Diana and the Military

[AmiMizuno]

Question in the golden age it made sense for Diana to work for the military. But what about Rebirth ? Is the military paying for her? I don’t know I feel like yes Diana should work for the military but just how much?

[Tzigone]

Question in the golden age it made sense for Diana to work for the military. But what about Rebirth ? Is the military paying for her? I don’t know I feel like yes Diana should work for the military but just how much?

While I have enjoyed some of the Diana-military stories, I'm not sure it's the best track to take. I know, I know she works with the military, not for the military, but given the less good-v-evil nature in the public perception of now v. WWII (and in the nature of comics), it's a harder sell, I think. Though she should certainly get paid as a contractor. But I'm not sure how good it is to have her so integrated with the military, especially since (for a long while now), Etta has also been military. More ordinary earth friends outside of the military (Etta as original, Julia, etc.) would be a good thing, to me. And having so much work with the military sort of puts a lot of focus on those people as her supporting cast. Other heroes are fine to have around, but a solo hero needs soem non-cape supporting cast. So, I'd probably have Diana less involved with military (only doing so occasionally), and keep Steve in military. Also doesn't make "his people" (people he had a prior connection with) the bulk of the non-cape set she associates with.

And, of course, the United States military is about serving the interests of the United States, and Diana should have a larger goal of helping the world. In WW II, it was much easier for the reading audience to perceive those two as the same thing - or at least that they intersected. Using a special branch that only deals with certain kinds of threats is a work-around there, though.

[Ascended]

Question in the golden age it made sense for Diana to work for the military. But what about Rebirth ? Is the military paying for her? I don’t know I feel like yes Diana should work for the military but just how much?

I think Diana lends herself very well to military style stories and themes. She has a lot of good reason to cooperate with the military while maintaining a hard line of "I don't work FOR you, but will work WITH you when our interests align and if you try to force my hand you will regret it." I'd go so far as to say that, thematically, Diana's got one foot in myth and one foot in the kind of military/political thriller stories you see from characters like Captain America. Which is a pretty great combination and pretty unique in comics.

I'd keep Diana's interactions with the military limited to Argus, which being a fictional branch of the armed forces gets to avoid a lot of the negative backlash the real American military creates, and since Argus usually focuses on superhuman/supernatural threats it helps ease the transition between "political thriller" and "myth and monsters" so you get a lot of blurred lines in the two themes without much threat of Diana being dragged into real-world commentary.

I suppose the easiest breakdown is that I see Diana as being very much Captain America, as far as her involvement with the military goes (and if Steve Rogers fought real hydras instead of mooks who follow a dude without any skin on his head). She'll work with them, but will also work against them if she feels she should. And really, Diana isn't an American citizen and wouldn't be a part of the actual military anyway. She's a foreign national and diplomat so it's not like she's going to be taking orders from anyone, she'll be agreeing to lend a hand and help out on a case-by-case basis, and going her own way when she feels she should.

Since I dont think Diana should have a secret identity with a 9-5 job, her ties to the military also makes for an easy explanation for where her money comes from. I'd say she's on government contract as a "civilian consultant" so she gets a paycheck and some other perks but isn't locked into the military hierarchy.

[AmiMizuno]

I feel like Diana can get her own money and not get paid by the military. Diana has been dealing with corrupted people in the military. So I feel it would be bad idea. Maybe something like she get royalties from items with her name. I don’t mind if she had Diana Prince idea. Not for jobs rather just personal usage. I do see her being a defense teacher or what she does in the movies

[Ascended]

I always liked Rucka's idea that Diana wrote books delving into Amazon philosophy and history. It's a great way for her to fulfill her mission of spreading the Amazon belief system and it also generates revenue for her (as well as stories where she deals with the backlash/adoration of the people who read her books).

And I have no issue with her getting paid for licensing her likeness for merchandise either. Again, it's a great way for her to accomplish her mission, pay her bills, and give to charity.

But there's so much rich narrative ground to explore with her ties to the military, and its such a big part of her history, I can't see getting rid of it. We might as well have Clark Kent stop working at the Daily Planet yknow? Hell, it's actually a fairly unique thing in the DCU; damn few heroes in DC have any relationship with the government or military at all. If I recall your posts right, you're not a big fan of the military so I get why you wouldn't want Diana to work with them on any level but there's just so much you can do with it! And it's not like everyone in the service is evil, or every choice the military makes is bad. Yes, there's corruption. Show me anything that doesn't have that. Yknow what that is? A chance to explore how Diana deals with rogue soldiers and generals. Which is a story I would love to see. Of course, I did some time in the service so I got to see firsthand how varied its members are, and I got a taste of the many factors and variables that go into any military decision (just a small taste, I wasn't there long enough to be high ranking at all, but people talk).

[kjn]

Diana tells the armies to stop shooting and go home.

To the common soldiers, her arrival should not be a signal of victory, but that the war is over.

[AmiMizuno]

I have no issue with her working with the miltary it's more of being paid by the miltary. I mean what if Argus was a branch made by Diana? To deal with the miltary? It's somewhat a private funding by Diana or by something else. True Diana figthing a corrupted member would be nice. I mean on story idea is the fact miltary pays Diana means the miltary thinks they own her causesing the creation of ARGUS.