By Edgar Miraculous Dyer
Outfitted, head-to-toe, in cobalt and dark orange, Kirbyesque armor and known as 'the Viking' among his compadres, Siegfried is mythical Odin's invulnerable, dragonslayer grandson! He is every little boy, who ever charged across a playground, TWIG for sword...vowing death to the Dogwood tree on the other side, ..and the newest member of Wonder Woman's classic, supporting cast!
Why is this a HUGE deal?
One of the biggest surprises I have ever had, as sometimes fanboy journalist, has been having senior comixeurs, who read Golden Age Wonder Woman comics in the 1940s and '50s, tell me ETTA CANDY, the Amazing Amazon's cowgirl-coed sidekick, ..was their favorite character in the comic, ..next to Wondy, herself! It's a kick, as a kangalier (ride-or-die Wondafan), just to chat up an original Golden or Silver Age fan - a nigh religious experience! An even bigger surprise, I am still processing...
They were guys. Almost all were guys.
Want to KNOW WONDER WOMAN, the way I know Wonder Woman? You've got to get ALL THE WAY down to the... STAR-SPANGLED PANTIES!
They told me Wonder-creator William Marston's war-era Etta was funny, fearless, sharp-shooting, tough as a boy and spared no Ratzi louse, time-lost tyrant, racketeer or subatomic invader ..the beatin' of their natural lives!
"Etta was like us!" One octogenarian Korean War vet confided in a Silver Spring, MD comic shop. Another shared, "Roy Roger's had Gabby Hayes! Batman had Robin, and Wonder Woman had Etta--she was ours."
I was dumbfounded to hear that.
Considering how boys typically rally around male heroes in popular fiction - I did, once - I'm still digesting it, ..but it makes a sort of quirky sense here, really. For whatever reason, while Wonder Woman has had a few superhuman male companions passing through, over the years, there is no and never has been ..a Wonder-boy. Batman's got Huntress, Batgirl and Catwoman. Superman's got Supergirl, Natasha Irons and Maxima. After World War II, the Wonderverse hasn't been so lucky, keeping a 'Mister Wonder' around...
Until now!
Etta Candy, unlike Robin the Boy Wonder, never wore a fabulously colorful costume ..or had any super-powers, like Wonder Girl or Supergirl, ..but 'Siggy' is checking both of those superhero boxes, hot out of the Wonder-guy wrapper! That is why the Viking prince's introduction to the Wonderverse - blame creators, 'Nightwing' artist Travis Moore and 'Infinite Frontier' writers Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan - is such a big, [Rhymes with trucking!] deal. After decades with no official costumed, magic Wondefellas onboard...
What will the Wonder Woman comic do with him?
The most important hero of Germanic folklore, Siegfried is celebrated for his cleverness and courage, more than his god-born strength and fighting prowess. He's thousands of years old, has conferred (drank) with gods and heroes of Asgard, made love to Valkyries and Amazons ..and probably didn't get to be immortal, being a crash dummy! We can only imagine what cool, supernatural tricks this swashbuckling prince of Vikings must have picked up, along the way!
What will be Siggy's role or Scotty-like purpose in the Wonderverse? What will be Siggy's job?
While Diana...Wonder Woman, daughter of mythical, immortal Amazons - pulp-inspired adventurer - is certainly qualified to be her own occult expert, I think the occult is big and weird enough to call in an advisor or two. Will Siegfried, dragonslayer and Col. Steve Trevor's new flat-mate, become Wonder Woman's occult expert, now? With four expert combatants in her army...
Could one more mystic ..hurt?
Siegfried has to do something, when he isn't fighting monsters or hogging Steve's sauna with his Scandinavian friends. Like real-life Scandinavian expats in DC (where I live), who live in the sauna and probably work for the U.S. State Department, this Viking prince is a special agent for DC Comics' fictional, U.S. government super-agency, Project Checkmate, ..working right beside Col. Trevor! There's fertile soil for X-filesy, super-Washington intrigue and comedy, with Siggy around!
Siggy and Steve together, alone, ..are a sitcom.
So far, Wonder Woman's adventures in Asgard and Washington have shown him to be a superhumanly strong and fast, mystically invulnerable dragonslayer with a magic sword. Siggy's costume, designed by artist Travis Moore, is worthy of classic TV cartoons, Halloween and pajama prints.
I'm over-twelve, ..now. [Ha!] So, I want the Siegfried, Prince of Vikings action figure! Gimme' the Ben Cooper Halloween costume, too.
Maybe a James Brown wig! Right on. Orale.
With cartoons and lunchboxes just over the horizon, the Viking is already laying siege to social media, ..and the Siggy-driven matchmaking on CBR Community and other platforms has been vicious!
Not even his roommate, ex-Wonderbeau Col. Steve Trevor has escaped the speculative shipping. While I'd love to see him in a flirty, age-bending thing with Wonder Woman's silver-haired, paleontologist galpal, Dr. Julia, ..what about getting Siegfried and DONNA TROY, together?!
With Siggy just a few thousand years, separated from his crazy, Valkyrie ex and powerful, 1940s Wonder-villain, Gundra, I would LOVE to see writers turn that into a segue for something with equally bombastic warrior angel, Donna! A Donna-Siggy match could occasionally pull her into the Wonder Woman comic for a team-up, ..while subsequently (less frequently) bringing Siggy OUT of the comic, to shine in team-ups with the new Titans United, HOT from DC Comics' Dark Crisis mult-title, crossover event!
Want to KNOW WONDER WOMAN, the way I know Wonder Woman? You've got to get ALL THE WAY down to the... STAR-SPANGLED PANTIES!
This is Siegfried, fabled dragonslayer and Odin, king of Asgard's grandson. Thor [Thor!] is his tio. Ms. Troy could do plenty worse [Roy, Wally, Dick, Roy, Roy, Ro-ooyyiee...] for a new boyfriend, ..and I think hard-riding Wondafans are ready to see Donna, after so many years ignored, become a semi-regular (every 3-4 issues) character in the Wonder Woman comic. Tying her to a regular is a narratively sustainable way to accomplish that...
And don't we gotta' get Wonder Woman back to Asgard, somehow...for Ratatosk the Doomsday Squirrel? He's so cute. Back to Valhalla...for Thirsty THORS-days! For free rail drinks and dark beer! Our man Siegfried the Viking - he can hook that up. Maybe, that's his job! See? Think about that (Diana).
Siegfried's introduction to the Wonderverse, with his own stylized costume, mythical background, magic sword and POWERS, ..is a big, freaking deal.
While not the first, he is one of the ONLY male superheroes to assume a costumed companion role (Batgirl, Supergirl, Mary Marvel, etc), ..in a comic headlined by Wonder Woman! That is a narrative meteor-strike that promises to change the way many current and future male fans will relate to Wonder Woman's on-going story. It promises to change how some boys and men, who regularly read the comic, consider her relevance to the DC Universe, to pop culture - maybe, even what role we see ourselves playing in the real-world socio-political struggles of women.
Through Siggy's trusted friendship with the most famous superheroine in the world, in the social safety of the pop culture lab, which is the Wonder Woman comic, ..Wonder fanboys, big and small, get to see ourselves as something other than an inevitable, apocalyptic threat to the freedom and empowerment of our lovers, mothers and sisters.
I think male Wonder-fans of a certain age, who loyally watched Lynda Carter's 1970s TV show, are ready for that. I think male Wonder-fans, who fondly recall her friendship with silver-costumed cosmic enforcer, General Andros, ..are ready for that.
We've only been waiting for sixty-plus years. [Sigh]
Now, beer and juice-box powered fanboys alike ..have Siegfried the Viking to power-fantasy up with! To cosplay his Kirby-look costume, look for him in live-action blockbusters, CW shows, while quietly adding over-priced Siggy figures to our collectibles mantle - all that! I think Warner Bros is going to sell so many TOYS and related merchandise, because of the unique way Siggy makes it socially safe for some little boys to express interest in Wonder-stuff, ..and it's about damn time.
Bring it on!
Supergirl debuting in 1959...soon followed by Bat-Girl in 1961 ..invited girls and young women to imagine themselves in a world of power and heroic adventure, they didn't always feel welcome in! Now, their brothers, Wonder Woman's fanboys, sixty years after them, will answer the same call ..to follow our star-spangled, female Peter Pan into Neverneverlands undreamt of, under our own phantasmagorical power, in our own costumes ..and on KANGAS!
Thanks, DC Comics. Slow-asses.
Look alive, kangaliers!
Mel Dyer, without his fine, coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby (now moved on to that big, coyote-hatin' hate group in the Sky) continues a somewhat bleaker, dogless existence in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC. He has been an active member of the Latino Culture Council of the Capitol Area (El Consejo de Cultura Latina – La Zona del Capitolio) and the Kiwanis Club of Capitol Hill.
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