Is it possible that the new Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comic book is too wonderful to be sold? DC Comics thinks so — literally, as it turns out. The comic-book giant has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Devil’s Due Comics for infringing on their trademark, specifically by copying their iconography of Wonder Woman in DD’s “new party who dis?” comic book:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is making waves in Washington DC, but she’s also making waves in the comics world too, though for different reasons. Ocasio-Cortez is the subject of a new comic from Devil’s Due titled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & The Freedom Force: New Party, Who Dis? and in promotion of the launch, the publisher has been offering up special limited retailer variant covers. One particular cover came under scrutiny for DC Comics though, being a bit too close to their iconic character Wonder Woman for their liking, and now they’ve sent a cease and desist to Devil’s Due (via Bleeding Cool).

The cover in question was the NY Collector Cave retailer exclusive cover by artist Carla Cohen, which as you can see below does bear a strong resemblance to DC’s Wonder Woman. Ocasio-Cortez has an A symbol where the typical W would go, but it’s not hard to make the leap to Diana of Themyscira.

Via Twitchy, here’s that cover art. Tough to see how Devil’s Due thought they would avoid the wrath of DC with this obvious ripoff:

.@AOC comic NEW PARTY, WHO DIS? – w/ ninjas, spaceships, dancing, explosions, FDR, wrestling & orange hair – names & satirizes the oppressive dog whistles that undermine marginalized peoples in America & in American politics, writes critic @CarolynCocca https://t.co/5dVCpJUtFr pic.twitter.com/vNlkm5qDeU

— PopMatters (@PopMatters) May 6, 2019

It seems to satirize more than what Cocca suggests. It also satirizes a lack of imagination among would-be artist-activists. Even the more well-known cover of Ocasio-Cortez on the DD publication was at best an homage to Wonder Woman, right down to the headpiece:

Ocasio-Cortez's superhero alter ego shut down by DC comics https://t.co/mjkAhk1FFK pic.twitter.com/lE3I6gnepw

— New York Post (@nypost) May 19, 2019

DC Comics has plenty to protect in its Wonder Woman imagery. They have already featured Diana in three major motion pictures in the last three years. Gal Gadot returns in Wonder Woman 1984 next year, and Justice League II sometime in the next two or three years as well.There’s a lot of money in that Hollywood gold mine, not to mention out of DC Comics’ own merchandising as well. If DC wants to protect its copyright and its control of merchandising revenue on Wonder Woman, it has to act quickly when others attempt to profit off of it. DC has little choice but to bring its foot down on Devils Due like Hulk smashing a — oh, wait, that’s Marvel. Never mix comic-book-universe metaphors, as I was taught in Composition class.

Devils Due could have avoided this by spending two minutes to come up with an original idea, of course. They could also have avoided this by refraining from making a one-term backbencher into some sort of mindless heroine based on little else other than her superpower of weaponized ignorance. The last thing we need is more pedestal-placing of politicians anyway, but that’s especially true when the pedestal recipient hasn’t accomplished anything at all. The rest of us should issue our own cease-and-desists on the political superhero genre, and not just in comic books, a genre that unfortunately plagues both parties.