Originally Posted by
Robanker
I entirely agree, Diana can do most anything Clark does physically. The difference should almost never come up, and if it does, it shouldn't be treated like he's far-and-away her superior in that category. It's why I said 9.5 instead of 10. He just lifts easier. Her having greater reaction speed tracks. I don't see why a trained combatant like Diana is ever going to match Clark in that quality rather than just simply surpass him.
Clark definitely was created to be his world's strongest creature. He was a bulletproof super strong man who could leap tall buildings and outrun trains when his only comparison was the physical world. The only reason he's not specifically stated to be stronger than other superheroes is they didn't exist. You don't really start talking about chickens and eggs if there have never been a chicken or egg before the first chicken, you know?
Fundamentally, I do agree that because Diana was created to be women's seat at the superhero table as equals, she should always be Clark's equal. I don't see that as just saying carbon copy, however. They should have key differences but ones that put them shoulder-to-shoulder with one another. She's inherently more important than other people created in reaction to him like Captain Marvel (now Shazam) strictly because she came from the need to give a disenfranchised subset of the audience their hero.
But trying to hold one character's reason for existing over others and playing favorites doesn't make for good stewarding of a shared universe. They need to coexist. Too often, fans will argue why their hero is the bestest and should be able to stomp anyone or it's bullshit/nepotism/sexism what have you and I don't agree. That isn't to say those don't happen, we've seen that they categorically do, but it can also be hard to remember that each one of these characters is a protagonist and as such they have plot armor when is necessary and thus hand out or get wins they probably shouldn't.
Diana getting one-shot will always be a mix of shitty writing, poor editing and likely some sexism, but that last one I reserve judgment for simply because it's a very damning claim to throw simply because someone doesn't understand the powerset of a character that DC flip flops on every week and traditionally treated like shit.
She is and likely always will be DC's most mismanaged IP. Hell, for fear of pissing off China, she was hidden on all their Pride stuff despite being their highest profile queer character. Not a very cash-money move, and certainly not a Wonder Woman one.
He's the only one I recall who truly humbled the Silver Age Superman, which is already a ridiculously strong incarnation of the character which I'd argue is terrible for a shared universe (but fun if you're a child who likes to read silly adventures, but my argument for a lot of things changes if we're just going by the metric of "is it goofy fun?"). I bring him up as an example of how all the power in the universe doesn't mean shit unless you have editorial backing you. This guy humbled silver age Supreman and fought the Anti-Monitor to a draw, seemingly even winning by the metric that Spectre himself cared for.
He mostly shows up to get shit on and then leave having done what he came for. In fact, he just got one-shot by Darkseid despite essentially being the infinite wrath of the Presence. The Spectre, when he had his own book, fought Arch Angel Michael to standstill for a period, but sure Darkseid one-shots him for a lark. Why? Because editorial sees him simply as a pin to knock down to build up their boy Darkseid.
That's the power of editorial. Superman, Wonder Woman, the Spectre, it doesn't much matter; without an editor in your pocket, you don't mean much. Clark usually has one, and while they must kiss the Batring, he still has an editor. Diana didn't forever, and now she has one who is herself a woman and my god that's a fresh change. I can only hope she gets enough respect to actually protect Diana instead of being a figurehead.
We've got a great run, lots of spin-off projects and Diana will be headlining a crossover for the second time in a decade, though this will be the first that isn't just a Batman event she's in front of. Things are looking up.
My argument is more that DC in general has a bad track record with their female heroes, not specifically Diana. Taylor wrote the biggest boneheaded shit, but I can't really see him as a sexist when he does very well for other female characters when given the opportunity and from the opinion of every woman he's worked with. He's easily her worst writer, much like Geoff Johns, but I think his poor understanding of Diana has less to do with some belief women are lesser and more a byproduct of having read her powerset rising and falling like the tide every Wednesday.
At absolute worst, he's simply ignorant that his bad read on her is the result of sexist writing of the character being the source material, but he needs to wake the fuck up on that or simply stop writing her... Which will never happen so long as everyone praises every book he touches. With luck, Dark Knights of Steel will be his redemption for Diana despite the name essentially implying it's a book about the World's Finest in a fantasy setting.