After three years of Wonder Woman‘s title being guided by the hands of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, both creators are stepping off the book with October’s Wonder Woman issue #35. According to a story released today in USA Today, DC has revealed their choice in the creative team to follow up Azzarello and Chiang’s highly acclaimed run: the husband and wife team of Meredith and David Finch. The pair is taking over Princess Diana’s ongoing series this November with issue #36. According to the story, the Finch’s take on Diana will be “focusing on bringing humanity to the powerful Amazonian princess.”  Of course, just about every new creative team says the same thing when taking over Wonder Woman’s book; we’ll see if the Finches really come through.

While David Finch is a very well known veteran comic book artist, recently having finished DC’s Forever Evil mini-series as well as the recent Batman title The Dark Knight,  this would be his wife Meredith Finch’s first ongoing comic series, although she has written some short stories for Zenescope Entertainment. This would also be the first time since Gail Simone wrote the book that a woman has been handed over the writing chores for Wonder Woman’s ongoing series.

During the past three years, the New 52 incarnation of Wonder Woman from Azzarello and Chiang has focused on Diana’s roots in Greek mythology. Her father was revealed to be Zeus, and her siblings in the form of the Olympian gods and goddesses became the focus of the title. The Finches seem to want to bring the focus back on Wonder Woman herself, her interpersonal relationships, and her responsibilities to the Amazons and her fellow heroes in the Justice League. All of that sounds good to this longtime Wonder Woman fan, although I will miss the mythological aspects.

A definite positive is that Meredith Finch seems to be using Lynda Carter’s portrayal of Diana as a template; as cheesy as the 1970’s television series might seem by today’s standards, Lynda Carter knew how to portray Wonder Woman almost perfectly. According to Meredith Finch, “You had the mom roles but you didn’t really have big heroic women saving the day back in the ’70s. Women were just transitioning into the workforce, and because of that she’s been taken on as an icon for feminine power and empowerment. She lives what she believes, and she acts on it.” In the words of artist David Finch, “I love the idea that it’s a woman writing a woman because we’re trying to appeal to more female readers now.” We can all agree on that.

Below is the artwork for the Finch’s first issue of Wonder Woman: