Wonder Woman review # 70

[AmiMizuno]

What did you guys think of this issue?

[Pinsir]

Its not bad, but there isn't really anything to note. I admit to not being a fan of 'modern' Wonder Woman as a character though, so I don't really care about her anxieties and fears and her emotional state in general. I think it sets up the next issue well though as I do want to know what happens next.

[dreyga2000]

I thought it was interesting. Wilson is really humanizing Diana without changing her. Too often I feel like a writer comes along and adds some in congruent element to try and make humanize Diana that feels off. Like Diana going clubbing or something. But here Wilson is bringing up a series of real fears and anxieties that make sense for Diana to have yet have rarely been touched upon.

[kjn]

I liked it, but it also feels like Wilson is butting up against the limits of superhero stories. The drama feels real, but at the same time this is the typ of story that depends a lot on reaching closure. Especially the tension and strain between Atlantiades and Aphrodite feels palpable and real in a way that all the bluster that Azzarello or even Pérez could offer between the Olympian gods.

I also like how Aphrodite hints at the origin of Atlantiades as described by Diodorus Siculus rather than Ovid, but without coming right out. Mythology is often best only hinted at and partially obscured. Which brings us to the absence in Atlantiades's temple that Maggie found, which I think will be key to getting their help.

However, I think the role that Diana gets in this story continues in the same vein as the rest of the run: Diana is more observer and sometimes counselor rather than agent of her own story. By itself, this is no flaw, but it's not really a role that suits her, or is expected of her, long-term.

The art here is really good, and the team really manages to pick up on the emotional beats.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I liked it.

[AmiMizuno]

Diana being a observer is kind of a flaw when Azz’s run and a lot of the finch’s run also had her in this role

[kjn]

Diana being a observer is kind of a flaw when Azz’s run and a lot of the finch’s run also had her in this role

I wouldn't go so far as call it a flaw, at least not without a lot more caveats and context. Being the observer, moderator, and counselor is a real and valid role for a character to take in a story, and it is one of the things that Diana is and should be good at. It only becomes a flaw when it's her only role for a long time (or when the story is badly told, but then you have other troubles as well).

[AmiMizuno]

New 52 Diana was nothing but the observer I would say that was her issue with new 52. I think rebirth set itself up better. I hope Wilson can pull off a great run

[Pinsir]

Diana being a observer is kind of a flaw when Azz’s run and a lot of the finch’s run also had her in this role

She's very pro-active in those stories though...She goes actively tricks Hera into limiting herself and then goes to Hell to get Zola and then goes on adventures to retrieve her baby.

[kjn]

She's very pro-active in those stories though...She goes actively tricks Hera into limiting herself and then goes to Hell to get Zola and then goes on adventures to retrieve her baby.

Agreed. I think the issue with Azzarello's run in this particular regard is not so much how active Diana is in the story, and more in that it's not necessarily her story. It's much more the Ares's, Hera's, Athena's, or even Zeus's story, because they start in one place and end up in another, or they are the drivers of the underlying narrative.

Now, if one looks at this current arc, it's also interesting how the narrative roles are split up. The central conflict lies in the relation between Aphrodite and Atlantiades. It seems like the primary agent of reaching the resolution might be Maggie. Diana's role, on the other hand, is to learn something new about herself. Come to think of it, that pretty much describes the previous arc with the giants as well.

Looked at it that way, Wilson is setting out to write the equivalent of a coming-of-age-story, but with an established and adult superhero in the centre. And one that seems to be ready to really dig into stuff and take its time. The only similar thing I can come up with would be the movie Logan, which has Logan becoming a father as its central theme.

[Frank]

I enjoyed it. I like that Atlantiades isn't really a villain and that Diana is talking with her "foe." The art is great - I especially like the two panels in which Aphrodite & Atlantiades are arguing, and all Xermanico shows is the characters from nose to neck, centering on their mouths, emphasizing that the characters are talking at each other without listening.

My primary criticism is that Diana's voice has these moments that are a little too melodramatic and uncertain. I understand that living beings aren'y static, and Diana coming out of Azz's run & Rucka's run confident & assured (and regressed in Finch's) doesn't mean she'll be that way in every situation. It just feels like there's an excess of emotion in certain situations that doesn't quite hit the nose of how I envision Diana reacting. But this is Wilson's turn at writing WW, and this is a minor criticism, especially since Wilson also ensure there are scenes in which Diana is fully confident.

In a way, Rucka, in his second run, had the best of both worlds, writing Diana in two time periods at the same time. He got to write a more naive, less certain Diana of the past and a more confident, assured Diana of the present.

[Vordan]

This is the first issue that I really enjoyed. That Diana has fears about what’s going to happen as Steve ages and she doesn’t was a nice way of exploring Diana’s character, as was how she confronted her fears at the end. Also liked the bit about how the hidden face of desire is fear. Looking forward to the next issue.

[Pinsir]

My primary criticism is that Diana's voice has these moments that are a little too melodramatic and uncertain. I understand that living beings aren'y static, and Diana coming out of Azz's run & Rucka's run confident & assured (and regressed in Finch's) doesn't mean she'll be that way in every situation. It just feels like there's an excess of emotion in certain situations that doesn't quite hit the nose of how I envision Diana reacting. But this is Wilson's turn at writing WW, and this is a minor criticism, especially since Wilson also ensure there are scenes in which Diana is fully confident.

This is the problem I have with a lot of recent Wonder Woman runs. I don't want to read a story about Wonder Woman mewling over her love life. Its a story line I could accept for a character like Ms. Marvel or Supergirl, but not for a characters like Wonder Woman, at least not as often as we see it.

[Agent Z]

This is the problem I have with a lot of recent Wonder Woman runs. I don't want to read a story about Wonder Woman mewling over her love life. Its a story line I could accept for a character like Ms. Marvel or Supergirl, but not for a characters like Wonder Woman, at least not as often as we see it.

She's not mewling over her love life here. And she wasn't in recent runs.

[Pinsir]

She's not mewling over her love life here. And she wasn't in recent runs.

...what? 10 char