the little sash with the Wonder Woman logo on the front. The colors are also great, especially on the boots, I love the red swirls on them, makes things interesting and catches the eye.

Dee: This is actually my favourite of the top 5 redesigns.  I love the pants/sash combo, and how the w traditionally over her chest has been incorporated into her collar/neck piece.  It's very modern, and yet sleek and attractive as well.

Angel: I like this one a lot. I think the coloring is one of my favorite parts of it, because it manages to mix a darker crimson with the more traditional normal red. The pants are probably my favorite part of it, because the stars kind of pull everything together, I think. The boots worry me a little, if only because I'm not sure how easy it'd be to move in ones that come above the knee like these do, but I love both the swirls and the coloring.

Lina: I love this one, I do. It was one of my favourites out of the originals. Sure the heels are a little impractical but it makes sense to me. A great colour scheme and the trousers seems very modern and practical at the same time. Plus I love the neck piece.

Ashley: I really liked this design.  Like y'all, the boots worry me a bit in functionality but then again Wonder Woman's boots typically do have a bit of a heel so that part doesn't bother me as much as the height of them.  I just think thigh high boots in general wouldn't work well for superheroines.  I also really love the color schemes and that it's not bright in your face but a deeper shade of blue and crimson.  While I'm not a huge fan of pants on Wonder Woman, I do like the stars on these pants.  My favorite part might be the WW on the belt/sash.

Runners up after the jump!

Brian Post - 58/70

Mitch: OK, honestly I gave this a perfect score. I love everything about it: how the WW design on her chest connects to the back through armored shoulder pads, the subtle detailing the lines on the stomach give, like it's not spandex but rather something stitched together. The collar is a nice touch and the fact the stars continue on the boots are excellent. If he would have added stars any where else, such as the pants, it'd been overkill. I literally have no complaints about this.


Ashley: I absolutely LOVE this one.  It might have been one of my favorites out of all the contestants.  I love the armor feel yet it's not HEAVY.  The stars on the boots instead of the briefs is a nice change up.  It seems Brian was keeping with the shoulder pads theme that Jim Lee was going with in all the redesigns.  But I really like that there's stars on the shoulder pads for Diana. One of my favorite bits about this is the small detail of the star on the hilt of the sword.  I would have liked it to be red, but I can look past that.  The only problems I had with this was that instead of the tiara, she's got a necklace type thing and also the tops of the boots.  I just think the flaring out may cause an issue and should just be below the knee.  I also like that Diana's boobs aren't blatantly hanging out.  This design is a nod to the star spangled briefs but it's got a little bit of a different feel to it.

Lina: This just makes me think that it would be heavy. However, amount of bling aside, I like how it hangs off her shoulders in the way and how she has a sword. Just yes.


Angel: I love the sword in this one. I'm not a huge fan of the silver gauntlets, but I love the general "warrior" vibe that comes from so much of it clearly being heavy and metal and shiny.

Dee: One of my favourite bits about this one is the way they've changed the bodice around.  I love that it's higher cut, and that it goes over the shoulders now.

Chantaal: If we have to have her in the shorts, these will do! The boots and shoulders totally make up for the shorts, and I love tha she's got the added sword. It makes her seem so much more bad@$#.


Alex: There's a lot I like here, but the red and blue portions don't deviate too much from the traditional Wonder Woman uniform for me. I absolutely love the armored elements, though -- particularly the shoulder coverage. I also appreciated the idea of making the tiara a necklace/choker based on the impracticality of it staying on. Oh, and I think the stars on the boots is a killer idea.

Xerina - 56/70

Lina: This one has great colouring and seems to remind the most of the older costumes. Maybe it is just the lasso, but I also love the W usage.


Dee: I really enjoy the use of colour on this one, and the way her traditional W symbol and eagle have been used.

Chantaal: The corseting! Not a fan of it seeming to be metal, but I love the color blocking and the look of it. The pants are a little plain here, but I think they work really well with all that's going on up top and with the boots.


Mitch: Gold armor looks nice. I really wish I could see the design on the chest a bit more. From here I think I can make out a "WV". The armor on the stomach looks nice but I can't help but think maybe a bit more red peeking through would really help it. Without it, I think the red you already have is just kind of there to be there. Not too sure about the silver belt, but I like it's design so I'm not going to complain too much. Ha! I JUST noticed the stars on the knees. And finishing off with heels. There are a lot of nice design elements here and I think that with a few tweaks here and there, it could be an amazing WW costume. But right now I see a hodge-podge of costumes with a lot of potential.


Angel: Love the W! Love that the boots are heels but more practical than most. The corset is probably my favorite part of the entire thing though, and I love that there's the illusion of cleavage without her boobs actually hanging out.

Alex: After Sally's, I think Xerina best exemplified the full-coverage Wonder Woman concept. The top is nicely armored, and the red boots really pop out against the black pants. I suppose it just doesn't quite say "Wonder Woman" like some of the others did for me. And I mean that in the most minuscule of ways. I think maybe if there were some stars somewhere on the pants, it'd work for me more. But I love this, I'd absolutely read a book with Wonder Woman in this uniform.

Ashley: I just don't like pants on Wonder Woman...I can't exactly say why, but I just don't. And if she's going to wear pants, can we put some stars on it?  Or at least the WW logo?  Some sort of accent maybe?  The massive amounts of gold on her midsection really throws me off too, then to have the logo/belt in silver?  It's a jarring mix for me.  One of my biggest issues with this was the off the shoulder type straps on the top.  Diana would need some fashion tape to hold that in place.  I do enjoy the gold accents on the boots and the crown.  The design is very sleek and streamlined but it's not necessarily my cup of tea.

Muhammad Usman - 56/70

Angel: This one definitely embodies a warrior look, and I think that's my favorite part of it. I love the pleating and the stars on the skirt, and definitely love the subtle W integration. The shoes are great too. I feel like a lot of the entries put her in heels, but they definitely wouldn't go with this re-imagination, and I'm glad the artist chose to go this route.


Ashley: Another one of my favorites out of all the contestants.  This just screams fierce warrior yet feminine.  A true Greek warrior goddess would definitely wear this to fight for truth, justice, and love.  The gladiator style skirt with the stars is a nice touch.  I'm not sure about the boots, but they aren't over the knee and don't have a heel so they seem that they would prove to be functional for Diana. I would have loved to have a more prominent Wonder Woman symbol somewhere but again, I can overlook that because I just love this design.  Also, where's the lasso?

Dee: This is another one of my favourites.  I love that it looks so much more martial and that it has been inspired by Roman armour designs. She truly looks like a warrior princess in this.

Mitch: I always have liked the pleated skirt design for WW. It reminds everyone she's this sort of ancient figure brought back into the modern day. Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to say about this particular design. Take away that WW on the chest and it could be just a typical warrior woman. Even the WW has been downplayed a bit. It's a solid design, really, but feels fairly generic. I really wish you had spiced it up some how.My only real design complaint are those boots. I get you wanted to add a bit more color to her feet but those blue parts are just out of nowhere. I can see where you tried to tie it together with a bit of blue at the end of the wristband but in my opinion it just doesn't work. I like the yellow lines though. They are there to simulate sandals right? I guess what I'm trying to say here is I can see WW wearing this in a sort of flashback to when she was training or something but not as a main thing. It's just not striking enough.

Chantaal: Funny story: I showed the top five to my sister, and her complaint with this one was that Wonder Woman looked too much like a warrior (like Xena), to which I had to explain that she WAS a warrior princess. She had no idea that was her backstory, and I suppose part of that is her design, which makes this one so great. I love the pleats, I love the blue and red of the corset and I love the little touch of the cape over her shoulders.

Alex: Warrior princess definitely describes Muhammad's redesign. She looks combat-ready; I like the armored look of her clothes. The only thing I think is missing here is a sword in hand.

Lina: This sort of seems like the best of all worlds. It's got a definite Roman/Greek feel to it and while it is a little bit girly you can see her fighting in it. Definitely something that makes a statement. The cape might get in the way, but surely it can be detachable. She's a blast.

Johansi - 54/70

Dee: There are things I love and things I hate about this one.  I don't really like the skirt, but the boots and the bodice are both very strong.  I also like the changed up hair and headband.


Angel: I like the high neckline on this one, just for a change of pace, but the bottoms (or lack thereof) bother me a lot. I can't tell if she's wearing bottoms and the skirt's there for decoration's sake, or the skirt is all that's going on. I really worry about someone seeing the back of this outfit!

Chantaal: The of the lack of shorts/pants/etc. is killing me! But I do like the boots and design of the Wonder Woman symbol on her top, as well the gauntlets.

Ashley: Love the eagle logo on the chest of this design.  I also like the top in general.  It's functional (I'm using that word a lot).  Her boobs aren't about to pop out; in fact, they are in NO danger of popping out.  But what is in danger of being shown is below the belt.  The top is covered well and then we move down and there's barely a skirt there. It's a loin cloth basically. I understand WW is used to the high cut bikini bottoms but if you're going to cover her top up that much, why leave her bottom so exposed?  I like that Johansi kept the traditional red with white stripe boots but what's with the knee pads added?  It seems unnecessary and uncharacteristic of the rest of the design.

Mitch: Personally, I've always liked the WW-eagle design and this one is a nice version of that, bringing the armoured wings around towards the back. This outfit just screams flexibility. Everything about this is designed to move. Not too sure about the drawstring crisscross bit on the stomach. I think the lines did enough of a job bringing top to bottom there. I like the bit of... hanging fabric? What is that? But I honestly have to complain about how small her bikini bottom is.  It's barely there! And that's not just a personal thing, it really clashes with the girdle top she's in. A lot of skin covered up top and that small bikini is just a bit odd. I like the wrappings on the legs and think they add a nice touch. Boots are nice. If it wasn't for that white stripe, I'd be complaining, but the stripe really adds something to the boots. And really, with the blue banners with white stars, the red and white striped boots, and the eagle up top, this is feeling like an old-school American Hero Wonder Woman.

Lina: I like the top half of this one, but the bottom half sort of confuses me. I find the lack of really any bottom to be somewhat troubling. However I do like the headband change up and I kind of love the new bodice.

Alex: I really didn't expect there to be so much controversy with this one! I had an entirely different interpretation of Johansi's....lower half. I took it that she's wearing the shorts underneath the barely-there skirt. I checked with Johansi to clear up the confusion:

"She definitely has some shorts under[neath]. I tried to make her loin cloth/gladiator skirt a darker color than her underpants, to differentiate the two[.]"

If you go big on the image, you can see that the two sections are colored just differently enough to give the impression that she's got the mini-shorts on underneath that cloth there, but that doesn't show up as clearly in the smaller version.

Anyways, I really liked this piece. I loved the armored eagle chest piece and complete lack of...spillage...worry. And those boots look functional and ready to deliver a healthy kicking.

And now a few post-critique notes...

So there you have it! Wonder Woman winners and runners-up! Some of you eagle-eyes may notice that Xerina and Muhammad tied in scores. We've had it brought up before about how we should include other submissions to make up for the tie. While I'm down with that, the next highest score was 53/70, and we had a three-way tie between Robert Schilling, TBranch and Hector Barros in that department. Considering that this post is already lengthy, I opted not to have everyone provide commentary on those additional pieces, but it's something we may consider in the future.

Before we sign off, I'd like to thank the Girls Read Comics crew for their immense contribution this month. They have been an absolute blast to work with, and it's been fun to get their perspective on the fantastic submissions we've received. I hope you all will visit their site, drop them a hello, and thank them for their input this month.

Let us know what you think of this month's winner and runners up in the comments below! Superhero of the Month is going on a short break, but we'll be back September 7 with all of the Darth Vader submissions we've received up to that point. Check out the Darth Vader Contest Announcement for all the details, and feel free to send them in at any point; they're not due until September 23.

See you soon!