#I do wish Wondy had more comics to her

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week, especially Wonder Woman's relaunch under Tom King ?

Wonder Woman #1 -

Wondersisters we're fucking back! Fantastic first issue from King and Sampere. It's a very tight compressed read, King wants to make the reader feel as blindsided by how quick everything goes to hell as Diana no doubt does. Sovereign looks like the King Washington from AC3, and I love his design. Connecting him to WW through the lasso mythology is a great concept. Despite the lasso being her iconic weapon, we really don't know a lot about it. King wants to write Superman so bad he gave Wonder Woman her own bald evil genius/mastermind to fight. Seeing Sarge Steel kill an Amazon in front of her own wife and child is a hell of a way to set the stakes. Some people were upset about that, but WW has needed to increase the feeling of danger in her books for a while now, and this accomplished that. Themsyacria itself isn't in danger, but Wonder Woman's mission in Man's World is, and that's a set up that works for me.

Love how Diana casts a huge shadow despite it being a while before she actually appears on page. We see King have her do all the actions you'd expect and then King shoots them all down as ineffective. God I love that scene where she sends her sword back to Nubia because she doesn't want to be tempted, sells the hell out of her being furious. And her dressing down of Sarge Steel? Peak Wonder Woman right there.

Steve is in a potentially very interesting place. Usually he's just Diana's wholesome and supportive boyfriend, this is a chance to put the screws to him and find out what makes him tick. He swore an oath and is technically committing treason by helping Diana, which he points out, but he still helps her all the same. Now I get we don't want to focus too much on a man in a WW book, but as her most important male supporting character, I argue that Steve needs fleshing out to bring him up to the level Lois and Selina are at.

My only qualm is I wish we get a page dedicated to the reaction of the other Wondy Rogues at this new player making moves. What does Circe or Cheetah or Cale make of this? Grail is going to show up, what's her angle? Definitely could see Psycho jumping for joy. While I doubt Sovereign can actually be Wondy's arch, I do like him as this new major player who upends Wondy's status quo, and I want to see where the other Wondy Rogues fit into his plans.

Superman #6 - Quick read but at least next issue is the oversized one. Livewire remains an ass despite working at the Daily Planet and that makes me deliriously happy. Having her as the anti-Superman voice at the Planet is a great gag, hell you could even have her livestream her fights with Supes to boost the DP's sales as a way to profit from being a villain even when she loses. AI Lex insisting on calling Superman "son" remains hilarious, Clark is clearly fed up with Lex's bullshit. The Chained seems to be a powerful telekinetic, was hoping for a more creative powerset, but at least he has hair. Saw that reference to Master Jailer helping Lex build the prison that held Chained, please let that be a tease for Jailer to make his return soon.

World's Finest #19 - Meh. Far as first meetings between Superman and Batman go, this one is down near the bottom. Jax is every bit as boring as I thought he would be, and Waid just pays lip service at the end towards the idea of Batman not trusting Superman. More fuel for the speculation that Waid is taking over Action with "Aethyr" showing up. What a boring look and design, not at all the Lovecraftian god in the vein of Gerber that PKJ had been building up. If Waid is really taking Action I have zero hope he delivers a satisfying conclusion to whatever plot threads PKJ himself doesn't wrap up. Waid is simply too stuck in the Silver Age. Let's hope Kingdom Come gives this book the shot in the arm it needs.

Nightwing #106 - Without Redondo the book's paper thin nature is front and center. Still, far as continuity goes, this does use the Ric era in a good way. Taylor of all people being the one to do something interesting with that time period surprises me.

Green Lantern: War Journal #1 - My grandma has dementia and I teared up at that scene where John makes a construct of his sister for his mother who has it. Caring for relatives with dementia is just trying to keep them happy even when it breaks your heart. If PKJ is really losing Action, at least here he can continue the United Planets plot threads with Thaaros. John put that fraud GL in his place and it was badass. If the Radiant Queen can body hop, maybe the people who speculated she's an alternate version of Katma are right and the body she's been in isn't her original.

Vigil #5 - It's good! Castle is more than a little shit.

Loki #4 - Damn good mini that I can only assume is being totally ignored by Ewing given the ending has Loki seemingly embracing his status as the God of Lies again. Or is that actually setting up Ewing Loki, who is openly apologetic about how he's going to fuck over Thor if it makes for a good tale in Immortal Thor? Watters needs to get more work.

Captain America #1 - Solid character beats and interactions, but it lacks a big "hook" as it were to keep me reading. I am amused to see JMS' big return to Marvel monthlies involves someone trying to make a deal with the devil.

[lorbanery]

Oooo let's have some OPINIONS

You have to make one Robin (Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian) not exist permanently and never have existed. Choose which. This is really hard but I'm gonna go with Damian. I have nothing against Damian, I just think you could recreate the parts of that relationship I like the most with Jason if the writers weren't cowards and insistent on making Dick so goddamn judgemental of Jason.

Superman comics, Batman comics, Wonder Woman comics, Flash comics. You can only keep 2. I'm assuming when we say "Batman comics" we're talking about comics where Batman is the title character, in which case I say fuck it, there are too many Batman comics. Supes and Wondie stay.

How many children does Batman have in Canon. I don't know a lot about the newer characters that were added during and after Batman Inc. So I'm going with ~5 (Dick, Jay, Tim, Cass, Damian). Steph and Babs count sometimes.

Design a new character for the Wonder Woman mythos. I wish I knew more about Wondie's canon! But okay let's make a go at it. This has undoubtedly been done before in some form or other, but let's give Hippolyta a long-lost sister. An older sister who appears out of nowhere (later it's revealed that she was empowered/emboldened by Hades) and claims she's the rightful queen of the Amazons. She has a story about being the one who Artemis promised a feminist haven to, but she was killed because of Hippolyta's inaction and Hippolyta STOLE her rightful place as queen. But now she shows up with an army of all the Amazons who've been killed in battle to take back what's rightfully hers. Eventually it comes out that Hippolyta is full of deep, genuine remorse for what happened to her sister and she took the throne as a way to honor her memory. She offers her sister a place co-leading Themyscira, but her sister, accepting of Hippolyta's apology but needing more time to get over the literal millenia of hurt and jealousy and bitter feelings towards Hippolyta, chooses instead to take her undead army and establish their own kingdom on some other magic island. The two islands exist in tentative harmony, with the living Amazons granted permission to visit and spend time with their passed sisters on occasion.

Choose one Titans Team constellation. I'm assuming this is just another way of saying "polycule", in which case EASY. Roy/Donna/Garth. I have no idea if anyone else ships Roy/Garth or Donna/Garth (well at least the World's Finest writer does!), but this is a hill I will die on.

Worst Batman writer. Frank Miller. Next question.

Opinions on the Young Justice cartoon. It was better when it was on TV and had limitations placed on it. Let's be real, the glee with which they brutally murdered the first and only Muslim, hijabi character Every Single Episode was REALLY FUCKING GROSS. Also they made Superboy so much more BORING. I liked their take on Dick and Wally. I was okay with their take on Roy. I was glad they included Steph and that Kaldur got to be gay. I wish we got to see more of Garth and Donna, Wonder Twin Ambassadors. I wish they did SOMETHING with Jason. I wish Dick and Tim, and Tim and Steph got to interact more.

(similiar to 3 but different) who do you consider main batfam. I think I know what this means, but with how wide it's spread, I don't think there is a "main batfam" anymore. Or if there is, it's pretty much anyone who got their start working directly with Batman in some capacity (whether he wanted them to or not).

Which non canon book do you consider canon. I don't think I've read any of the books. So instead I'm going to choose BtAS/the DCAU in general, because whenever I write DC stuff I always pull at least something from there.

Worst dc artist. Jim Lee. I'm sorry I know a lot of folks really like his work, but my first introduction to his art was All Stars: Batman & Robin, which is horribly unfair. All I can think of when I hear the name "Jim Lee" is the panel of Robin and Batman hugging in the cemetery and Robin's leg looks like it's just several coils of rope. The anatomy was Leifeld levels of bad.

Kill one person permanently. (not the joker) If Joker's off the table, then I vote we let Jason kill Ra's Al Ghul.

Favorite tom king book. Have not read all of the ones that look like I might enjoy them too, gonna go with "Grayson". I had some issues with it, but overall I really liked Dick's run in Spyral.

Which book would you give tom king to write. I don't have very strong opinions here, but I'm gonna say something starring Steph, if only because she deserves more attention. It also felt like the Grayson title was a bit of a proving ground for Dick, to put him into a situation where he had to be more serious and where he didn't have the backing of all the Bat-gadgets to prove that he was still incredibly capable. And Steph could use a run like that.

Opinion zu the dark knight returns. See answer to Question #6.

Favorite jason todd version. Gotham Knights. The video game.

Which character do you think is better in the new 52 than outside the new 52. Trick question, I never read any New 52 titles except hate-reading partial issues to be annoyed at what they were doing.

Who is in your opinion the favorite sibling for each of the batchildren. Dick: Literally would kill for any and all of his siblings, but he sees Dami more as a son, and Tim is the only other one who talks to him regularly to hang out, so Tim. Jason: Trick question, the only Bat he likes at the moment is Steph. Tim: Cass because she's the only one who truly understands his neuroses. But Dick is a very close second. Cass: I'm sad to say that I don't know her that well! My sense is that she likes Tim and Dick equally, and understands Damian well enough. But her favorite Bat is Steph. Damian: Dick.

Best supergirl. Has there been a Supergirl besides Kara? Or are we talking actors/depictions? In which case my favorite Kara has always been the StAS/JLU Kara. But the one in WF: Batman/Superman is also very good.

Worst supergirl. I don't think there's been a bad one, just bad media that she just so happens to have appeared in.

Choose a Superboy love interest. Tim Drake.

BONUS: YOUR favorite controversial opinion!

I didn't think it was that controversial, but the conversations I've seen around Nightwing fandom would suggest otherwise? I like Dick/Babs. I like them dating, I like them as playfully snarky exes, I like them as exes causing Dick angst. There's not a Dick/Babs dynamic that I don't like. Does it mean I don't like Dick/Kory? No, of course not. Does it mean I don't like any other Dick ship? Not necessarily! I don't really subscribe to Dick/Donna, but I don't have anything against it, and I do totally believe, given how close and in sync they are, that they absolutely tried dating at some point and just realized that it's not what their dynamic is.

20 questions to HATE (dc edition)

There was this one artikel a while back which was somethign like 30 questions to love. and then i saw a tictoc with a girl who made her own version 30 question to HATE. So i made a dc version. if someone answer all 20 questions and you dont HATE them afterwards you guys have a very special connection <3.

You have to make one Robin (Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian) not exist permanently and never have existed. Choose which.

Superman comics, Batman comics, Wonder Woman comics, Flash comics. You can only keep 2.

How many children does Batman have in Canon.

Design a new character for the Wonder Woman mythos.

Choose one Titans Team constellation.

Worst Batman writer.

Opinions on the Young Justice cartoon.

(similiar to 3 but different) who do you consider main batfam.

Which non canon book do you consider canon.

Worst dc artist.

Kill one person permanently. (not the joker)

Favorite tom king book.

Which book would you give tom king to write.

Opinion zu the dark knight returns.

Favorite jason todd version.

Which character do you think is better in the new 52 than outside the new 52.

Who is in your opinion the favorite sibling for each of the batchildren.

Best supergirl.

Worst supergirl.

Choose a Superboy love interest.

BONUS: YOUR favorite controversial opinion!

(Sorry these are kinda batman heavy, however batman fans are the ones which the most ontroversial opinions.)

[pensola]

So with Wonder Woman’s comics and teams through her creation charted down, I wanted to take all of DC Rebirth’s Batman and Superman comics and put them side by side, to compare to Wonder Woman’s titles since the softboot.

Batman’s DC Rebirth Titles:

Batman - Batman encounters two new heroes in Gotham.

Detective Comics - A more Batfam comic where Batman works with Batwoman to train the younger generation.

All-Star Batman - Is not part of the All-Star series, and tells stories from the perspective of Batman’s villains.

Batgirl - About Barbara Gordon and her international journey.

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey - Batgirl, Black Canary and Huntress track down someone claiming to be Oracle.

Batwoman - Tells the story of Kate Kane.

Batman Beyond - A comic in the future about its new Batman, Terry McGinnis.

Gotham Academy - A comic about students that go on a weird school in Gotham.

Harley Quinn - One of Batman’s villains turned anti-heroish.

Bane: Conquest - Tells the story of one of Batman’s villains.

Regarding teams, Batman’s cast is also in:

Trinity, which while not an official team consists of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman and their shenanigans.

Justice League, where Batman is co-founder,

Justice League of America, where Batman is founder or member and only JL-member who is also part of JLA.

Titans, with his former first Robin, Nightwing.

Teen Titans, with his current fifth Robin.

Red Hood and the Outlaws with Red Hood

Super Sons, which is not a team, but a team-up comic with Batman’s son Robin and Superman’s son Superboy.

Suicide Squad with Harley Quinn.

Then we go to Superman’s comics and teams:

Superman - Tells adventures of Superman

Action Comics - Tells adventures of Superman and family.

Supergirl - Is about Superman’s cousin Kara.

Superwoman - Is about Lana Lang (I think).

The New Super-Man - Somehow China is able to recreate Superman’s powers and put them into another person and gives them to arrogant Shanghai boy Kenan Kong. (With Superman having no problem with this; I don’t know if he actually agreed to it or not, but he rolls with it better than when he was cloned against his will in Young Justice’s cartoon).

Of team-up books, Superman’s cast is also in:

Trinity, which he shares with Wonder Woman and Batman,

Justice League, which he co-founded,

Super Sons, which co-stars his son Superboy.

Wonder Woman’s titles and teams, on the other hand:

Wonder Woman - Tells the adventures of Wonder Woman

Odyssey of the Amazons - A limited prequel series about amazons in Man’s World before Diana was born.

Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor - A one-shot that could have been a “day in the spotlight” issue in Wonder Woman, starring her boyfriend and warrior puppy Steve Trevor.

Team-up books:

Trinity, with Superman and Batman,

Justice League, as a co-founder,

Titans, where her former sidekick Donna Troy co-founded.

Red Hood and the Outlaws, where Artemis is though we don’t know if they know each other

So in other words, 18 comics with the Batfamily in it, 8 with the Superfamily in it, and 7 with the Wonder Pantheon, in which Wondy herself is mainly in 3 of them.

That is a BIG difference, and I personally bet the only reason Wonder Woman has more saturation than Green Lantern is because Green Lanterns don’t have sidekicks and juniors the same way. GL still has two on-going comics whereas Wonder Woman only has one, ignoring non-Rebirth series. It helps that she has more limited comics and team comics, but still. If she is part of the Trinity, she should have some more attention. If only, say, giving her an on-going Sensation Comics that starts from #117 like they are doing with Superman’s Action Comics and Batman’s Detective Comics. Especially since her movie is apparently their most successful attempt at a superhero movie that not even their precious Batman could save, so they should milk it a little more beyond non-canon series.

[bluejaywriter]

okay okay okay

okay

WW84 spoilers below

EDIT: I just finished typing this, and it’s mostly complaining. Please don’t read this unless you’ve seen the movie. The movie is good. It is above average. I am just being really picky here.

EDIT 2: Okay, I’m watching again and I have to mention that the Amazons scene is very cool and I am probably complaining too much, and the opening scene is worth the price of the ticket/subscription alone. So there.

EDIT 3: Also Kristen Wiig is delightful, and I am so relieved that the CGI was actually okay, especially compared to Cats :P

Okay, so I have complaints, but not a single one matters because THAT MID-CREDITS SCENE IS EVERYTHING, I couldn’t stop smiling, it’s great.

Also, Themyscira is so BIG. Like, holy shit. Also everyone there is 100% gay.

Also, I wish for a well-written multi-season Wonder Woman TV series starring Gal Gadot where Diana falls in love with a woman and they have a grand o’ time together and neither of them permanently dies or turns evil, and if I got that, I would never renounce that wish, I would just sit in my bunker watching some damn good lesbian superheroing while the world burned.

Anyway...

Also Hippolyta smiles for the first time on camera, and I fainted. I wish there was less CGI, though. Could no one build a damn throne for their Queen? At least they gave her a horse to sit on last time.

Also, can we get an alternative movie where Diana wishes she could go home, if her being banned from Themyscira is still a thing? Or maybe that Antiope could come back to life? Or like... anything other than her dead boyfriend that she knew for a week coming back to life

ANYway

The tone was definitely different and not so much my taste, and it also seemed it was pushing a lot of nostalgia from an era that I wasn’t conscious for, so I think there was a lot that I missed.

Also, can someone write the WW84 version where Barbara Ann and Diana like... keep going out on dates and fall in love, because that’s the movie we deserve after 2020. We don’t deserve Steve Trevor, we deserve lovers to enemies to loving enemies. I will literally pay tens of dollars, and potentially sacrifice this good green earth for this.

I also renounce the story about the warrior who originally wore the golden armor because,

1. Hippolyta would have never let someone else do that, she would’ve kept those men back by herself, and she would’ve done it naked, and;

2. Don’t even think for a second that the Amazons didn’t kill their captors. They killed them. They’re dead. Every single one of them. Do you think Hippolyta freed them and they just marched down to the docks and left one woman to hold back an army? Who the fuck wrote this? Geoff Johns? I wish he would never touch a comic book again, especially after the Ray Fisher stuff.

Also, Hippolyta preaching to her daughter about building her character based on the truth rather than lies is pretty damn rich considering the whole Zeus lie thing, which I also renounce. Fuck Zeus, or rather DON’T fuck Zeus.

On one hand, I’m glad we didn’t get a Greek God popping in at the end, but on the other hand... like. It actually would’ve made sense this time for Diana to hunt down this guy and be like, cut it out. Like, humans are not good. And I highly doubt that EVERYONE would’ve reached into the goodness of their heart and renounced their wish. Maybe I’m just jaded by like, living in the USA for the last 9 months. And the world, in general.

Anyway, this is a lot of complaining, but it was entertaining, I don’t have that, OMG I need to buy another ticket to see it again tonight! feeling that I had with the first Wondy movie, but I probably will watch it 4 or 5 more times in full and then little scenes here and there until my HBO month runs out.

I wish it were darker though, but I guess we’ll get that with the Snyder Cut.

Also, DCEU Wonder Woman is now better at being both Batman AND Superman. For reals.

Anyway, decent movie. 7/10

.5 point taken out because Hans Zimmer really didn’t get much time to shine,

.5 point taken out because Diana didn’t get to kiss a woman. We didn’t even get the famous Cheetah spooning hug :(

1 point taken out for the cheesey-ass script,

1 point taken out because it just didn’t have the emotional oomph I was expecting (this is probably the most disappointing part). It wasn’t emotionless per se, but it just didn’t hit its targets for me.

Although, Barbara Ann’s “Thanks for talking to me” hit me like a sack of rocks, so thanks for that Patty Jenkins lol :P

BlueJay’s updated DCEU ranking:

1. Wonder Woman (2017)

2. Aquaman

3. BvS Ultimate Edition

4. Man of Steel

5. WW84

6. Birds of Prey

7. Shazam!

(I’m not even going to include Josstice League and Suicide Squad).

okbye

[windona]

WW84 thoughts

I saw this movie a week ago, but decided to write down my overall thoughts today. Spoilers abound!

The Amazon games rocked. A nice strong start.

Seeing Wondy kick ass was nice. It might not fight tightly with DCEU continuity, but honestly I didn’t expect it to.

I kinda wish Diana’s feeling of loss and loneliness wasn’t so Steve focused. Have Diana miss her family and the Amazons. Have her miss Chief, Etta, and the others who have since died because she’s so old. That would give her wish a bit more weight.

I friggin love Max Lord’s characterization. It’s more in line with his 80′s characterization where he was a bit shady but a hero and doing things like trying to start the Justice League Antarctica. The desperate ‘trying to fit in’ vibe also hints at his movie backstory long before we see it.

I do think it’s interesting that Barbara is developing a true friendship with Diana, but still wishes for the approval of people who are jerks.

The Middle East section was... a bit uncomfortable. I was excited when Bialya was mentioned because I thought they would hint at Queen Bee, but uh. I know it was because of the wish, but wow having every on screen Arab character as a stereotype was a bit tone deaf.

The scene with Barbara and beating the crap out of her harasser didn’t hit the way the movie framed it to. This was a guy who it was implied would have raped Barbara, and didn’t learn his lesson after Diana threw him to the side. But her being mean to Leon was :(

I actually got into a Twitter debate with Thomas Astruc over the villains in this movie, and a point of contention is he thought Max Lord should have been more evil and not redeemed while Cheetah was redeemed. I think the opposite.

Look, I just want a female tragic villain who goes Full Villain. It seems like any female villain who’s a bit sympathetic ends up getting a Redemption Arc, which gets annoying when it’s everywhere. I also want Diana’s arch enemy to be female. And they kinda set that up! Barbara chooses hollow flattery and approval from jerks over those (Diana and Leon) who were friends with who she was as a person. Cheetah refused to recant her wish repeatedly.

Max Lord... I know people make a lot of fuss over him having ‘gotten away with everything’ but... He recanted his wish when Diana showed him what it would cost. That means he undid every bit of chaos, and didn’t gain anything from his thoughtless actions. (I actually like that while he’s not actively malicious, the fact he doesn’t care about the consequences as long as he gets what he wants causes more chaos than active malice would have). He’s now at best where he was at the start of the movie- about to go bankrupt and if Stagg’s words hold weight potentially getting arrested for a Ponzi scheme. Further punishment is kinda unnecessary. And by recanted the wish, he accepted those consequences.

On the representation front... still less feminist than the 40′s comics. You’d think that would be a low bar, yet! (though that’s in part because Wonder Woman was created well, where her and the Amazons were empowered by goddesses and their loving wasn’t downplayed)

It would have really helped if they had a WOC with more than five seconds of screen time. Or showed that while Steve was important to Diana, there were other important people and that Steve coming back represents her wanting back the people she lost as much as just Steve.

Oh yeah, Steve coming back by possessing someone was super unnecessary and had creepy undertones where neither Steve nor Diana cared about the person Steve was possessing!

They needed to edit the movie/script some more. Max Lord was the most enjoyable part. Pedro Pascal was amazing.

[godstaff]

Batcat v Superwonder

Funny to see how the romance between Bruce and Selina is canon, out in the open for all of the fans to enjoy, and the pairing of Diana and Clark had to be terminated, obliterated, torn to shreds, never to be spoken of again, salted the earth on which it once grew, by DC regime, the sames who still are profiting from the merchandising sales of the couple together.

Yes, the marriage thing between the cat and the bat was a fuck fest of epic proportions, in fact, whoever thought they would actually tie the knot were wishful dreamers, but batfans still have it out there, it can be revisited every once in a while, and it will be, you can be sure of that. Catwoman & Batso still have their booty calls every now and then, to keep the flame alive. It’s already part of the life of Batso. his mythology. The fans lost nothing, aside from time and money.

Superman and Wonder Woman’s love, on the contrary, is treated as anathema, as if it has never, ever existed, it was an illusion, an aberration. If the current directorate of DC regime have their way, it will never be mentioned again until the last one of them is pushing daisies.

They could’ve left it as a thing of the past, since many couples eventually part ways but, after the dust settled, they may continue as friends, but the jerks at DC regime even killed the beautiful friendship they had for more than forty years, so fans won’t get ideas nor hope. The order is to forget about its existence and erase every trace of it that may still remain.

It’s like they’re on a crusade and we, the fans of Supes+Wondy, are the infidels, the heretic ones.

Why?

Meanwhile, we have to see our heroes shackled under human domain, depending on their mortal partners who, quite frankly, bring nothing new to the table, if anything at all.

Repeating old tropes which became obsolete at least 25 years ago.

I’ll never stop saying this: for the human to be worthy of the love of the superhero, his/her value must be inflated and the hero’s needs to be downgraded. That is hardly ever good for the superhero, no matter what the fans of the pairing say.

Everybody who read this ramblings knows I firmly oppose the pairing of mortals with supers, and it has nothing to do with bigotry or other ideological nonsense, please: it’s just based on practical and physical concerns: I don’t see them viable and they inevitably force one of the two members to stop being who they are, usually the superpowered one.

In real life, family and friends often give this advise to people who are starting a new couple: “if you have to stop being yourself to be with that person, that person is not good for you.” Yet, everybody is okay with the pairing of a man or woman with the strength to change the course of mighty rivers with a fragile human, and no one considers he/she has to stop being who he/she is in order to be with the mortal.

“World made of cardboard...” remember? That’s how Superman once described what is to live among us: he always has to be careful, every day of every week.

Even worse: the human is implicitly asking the other, the super, to stop being who he/she is, because the human wants to be with him/her. That’s selfish, subconsciously selfish, perhaps, but selfish nonetheless.

That is not a good example for the young, impressionable minds who probably are reading the comic book, watching the movie, etc., if you care about this sort of things, which “hardcore fans” don’t. Many of them praise the qualities of the human character, but are far from emulate them.

But Batcat is a pairing of equals, same as Superwonder is, so...why is there a preeminence of one before the other?

The bias towards Batso is obvious and, at this point, historical. But this seems to go beyond that. It’s true: many fans and critics, specialized or not, rose their voices in opposition to the SM/WW pairing. They were loud, but not as many as DC wants us to believe. In fact, when it was first announced, it seemed the vast majority welcomed the idea and exhaled a relieved “Finally!”, because it was years, decades in the making and it was so obvious, it was ridiculous it didn’t happen before, only on “Elseworlds”. But half way across the river, the currents turned and everything that once was good and beautiful, became an awful abomination.

I don’t understand why.

[themyskira]

Wonder Woman: Earth One, Vol 2 - Part 1

I’m going to break this into a few parts, because it turned out I had a bit to say. I’ll start with my overall impressions, then dive into the spoilery recap.

General thoughts: Next verse, same as the first.

Grant Morrison purports to want to explore Marston’s ideas, but he’s more interested in the kooky, kinky trappings than the sentiment behind them.

Marston was radical and progressive in his time. Writing in the 1940s, he told his readers that women were men’s equals — and even superiors! — in every way. He told young girls there was no limit to what they could do. His stories promoted love over hatred, peace over violence, rehabilitation over retribution.

If Morrison had taken that bold sentiment and reimagined it through a lens of modern society and feminism in 2018, he might have had a compelling story to tell. Instead, he takes Marston’s ideas as he understands them and transplants them wholesale into a time in which they’re no longer radical and progressive, but rather backward and out-of-step with modern intersectional feminism, and then proceeds to ask such deep, incisive questions as “yes but realistically could we actually replace all world governments with a matriarchy?????”

He never truly deconstructs any of Marston’s ideas, just parrots phrases like “submission to loving authority” a lot and raises questions without ever making a decent attempt at answering them. To be fair, part of the problem is that he’s simply trying to do too much at once: juggling parallel stories in Themyscira and Man’s World, an interrogation of the Amazons’ philosophies and the introduction of three new antagonists and the tensions they cause, all within a limited page count, Morrison is unable to devote the necessary time to properly developing any of them. It’s no wonder the result is so half-baked.

But hey, just throw in a bunch of vagina planes and a dusting of kink and watch as everyone crows over how subversive he is.

Yannick Paquette’s artwork is still beautiful. His page layouts are still dynamic and expressive, and his character designs are still lovely. Diana in particular gets a variety of very cool outfits, including a beautiful modest costume for a trip to the Middle East.

But he still can’t shake his tendency towards drawing women’s bodies in weirdly-contorted poses with bizarre pornfaces. Wonder Woman shouldn’t look like she’s orgasming as she’s leaping into battle, ffs.

Oh, and the series is still being edited by noted serial sexual harasser Eddie Berganza. HASHTAG FEMINISM!

Let’s get into the recap.

Content warning for some skeevy mind control content and general discussion of the gender essentialist, body-shaming, TERFy attitudes of Morrison’s Amazons.

The story opens with a flashback to 1942, with Paula von Gunther leading a Nazi invasion of Themyscira, and god I’m already so tired.

idk, I mean, I get that Nazis were a major Golden Age antagonist, and Morrison is harking back to that. But there’s a broader historical and cultural context to consider. Cartoonish Nazi villains in patriotic WWII-era American comics carried very different associations than they do in 2018, in the midst of a presidency steeped in white supremacy and hate speech, on the eve of a midterm election in which a record number of neo-Nazis are standing for office, at a time when hate groups are surging, when migrant children are being separated from their families and held in detention camps— just. Not a time when I want to be reading about cartoonish super-Nazis, personally.

And I don’t really see why they necessarily need to be this story? The battle serves to illustrate how Amazons combat and… “rehabilitate”… their adversaries. Paula ultimately serves as a plot device. Couldn’t that maybe have been achieved without Nazis?

Anyway, Paula announces that she is claiming the island for the Third Reich, and Hippolyta is like “lol no”.

Okay, that part I like. Evil army storms the island, backed by guns and warships, surround a half-dozen barely-armed women… who all but roll their eyes. ‘Pfft, children. Fine, if you want to play this game…’ And the evil army can only gape in bewilderment as the women proceed to take them apart in minutes.

But this is where it gets weird.

The Amazons fire a purple ray at all of the Nazis, which… makes them all drop their weapons and start screaming “YES!” orgasmically?

Hippolyta tells Paula that the soldiers “will be taken to the Space Transformer. They will be transported to Aphrodite’s world where Queen Desira and her butterfly-winged Venus Girls wait to purge them of their need for conflict. They will be taught to submit to loving authority. They will learn to embrace peace and obedience. They will be as happy as men can be.”

Paula attacks Hippolyta, rips off her magic girdle and heaves a great boulder over her head— wait, were we supposed to know that Paula had superpowers? That seems like something that should have been flagged.

She effortlessly takes down the Amazons who rush to the queen’s defence and takes a moment to cackle villainously. “Behold the pride of Germany! The ultimate daughter of the thousand-year-empire of Adolf Hitler!” To which Hippolyta— okay, I like this part, too.

Hippolyta calmly gets to her feet and puts Paula in a stranglehold. “We are the Amazons of myth, my dear! I am Queen Hippolyta eternal.” She swiftly and efficiently brings Paula to her knees.

But, welp, never mind, it’s about to get fucking creepy again.

Hippolyta forces Paula into “the Venus Girdle”, a device that “charges every body cell with vitalising currents and harmonises the brain, encouraging obedience.”

Paula: Let me go! What is that? What are you doing? Hippolyta: The Venus Girdle? It charges every body cell with vitalising currents and harmonises the brain, encouraging obedience. A dainty thing, is it not? Paula: I won’t— I won’t— You can’t control me— you can’t— can’t make me— make me... oh… make me…

Paula: nmmuhhh… What’s happening? My Nazi ideals— slipping away— they— they don’t make any sense now… I— I thought— I thought— I was strong. What’s wrong with me? I’m so weak— I must be weak to wish to serve weak, cruel men— like— like Herr Hitler— I— I— Hippolyta: If you truly long to be a slave to the ideas of others, well… we can find a loving mistress to help you explore your desires in a healthier context. Paula: Yes. Yes! My queen— [sob] —how can you ever forgive me? How wise of you to know— to know this is all I ever wanted! Hippolyta: Devote yourself to me by following the Amazon Code. Go with out sweet Mala to Improvement Island. There you will come to know yourself until the Venus Girdle is no longer required.

Paula: But all I want is to serve you, my queen! I love you! Please don’t turn your back on me!

Basically, Hippolyta forcibly uses a mind-altering device on Paula that alters her brain chemistry to make her placid, compliant and suggestible, then immediately washes her hands of her.

So… let’s talk about this, because I think it strikes at the heart of the problems with Wonder Woman: Earth One.

Queen Desira, the Venus Girls, magnetic golden Venus Girdles that “harmonise the brain” — all these things are drawn from Golden Age Wondy comics cowritten by Marston and his collaborator Joye Kelly. Marston played with mind control a lot in his stories, and not all of it came from the bad guys.

Morrison’s bold, subversive approach to these story elements is to export them wholesale into the present day and force us to feel uncomfortable about them.

In other words, he’s taking some of the weirder and more fucked up story elements from a collection of comics that are widely agreed to be very weird, and then plonking it before your readers and asking, ‘hey guys, have you ever considered… that this might be weird and fucked up???’

There’s nothing clever or insightful about that. And there’s certainly nothing groundbreaking about a cis white male writer imagining a fictitious feminist dystopia where women strip away men’s free will.

Like, if you really want to be subversive with Marston’s Wonder Woman, how about you start by hiring a woman to write it? Why not see what this iconic feminist hero conceived by a cis white man in the 1940s and written almost exclusively by cis white men for over 75 years might look like if she were reimagined and reinterpreted by LGBTI women, by women of colour? By the women left out of those original comics?

That would be subversive. Morrison is just being a smartarse.

So yeah, Hippolyta turns her back on the helpless, brainwashed, lovesick Paula and walks over to Diana, who’s defied her mother’s orders and run down from the palace to get a glimpse of the action. She’s full of questions; Hippolyta brushes them off with the usual (for Morrison’s Amazons) ‘men are shit’ line.

There’s a moment where Paula and Diana meet eyes from across the beach, and each asks, “who is she?” Diana is simply curious; Paula is instantly lovestruck.

Paula: That girl… the image of my queen.

This looks like foreshadowing, but spoilers: it goes absolutely nowhere.

Sidenote: If the Amazons deal with invaders by brainwashing them, why did they want to kill Steve Trevor in Volume One?

Cut to present-day America, where a room of faceless men discuss the threat posed by the Amazons and their superior technology, which they assume extends to deadly weaponry. The only in they have with the Amazons is Wonder Woman, and to get through her defences they’ve called in “an expert in female psychology”, aka a misogynistic monster.

Doctor Psycho: Gentlemen. She may be strong and tough and smart and beautiful… but she’s just a woman. I never met one I couldn’t break.

Oh, goody.

Cut to a cute splash page of Diana playing baseball. She gets a lot of great outfits in this book.

She’s also clearly making an impact in Man’s World; her face is plastered across every magazine, and people flock to hear her speak.

A Q&A sessions serves as a thinly-veiled opportunity for Morrison to answer some of the criticisms of the first book. His response leaves something to be desired.

“Amazon training can make any of you into a Wonder Woman,” says Diana. We teach a system of physical and psychological health and vitality. The grace and beauty of Aphrodite, the skill and wisdom of Athena.”

Woman: What about Wonder trans women? Is there room for people like me in your utopia? Diana: There’s room for everyone. The Amazon Code was evolved by women over thousands of years and outlines a progressive, pacifist way of living and thinking that anyone can follow.

I’m sorry, but that’s a fucking bullshit answer. It’s a weak, superficial gesture towards inclusiveness that conspicuously fails to express any real support or solidarity.

And depressingly, this is 100% in-character for Earth One Diana, because Morrison’s Amazons? are absolutely TERFs. As with the mind control content, Morrison has exported Marston’s 1940s binaristic gender essentialism unchanged into the 21st century in order to ask searing questions like ‘hey but what if??? the idea that women are genetically more suited to ruling??? is simplistic and flawed?????’ But the most he’ll engage with the genuinely insidious implications around the exclusion of trans and nonbinary people is a smiling noncommittal, ‘Are trans people welcome? My friend, everyone is welcome! No further questions!’

Morrison’s Wonder Woman displays a profound disregard of context. He ignores not only the cultural, historical and individual contexts that shaped the original 1940s Wonder Woman, but also the contexts of the time in which he’s currently writing and the cultural space that Wondy has come to inhabit today as a feminist and LGBT icon.

Removed from context, Morrison is simply taking a hero who traditionally hails from an advanced utopian society, taking another look at the views that society actually espouses, and reframing her as a well-meaning but naive hero from an advanced but deeply flawed and unsettling society.

In context, he’s doing exactly what Brian Azzarello did in turning the Amazons into murderous man-hating monsters, just with more kink and vagina planes.

Woman 2: Umm, there’s a lot of stuff on social media about how you dress provocatively and promote an unrealistic body type, which is basically setting a bad example for women. I mean, the stuff you do is amazing and all, it’s just… does any of the criticism bother you? Diana: I don’t think there’s any such thing as an ‘unrealistic’ body shape. My own body is the result of diet, exercise and… um… sophisticated genetic engineering. Otherwise, I dress as I please.

Volume One made it clear that all Amazons have the physique of supermodels, and when they encounter the diverse body types of the women in our world, they are disgusted and respond with body-shaming insults. Here, Diana again avoids voicing any actual support (she doesn’t say that all women’s bodies are beautiful and valid, she suggests that her body type is not unrealistic), while also throwing out eugenics as a reason for the lack of body diversity among the Amazons. Oh good, I was hoping we’d get more Nazi parallels!

Finally, a militant white feminist stands up and observes that if the Amazons are capable of half of what Diana says they are, then they could dismantle the patriarchy overnight — so why is Diana wasting time giving philosophy lectures? “You can control people’s minds with that lasso of yours. Like you did with that dude on TV— so why can’t you put a lasso ‘round the whole world?”

Afterwards, talking to Beth Candy, Diana’s like, ‘gosh, Beth, I’ve never seriously thought about world domination before, but maybe it is time to consider stripping all mortals of their free will, dismantling all nations and compelling everybody on the planet to bow down before Amazonia.’

Then Diana gets on her mental radio and calls her mother, confessing her doubts about her mission.

It was around this point in the book that the Amazons’ dialogue began to grate on me. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was at first. Every line read like a ceremonious pronouncement. They used antiquated syntax and words, like “whole systems … must o’erturned be” and “she did, without due caution, this, her island home, depart!”. Even Diana would become infected with it whenever she was speaking to them. It felt like they weren’t so much conversing as they were reciting… 

...verse… 

oh my god, that motherfucker.

Surely he hadn’t.

I scanned the dialogue again. I double-checked it.

He had.

Grant Morrison, that obscenely pretentious wanker, wrote all of the Amazons’ dialogue in dactylic hexameter.

For fuck’s sake.

After finishing her call with Diana, Hippolyta learns that somebody has vandalised one of the temples with the symbol of “a backward-turning sun”, i.e. a swastika. Unseen by everybody, Paula breaks into Hippolyta’s palace.

[locktobre]

Thoughts on the Shazam! and Aquaman trailers?

Okay sorry this took me so long to answer but here we go!

Shazam:

ok confession, for a long time when I heard the name ‘Billy Batson’ floating around I thought he was a Robin with a really shitty name asdkjsgnfgkljsdf i wish i was joking

anyway eventually I figured out that was wrong

previous to this movie, all my Shazam knowledge was from these comic panels which I only really cared about bc Superman was in it

the movie looks fun! it seems like the most light-hearted dceu movie so far and I am into that bc I wish superhero movies had stayed family-friendly and not gotten so dark as they have. anyway the vibe reminds me of Ant-Man, fun and sort of quirky? I guess? but in a good way

but even without that comic the thought of a kid out there, even an invincible one (semi invincible?), gives me anxiety I am that age now

I like Zachary Levi a lot and I hope he does a good job

Aquaman:

right off the bat I want to say I don’t particularly care for Mera’s new look... I know it’s more comic-accurate but like. the outfit she wore in JL had like, armor on it? why not anymore? I also wonder why her hair has changed from natural-red to unnatural-red? did she dye it? are they going to explain it at all do they care about my feelings

I know that practical effects aren’t really practical underwater but like, there’s so much CGI my eyes hurt, frankly. I’ll get over it but I’m just saying.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, I stan Aquaman no matter what. as long as they don’t make him an asshole like Superman that is

I say I stan him but I actually have very little Aquaman knowledge and I am excited to actually see parts of his lore explored! see what the fuck is UP in Atlantis! find out how to pronounce Xebel! all the good shit!

I reblogged a post to this effect but I find it admirable they kept the Black Manta costume so comic accurate. I know what I said about Mera but frankly her design has always seemed needlessly sexualixed I mean I know she’s gonna be in a wetsuit bc she’s underwater but do they have to give her cleavage with that? hmph. ANYWAY, the Black Manta costume, good. it would have been easy for them to like... tone it down and try to make it one of those edgy Realistic costumes like they’re giving everyone else but like. tbh there’s something almost eerie about seeing that costume come to life. I’m way into it.

I have said this before and I will say again. if we do not get collector Barbies of Atlanna, Mera, and Aquaman himself I will fucking RIOT. we got all those goddamn dolls for Wonder Woman and frankly most of them were unnecessary. like, 3 of her releases were basically the same doll! what kind of bullshit! I keep talking about this but like I have been looking forward to this movie for YEARS and YEARS and we got a bunch of shit merch for the dceu so far and I want BETTER MERCH. it was a miracle to get a Mera barbie out of JL but at the same time, weird choice with no Aquaman ken to go with her. give me a 2-pack of them and I’ll pay $125 i won’t fork that over for steve trevor and wondy but i WILL for the king and queen of atlantis! bitch! antiope got a doll and she died in 5 minutes no offense but that’s outrageous

I’ve been a fan of Jason Momoa since he was Ronon Dex on Stargate: Atlantis so it’s really cool to see him up on the big screen, as one of my favorite heroes no less. I really wish they would reference the fact that technically this is his second time in Atlantis, but I guess I’ll have to wait for the movie to see if they do. and hope I’m not too stupid to catch any reference if they do make it.

oh and this was my first reaction (and she had the nerve to make fun of me!!!):

anyway this was really long and rambly but like, I’m hyped! I been hyped for Aquaman this whole time! and as for Shazam I was gonna see it anyway so I can keep up with the universe but having Zachary Levi is like, added bonus

[westofwonder]

Pull List (06/23/2021)

Action Comics #1032 Batman/Superman #19 Detective Comics #1038 Fantastic Four: Life Story #2 Guardians of the Galaxy #15 Infinite Frontier #1 Justice League #63 Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom #2 Robin #3 Silk #4 SWORD #6 Way of X #3 Wonder Woman #774 Wonder Woman: Black and Gold #1 X-Men: Legends #4 The Flash #771

Action Comics - I’m enjoying the main story enough that the backup story isn’t bothering me that much. I want to know why Mongul is branding people with Superman symbols. What’s his game here?

Batman/Superman - Giddy up, pardner! I think this book got canceled because it took too long to get going with the new arc. Oh, well.

Detective Comics - Bogdanovic’s art isn’t as a distracting juxtaposition from Mora, but it’s still noticeable and I hate to bring it up. I am glad Mora will be back. I’ve really been enjoying this book.

Fantastic Four: Life Story - I didn’t hate the first issue. That being said, I am a bit hesitant in what’s being put out here. I don’t really want this to turn into another Grand Design situation where I am thinking about how I could be reading those classic stories instead.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Got the Pride variant! Mostly because I am trying very hard to not get Booth covers if I can help it. Can’t believe Ewing brought back the fact Dr. Doom can switch bodies days after I read the first story Doom did that. Incredible. Love how they tricked him and what Moondragon did to him.

Infinite Frontier - I’m here for my favorites. I hope they are in it; three of them are on the cover. I hope that Darkseid killing Hera is brought up because she’s appearing in the Wonder Girl title right now and I want my pet theory to be proven right.

Justice League - I am surprisingly enjoying this book even if it get’s a little too much Bendis-y at times. The backup is great, too. I always felt this book was going to be the first to go of the Infinite Frontier era but I am pleasantly surprised it’s still here.

Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom - Really enjoyed the first issue; confused as Hell as to why this villain is saying he’s Scott and Barda’s son. I hope that isn’t to tie it into the previous Mister Miracle title; I hope that is a misdirect and it turns out to be false.

Robin - Connor Hawke is back! I got this issue for him! I hear good things about this book so I hope it’s good!

Silk - This book is not doing anything for me and I wish that wasn’t the case. It’s not bad it’s just not for me.

SWORD - Really curious about this title and how it’ll tie into “Annihilation.”

Way of X - I am really enjoying this book and what helps it is that it’s all about Nightcrawler. I’m hoping this book sticks to what it’s doing right now.

Wonder Woman - Very nervous about the Greek gods being dead - that’s never a good story to have! I do feel slightly less apprehensive going in because I have been enjoying this title. The backup is fun, too.

Wonder Woman: Black and Gold - Hey, you know what it is! I live near Pittsburgh so I hear that song a lot. Happy that Wondy is getting one of these titles. Mostly to do with her 80th, but still it’s nice to see.

X-Men: Legends - Wasn’t exactly wowed by the last issue, but I feel this issue will deliver now that I know more about it going into it.

The Flash - The different artists, a Priscilla Rich appearance, and the fact it’s Wally means that I will be checking this book out from time to time. This book came out last week, but this was the last issue. I gave it week for someone else to pick it up, but no one did so I grabbed it.

Had to mow my parents’ yard so this is going up now. I also am having some slight computer issues so I was afraid I’d lose the post.

Happy readings!

[aion-rsa]

Wonder Woman 1984: DC Comics Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Wonder Woman 1984 spoilers. Our spoiler free review can be found here.

Wonder Woman 1984 has brought its message on the importance of truth onto screens worldwide. With retro stylings and a Hans Zimmer score, the second installment in Diana Prince’s story shows a more mature Amazonian who has adapted to man’s world and her solitary life, developing her skills as a superhero and her ability to keep out of the limelight.

Wonder Woman 1984 takes place well before the introduction of the other heroes of the DCEU and largely exists as a standalone film. However, there are still plenty of references to Diana Prince’s own history across the comics, small screen, and previous films.

We’ve used all the wisdom of Athena to chronicle as many Easter eggs as we can spot, but as always, if we’ve missed anything, do let us know in the comments. Let’s get into it. 

Themiscyra

This expansive opening brings us back to Themyscira, Wonder Woman’s home, which is sometimes referred to as Paradise Island. As always, we love any and all time on Themyscira, a world made up of exclusively strong women, ruled by Diana’s mother Hippolyta. 

Since this sequence takes place in the past, Robin Wright’s fantastic character Antiope is back! Audiences will unfortunately recall that Antiope was killed in the battle on the beach in Wonder Woman. 

The triathlon-like trials here, which the production team have called the “Amazon Olympics” are reminiscent of the trials all Amazons competed in during the comics to see who would make the sacrifice of leaving Themyscira to go with Steve to save the world of man. In that iteration, Hippolyta was all in on saving the world of man, as were the other Amazons, so there was no need to leave under cover of darkness.

This offers our first look at Diana’s skills as a kid, especially archery and horseback riding, two of her signature abilities. The girl playing 10-year-old Diana here is the same actress as last time, Lilly Aspell. She’s excellent, and really did all of this great action work – only the log that comes swinging above her head is CGI. 

Kid Diana is dressed similar to adult Diana back before she knew about her history – strappy sandals, arm gauntlets, and tan clothing she can easily move around in. Here, instead of just the partial tiara from Antiope that she’ll one day wear, she has a child-size version that matches Antiope’s exactly. It looks like everyone competing is more or less in a uniform, which includes that tiara with chin straps, which is also a reference to the helmet on the Asteria/golden eagle armor Diana will wear toward the end of the film. 

Lindy Hemming, the film’s costume designer, told a group of reporters including Den of Geek that, “They’re in their triathletes suits, 2000 or however many years ago version of their Speedos really. We’re saying, design-wise, that they’re made of leather and that, in honor of the golden-ness of the games, and this golden theme really in this film.”

Hemming wanted some continuity with this setup flashback and Diana’s gold armor later on in the movie: “There’s a link between the end of the film and the beginning of the film, in a way. The gold and the gold, the beginning and the end of the film.” – more on that below!

If you’re wondering why all the action looks so damn good here, a few big reasons: practical effects, the use of real-life women athletes like last time, and Cirque du Soleil. We even see an Amazon do their signature move from the first film, cantilevering herself off the side of a horse to grab a helmet off the ground.

When can we go back to Themyscira in the present? At the end, when Diana is flying and the air clears, I briefly thought Diana was headed back and yes please!

Wonder Woman’s apartment/life in DC

This isn’t the first time a version of Diana Prince has lived in the Washington, DC area. Back in the 1940s, she even ran for president in an issue set 1,000 years in the future! We’ll be referencing Greg Rucka’s Rebirth run frequently since Patty Jenkins likely drew quite a bit of inspiration from it. During that run, Diana lived in Arlington, Virginia while working for Director Etta Candy at ARGUS, squaring off with Cheetah and reuniting with Steve Trevor. Diana also operated out of DC at various other points throughout her 80 year comics history.

We see lots of little incognito rescues by Diana here, alluding to how she’s escaped notice for so long. Her big public return in the present day was depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and then Justice League, so it’s assumed that she operated in secret during all the ensuing years, as well.

The opening sequence, at least until Diana gets to the real action at the mall, feels a little bit like the opening credits of Richard Lester’s otherwise maligned Superman III, where the credits unfold over a series of mishaps on a Metropolis street forcing the Man of Steel to get involved.

Diana works in cultural anthropology and archeology at the Museum of Natural History in the Smithsonian – a far cry from her long-running job as a secretary in the comics. As the last movie joked, “where [Diana’s] from, that’s called slavery.”

Diana can read Latin, which surprised Barbara. She can read hundreds of languages, as she told Steve in the previous movie, but messing up and letting it show in front of someone who doesn’t know her secret is a hat tip to her being a demi-goddess, a classic move from the comics.

There’s a newspaper article that says “The Great War Ends” next to a photo of “the gang” from the first movie (sans Steve) all dressed up with flowers – maybe they were at a wedding or celebrating the end of the war? It is not the same photo Bruce Wayne will send her in the 21st century, as depicted in the first Wonder Woman movie.

Elsewhere in Diana’s apartment we see a newspaper clipping referring to Steve as a “local hero,” a shot of Steve with his plane, Steve’s watch, and a photo of Diana in front of a sign that says “Trevor Ranch,” which we’re guessing is some kind of charity ranch in honor of Steve (possibly founded/funded by Diana?). Steve’s watch will come up again later, but at the end of the previous movie he gave it to her before he sacrificed himself.

Where’s Etta Candy?

There’s a photo in Diana’s apartment that shows her liberating a concentration camp during World War II with Etta Candy, so while Diana seems to be staying out of the limelight, she’s not sitting on the sidelines. 

In addition to their great relationship in the previous movie, in the comics, Etta and Diana worked together frequently, including at ARGUS, so this kind of team-up is a natural fit. Another photo shows Diana with an older version of Etta in New York. Etta would likely be in her late 80s or early 90s in 1984, so it’s likely that she’s no longer with us. Pour one out for a real one.

Barbara Minerva and Cheetah

While there have been no fewer than four Cheetahs in the comics, Barbara Minerva is the main one and one of only two who has actual powers. Cheetah is one of Wondy’s great foes in the comics, a frenemy and a vicious eater of human flesh! For a while she’s worshipped like a goddess in the jungle in the fictional African nation of Bwunda. She’s, uh, a little different here. There’s usually at least some element of Barbara asking for powers or a better life as well as the “be careful what you wish for” element where key information is withheld about what being the Cheetah will really mean. 

There’s a fun little moment of foreshadowing when Barbara compliments Diana’s animal print heels. Costume designer Lindy Hemming shared during a set visit that at one point they debated having Barbara wear a bit of cheetah flair earlier on, but ended up saving it all for her transformation. This little shout-out feels more fun, and brings in the added layer that later on, Barbara walks well in heels. 

In a sign of Diana’s very specific brand of feminism, Barbara makes a comment about scientists not wearing heels and Diana responds that in fact, they do, since she’s a scientist and she’s in heels. In the 1980s as women entered and stayed in the workplace at unprecedented levels and reached new heights in their careers, most workwear trends like big padded shoulder blazers were focused on blending into what was presumed to be men’s spaces, rather than standing out or taking over the space. Since she grew up on Themyscira, Diana has less of that cultural baggage.

Barbara ends the movie in human form now – probably. She isn’t necessarily all gone and vanquished. We never saw her renounce her wish and, unlike most of the wish-makers in the film, she was modified with layers of wishes. We wrote more about what this ending means here.

Let’s go to the mall!

Diana uses her tiara to take out security cameras, with surprising precision. This was one of Diana’s original skills in the 1940s comics, and at some points the tiara had telepathic capabilities. Whatever the reason, Diana does it because she’s still trying to fly (ahem) under the radar, likely to accommodate the fact that her “big entrance” comes in Batman v. Superman. The tiara is, of course, Antiope’s. After her beloved mentor was killed on the beach of Themyscira, Diana now proudly wears it. Oddly enough, the film’s ONLY real nod to wider DCEU continuity is the fact that Diana is staying the heck out of it.

Director Patty Jenkins has referenced this mall scene as wanting Diana to have a Spider-Man-style scene swinging through the mall:

“The way we’re telling these Wonder Woman films, she’s got emotional stakes pretty quickly so the thing I kept saying to the studio and everybody was, after ending the first movie, I’m craving that Spider-Man-like moment where you’re just delighting in your superhero at their best. A lot of superhero movies have those moments at the three-quarter point because they don’t have big emotional stakes, so how they beat the villain is how you get that.”

She continued “I needed there to be that badass, flying around [sequence] – I always loved that part of the Spider-Man movies.”

The jewelry store is called “Koslov Jewels.” This may be a coincidence, but it shares a name with a couple of very minor DC Comics characters, both of whom appeared in 1970. 

The first (and perhaps most likely of these two unlikely connections) is a Colonel Koslov, who took on Superman and Batman in the pages of World’s Finest in 1970. This Koslov was the military leader of a fictional Eastern European country called Lubania.

The other is a former boxing opponent of Ted “Wildcat” Grant who appeared in a single issue of The Brave and the Bold when Wildcat teamed up with Batman. 

Is it just us, or would that vault in the back of Koslov Jewels have made a great opportunity to tease obscure stuff from other ancient or mystical corners of the DCEU like the Rock of Eternity in Shazam, Atlantis from Aquaman, or magical things that will appear in the upcoming Black Adam movie (such as Dr. Fate’s helmet).

The mall scene is reminiscent of a similar one in Greg Rucka’s Rebirth run when Diana takes Barbara to go shopping (after Cheetah has reformed) and Diana is mobbed by the press.

Steve Trevor returns!

Steve’s watch starts working again when he’s brought back to life by the moonstone — ahem sorry, Dreamstone. In a nice nod to the first movie, he puts a very ’80s Casio watch in Diana’s hand to let her know it’s really him, since he basically unwittingly body-snatched some poor guy.

Ironically, in the comics Steve was once meant to be used as a vessel to bring back someone else’s spirit, the malevolent plant god Urzkartaga who bestowed Cheetah’s powers upon her. Luckily, Wonder Woman helped Cheetah see the light and they stopped Urzkartaga from sacrificing Steve and taking over his body.

Steve has been killed and brought back to life on several occasions throughout his comic history. He has been resurrected by Aphrodite and even brought back as a double and then merged with his original self, which feels spiritually similar to what happened here. 

Steve mentions not knowing where he was, but he knew it was somewhere nice, so that implies he could be brought back again, right? Here’s hoping.

In this movie, Steve gets to be the fish out of water instead of Diana. While she was delighted by ice cream, Steve lights up at the Smithsonian air and space museum (of course – he’s a pilot!) and he mistakes a trash can for art when Diana shows him some modern outdoor pieces, a nod to her future work at the Louvre.

I love the ’80s!

Aerobics! Pay phones! Stationary bike! Watching the wall of TVs in a store window! There are plenty of nods to 1980s culture throughout this film.

Steve continues to be the damsel, doing a period-appropriate montage usually reserved for the leading lady. We can’t get enough of these fanny packs! And of course: “Does everyone parachute now?”

Sadly Steve’s navy outfit is not a jumpsuit but possibly a Members Only jacket and swishy pants, which is very 80s and we stan.

Steve Trevor eating pop tarts and “cheese on demand” is living his best 1980s life. 

Maxwell Lord has “a great relationship with Sears,” offering to hook Diana up with a, gasp, 19-inch TV.

The unnamed President in this film bears a passing resemblance to Ronald Reagan, who was, of course, President of the United States in 1984. If you squint, he might look a little like E.G. Marshall, who portrayed a similarly Reagan-esque President in 1980’s Superman II.

At one point we can spot a poster for a Minor Threat gig on a brick wall, and it’s great to see the legendary hardcore band get a shout here. The only problem? They broke up in September of 1983. This movie takes place in July of 1984. Ah, well. Go listen to some Minor Threat anyway.

Rock the Casbah, I guess

Egypt actually made a go of pan-Arabism from 1958-1961, bringing together Syria and Iraq under the name the United Arab Republic. There have been other attempts at pan-Arabism, but this is the most relevant to this context. Really, shouldn’t the attempt to reclaim ancestral lands be about Israel, like it is in real life?

As always, it is DEEPLY uncomfortable to watch Gal Gadot in any Arab and/or Middle Eastern context – put down those kids Gal! 

While this movie invokes the fictitious Middle Eastern country of Bialya, they still do some from within the very real location of Egypt. It’s unclear what exactly is going on here in the increasingly manic and global final act of this movie, but our best guess is that the fictional Emir Said Bin Abydos, an existing DC character, lives in Cairo in exile from Bialya. He wishes for his ancestral lands to be returned. 

This is where things get even more hairy. In the comics, it’s an arid desert and the geography we’re given is “north of Iran and Saudi Arabia” which doesn’t really make sense. It would need to be carved out somewhere around Iraq or Syria (which would be North of Saudi Arabia and west of Iran) or perhaps eastern Turkey. Instead, we see the border spring up disruptively in Egypt, seemingly in the heart of Cairo. That puts at least part of Bialya on the Africa continent in an arid desert. That fits since Libya under Qaddafi seems to be an inspiration, but in this world does Bialya have the Suez? Does it go up into the Levant or stay in Africa? Basically I have a lot of questions. 

Diana dragging herself under the truck feels like an homage to a stunt Indiana Jones pulled off in Raiders of the Lost Ark, itself an homage to stuntman Yakima Canutt, who did the same thing in 1939’s Stagecoach. Funny enough, at least one of the punches Steve lands seems to use the same sound effect that we often hear when Indy throws one.

Asteria and the Golden Eagle Armor

This film provides a really lovely new backstory for the golden eagle armor of the comics (we dug in deep on the comics history of the golden eagle armor here). In the film, the armor is first worn by Asteria, who had to hold back the men while the rest of her Amazon sisters escaped to Paradise Island. It’s made up of pieces of the other Olympians armor, all given to her to help her in her sacrifice. 

Diana tried to find Asteria but could only find her armor.  

We never see Diana’s standard sword (the Sword of Athena, not the destroyed God Killer sword from the first movie) and shield here, nor the axe that goes with the golden eagle armor in the comics – perhaps part of her stance on nonviolence and deescalation? Costume designer Lindy Hemming viewed the wings on the suit as shields, so perhaps that’s why the standard shield was considered unnecessary.

During a set visit, Hemming said of the wings, “They become like Roman shields. So she’s protected. I won’t give away the story of why that’s the kind of protection she needs. But basically her fighting style is with the shields. So I’m really pleased now because I think that there was no logic to being a pair of wings, really. But there is a logic to being something she can glide in on.”

Agree to disagree on the logic of nonfunctional magnificent gold wings, Lindy, but fair point. Diana used to wear this armor when she was vulnerable, or facing a particularly strong enemy – ironic that she uses it once she regains her full strength. Although, Barbara is meant to be equally powerful, at least after the first wish, and then gets more, so maybe she still needed it. She was definitely on the defensive for a while there.

Invisible Jet

The invisible plane is nearly synonymous with Wonder Woman. Whether you watched the old Lynda Carter show or grew up reading the comics, the invisible plane has been around since 1942 and had the same creator, good old William Moulton Marston. The invisible aircraft was a necessity because like the Diana of the big screen, comic book Wondy couldn’t fly until the mid-80s (Crisis on Infinite Earths).

While Diana’s plane in WW84 seems to be normal in every way except invisibility, in the comics it could fly 2,000 miles an hour when it was first created. The jet only got faster as the decades went on, up to 40 miles per second, which is 144,000 mph. In the old William Moulton Marston days it was equipped with a “mental radio” so Wondy could receive telepathic distress calls (or send them) from Paradise Island.

Around the 1950s there was an upgrade and it became an invisible jet, specifically. It can go to space, go completely undetected by RADAR, and a more recent version of it is actually sentient and shape-shifting and went by the name WonderDome. 

Here we see Diana use her own will to make the plane invisible, which is quite similar to the original origin story of the plane in the comics, rather than the more recent one. The comics version of the plane could send out rainbow rays to penetrate the mist around Themyscira and allow Wondy to fly back home. The fireworks may have been a nod to that in addition to a great visual device for the invisible jet (rather than the adorably hoaky image of Lynda Carter sitting in a plane outline while clouds scroll by). It  could certainly be a possible route home for her in the future.

Wonder Woman can fly!

Yes, Wonder Woman can fly! In one of the more emotional arcs, we see Diana develop her ability to fly in this movie, picking up where her hovering in the last film left off. She starts with extended leaps and riding air currents and lightning bolts to stay in the air far longer than anyone else could, and after she and Steve talked about flying while in (where else?) the invisible jet, she learned to fly freely on her own. 

This is another one where the image of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman has imprinted itself so thoroughly on the collective consciousness that people who have never seen the show have still seen her fly through the air. 

Meanwhile, on the comics side of things, Diana Prince first learned to “manipulate air currents” (AKA Buzz Lightyear “falling with style”) in the late 1950s. It wasn’t until the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, which changed up a lot of her powers, that she was able to fly for real. Since then the origins of her flight have differed a bit, but Hermes is usually mentioned. Sometimes it’s like recipe given in the Wonder Woman movie – “…beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules…” with Hermes contributing flight. Other times, his feather touches her thigh and suddenly she’s got the gift. 

Wonder Woman harnesses lightning

Before we see Diana fly, we see her use her lasso to harness lightning and ride it through the sky, swinging from bolt to bolt. This feels like a natural progression since in the first film we saw her redirect Ares’s lightning and later on in WW84 she flies completely of her own power. 

This visually arresting new power is likely derived from the fact that Zeus, god of lightning, is her father in some tellings of her origin. In the New 52 era of the comics, Diana gained the ability to manipulate lightning, expel it, and use it as a weapon, with help from her bracelets. Since they were made from the Aegis, an Olympian artifact will get into below, they were both indestructible and helped her harness something of the divine. 

The shockwave and the Bracelets of Submission

We love how they keep Wondy’s suspiciously strong shockwave from crossing her gauntlets from the first movie, which is how she first suspected she was different from the Amazons. Here it’s still a powerful move, although it might even be stronger than the last time we saw it. Diana has definitely been leveling up in the last few decades. 

We haven’t spent much time discussing the provenance of the various items Diana took from the armory on Themyscira, but in the comics the bracelets are indestructible, which was reflected in the previous movie when they repeatedly stopped bullets. Sometimes they dampen her strength, but others they direct or even amplify it. They were forged from the remains of the goddess Athena’s shield, which itself was made from the Aegis, the indestructible hide of a goat named Amalthea who nursed Zeus when he was just a baby god. Uh, wow, gods are weird. Anyway.

This ability has only been around for the few decades of Diana’s history, but it quickly became iconic and definitely beats what it replaced. Earlier in Wondy’s comics history, the bracelets would render the wearer powerless if chained together by a man. All Amazons wore them as a reminder of the time when they were enslaved by men or, alternately (depending on when you are in the continuity) as a reminder that they had failed to save humanity. So, uh, yeah, we’ll take the divine shockwave thing instead.

And in case you were wondering, her gauntlets are officially called “the bracelets of submission”  and wow, creator William Moulton Marston wasn’t really hiding that kink, huh? (If you have no clue what I’m talking about, check out Jill Lepore’s book The Secret History of Wonder Woman or the movie Professor Marston and The Wonder Women, to learn about the kinky poly Tufts professor who invented the lie detector and created Wonder Woman, with significant help from his partners.)

Losing her powers

Wonder Woman’s powers waning throughout the movie seems like a nod to an oft-used superhero movie sequel trope. Both Superman II and Spider-Man 2 featured their title characters losing their powers, but the story logic in Wonder Woman 1984 has far more to do with the former.

In Superman II, the Man of Steel gave up his powers entirely in order to be with Lois Lane…making this decision just as three villains from Krypton made their presence known on Earth. Oops. But Diana losing her powers for her love of Steve here echoes Clark’s choice, and like Clark, she ultimately renounces her love in order to save the day.

It could also be a reference to the de-powered era of her comics history. In 1968, a character who was created as a feminist symbol of women’s power independent of men was written to surrender her power in order to care for a man, Steve Trevor, rather than join her sisters the Amazons. Steve was killed off and Diana went on to learn martial arts and wear some truly fabulous clothes, but it’s a disheartening turn of events nonetheless. 

Enter Gloria Steinem. When she couldn’t put presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm on the July 1972 cover of her new feminist magazine Ms., the full magazine’s first, Steinem got permission to put her childhood hero Wonder Woman on it instead, towering over a town as she fights off a tank and stops a fighter jet from harming civilians. Steinem apparently asked DC for an update on her favorite hero and was horrified to learn that Diana Prince had no powers. 

Meanwhile, Ms. flew off shelves and a new generation was excited about Wonder Woman. DC gave Diana back her powers. According to DC Comics archivist and librarian Benjamin LeClear, we have Gloria Steinem to thank.

New uses for the Lasso of Truth

Diana uses her lasso of truth, sometimes called the Lasso of Hestia, to show Steve Trevor the truth. Ares sort of did this in the last movie except the vision he showed Diana wasn’t so much the truth as it was his version of it. The lasso has been used for this purpose in the comics, and Diana has even used it on herself when she doubted her own memories. 

In the White House, we also see Wondy whirl the lasso like the a giant propeller on an airboat, one of the coolest and most visually appealing of her abilities yet. We haven’t found any prior references to this, so hit us up if you know of any! And if not, props to Patty Jenkins and her team for inventing a new move for a character that’s almost 80 years old. 

Max Lord

Max Lord also appeared on Supergirl for a hot minute! Remember when Alex was straight? Remember when Alex “was” “straight”? But the Supergirl version of Max was far more a traditional “corporate villain” than how he originally began life in the comics.

Max’s bravado and eagerness is very reminiscent of how the character was first introduced in the Justice League International comics in 1987, when he was the man who re-formed the Justice League, albeit with lesser known characters than Superman and Wonder Woman. Could we possibly see Pascal return as Max in a future DCEU movie, where in his ongoing quest to redeem himself from his actions in this film, he puts together a team of second-string heroes to try and save the world? Probably not, but we can dream.

Max did have some low level metahuman abilities in the comics, where he could implant mental suggestions in others to “push” them to do something. Usually when he would do this, he would end up with a small nosebleed. While Max’s health problems here are far worse than a nosebleed, the eyes, nose, and ear bleeding is certainly a nod to his comics power set.

In the comics, Max’s biggest run-in with Wonder Woman didn’t um…it didn’t end well for him.

Simon Stagg

The investor who Max ends up on the wrong side of (and who then ends up on the wrong side of Max) is Simon Stagg. Stagg has been kicking around DC Comics since 1965. Despite his long history, Stagg has never quite made it to A-list status in DC Comics, and is primarily known as the main antagonist of Metamorpho, the Element Man, although he did appear briefly in the first season of The Flash, played by William Sadler.

The Dreamstone

While this particular version of the Dreamstone doesn’t have a direct DC Comics parallel, there are a few points worth noting about it…

There are certain similarities to the Dreamstone worn by the protagonist of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Morpheus. There, the Dreamstone was also known as the Materioptikon, and while it looked more like a finely cut ruby than the unhewn stone we see here in the film, it could still make dreams into a reality, although it wasn’t quite as literal as the way we see Max wield it here. It’s probably not really intended to be the same thing, but it’s still cool.

Anyway, it can’t be the same as The Sandman Dreamstone because that one was created by Morpheus himself, while this one was crafted by someone Diana refers to alternately as the God of Lies, Dolos Mendacius, and the Duke of Deception. The name Dolos does indeed coincide with a minor figure from Greek mythology, whose name literally translates as “Deception.” But that “Duke of Deception” name has some historical significance for comics fans, as he was one of the first foes Wonder Woman ever faced in the comics, way back in 1942 and who has bedeviled her in various adventures through the years.

Asteria and the Post-Credits Scene

As we see in that mid-credits scene, Asteria is indeed still wandering the world…and she’s played by none other than original TV Wonder Woman Lynda Carter. What a cool tribute.

The Asteria flashback we see in the story is a nod to a Wonder Woman origin story that I don’t think we’ve seen referenced in the movies, that the armies of man (led by Heracles) had at one point enslaved the Amazons.

There’s a very minor existing DC Comics character named Asteria (who, as far we can tell made her first and only and exceedingly brief appearance in Elseworlds’ Finest: Supergirl and Batgirl #1 in the ’90s), however she bears little resemblance to this version of Asteria, who has us extremely excited. This all fits quite nicely with the idea that Asteria was already “in the world of men” if you take that as a riff on the idea that Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman TV show was a metaphorical early foray into our world.

Other Random Stuff…

Diana in the clouds hearing the wishes of the world feels a little bit like the scene in Superman: The Movie where Supes is cautioned by the spirit/memory of his father not to try and bring Lois Lane back to life. He disobeys, of course.

The idea of a villain strolling into the Oval Office to get the President to do his bidding, and then an all out battle in the White House, feels very much like another nod to Superman II, where Kryptonian villains Zod, Non, and Ursa take the White House by force.

On Diana’s shelf is a book called “The Natural Life of the Gorilla.” Is it possible that in her travels Diana has heard of or even stumbled upon Gorilla City, home of noted Flash villain Grodd and Flash ally King Solovar?

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The white dress Diana wears to her work gala is obviously playing with Grecian themes as a nod to her Amazonian heritage, but it’s also very reminiscent of a white Grecian maxi dress with a high leg slit she wore in the comics during her de-powered era when she wore a lot of mod fits, and white almost exclusively. You can see the dress here and more looks from that era here.

Did you spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, and if it checks out, we’ll update this!

The post Wonder Woman 1984: DC Comics Easter Eggs and Reference Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundups 7/6/17

Wow I had a lot to read and I still managed to turn it out faster than I turn out about 90% of these which I’m not sure if it’s a reflection on my reading and writing skills getting better or if I was stressing out over doing these way too much in the past. 

Regardless, we have quite a variety this week and still seem to be celebrating Wonder Joy so let’s just get into it~

DC’s Batman, Creator Owned CBLDF Defender, Marvel’s Spider-Man/Deadpool, DC’s Superman, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light, DC’s Wonder Woman FCBD, DC’s Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor, Viz’s Yona of the Dawn

DC’s Batman (2016-present) #24 Tom King, David Finch, Danny Miki, Clay Mann, Seth Mann, Jordie Bellaire

Okay, so I follow Batman at a distance because I’ll be completely honest: Tom King absolutely lost me with the Gotham and Gotham Girl plot because I just could not get into it, and it annoyed me, so I’ve been hands off with the title for the most part, a decision I only double downed on with the Catwoman debacle and my correct assumption in King really relying too heavily on TWISTS. a

.... 

But I absolutely picked up this issue because even if nothing in my thinking brain believes, at all, that this will be allowed to change the status quo between Bruce and Selina...

I love BatCat so much you guys.

He proposed. And I bought it purely for those pages.

I have to emphasize it was for those pages alone because I could not have cared less about Claire and Bruce’s conversation because I’m just so tired of how many people there are in Gotham and how this conversation would have been so much more meaningful if it came from Kate or Dick or Tim or Cass or Duke or Harper or Damian or Julia or Luke or Jean Paul or Leslie or -- THERE ARE SO MANY BAT CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT BEING USED TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL RIGHT NOW DAMMIT.

The conversation itself is kinda stuff we’ve heard before, and while I like how it tied in thematically it just wasn’t in me to not criticize the fact that it’s coming from the current OC of the Day. 

Anyway. 

I came for the BatCat and I was happy for it even if it was basically only three issues and I had to deal with grown artists making Gotham GIrl’s skirt incredibly short while she was in weird positions for most of it. 

So. That’s my take on that.

Now I can write 3 million fics about how this could be wonderful and that Helena Wayne gets to grow up with all her siblings and be loved by the world. byyyyeeeeeeee

Creator Owned CBLDF Defender Vol. 2 #2 Marc Adreyko, Gene Luen Yang

So this is mostly just an addition at the last minute both because it’s free and because it’s, well, an information brochure about uniting to subscribe or pledge money to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for all those who have been encouraged into activism thanks to recent events and the collective consciousness surrounding events like last year’s Pulse nightclub shooting.

It’s a good idea and it’s pro-community messaging speaks to me. I’d like to spread awareness for people that these voices are out there and that if you’re interested in providing support you can check out this particular brochure on Comixology for free or google at your leisure.

Marvel’s Spider-Man/Deadpool Vol. 2: Side Pieces Scott Aukerman, Gerry Duggan, Penn Jillette, Nick Giovannetti, Paul Scheer, Joshua Corin, Reilly Brown, Scott Koblish, Todd Nauck, Tigh Walker

Okay, so... I like Spider-Man/Deadpool’s first arc... but it’s pretty much exactly like Trinity over at DC and it’s spiritual predecessors Batman/Superman and Superman/Batman in that, outside of what’s honestly a pretty stellar initial premise, there is not a whole lot of plan behind where the comic wants to go for the future. 

So you get a whole lot of different creative teams and no cohesive narrative or direction for the comic to go. 

But I guess that really brings into question what makes ongoing comics work and whether or not th idea of “hilarious monthly team ups of Spider-Man and Deadpool without a point, and assumedly without continuity consequences” is enough to work. 

And as someone who honestly really enjoys one-shot one-and-dones, that’s honestly a pass for me. 

But at the same tim... I mean there’s a reason I have both Spider-Man/Deadpool and Trinity on trade wait status now. 

The whole is not equivalent to the sum of its parts, but honestly it’s got some genuinely funny and worthwhile parts as it stands. And I appreciate that. 

DC’s Superman (2016-present) #24 Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Mick Gray, Joe Prado, Wil Quintana, John Kalisz

You know, sometimes being a comic fan is kind of like reading the newspaper more than reading a narrative story. 

For me that’s kinda what this issue felt more like, I was getting information on where all the characters had moved since last time, the motivations, some backstories. Slight progress and movement in the form of an update on what happened to Lois and getting to see her still kicking Clark’s ass in gear despite his concern for her injury, which I liked, but overall this issue mostly felt like filler for the final moment where we see Jon fall completely into the control of Manchester Black. 

Who... is a big whooping plot hole I am stil waiting to be addressed. Clark remembers Manchester Black from the New Earth continuity still and the “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” and knows about the Elite, but do they know about him? Or are they completely different from the Super Elite we knew? Are we going to get a Justice League Elite mention (which good god please spare me, though I’ll take Sister Superior). 

This is one of those cases where I feel like my overly extensive knowledge of things in continuity actually puts me at a disadvantage to actually like... reading and taken things for granted. 

I want things to make sense, or I want enjoyable Kent family shenanigans. 

But this issue did have Krypto so, I automatically add a star to it. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. 

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #6 James Roberts, Jack Lawrence, Joanna Lafuente

Look, sometimes I think it’s important for critics, reviewers, readers, what have you, to bea ble to say that they’re confused and don’t know what emotion to feel or whether or not the comic accomplished exactly what it wanted to and I’m just. Like. 

Yes that is my emotion at the moment.

A lot of stuff happened in this issue. Like lots of crazy, out there, amazing stuff was packed into a single issue and it’s like, there were panels where you’d blink and you’d miss important character development notes -- like Ratchet hugging their Rung once they got back. Like there’s so much good -- Rodimus had a lot of amazing moments throughout and I love the range of humor to anger to disappointment that he showed. Like his trust and faith in others is already pretty shattered at the moment and to feel Megatron’s apparent betrayal adding onto that is like a million times more stuff. I fear he’s nearing a very dangerous ledge, which is bad because this issue also tells us that Rodimus’ death wish and lowkey desire to put himself in dangerous positions to die heroically is still as prominent as ever. 

Someone hug my trash fire of a son, please.

And then magical girlfriend romance bringing back her girlfriend as a baby and it’s kinda weird like is it still going to be the same Lug? Does Anode acknowledge that it’s weird? Is anyone going to point out that they could feasibly use protoform matter now to resurrect anyone whose spark remnants are available now? Including Skids and Ravage?

what is going on

Anyway. 

There’s a lot packed into this issue which is why I am honestly kind of happy that next issue’s description is a “fallout” from this because holy shit, I need room to breathe and think through things.

Also. Dat smile when Megatron heard Optimus’ voice in the epilogue-ish finale. I like. Maybe had a fangirl moment. Just maybe. 

Anyway. I’m shrug emoji right now until I can get my emotional state sorted out because wow there’s a lot at the moment. Like a lot. A lot a lot.

DC’s Wonder Woman FCBD 2017 Special Edition (2017-present) #1 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Romulo Fajarado Jr.

Like last week’s Wondy special, this is a reprint, but it’s a reprint of the first issue of “Year One” which still holds up as the far superior of the two starting Wonder Woman titles from Rucka last year and is amazingly well held up...

...save of course for the exact same criticisms as the last time I went over the issue which is Dead Bro Walking trope and a whole lot of Rucka Why???? that comes attached to the really bizarre treatment of race in the first arcs of the series. It’s just so bizarre.

But honestly, again, these moves are meant to attract the new, excited audience after the box office smash that has been the Wonder Woman movie -- an audience that has been largely female of all ages. And if there’s one free comic I’m glad will show up immediately on their google searches this Wednesday, I’m very glad it’s going to be the start of what has quickly become my favorite standard bearer of Wonder Woman’s origin story. 

Something I appreciate even more after having finally read the entirety of Azzarrello’s Wondy run which. Eck. Wash my mouth out. 

DC’s Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor (2017) #1 Tim Seeley, Christian Duce, Allen Passalaqua

So this addition to my pull was kind of unexpected in that I had no idea that it was coming out this week and thought “why not” because I’m literally still so Wonderfully Pumped Up a the moment and as far as I can see, the more proceeds DC and WB can see attributed to Wonder Woman the better.

That being said, Tim Seeley really dug into his Grayson roots in this one because that’s about the only thing I really got from this issue is that Steve Trevor’s a badass secret agent with secrets and a deep seeded guilt thing. Which kinda felt like a harsher toned take on his Dick Grayson more than anything else. Which is fine.

Part of the problem here is that I did not read the New52 short term published book that was A.R.G.U.S. or whatever where Steve starred during the weird interim where Steve was not allowed around Diana and Lois wasn’t allowed around Clark but DC still wants to make money from fans anyway.

idk. And since those kinds of spy books are rarely my cup of tea, I don’t think this issue sold me on renigging on that instinct.

Still it was cute and Diana and Steve’s interactions, while minimal, are really the driving portion of his narrative which I think is always good.

But, just like the Annual, I’m left just sitting here going “why don’t we use this opportunity to show off the upcoming Wonder Woman creative team, DC????”

And I get no answer bc DC actually doesn’t care about some weirdo random blogger on the internet constantly screaming at them.

Viz’s Yona of the Dawn (2009-present) Vol. 6 Mizuho Kusanagi

I have actually been very interested in Akatsuki no Yona since I saw its anime show up in my Crunchyroll feed, and as with most anime I can’t help but immediately try to find the manga instead because I am impatient and want Answers Now. As I understand it, the Viz official translations are far behind the current run of the manga (makes sense, as the manga series has been ongoing since 2009 in Japan), and is only catching up to where the anime left off so far, but that’s more than okay for me right now.

Because oh my gosh, it’s so amazing to read such a beautiful story about the growth, empowerment, and pure will of a female character as told by a female author and artist. I’m not the biggest fan of Shoujo as a style of art, but having Yona strike a balance between beautiful and cutesy visuals with what is ultimately a fairly action driven plot with intense moral posturing and constant detail put into the grayness of life’s choices makes Yona of the Dawn honestly unlike just about any Shoujo I’ve read before. 

Yona is one of the most compelling heroines I’ve ever seen, and her intensity of spirit and her meaningful examination of her kingdom makes this fairy tale story really unlike anything else out there. 

And while I’ve really enjoyed Yona to this point, I have to say it is an amazing relief to reach Volume 6 an finally get more female characters than just Yona. I like the reverse harem appeal of the cast as it has been so far, and I have affection for several of the boys, but man is it so much more meaningful to have a few more compelling female characters backing up Yona in the representation department.

Especially since some of Yona’s crew still feel... a little bland to me. It’s usually not a good sign in a massive cast when the traits that come immediately to mind for me are purely character design. 

I’m excited for what’s to come and to see how our Princess fully realizes her potential as the Crimson Dragon. 

Also I should note some skeevy parts of this. One I don’t mind but am sure other people might, there’s the fact that Yona’s current storyline is dealing with Yona taking down a ring of human traffickers and slavers, which brings up the question of autonomy both for Yona as a woman in this honestly pretty traditionally sexist kingdom but also for the Dragons themselves and how their “service” to Yona is framed as a question of their own will. But it’s still a story about human trafficking and that could bother a lot of people. Another thing in this volume, which has bothered me in the previous volumes but really came to a head this time around, is Hak’s... weirdly possessive outbursts toward Yona. I get that they are meant as... idk protective and romantic to some and that we’re supposed to be compelled by his struggle to not show his affection for Yona, but honestly I’m just kinda... naw hoss. Like Hak’s a fine character and I like his relationship and history with Yona most of the time, but like.. the weird pushing her against walls and... licking honey off of her wrists and just. idk. We’re lost in translation here or something bc I’m not a fan.

I’m also not a fan of Viz’s weird changes in the font randomly throughout the book? Like just stop. It’s bad when your translations look lazier than the fan translations I’ve seen floating around on tumblr.

I’ll be honest, as high quality as I consider almost all of these comics this week, I would say the good majority of them did not give me a fully emotional experience or really captivate me in a way that satisfied me from start to finish. And I’m sure in the follow up issues to come there’ll be a lot for me to question into why that might be for the majority of them, but that time is not now. So, as much as it may feel like cheating to pick a volumed book over single issues, I can’t help but say that Yona of the Dawn by far is my pick of the week. It delighted, it changed up its structure and storytelling, built out its world and has started spending more time on the titular characters where before it often felt like we were just taking for granted that there was a dragon gained every volume. And Yona herself is just one of the most satisfying characters to see grow into their own. 

But that’s just my opinion, I’d love to hear what you all think. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed a great comic this week? Please let me know!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Marvel’s Revengers

This review is a few weeks in the making. I actually saw Thor: Ragnarok the day it came out but i wanted to wait to review it. I was curious how i would feel about it after seeing Justice League. The fact that the architect of Marvel’s Phase One was brought in to “fix” what Snyder had produced was kind of ill so i wanted to see if i could discern that Marvel flavor in DC’s flick better after taking in Thor and having time to ponder those aspects altogether. I opted to take in Ragnarok a second time today because i figured out that i liked it more than i liked Justice League. Even with all of the good in that flick; Flash, Wondy, the levity, Aquaman, Cyborg sort of, i just found myself watching a third tier Marvel outing. Like, i left thee theater feeling like i watched Avenger 3 and it was worse than Age Of Ultron. Ultron wasn’t great but it was decent ,JL wasn’t decent. After watching Ragnarok a second time, my initial reaction was justified For both films. Thor: Ragnarok is a great movie and Justice League is a pale imitation of what makes Ragnarok great. I might write a piece later comparing the two, elaborating on my i think JL to be such a hollow abstraction of Ragnarok, and the Marvel formula overall, but this little essay is going to be a straight review of Ragnarok. Spoilers: Is Gud. Go see that sh*t. Again. But first, can we just appreciate the utter bad ass beauty of Tessa Thompson?

Ol’ girl was goddamn outstanding in a movie full of outstanding and she did while being bad-ass, beautiful, and brilliant. Hats off, madame, hats off. Swag on fleek, as the kids say.

The Best

Tessa Thompson killed as Brunnhilde. And, yes, she has a name, not a number. She’s Brunnhilde the Valkyrie or just Valkyrie. and Tess OWNED that sh*t, manq!

Speaking of ownage, can we just stop and appreciate Hela? Cate Blanchett embodied this roll and i loved every minute of it. I’ve always loved Hela. I thought she never got her due in the comics, with the exceptions of some solid f*cking stories (check out little loki and Leah’s adventure or Ultimate Hela, off the top of my head) so to see such a prestigious actor take on such an iconic character with respect, understand, and general awesomeness was spectacular. She’s my second favorite MCU villain after Keaton’s Vulture and i mean the closet of seconds.

Speaking of my beautiful and deadly Hela, i like the liberties they took with her history here. Don’t misunderstand, 616 Hela will always have a special place in my heart by her cinema appearance, an amalgamation of Gor the God Butcher, Angela Odinsdottir, (yes, that’s Angela’s guv’ment name now) and Hela Lokisdottir, (lookit me using comic logic to discern Hela’s last name) i was pretty okay with how she turned out overall. I mean, come on, looking over that last clusterf*ck of words, you’d think the character, herself, would be a mess but she’s not. She’s just plain dope. Dope and hot. and deadly. Deadly, dope, and hot.

How can Jeff Goldblum not be at the top of this list with the other two standouts in this flick? Yo, anytime you add Ian Malcolm to anything, it’s immediately +5 for snark and +20 for tight. Jeff, with all his Goldblumisms, just makes everything better. He’s like cinema MSG!

I loved the diversity in this flick. Beautiful, black, female, lead that happens to not only best the “Lord of Thunder and God of Mischief but the hulk, too? Check. Female antagonist that is arguably the best antagonist Marvel has ever produced? Check. Bad ass warrior monk who can see anywhere into the universe and happens to be black, too? Check. Respect and reverence for the multi-cultures represented by the majority of the cast while not feeling like pandering or false SJW placation? Check. Visionary, Academy award nominated, director who happens to be half Maori out here throwing his big cinematic dick about all over Disney’s Marvelscape? Check. Marvel is getting this sh*t right in their films and while i think Homecoming did diversity better, Thor is a damn fine continuance in that direction.

This movie was beautiful. It was like walking into a Jack Kirby comic from the 70s. I half expected a f*cking Eternal or Celestial to jump out of the screen at me. I thought Doctor strange had a heavy visual aesthetic but Ragnarok definitely pressed it for that title.

The Better

Taika Waititi is getting much better at his craft. I can’t say this is a perfect movie but it’s a damn good one. There are still some pacing issues and some rather interest plot points from the previous outings **cough**JaneFosterandLadySif**cough** that were just glossed over but i think they tightened the narrative overall. a better example would be the sudden injection, and that’s what it felt like actually, of Hela. That was more than sudden and jarring. That sloppy execution set me off a little, i guess, and that’s on the direction.

But dat Soundtrack, tho!

Mark Ruffalo turns in another spectacular, scene stealing, performance as Bruce Banner. Cat is kind perfect for this role and it boggles my mind that it took three tries to get that right. Marvel is usually really good at casting.Go figure.

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston turn in their best performances as the Odinson boys and i’m glad to see a little closure with their arc. Seeing Thor actually mature and Loki come full circle was awesome. As a older brother, i identified with their overall growth closely. It was adorable and brotherly. Also, did anyone else notice how hot Hiddles was in that suit. I’m not gay but goddamn, you gotta give the brotha his credit where it’s due. He wore the f*ck out of that ensemble!

It was dope to see Heimdall get some finally. Cat out here using the Bifrost key to just mow down nameless asshole zombie Asgardians while saving basically the entire world, single-handedly. I saw a meme that referred to him as black Jesus and i can’t imagine a better way to sum his character up. Apparently, Idris Elba does have a dope pair of sandals so, you know, that’s a thing.

The visuals on Sakarr were inspired. i adored the textures and lived in feel of that world. It felt like something Jeff Goldblum would lord over. Muspelheim was just as majestic as Niflheim from the original Thor.

But dat Thorforce, tho. I know it was lightning or thunder or whatever but that sh*t was the goddamn Thorforce, son. Please see Rune Thor or King Thor and get at me, bro.

The Good

The supporting cast was legit. I thought Korg and Miek were just the right amount of hilarious with the right amount of exposure. I wanted more but i wasn’t hurting that i didn’t get more, you know? I think a one-shot would be fun for those two.

The Visual effects were on point. Nothing looked unfinished and this was the first time we really gt a great look at The Hulk. That whole gladiator scene was epic as sh*t! i wish it were longer but, you know, WWH can swing back around and address that. I mean, i’d love to see how Doug bit the dust, particularly considering New Doug basically destabilized and overthrew the entire social system. Also, Fenrir was cool as sh*t.

The Hulk was dope. Like, as a character, dope. Seeing him come into his own over his two year imprisonment of Banner was awesome. I said this before and i’ll say it again, i needs that WWH movie now. How can you gloss over that two year period? The f*ck was he doing in that time? How dope was he while he was winning?? i need to know, Marvel! I NEED TO KNOW!!

Sir Anthony Hopkins and future Sir Benedict Cumberbatch showed up and did what they do. They were short cameos but their respective skill in their craft carried their respective screen presences effortlessly. I will miss Odin though. He was pretty legit anytime he was onscreen. And the chemistry he had with Hemsworth has gotten considerably better. Is a far cry from literally all of the complaints he had for kid when they made the first Thor flick, all those years ago. Growth is good, manq.

But dat Fenrir, tho.

The Eh

Where the f*ck was Sif? i loved Sif. Why she gone, bro? She obviously wasn’t killed by Hela cuz she was nowhere near Asgard so i assume she’s on Midgar or whatever so why no Sif? Not even a mention, you know? I’d say this was “Bad” but it was more a discomfort than a slight.

Hela’s return from and general machinations of her banishment/imprisonment was kind of swampy. It was never clear how Odin put her away or how she knew where he was when he died. I imagine Magic or f*cking Magnets or some sh*t but still. Shenanigans.

Hela sacked the Warriors Three like they were lunches. I thought that was ridiculous but whatever. They needed a way to portray Hela’s dopenesss but you’re telling me Thor or Heimdall didn’t mourn their bros? that sh*t was whack, son!

Karl Urban was okay as Scourge. Like, his introduction was dope. That little bit when Thor returned from Muspelheim was chill as sh*t but after that? Meh. Kid was kind of an irredeemable weenie and a total plot throw away. Hela didn’t need him for sh*t. Still, it’s good to see Bones branching out. Maybe this will get him enough clout to get Dredd Two made. I want my Judge Death goddamit! 

The Verdict

I adored Ragnarok. I think it’s easily one of the better Marvel films out there. It’s effortlessly the second best of the Marvel films released this year (I give Homecoming that distinction because i’m a giant Spider-Man fanboy and Logan is technically a Fox property or that thing would DEFINITELY get the “Best of the year” nod) and has left the MCU in a very intriguing place. As a direct lead in to Infinity War, i am satisfied. Satisfied and, as the kids say, crazy thirsty for what’s next. Taika Waititi has elevated this franchise from the worst of the MCU into talks as part of the best with one movie and that’s a goddamn feat. While i feel like World War Hulk should have been it’s own film, it’s own movie, i’m less frustrated by it being just a part of Ragnorok’s overall vision. Taika’s execution of that vision was just so deftly executed, none of that felt tacked on. It never weighed down the overall plot or narrative.Besides, there’s a two year gap there. We can always go back and see how Hulk became The Champion with a prequel. or something. Anything to get my girl Tessa back on that MCU screen, ya dig? Ma looked good in them silvers and blues.

Overall, i thought this was a solid film. There are some pacing issues and a few shots were a bit jarring; i thought the sudden appearance of that Norway scene was a bit heavy handed, but Sir Anthony Hopkins kind of saved that situation a little bit. Watching that guy act is a goddamn blessing. At the end of the day, this was an amazing film that entertained, regaled, and endeared. I adore the additions of Tessa Thompson and Jeff Goldblum and hope we see more of them going forward. This was a diverse, brilliant, fun, entertaining, film that deserves all of the accolades it’s received as well as multiple viewings by the audience. It kind of sh*t’s all over Justice League so go see Ragnarok again instead.

[smokeybrand]

Smokey brand Movie Review: Marvel’s Revengers

This review is a few weeks in the making. I actually saw Thor: Ragnarok the day it came out but i wanted to wait to review it. I was curious how i would feel about it after seeing Justice League. The fact that the architect of Marvel’s Phase One was brought in to “fix” what Snyder had produced was kind of ill so i wanted to see if i could discern that Marvel flavor in DC’s flick better after taking in Thor and having time to ponder those aspects altogether. I opted to take in Ragnarok a second time today because i figured out that i liked it more than i liked Justice League. Even with all of the good in that flick; Flash, Wondy, the levity, Aquaman, Cyborg sort of, i just found myself watching a third tier Marvel outing. Like, i left thee theater feeling like i watched Avenger 3 and it was worse than Age Of Ultron. Ultron wasn’t great but it was decent ,JL wasn’t decent. After watching Ragnarok a second time, my initial reaction was justified For both films. Thor: Ragnarok is a great movie and Justice League is a pale imitation of what makes Ragnarok great. I might write a piece later comparing the two, elaborating on my i think JL to be such a hollow abstraction of Ragnarok, and the Marvel formula overall, but this little essay is going to be a straight review of Ragnarok. Spoilers: Is Gud. Go see that sh*t. Again. But first, can we just appreciate the utter bad ass beauty of Tessa Thompson?

Ol’ girl was goddamn outstanding in a movie full of outstanding and she did while being bad-ass, beautiful, and brilliant. Hats off, madame, hats off. Swag on fleek, as the kids say.

The Best

Tessa Thompson killed as Brunnhilde. And, yes, she has a name, not a number. She’s Brunnhilde the Valkyrie or just Valkyrie. and Tess OWNED that sh*t, manq!

Speaking of ownage, can we just stop and appreciate Hela? Cate Blanchett embodied this roll and i loved every minute of it. I’ve always loved Hela. I thought she never got her due in the comics, with the exceptions of some solid f*cking stories (check out little loki and Leah’s adventure or Ultimate Hela, off the top of my head) so to see such a prestigious actor take on such an iconic character with respect, understand, and general awesomeness was spectacular. She’s my second favorite MCU villain after Keaton’s Vulture and i mean the closet of seconds.

Speaking of my beautiful and deadly Hela, i like the liberties they took with her history here. Don’t misunderstand, 616 Hela will always have a special place in my heart by her cinema appearance, an amalgamation of Gor the God Butcher, Angela Odinsdottir, (yes, that’s Angela’s guv’ment name now) and Hela Lokisdottir, (lookit me using comic logic to discern Hela’s last name) i was pretty okay with how she turned out overall. I mean, come on, looking over that last clusterf*ck of words, you’d think the character, herself, would be a mess but she’s not. She’s just plain dope. Dope and hot. and deadly. Deadly, dope, and hot.

How can Jeff Goldblum not be at the top of this list with the other two standouts in this flick? Yo, anytime you add Ian Malcolm to anything, it’s immediately +5 for snark and +20 for tight. Jeff, with all his Goldblumisms, just makes everything better. He’s like cinema MSG!

I loved the diversity in this flick. Beautiful, black, female, lead that happens to not only best the “Lord of Thunder and God of Mischief but the hulk, too? Check. Female antagonist that is arguably the best antagonist Marvel has ever produced? Check. Bad ass warrior monk who can see anywhere into the universe and happens to be black, too? Check. Respect and reverence for the multi-cultures represented by the majority of the cast while not feeling like pandering or false SJW placation? Check. Visionary, Academy award nominated, director who happens to be half Maori out here throwing his big cinematic dick about all over Disney’s Marvelscape? Check. Marvel is getting this sh*t right in their films and while i think Homecoming did diversity better, Thor is a damn fine continuance in that direction.

This movie was beautiful. It was like walking into a Jack Kirby comic from the 70s. I half expected a f*cking Eternal or Celestial to jump out of the screen at me. I thought Doctor strange had a heavy visual aesthetic but Ragnarok definitely pressed for that title.

The Better

Taika Waititi is getting much better at his craft. I can’t say this is a perfect movie but it’s a damn good one. There are still some pacing issues and some rather interest plot points from the previous outings **cough**JaneFosterandLadySif**cough** that were just glossed over but i think they tightened the narrative overall. a better example would be the sudden injection, and that’s what it felt like actually, of Hela. That was more than sudden and jarring. That sloppy execution set me off a little, i guess, and that’s on the direction.

But dat Soundtrack, tho!

Mark Ruffalo turns in another spectacular, scene stealing, performance as Bruce Banner. Cat is kind perfect for this role and it boggles my mind that it took three tries to get that right. Marvel is usually really good at casting.Go figure.

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston turn in their best performances as the Odinson boys and i’m glad to see a little closure with their arc. Seeing Thor actually mature and Loki come full circle was awesome. As a older brother, i identified with their overall growth closely. It was adorable and brotherly. Also, did anyone else notice how hot Hiddles was in that suit. I’m not gay but goddamn, you gotta give the brotha his credit where it’s due. He wore the f*ck out of that ensemble!

It was dope to see Heimdall get some finally. Cat out here using the Bifrost key to just mow down nameless asshole zombie Asgardians while saving basically the entire world, single-handedly. I saw a meme that referred to him as black Jesus and i can’t imagine a better way to sum his character up. Apparently, Idris Elba does have a dope pair of sandals so, you know, that’s a thing.

The visuals on Sakarr were inspired. i adored the textures and lived in feel of that world. It felt like something Jeff Goldblum would lord over. Muspelheim was just as majestic as Niflheim from the original Thor.

But dat Thorforce, tho. I know it was lightning or thunder or whatever but that sh*t was the goddamn Thorforce, son. Please see Rune Thor or King Thor and get at me, bro.

The Good

The supporting cast was legit. I thought Korg and Miek were just the right amount of hilarious with the right amount of exposure. I wanted more but i wasn’t hurting that i didn’t get more, you know? I think a one-shot would be fun for those two.

The Visual effects were on point. Nothing looked unfinished and this was the first time we really gt a great look at The Hulk. That whole gladiator scene was epic as sh*t! i wish it were longer but, you know, WWH can swing back around and address that. I mean, i’d love to see how Doug bit the dust, particularly considering New Doug basically destabilized and overthrew the entire social system. Also, Fenrir was cool as sh*t.

The Hulk was dope. Like, as a character, dope. Seeing him come into his own over his two year imprisonment of Banner was awesome. I said this before and i’ll say it again, i needs that WWH movie now. How can you gloss over that two year period? The f*ck was he doing in that time? How dope was he while he was winning?? i need to know, Marvel! I NEED TO KNOW!!

Sir Anthony Hopkins and future Sir Benedict Cumberbatch showed up and did what they do. They were short cameos but their respective skill in their craft carried their respective screen presences effortlessly. I will miss Odin though. He was pretty legit anytime he was onscreen. And the chemistry he had with Hemsworth has gotten considerably better. Is a far cry from literally all of the complaints he had for kid when they made the first Thor flick, all those years ago. Growth is good, manq.

But dat Fenrir, tho.

The Eh

Where the f*ck was Sif? i loved Sif. Why she gone, bro? She obviously wasn’t killed by Hela cuz she was nowhere near Asgard so i assume she’s on Midgar or whatever so why no Sif? Not even a mention, you know? I’d say this was “Bad” but it was more a discomfort than a slight.

Hela’s return from and general machinations of her banishment/imprisonment was kind of swampy. It was never clear how Odin put her away or how she knew where he was when he died. I imagine Magic or f*cking Magnets or some sh*t but still. Shenanigans.

Hela sacked the Warriors Three like they were lunches. I thought that was ridiculous but whatever. They needed a way to portray Hela’s dopeness but you’re telling me Thor or Heimdall didn’t mourn their bros? that sh*t was whack, son!

Karl Urban as okay as Scourge. Like, his introduction was dope. That little bit when Thor returned from Muspelheim was chill as ch*ts but after that? Meh. Kid was kind of an irredeemable weenie and a total plot throw away. Hela didn’t need him for sh*t. Still, it’s good to see Bones branching out. Maybe this will get him enough clout to get Dredd Two made. I want my Judge Death goddamit!

The Verdict

I adored Ragnarok. I think it’s easily one of the better Marvel films out there. It’s effortlessly the second best of the Marvel films released this year (I give Homecoming that distinction because i’m a giant Spider-Man fanboy and Logan is technically a Fox property or that thing would DEFINITELY get the “Best of the year” nod) and has left the MCU in a very intriguing place. As a direct lead in to Infinity War, i am satisfied. Satisfied and, as the kids say, crazy thirsty for what’s next. Taika Waititi has elevated this franchise from the worst of the MCU into talks as part of the best with one movie and that’s a goddamn feat. While i feel like World War Hulk should have been it’s own film, it’s own movie, i’m less frustrated by it being just a part of Ragnorok’s overall vision. Taika’s execution of that vision was just so deftly executed, none of that felt tacked on. It never weighed down the overall plot or narrative.Besides, there’s a two year gap there. We can always go back and see how Hulk became The Champion with a prequel. or something. Anything to get my girl Tessa back on that MCU screen, ya dig? Ma looked good in them silvers and blues.

Overall, i thought this was a solid film. There are some pacing issues and a few shots were a bit jarring; i thought the sudden appearance of that Norway scene was a bit heavy handed, but Sir Anthony Hopkins kind of saved that situation a little bit. Watching that guy act is a goddamn blessing. At the end of the day, this was an amazing film that entertained, regaled, and endeared. I adore the additions of Tessa Thompson and Jeff Goldblum and hope we see more of them going forward. This was a diverse, brilliant, fun, entertaining, film that deserves all of the accolades it’s received as well as multiple viewings by the audience. It kind of sh*t’s all over Justice League so go see Ragnarok again instead.

[themyskira]

Wonder Woman #50 postmortem: “You know how strident Wonder Woman fans can be”

I want to cap off my readthrough of this unmitigated shitshow with a look at a recent interview James Robinson did with Newsarama, reflecting back on his twenty-issue Wonder Woman run.

I’m doing this for two reasons: One, because having read the full run and formed my own impressions (and, dare I say, some rather strident opinions), I genuinely do think it can be interesting to see what the writer has to say about it, what they were trying to achieve with it and, looking back, how they feel about the run.

And two, because having read what Robinson has to say, HOOBOY, I HAVE A FEW THOUGHTS OF MY OWN.

Newsarama: James, the one through-line of your entire run is Wonder Woman's twin brother, Jason. I know he was the motivation for you working on this book. Did you know the whole story before you started? Or did this story evolve as you wrote it?

James Robinson: I knew to a degree. As you said, I was specifically asked to pay off the gigantic plot point that Geoff Johns had left at the end of "Darkseid War." So it was always part of my plan.

Are. You. FUCKING. KIDDING ME.

The entire premise of this run. The wholesale derailment of Wondy’s Rebirth story. The rampant shredding of her newly-established Rebirth backstory. Sidelining Diana for the better part of a year in favour of a repulsive twin brother and some shit with Darkseid.

ALL OF THAT.

Served no wider purpose.

Was not intended to build towards some Rebirth metaplot or contribute to an overarching Justice League story.

Was mandated, in fact, for no other reason than that Geoff motherfucking Johns wanted to TIE UP A DANGLING PLOT THREAD FROM TWO-YEAR-OLD CROSSOVER.

He goes on.

Originally, I was going to be on it for a shorter period of time. I had originally planned to be on it for about eight issues, I think. And then when I was getting the twice-monthly book in on time (which is tough; they really beat you up), they asked me to stay on.

There are better, more eloquent arguments against the fortnightly publishing schedule — which is incredibly punishing for creators and prioritises quantity ahead of quality — but none, perhaps, are more simple or succinct than James Robinson got to write twenty issues of Wonder Woman because he got his scripts in on time.

And that gave me more time to develop Jason and play with him more.

I was careful to make sure it wasn't only about Jason, however. I was already getting crap from social media about how this is Wonder Woman's book and she should be the center of attention at all time. You know how strident Wonder Woman fans can be.

Well, that’s an interesting and thoroughly disingenuous interpretation of the critique.

The criticism was not that Wondy must be “the centre of attention at all times”, and therefore Robinson was wrong to spend any time developing any character other than her.

It was that Robinson turned Diana into such a passive, reactive — and, frankly, incompetent — character that she became barely necessary to the story at all. You could remove her from most of the issues in the Darkseid arc without affecting the progression of the plot at all, because she never does anything.

Yes, I got irate when Diana would routinely show up in six or seven pages of an issue, if she appeared at all. Funny thing, when I pick up a book titled Wonder Woman, I expect to occasionally see some actual WONDER WOMAN.

But that was the symptom rather than the problem. Because even when Diana was on the page, she was absent from the story.

And part of this is also about the characters Robinson chose to focus on instead of Wondy: Jason, Grail and Darkseid. Three characters that a lot of fans weren’t interested in, didn’t like and frankly resented having shoehorned into Wondy’s story. True, Robinson may have been asked to include them in the story, but it was his choice to prioritise them over Diana, and it was his writing that shaped Jason into such an odious character (something he confirms in the interview: Johns came up with the idea, he says, but “Most of who the character is now is stuff that I've actually come up with.”)

Put it this way: I didn’t see anybody complaining in December 2016 when Greg Rucka devoted an entire issue to Barbara Minerva’s backstory, did you?

But oh, I’m sorry, was that too strident for you?

Nrama: During your run, you tied into several events that were going on elsewhere in the DC Universe. Even this current story arc ties into Dark Nights: Metal and involves the Justice League. Was that a goal, to make Jason part of the greater DCU?

Robinson: Yes. I always do that stuff, though. I always try to tie into bigger stories. Whether it was my stuff at DC or what I did at Marvel, like Fantastic Four and Invaders and what-not, I always enjoy that about comic book universes. I like when writers try to embrace the whole place.

Here’s the thing about this.

I like the sandbox nature of a shared universe. I’m not a fan of event tie-ins, which have a tendency to derail the stories of individual books in order to aggressively market some company-wide crossover that I couldn’t care less about, but I like that there’s this whole wider world of heroes and villains and settings and mythologies that writers can draw on and play with. And you can tell some really cool stories out of the collision of those different mythologies and characters — think Phil Jimenez’s ‘Gods of Gotham’, for instance, where the Wonderfam and the Batfam are forced to team up when some of Batman’s most powerful rogues are possessed by Ares’ children.

That’s not the way Robinson loops the wider DCU into his stories, or at least it wasn’t in Wonder Woman.

Robinson goes for insider references, often obscure ones, of the sort that will only make sense to people who’ve been reading the same comics as him over the past three decades.

In WW #33, he introduced and then immediately killed off a rebooted version of the Atomic Knights in a four-page sequence that added nothing to the plot.

In WW #42, he featured a flashback to Jason fighting the Deep Six, a group of Jack Kirby villains. Ostensibly this is framed as a set-up by Grail to orchestrate her first meeting with Jason, but Robinson milks it to crack jokes about Kirby’s 1970s dialogue — and if you’re not familiar with the characters (as I wasn’t), their inclusion makes little sense.

In the same issue, Robinson also works in the Wild Huntsman… apparently for no other reason than to amuse himself… and again, if you don’t know who he is, you’ll have no idea why Grail is trying so hard to kill him or why you should care.

And then there’s the Metal tie-in.

Like I said, I don’t like event tie-ins, but it is possible to make them work. G. Willow Wilson’s Ms Marvel has been looped into a number of crossover events over the course of its life, and while I’d prefer that clusterfucks like Civil War II stayed the hell away from Kamala and her pals, Wilson has done an effective job of using these events as a springboard for some really interesting personal conflicts and character work. There’s no extra required reading for these stories; she gives you everything you need to know, so those who aren’t following the event aren’t at a disadvantage.

Robinson gives you nothing.

This is how he links the Dark Gods’ story into Metal:

Diana [narration]: Could I really have summoned this? When we wielded the Tenth Metal against Barbatos, it had the ability to wish thoughts into reality.* Ed. note: * See Dark Nights: Metal #6! — Chris

And a couple of pages later —

Karnell [narration]: ...our beautiful world — which you regard as the ‘Dark Multiverse’ — we see as a paradise… where we were more than even gods to our worshippers… we were everything!

I didn’t read Metal and I’m not planning to. That’s not a value judgement, it’s just not something that sparks my interest.

But it means I don’t know who the bloody hell Barbatos is, and I’ve never heard of the Tenth Metal. I don’t know what the Dark Multiverse is, or how it works, or how it differs from the regular multiverse. When Robinson says Diana made an inadvertent wish while she was wielding this Tenth Metal, I don’t know if he’s picking up on a story point in Metal that I need to read up on.

So right off the bat, Robinson has alienated anybody who isn’t familiar with the event comic he’s drawing from.

And what infuriates me is that at the same time as he was doing all this, Robinson was getting muddled by Wonder Woman’s continuity, conflating superseded New 52 canon with (contradictory) Rebirth canon, inadvertently retconning things and failing even to keep his own narrative consistent. I’d argue he needed to spend less time making references to other comics and more time making sure he understood the one he was writing.

Robinson: [...] what I've always loved about Wonder Woman is her strength. Even when she was in that phase in the white costume, where she didn't have her powers, she had great strength.

Oh, you mean this era?

The era where Diana lost not only her powers, but all of her training and skills? Where she became a weepy, insecure romantic heroine, reliant on men to guide and save her from her own inexperience and her uncontrollable female emotionality? The era where she was constantly crying over her latest rugged love interests? That awesome era?

(Also misogynistic, racist and homophobic as fuuuuuck, but that’s another discussion.)

One of the reasons that era ended was because Gloria Steinham [sic] said, "Hey, she's Wonder Woman! She's a superhero and you've taken away her powers!"

But I actually thought her lacking powers was like saying, I don't need them to be a strong woman. And I think that was almost a more powerful message. I was surprised Ms. Steinem didn't get that, to be quite honest with you.

This is a characterisation of Steinem’s role in that period of Wondy’s history that I’ve seen before (always from men in the comics field), and it’s never sit well with me. It carries an unpleasant shade of gatekeeping.

The implication is that Steinem’s feelings about Wonder Woman (a character had loved since childhood) were less valid or even flat-out incorrect because she hadn’t read the right comics, that she was an ignorant outsider who ruined a good thing by coming in with a political agenda and trying to make Wonder Woman about feminism, that she didn’t have a right to complain about the comic because she wasn’t a ‘real’ fan.

And what Robinson doesn’t mention, as critics of Steinem and Ms. Magazine’s lobbying for a return to the classic Wondy rarely do, is that this campaign was set against a backdrop of unimpressive sales numbers and a struggle over the new direction that eventually gave rise to an ambitious and quite likely divisive ‘women’s lib’ arc written by African-American sci-fi writer Samuel R. Delany, which was intended to culminate in Diana triumphing over a group of male thugs attempting to shut down an abortion clinic run by women surgeons.

I have no doubt that Steinem played an important role in the way events panned out, but I’m also not surprised the ‘women’s lib’ arc never made it past its first issue.

(It was a truly dreadful first issue, btw, though the whole story behind it and what Delany was trying to do with it is fascinating.)

But that didn’t stop DC from kicking off Wondy’s superpowered return with the murder of a composite character representing Steinem and female DC editor Dorothy Woolfolk (whose name had previously been floated as editor for the book).

Then as now, Steinem got blamed by the gatekeepers for daring to interfere with Wonder Woman.

Nrama: Do you think Jason picked up some of her strength over the course of his story arc during your run?

Robinson: I think so, at least at the beginning as he was starting to develop. Now, technically, I suppose he's more powerful than her in that he has the power of their father Zeus and the power of storms and air control and things like that.

I like the fact that when he's given this armor, he realizes that his sister should have gotten it.

And he knows that the powers he has do not make him the better hero.

He knows his sister is the better hero.

So by the end of it, he just wants to be worthy of her, which I think was a nice character arc for him.

I can see how Robinson tried to achieve this character arc, but I wouldn’t call it anything close to a success.

Jason started as a deeply, deeply unlikeable character. He’s deeply selfish and emotionally immature. He doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions, mostly because he’s only ever concerned about how things affect him. When he learns about the mother he never met, when his adoptive father vanishes, every time Hercules leaves on one of his journeys, as he follows his twin sister’s heroics through the media — his thoughts are never about them and what they’re doing, or how they’re feeling, or if they’re okay. It’s always about how they’ve failed him, wronged him, abandoned him.

When we first meet him, he is helping goddamn Darkseid to systematically murder his own siblings. And it’s not because he’s being mind-controlled, or elaborately manipulated into believing that Darkseid is the good guy. It’s because he hates the guts out of Diana, the sister he’s never met, because he believes he’s entitled to the life that she has, and he wants to kill her for it.

If you want to get your readers past all that, you need one hell of a redemptive arc, and that’s one thing Jason never gets.

Because what happens next, after Jason gets an attack of conscience and switches sides, is that he freeloads off Diana, trashes her house, guilt trips her when she tries to set boundaries, and then when, heroism and glory don’t immediately come easily to him, runs away from home in the middle of the night.

The next time we see him is when he returns with the armour and a personality change. He’s still inexperienced, brash, impulsive and annoying, but that’s more or less the extent of it — he’s no longer the thoroughly objectionable character we saw in his first seven issues, and there’s no real explanation for the change.

Really, the vast majority of Jason’s character development takes place in the space between his disappearing at the end of WW #40 and reappearing at the end of WW #41.

Nrama: Wonder Woman #50 definitely feels like it's an ending to your time on Jason's character, and even his time in the book.

Robinson: It definitely has an element of finality to it, but Jason can be there for other writers, or indeed me, if I ever got to write him again.

Excuse me? If you ever got to what now?

Nrama: Is that a hint?

Robinson: I do enjoy writing him. I have this vague fantasy of one day doing a story and calling the comic Jason's Quest, which is an old DC title.

But no one's asked me so far and probably won't. So it's just something in my mind right now.

please, dear god in heaven, please let it stay there.

[themyskira]

Wonder Woman Annual #2

Previously in FUCKITY FUCK FUCK I FORGOT THERE WAS AN ANNUAL AS WELL: Diana prepared to face down her most terrifying foes yet: the Dark Gods.

Who or what are the Dark Gods? Dunno.

What do they want? No clue.

What is this awesome and terrible power that they wield? So far, mostly just the ability to shoot lasers out of their eyes and incite people to deliver badly-written villainous monologues.

Why are we supposed to be so pants-pissingly afraid of them? Because James Robinson told us so.

Last issue ended with the Dark Gods manifesting over Washington DC, at which point it was revealed that they are… giant floating statues, I guess? But, like, scary floating statues. With lasers. So scary.

And then moments later, a couple of Star Sapphires arrived to whisk Diana away so she could appear in this shitty annual.

Diana is teleported to the Star Sapphires’ home planet of Zamaron, which is heavily battle-damaged.

The two Sapphires who brought her here are called Miss Bloss and Miri Riam, who are apparently pre-established minor Green Lantern characters — something I had to figure out on my own, because Robinson just assumes we all known them, and that Diana does too (I’m reasonably sure they’ve never met). The one time his overexplaining might have actually been useful, and he couldn’t be arsed taking a panel or two to make introductions.

Diana yells at them that she’s too busy to help with whatever their deal is, and launches into a recap of last issue. But, you know, that was all of two weeks ago, so by all means, spend a page getting us up to speed.

She’s also still throwing around ‘crazy’ and ‘insane’ like they’re going out of style. 

“…and although I’m not certain — the woman who told me was insane at the time--“

How about ‘possessed’, ‘out of control’, ‘somewhat incoherent’ or ‘compromised’? Any of these would be more accurate in this context, as well as not equating mental illness with dangerous and violent behaviour.

But anyway, essentially Diana says ‘my world is being attacked by the Dark Gods and it’s my fault’, and Miss Bloss is like, ‘well, if that was your fault, then our thing must be your fault, too’, and points up at the giant floating Dark God statue thing that Diana has somehow failed to notice until this exact moment.

Oh, goody.

Diana starts questioning them about what happened.  Honestly, that’s really all she does these days.  If she’s not delivering plot recaps herself, she’s setting up allies for flashback-exposition or allowing villains to monologue at her. Oh, sure, occasionally she fights somebody, but mostly she’s just a vessel for tedious exposition.

Miss Bloss describes the Dark God’s attack:

“Even to recall it now, it feels like a dream or vision from another world. Almost like we were looking at ourselves from outside of it all.”

The first time I read this, I took it to be a figure of speech. I interpreted it as an expression of Miss Bloss’s deep level of shock at the devastation she’d experienced, that it still felt unreal, as though it had happened to somebody else.

I was giving Robinson too much credit: he meant it literally.

As we’ll learn in a few pages’ time, one of the Dark Gods has some kind of power over people’s perceptions, enabling him to induce in others a sense of unreality and dreamlike detachment. We’ll learn that the Dark Gods have deliberately used this ability in order to confuse enemies and limit their ability to respond to or even comprehend attacks.

Frazer Irving — who illustrates the flashback, along with a couple of other scenes in this issue — plays into this well.  His stylised art and colour work lends a somewhat eerie dreamlike quality to his pages, creating a sense of altered reality.

Unfortunately, Robinson can’t write dreamlike.

So what in theory should be an eerie, confusing, unreal flashback instead just turns into Miss Bloss telling us that her memories of the attack are eerie and unreal and hazy… aaaaand then proceeding to describe the attack, the enemy, his name, the concept he embodies, his powers and the precise reason why he was able to kill so many Star Sapphires, all in exacting detail. 

The Dark God who attacked the Sapphires is called Karnell and he calls himself the god of love, but the love he embodies is dark and gritty and edgy and corrupted. He can sense any ‘impurities’ or ‘flaws’ in a person’s love and rub it in their faces. When he does this to Star Sapphires, something something their rings freak out and they spontaneously combust.

Diana asks, ‘yeah okay, but you didn’t know that this was my fault when you dragged me here, so what gives?’, and Bloss and Miri are like, ‘welp, our leaders are all dead, Carol Ferris is busy in another comic, we all frankly suck, and you were a Star Sapphire once in that Blackest Night crossover event.’

At which point I went, ‘wait huh what??? but that was before the New 52 reboot!’, before remembering that Geoff Johns’ entire preboot GL run survived the reboot for no other reason than because Geoff Johns gets whatever he wants.

Diana agrees to lead the Sapphires against Krakoom (I’m sorry, I’m not going to bother to learn his name, he’s not worth that kind of time), and the Sapphires respond by giving her the Nazi salute due to an unfortunate artistic miscalculation.

Diana: And if I am going to stand among you — fight alongside you — let me look the part. Sapphires: As you wish it, so do we, Wonder Woman… be a Star Sapphire once more.

And with that, they give Diana a makeover.

It’s not a bad costume, especially when you compare it to her Blackest Night design. That one tried to ape Carol Ferris’ hideous then-costume, which featured hip cut-outs and a plummeting neckline that ended around the crotch area, by giving Diana a bathing suit with hip-holes and a bared midriff. This design retains many familiar Star Sapphire costume elements — the stiff pointed white collar, the combination tiara/mask, the starburst symbol, the long gloves and high boots — without going into creepy male-gazey territory.

buuuuut it also looks like Diana is wearing a pink apron over her usual costume, and that is something I cannot get past. It also varies wildly across the issue, depending on which of the four credited artists is drawing it.

By the way, I say ‘makeover’ because despite violet blaze on her right ring finger, it took me several times flicking back and forth before I was certain that Diana had been deputised into the Corps as opposed to just being given a new costume in order to “look the part”, as she put it. I know this sounds like it should have been self-evident, but Robinson gives absolutely no indication of any deeper change in her. Not even lip service to the fact that Diana is connected, through the power ring, to the emotional spectrum and the violet energies of love.

Contrast this with Diana in Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3:

“Extraordinary. All of them, in their way, have tried to explain it to me before. Hal, John, Kyle… even Guy, may Ares watch and aid him. But it defies all attempts. There is no way to describe it. What it is to wear a power ring, and feel emotion made manifest. To wear fear on anger or will or hope on one’s hand… To wear love. Too beautiful for words…”

There’s a lot about Wondy’s Blackest Night tie-in that’s flawed and frustrating and flat-out bad, but this page gets it right. If you’re going to make Diana a Star Sapphire — going to give one of the most loving hearts of the DCU the power to channel her love into tangible power — then you need to acknowledge the weight of that.

In this comic, it’s as insubstantial as a costume change.

Flying up to confront Kratakoa, Diana wonders if she could really have summoned the Dark Gods. Supergirl said she brought them into this plane with a careless wish, and… oh, come to think of it, she did inadvertently make a wish during the recent Dark Nights: Metal crossover, while coincidentally handling some magical wishing metal. But nah, that couldn’t possibly have done it!

She reaches the big floaty statue and a bloke with spiky wings emerges from it. It’s Klangalang, and he’s got his monologue cued up and ready to go!

He opens with a fairly standard ‘ahaha, I’ve been expecting you, hero!’, and the implications fly straight over Diana’s head.

Kibble: You came, Amazon! Sooner than I expected, too! Good… I’m going to love this! Diana: You’re some kind of seer, too? You expected me?

Let’s review: The villains Diana supposedly summoned, the villains who have been trying to kill or neutralise Diana before she can interfere in their plans, have attacked the Star Sapphires in advance of their invasion of Earth. Despite not knowing about Diana’s connection to their attacker, the Sapphires reached out to her for help, teleporting her away at almost the exact moment that the villains launched their opening assault. Now the one villain who hasn’t joined the invading force is cackling that he’s been expecting Diana.

Even a half-competent hero should be able to join the dots and realise they’ve been deliberately lured away. Not so Robinson’s Diana, who gazes at him wide-eyed and demands, ‘omg, u expected me? are u psychic or sumthin???’

After a couple more rounds of obscenely dense questions from Diana (along with another out-of-character ’crazy’ slur), Klunk ends up having to straight-up spell it out for her. He also explains how she summoned the Dark Gods.

Krunch: You wished for the gods’ return. Well, here we are. Here I am! Diana: Like a dream, but yes, of course. But I meant the Greek pantheon, not— Krump: Gods! That’s all you said.

Small nitpick: Diana would not think of her gods the “Greek pantheon”. She’d be more likely to call them “the Patrons”, “my gods”, “the gods of my people”, “the gods of Themyscira”, “the gods of Olympus”, “the Olympians” — she knew them as all of these things long before she knew Greece, or any world outside her island home, existed. The only reason she might refer to them as “Greek” is for the benefit of people in Man’s World, as a point of reference.

More importantly, are you friggin kidding me, the friggin layers of incompetence here from our supposed hero

accidentally makes a wish while wielding a weapon of magical wishing metal

manages to make the vaguest wish possible, opening a loophole for THE WORST GODS to infiltrate reality

immediately forgets she ever wished it

why would she even wish for that?! her gods haven’t gone anywhere!

To be somewhat fair, the reason she doesn’t really remember it is that “the God With No Name” (YES REALLY) made it all feel like a dream so that she wouldn’t realise she’d made an irresponsible wish and needed to immediately rally everybody together to resist the Dark Gods.

Except… that in itself doesn’t make any sense.

There are two possibilities here: the Horse With No Name could have clouded Diana’s memory of making the wish after the Dark Gods were pulled into this reality — in which case, why? How would she even land on the conclusion that she’d accidentally summoned some evil gods that she’d never heard of, when her intent was to call on her own gods and she’d had no indication that it had even worked?

Alternatively, he clouded her mind in the moment of the wish, to render her thoughts vague and imprecise and open the door for the Dark Gods’ invasion. Which doesn’t work either, because it turns out that the Dark Gods are pretty pissed off at being pulled out of their awesome reality.

King Koopa: War was declared the moment you dragged us from our home… our beautiful world — which you regard as the ‘Dark Multiverse’ — we see as a paradise… where we were more than even gods to our worshippers… we were everything!”

So basically their plan is to turn Earth into a desolate hellscape just like their home.

Diana, who has already been told that Kraig is a god of corrupted love, conveniently forgets this fact just so that Robinson can tell it to us again.

Diana: You call yourself a god of love. What kind of love wants to be feared? Love is unconditional. KHAAAAAN: Spoken like the addled naive romantic I expected. Love always comes with conditions. Sometimes, I confess, I question… am I god of that love, of those conditions behind it? But then I realise… I don’t care.

Cool story. Glad we can agree on one thing, at least.

He monologues for a couple of pages about how he’s going to open her eyes to the truth of how horrible and selfish and corrupt love is, then draws Diana into his mind so that he can monologue some more.

We learn that the world of the Dark Gods was forged by a group of divinities called Titans, “much like the reality of your own Greek pantheon” (incorrect, you’re thinking of the Protogenoi; the Titans were the second generation of gods). But because these Titans were hardcore, they did it by smashing five other realities together. And into this terrifyingly dark edgy metalscape came… +~teh D4rK g0dz~+

Robinson then undermines the super-extra-double-dark feel he’s going for with another embarrassing name and an accidental rhyme.

“We Dark Gods followed, as gods do. King Best and then the rest.”

KING. BEST.

But wait, we haven’t even gotten to Kalamazoo’s dark edgy totally original backstory!

In fact, this is so dark and edgy and original that I’ll throw in a quick content warning here for descriptions of domestic violence and shittiness towards sex workers.

“You’ll meet a boy — his mother broken by a wanton father who forced her to cheapen herself further with wraiths and under-beings. The mother died — beaten to death. When he saw her blood still dripping from the fists of his father, the boy ran, fearing the same fate. The boy loved his mother, but hated his father and the world. Both emotions — love and hate — burned so brightly that even from within the darkness of our world, their glow caught the eye of mighty King Best.”

Domestic violence! Sexism! Slut shaming! Fridging! It’s like a game of grimdark bingo!

After three goddamn pages of this, Diana suddenly twigs what we all figured out eleven pages ago, ‘oh now waaaaaait a minute, you didn’t lure me here so that your buddies could invade Earth while I’m distracted, did you?’

Klinger responds by almost murdering Diana, and is only stopped by the intervention of the Star Sapphires.  They all retreat, and Diana proposes a new plan: all the Sapphires will channel their energy into her, something something, true love wins the day.

So Diana flies up to Kimberley, sword held aloft and blazing with violet energy, and announces, ‘boy did you make a mistake when you told me that you used to be a sad boy child! now I have only love in my heart for you!’

Karma Khameleon is like, ‘oh no, love! my one true weakness!’, and I’m like, “d… didn’t we just have this story?”

Then Diana straight-up stabs him with her love sword, and Korgo fades away with an ‘I’ll beat you next time, Captain Planet! Next tiiiiiime…’

Diana farewells the Star Sapphires, and Robinson shoehorns in this bit of virtue signalling:

Miri: Please… Diana, think of us as your sisters, too, for all time. Diana: Or “brother,” I notice. Miss Bloss: Love is love, no matter who bears the heart.

This is a welcome and needed change to the Star Sapphires. The fact that they have been portrayed up until this point as an all-women corps (with the exception of a few briefly deputised blokes) is bound up in ugly gendered ideas, exemplified by Geoff Johns’ comment in 2009 that “anyone can join, but most men are not worthy”.

But there’s something gratingly self-congratulatory in the execution of this course correction.  Robinson’s doing the absolute bare minimum here — including one or two male background characters in a handful of panels — and flagging it as progress with a phrase associated with the LGBTI community.  We haven’t even seen a single named male Sapphire, let alone one with a speaking part; I think it’s a little premature to be looking for kudos. And either Miri or Miss Bloss could very easily have been replaced in this story by a new male character.

The Sapphires teleport Diana back to Earth, where she finds DC a smoking ruin. And as the air clears, she sees—

—wait for it—

—this is truly shocking and terrifying—

THE DARK GODS MADE A MEGAZORD

THEY MADE A FUCKING MEGAZORD WITH THEIR DUMBASS FLYING STATUES

A GODDAMN MEGAZORD WHO WHAT HOW WHY.

Diana’s face does this:

[themyskira]

Amazons Attack! - part 3

The story so far: Wonder Woman got a day job doing more or less the same thing she does in her regular job, except in disguise. Circe kidnapped “Diana Prince’s” sexual harasser partner, Tom Tresser, for reasons. Wonder Woman saved him, but was then arrested by the Department of Metahuman Affairs, who located her via a tracking device in a uniform that Tom was blatantly not wearing at any point in the story.

Now Wondy is being held to ransom in a secret bunker, her release contingent on her handing over the schematics to the Amazons’ Purple Death Ray -- a secret she has no access to nor any way of acquiring, as Themyscira is out of reach to all -- and Circe is preparing to resurrect Hippolyta, who doesn’t deserve this shit.

Part 3: Wonder Woman #8 -- Jodi Picoult (writer) and Terry Dodson (artist)

Diana’s still imprisoned in a high-tech cell in some DOMA sub-basement, while her two assigned guards gossip about her.

“Check her out — the chick’s freakin’ nuts!” says Guard #1. Diana is not doing anything particularly nutty. In fact, she’s not doing anything. She’s just sitting in the cell and looking depressed, as one might be after being wrongfully imprisoned, tortured and held to ransom for a WMD. To Guard #1, this is apparently evidence that she thinks she’s better than everyone else.

“She just wants to be free, man,” says Guard #2, and is it just me or do they sound like they’re talking about an agitated whale in a too-small enclosure?

Guard #1 responds with an incoherent ramble about how nobody in society is free, and we’ve all gotta work to pay the damn bills and go home to our wives every damn night, so “that crazy broad” had just better come to terms with the fact that she’s no better than the rest of us. Guard #1 clearly has some issues of his own to work through.

In Themyscira, Circe has exhumed Hippolyta’s corpse and resurrected her. All the Amazons are shocked and confused, despite the fact that they all saw Circe arrive at Hippolyta’s grave last issue and obliquely announce that she was going to restore Polly to life. So basically the rest of that last issue’s encounter went like…

Circe tells the Amazons that Diana has been imprisoned by the US government.

The audience is informed that, for this performance of “Amazons Attack!”, the role of Hippolyta will be played by a bloodthirsty, irrational man-hating harpy.

“It is always the same with the world of Man. What they don’t understand, they fear. And what they fear, the try to tame. To them, my daughter is the enemy… and enemies must be crushed. If it is war that they want… it’s war they will get.”

More clumsy wording here: When Polly says “enemies must be crushed”, she’s clearly referring to the Americans. But the previous sentence identifies Diana as “the [Americans’] enemy”, making it… kinda sound like she’s saying Diana must be crushed.

Tom, for some reason, has decided to return to the wannabe villains bar from last issue — this time to have a drink and complain to the bartender about how shit his partner is. Diana isn’t answering his phone calls, and Tom complains that “she probably can’t figure out how”.

How did they even pitch this guy as Diana’s new love interest? ‘He’s a complainy misogynist, she’s Wonder Woman in disguise! Together, they fight crime!’

Tom is called back into work. Even though the Department of Metahuman Affairs has plenty of perfectly serviceable offices and meeting rooms, he meets Steel in a deserted parking lot under the cover of darkness, as though he’s bloody Deep Throat or something. He’s even wearing sunglasses. In the middle of the night.

Steel tells him that the Wonder Woman case is closed, it’s out of DOMA’s hands, and the reason Tom hasn’t been able to contact his partner is that she’s been reassigned. Which, btw, so has Tom. He’s expected in Maine tomorrow.

Despite Tom’s well-evidenced lack of basic deductive skills, he manages to peg that something a little weird is going on here. Some particularly overwrought dialogue ensues.

Tom: I feel something yanking on my puppet strings, that’s all. Steel: Puppet strings? Ha— what does that feel like? Tom: Hard to say… Like an angel having its wings torn off. Steel: You’re no angel, Tom. Tom: People change.

Throughout this two-page scene, Tom delivers a voiceover in narration boxes. There’s no good reason that this should be here. It’s an abrupt and slightly jarring inclusion — the only narration boxes up till this point have been Diana’s — and the only narrative function it serves is to cover for the shortcomings of Picoult’s scripting by outright stating Tom’s motivations and feelings towards Diana.

They call me Nemesis. As I’ve recently been reminded, my name means ‘enemy’… […] but in naming Wonder Woman the ‘enemy’, they’ve crossed the line. To me, Wonder Woman’s synonymous with everything good about this cruddy world. She saved me, and I’m just one of many. And as for my own name… I’m about to live up to it.

Basically, Tom believes Wondy is synonymous with all that is good, and this is the driving factor that leads him to turn on his boss and colleagues and side with a supposed enemy of the state.

This seems like a good time for a quick review of Tom’s complete history of interactions with and conversations about Wonder Woman up to this point.

Complained about missing a chance to see Wonder Woman in the flesh because “I bet she looked hot”

Bought a Wonder Woman action figure to masturbate to give to his possibly-fictional “niece”

Acknowledged that Wonder Woman was a hero, but that it didn’t matter whether she’d done anything wrong because “it’s our job” to arrest her

Upon meeting Wonder Woman, peppered her with wildly inappropriate, objectifying remarks, including describing his sex dreams about her, speculating on what it would be like to fuck her in mid-air and asking her about her sex life

Told Wonder Woman he wished he could work with her instead of his shitty partner, who is secretly Wonder Woman

Throughout the first two issues, Tom treats Wondy primarily as an object of lust. There’s a recognition of the good she does, but he’s more interested in her banging body than anything else. The one compliment he does pay her is an unwitting insult, because it’s tied to his largely irrational hatred of her alter ego. He loves the sexual fantasy of Wonder Woman, but can’t stand the bespectacled, pant-suit-wearing Diana Prince (especially when she dares bark out orders).

So this deep admiration for Wondy as a force for good in an ugly world — this belief that will drive all of his actions in this story going forward — has come completely out of the blue. It’s introduced only in the precise moment when Tom first decides to act on it. That is shitty, shitty writing.

Circe drops into Diana’s cell for a quick ‘you’re not so different, you and I’.

“You just don’t see how similar we are. Humans are afraid of us. We’re outsiders — we’re powerful women — and what we fight for is hidden beneath the blood on our hands.”

So, you fight for… your… hands? Your skin? Your… fingernails…? What—

Okay, no, I think what she’s trying to say is that people don’t see the lives Diana’s saved, only the bodies she’s left in her wake. Which, dude. Come on. You’re an evil sorceress who’s razed entire kingdoms and turns people into animals for funsies, but Diana snaps one measly neck and suddenly you’re calling her Lady Macbeth?

(yes, really.)

Circe says they’re both fighting for what they love. Then she immediately contradicts herself and says that only she is fighting for what she loves -- no matter what it takes -- whereas Diana is only fighting for good out of a sense of general obligation to be good.

Diana says that there is such thing as Right and Wrong, and that these things are distinct and immovable concepts, and that on its own makes me want to set this whole damn comic on fire, but then Circe takes it upon herself to give Diana a primer in moral relativism. Circe. Fucking Circe has a more thoughtful and nuanced understanding of ethics and morality in this book than Wonder Woman, what the flipping friggity fuck.

Circe says that it was once considered moral to own slaves, and “what’s considered right today could be wrong tomorrow”; Diana is skeptical.

Circe ends, as incomprehensibly as she began, by declaring that “love and murder are the only things that matter. They’re what it means to be human”, and therefore she will always be more human than Diana.

Tom uses his vaguely-defined master-of-disguise technology to impersonate Sarge Steel and break Diana out of her cell. She doesn’t trust him, since the last time the last time she saw him he was being congratulated for helping to apprehend Wonder Woman. Despite the fact that these congratulations were accompanied by a look of shock on Tom’s face and the revelation that he’d been tracked without his knowledge through a locator chip in a uniform he was not currently wearing -- something Diana also witnessed.

But, see, she has to be mad at him, because otherwise we couldn’t get that good old stock standard ‘here’s your lasso - ask me anything’/‘nah, I guess I’ll just trust you instead’ scene.

Armed DOMA agents arrive on the scene, and Diana does what we’ve all been wanting to do since Tom Tresser first stepped into this comic.

Diana: Tom, listen… Tom: You don’t have to say it… I know you must really love me right now. [Diana decks him]

It’s a fakeout, of course, so that when she escapes with him in tow, he looks like a hostage rather than a willing accomplice.

Speaking of escape — Diana’s free of her cell, but she’s still a good hundred feet beneath the earth in a secure bunker, with hundreds of DOMA agents between her and the exit. Fighting her way out of this one’s going to be a real—

—oh.

Or she could just punch her way through a hundred feet of solid rock, I guess.

Meanwhile:

The Amazons throw spears and shoot flaming arrows at things, and the biggest military force in the world pisses its pants at this terrifying display of Bronze Age weaponry. Nothing in the extensive training and experience of these elite fighting men and women has ever equipped them to deal with the horrors of women with pointy sticks!

“We’re no match for their firepower! We need help down here!”

Steel calls in the JLA and Circe swans around gloating because, gasp, the two of them are working together.

Diana’s reached the sewers. Tom has come to and, naturally, he’s found something to complain about — namely, the fact that she punched him.

Diana’s costume is pretty ripped up, so she asks Tom if he has a sewing kit. Because even though she’s just been illegally imprisoned, tortured and held to ransom by somebody claiming to answer to the President of the United States — somebody who, even now, is sending dozens of agents out after her — modesty is her first priority. Really.

All Tom has is some epoxy adhesive. Diana, evidently deciding that the risk of severely burning herself is preferable to the risk of exposing some skin, decides to use the epoxy to mend her costume while she’s still wearing it. But first, she asks Tom to close his eyes.

We’ve all seen some version of this scene before. You know what happens next.

Diana: Your eyes are closed, right? Tom: Uh… right. Clearly you Amazons have a lot to be insecure about aesthetically. Diana: It’s not a matter of insecurity… It’s a matter of… decency. Tom: [ogling her] I’ll tell you what’s decent. That birthmark on your— Diana: You’re a pig, you know that?! Tom: Well, you, coincidentally, are a pain in the same place you’ve got that birthmark!

Gee, I’m glad Tom Tresser thinks Wonder Woman is the lone bastion of goodness in the world. I’d hate to see how he’d treat a woman he didn’t respect so highly.

The argument is interrupted by an explosion, which of course results in Diana throwing Tom out of the way and…

A second ago they were having an argument sparked by Tom yet again disrespecting her personal boundaries and treating her like a sex object, and now suddenly she’s super turned on. Wonderful.

They decide to investigate the explosion. Flying out of the sewers, they find the city on fire and the Lincoln Memorial in ruins. And standing at the centre of the rubble is, of course, Hippolyta.