It’s been eight weeks since Wonder Woman has been released in theaters and the response has been explosive to say the least. The reaction has been astoundingly positive and has pretty much even further solidified Wonder Woman into legendary status. The movie exceed my expectations and there was definitely an appreciation for Wonder Woman.
A slight background information on myself: I was not a fan of Wonder Woman before this movie. I do not credit Wonder Woman for instilling empowerment for comics nor was she my introduction. My first impression of Wonder Woman was through the Justice League animated show on WB and I did not like her one bit. The female character that did spawn my jump into comics came from a little movie called Daredevil (2003) featuring Ben Affleck as the lead character. It was the training montage of Elektra that had catapulted me into stepping awkwardly to my first comic book store in Santa Cruz and introduced me one of my favorite bands, Evanescence.
The historical significance of watching Wonder Woman on screen in 2017 was not lost in me. Gal Gadot did a fantastic job portraying Wonder Woman and Chris Pine was surprisingly charming and dashing. The character that had perked me up was shown very briefly but in those moments, that same driving need that I felt when I saw Elektra burned again: Lucy Davis as Etta Candy.
Etta Candy was the plucky secretary that had helped Princess Diana disguise herself into Diana Prince. Etta’s few lines and brief action scene was enough to spur furious research into the character. Much to my surprise, Etta Candy was not just some random supporting character. She has been by Wonder Woman’s side since the beginning as her best friend, ally, and honorary Amazonian.
Granted this is all just brief articles that merely highlight how awesome Etta Candy is. Articles such as this one from io9 just kept the need to know more. The most basic information I have gleaned about Etta Candy has been:
- She made her appearance in Sensation Comics (1942)
- She is part of an amazing sorority, Beeta Lambda (I want to join this sorority!).
- Her good friends and sidekicks are the Holiday girls
- She says “Woo, woo!” and “For the Love of Chocolate”
There have been many, many incarnations of Etta Candy to follow along with DC’s dark and gritty image. The version I have been most drawn to are the original forties one from Sensation Comics and the version in The Legend of Wonder Woman by Renae De Liz.
The Legend of Wonder Woman by Renae De Liz was a really great follow up read after watching the movie. There are some major differences but the essence is very similar. Although the comic version of Diana was a bit too morose and had the life re-set button hit too frequently. I wasn’t reading this for Diana however. This comic was amazing for not introducing Etta Candy but also fleshing out her personality. This comic version of Etta was fierce, funny, and strong. So strong. She was headstrong and stood by her girls. She never hesitated to do whatever it took to protect them all.
I am loving, LOVING Etta Candy and I just want so much more. I am looking forward to reading and learning more about her. For Etta Candy is my hero and I hold my lollipop in solidarity with her!
Etta Candy in the movie (I haven’t read a lot of Wonder Woman comics) is a stand-out character, and reminds me of Jane’s sassy sidekick, the best character in the Thor movies. Whose name slips my mind, because I haven’t read a lot of Thor comics either, and don’t know her from them. If she’s even in them.
“It was the training montage of Elektra that … introduced me one of my favorite bands, Evanescence.”
Hah! You’re not alone on that one!
“The historical significance of watching Wonder Woman on screen in 2017 was not lost in me. Gal Gadot did a fantastic job portraying Wonder Woman”
After their previous miserable (literally) failures, it’s become obvious that DC has been waiting for Gadot all this time.
There were a few aspects of the Wonder Woman movie that kept me from liking it unreservedly (although I did like it), but the supporting cast, and Etta in particular, were not among those aspects. In fact, I wish there had been more of Etta (they could have easily took a few minutes at least from that rather drawn-out showdown with Ares at the end to make room for some extra screen-time for Etta).
I have to agree, Lucy Davis was note-perfect as Etta Candy. She’s one of my favourite DC supporting characters, and put me down as another who wished she had more on-screen time.
How does anyone not like any of the characters from the WB Justice League animated show? Wonder Woman or anybody? I mean, I kind of pity you that Garner’s Elektra was your crossover. Sometime between the animated Spiderman and Superfriends, and the modern era, it was pretty bleak. At least it wasn’t the Elektra movie. But yeah, both Evanescence and Etta are awesome.
Well, to be in that sorority you had to go through some bizarre hazing, involving being dressed as a baby, paddled, and endure some bondage. It was actually research into sorority hazing rituals that helped set Marston on his bizarre path and that kink was part of the Holliday Girls. The Amazons had even more bizarre ones, like rodeos, where they rode giant kangaroos, lassoing and hogtying each other. Probably just as well they didn’t go TOO close to the source material for the film.:)
I haven’t seen it yet, but have always enjoyed Lucy Davis’ work and she looked great in the trailers.