Wonder Woman # 64 review

[starlight25]

I find I am a lot more engaged by Wonder Woman in JL Dark than her own title. Even though it's an ensemble book I feel I get more actual Wonder Woman.

WAY better art, too.

gww started her run with a who is WW type of arc. In the current arc she seems to be like maybe WW shouldn't be this. So now she seems to be writing a who she can be arc. The woman is clueless about WW as a character and her verse. I don't have much hope for the next issues. She said she started to get Diana's voice right after 8 issues, but what is that supposed to mean? Her run feels underwhelming like many previous runs. I don't feel the epicness, the huge power and adrenaline of reading the adventures of a powerhouse amazon God like being. That is part of what makes Wonder Woman wonderful. When you read superman, you expect to see cool stuff. And when i read Wonder Woman, i expect a world of color, big power, exciting adventures. But gww is more interested in lecturing us about American foreign policy and the plight of refugees than telling a good Wonder Woman story. And outside WW title things are bad as well. Except for JLD.

[SiegePerilous02]

Cale accused Diana of attacking Nemesis without provocation and also said she sent Nemesis to the area to help people. If Diana had used the lasso on Cale, she could have forced her to reveal that she had Nemesis cause the disaster giving Diana the green light to make the first move.

A super powered woman throwing one of her magical tools on the non-powered businesswoman who owns the buildings under "attack" and forcing some truth out of her would make it look like Diana is abusing her power.

Even if the lasso's powers are documented, it's not as if the general public is going to automatically believe that this magic lasso from the Gods is all Diana says it is. For all they know, she's casting a spell on Cale to make her admit to false truths to make herself look better.

[brettc1]

A super powered woman throwing one of her magical tools on the non-powered businesswoman who owns the buildings under "attack" and forcing some truth out of her would make it look like Diana is abusing her power.

Even if the lasso's powers are documented, it's not as if the general public is going to automatically believe that this magic lasso from the Gods is all Diana says it is. For all they know, she's casting a spell on Cale to make her admit to false truths to make herself look better.

Agree. If anything, Cale could spin it as another way Superheroes exercise powers not permitted by law enforcement officials, who can’t dose someone with truth serum to interrogate them.

[brettc1]

Intersting that the previous issue seems to be getting better overall audience rating than this one, when it actually didn’t have a Wonder Woman in it for more than a few panels.

[Pinsir]

Intersting that the previous issue seems to be getting better overall audience rating than this one, when it actually didn’t have a Wonder Woman in it for more than a few panels.

Well, yeah, modern Wonder Woman as a character is a joyless bore. We've seen more personality from the Wonder Woman in that DC super heroine teaser than in the past 5 years of comics (with some notable exceptions).

[SiegePerilous02]

WW fans, like all comic fans, tend to be very picky and divided with what they want from her.

An issue with less screen time for her is going to have less to be divided about. Eirene and the others can just be enjoyed without any of the prior expectations.

[JackBNimble]

Diana in JLD has been great, I’m super excited to see what Tynion is doing with Circe. Wilson said it took a little while for her to get a handle on WW’s voice and so far I can see that. She’s been feeling out her world and getting the hang of it. It hasn’t been a great run so far but it’s been better than Robinson and about equal with Orlando. Give Wilson some time. Chip Zdarsky over at Marvel had some absolutely awful first Spectatcular Spider-Man issues before he got the hang of things, and then by the end people were calling his run one of the best Spidey runs ever.

If it takes a while to get the character's voice, why not start with a few simpler storylines? Why not start with a few two-parters or one-and-done adventures to ease yourself into a character?

Why start with a 5-part storyline that has your main character, who you're not quite comfortable yet with their voice, begin to question their legitimacy and capabilities and raison d'etre?

If you're unfamiliar with her world, her voice, her character--why start with a story that requires that you have a solid understanding of all those things?

I don't know whether it was GWW who decided it or the editors, but it seems like setting it all up for failure with that decision. This isnt' the first time a "new writer" did this.

jBn

[Vordan]

If it takes a while to get the character's voice, why not start with a few simpler storylines? Why not start with a few two-parters or one-and-done adventures to ease yourself into a character?

Why start with a 5-part storyline that has your main character, who you're not quite comfortable yet with their voice, begin to question their legitimacy and capabilities and raison d'etre?

If you're unfamiliar with her world, her voice, her character--why start with a story that requires that you have a solid understanding of all those things?

I don't know whether it was GWW who decided it or the editors, but it seems like setting it all up for failure with that decision. This isnt' the first time a "new writer" did this.

jBn

Don’t have the luxury of time. Sales only go down, and if you waste time with filler people might drop the book and not come back. I am sure Wilson would’ve preferred to start her run doing what you suggested.

[brettc1]

I don’t get this whole “I need time to find her voice” business.

Orlando only had five issues to work with total and nailed it right out of the gate.

[starlight25]

Don’t have the luxury of time. Sales only go down, and if you waste time with filler people might drop the book and not come back. I am sure Wilson would’ve preferred to start her run doing what you suggested.

Sales have been going down for gww, so maybe she should have tried a 1-2 parters first.

[starlight25]

I don’t get this whole “I need time to find her voice” business.

Orlando only had five issues to work with total and nailed it right out of the gate.

It wouldn't be the first time a writer blames the character if things don't work out.

[kjn]

I don’t get this whole “I need time to find her voice” business.

Orlando only had five issues to work with total and nailed it right out of the gate.

Did he? To me, he barely scratched onto Diana's character. And while issue 51 was pretty good, the other four felt like they declined in quality and the last two picked up some deeply problematic cultural implications (see Mighty Whitey).

As for "finding her voice", Wilson is a different type of writer than, say, Orlando. Especially as she sets out to interrogate Diana's role in the wider civilian world, something which no writer has done since Rucka's first run.

It wouldn't be the first time a writer blames the character if things don't work out.

I don't read that as Wilson's intent with her words at all. Rather, she wants and intends to get Diana right, and understand her, and that takes time for her. Especially since she got tossed into this with relatively little preparation and a hectic schedule.

[brettc1]

Did he? To me, he barely scratched onto Diana's character. And while issue 51 was pretty good, the other four felt like they declined in quality and the last two picked up some deeply problematic cultural implications (see Mighty Whitey).

Yeah, that to me is just proof that everything is offensive to someone.

With his first issue, Orlando had Diana's character pegged just right. And he followed up by never making a misstep in that regard. To my mind, by whatever method he got there, Orlando understood immediately who Wonder Woman was, what she was about, what her abilities were, and how she would plausibly react to a given situation.

So if another writer is saying it took them 160 pages to finally figure that out to their own satisfaction, I have to wonder why?

[kjn]

Yeah, that to me is just proof that everything is offensive to someone.

With his first issue, Orlando had Diana's character pegged just right. And he followed up by never making a misstep in that regard. To my mind, by whatever method he got there, Orlando understood immediately who Wonder Woman was, what she was about, what her abilities were, and how she would plausibly react to a given situation.

So if another writer is saying it took them 160 pages to finally figure that out to their own satisfaction, I have to wonder why?

Did Orlando have Diana pegged about right? Yes. But he also never took her anywhere interesting, and introduced new relatives of Diana that apparently were hugely important but that we never heard of before, and missed entirely why and how Diana is barred from Themyscira. And I didn't find his writing that engaging either.

So Orlando to me felt like a return to basics for Wonder Woman, but not terribly ambitious or interesting either.

[brettc1]

Did Orlando have Diana pegged about right? Yes. But he also never took her anywhere interesting, and introduced new relatives of Diana that apparently were hugely important but that we never heard of before, and missed entirely why and how Diana is barred from Themyscira. And I didn't find his writing that engaging either.

So Orlando to me felt like a return to basics for Wonder Woman, but not terribly ambitious or interesting either.

If you don’t get the basics right, it doesn’t matter how interesting or ambitious your story is.

Looking at you, Mr Azzarello