Wonder Women #56 (Witching Hour 2/5)

[kjn]

You think so? I myself was just thinking it would be nice to have a writer who knows the difference between unicorns and pegasi. It's a pretty basic distinction. But I suppose I demand too much. It doesn't look like anyone really noticed.

Oh, I noticed, and was about to complain about it until I read the preview more closely a second time. The issue isn't that Tynion doesn't know his mythology, but that the first five narration boxes are a combination of a flashback with an info dump, while the image itself and the final narration box is in present time. It is more than a bit confusing narratively speaking, but it's a matter of poor writing on a structural level, not that Tynion doesn't know his mythological stuff.

To me, he is so far on the level of Pérez in getting the mythological stuff and connections right, and I can't think of any Wonder Woman writer who has reached that level, not even Rucka.

[thetrellan]

Oh, I noticed, and was about to complain about it until I read the preview more closely a second time. The issue isn't that Tynion doesn't know his mythology, but that the first five narration boxes are a combination of a flashback with an info dump, while the image itself and the final narration box is in present time. It is more than a bit confusing narratively speaking, but it's a matter of poor writing on a structural level, not that Tynion doesn't know his mythological stuff.

To me, he is so far on the level of Pérez in getting the mythological stuff and connections right, and I can't think of any Wonder Woman writer who has reached that level, not even Rucka.

Later in the story, the unicorn is referenced a couple of times. So that much is true.

But since the writer is responsible for both the writing as well as the content of individual panels (script first method being used for most DC comics), this represents a mistake on 2 levels. First, it creates confusion, as you said. Second, it messes up the story's flow, thanks not only due to said confusion, but also because it prompts one to stop reading and see if it popped up on a forum somewhere. Which is exactly what happened with me. And that, being the worst flow interruption I've ever seen, irks me quite a bit.