G Willow Wilson's Tenure on Wonder Woman

[Carabas]

Again, whatever happens, I hope that she gets far, far away from Diana first and foremost identifying as "just another one of Zeus's offspring."

Has any writer ever done this in any way at all?

[kjn]

Has any writer ever done this in any way at all?

Back in JLD #3, Tynion has her introduce herself as "daughter of Zeus" with no mention of Hippolyta. Also, Robinson's run was oriented around her parental relations (though I couldn't be bothered to follow it), and Orlando had Tezcatlipoca reference Zeus a lot of times, including as Diana's father.

I fully agree with millernumber1: every writer of Diana should simply skip talking about Zeus at all.

[millernumber1]

Back in JLD #3, Tynion has her introduce herself as "daughter of Zeus" with no mention of Hippolyta. Also, Robinson's run was oriented around her parental relations (though I couldn't be bothered to follow it), and Orlando had Tezcatlipoca reference Zeus a lot of times, including as Diana's father.

I fully agree with millernumber1: every writer of Diana should simply skip talking about Zeus at all.

Stole my examples right out from under me. I'd add that even Priest on Justice League, who I really liked, and really liked for Diana (with her no-fly zone at the end, which deeply moved me), emphasized her "heritage" as the child of the gods.

DC wants to keep the current origin. They've put it in the movie. I get it.

But she spent the most formative years of her life being trained and cared for by her mother. That should be her identity, way more than an adult revelation of paternity with a father who really doesn't care about her that much.

[Carabas]

There is a big difference between introducing her as "daughter of Zeus" and "just another one of Zeus's offspring".

[millernumber1]

There is a big difference between introducing her as "daughter of Zeus" and "just another one of Zeus's offspring".

Well, of course the writers aren't going to say "just another Zeus's offspring." But there's nothing that sets her apart from "just another one of Zeus's offspring" - not even her mother, with the 20 issue arc about her brother. I'm pointing out the inevitable consequences of her new origin, and why I think it should be removed (not happening) or simply not emphasized/talked about every arc (Rucka's solution).

Why do you think it's important for Diana to identify as Zeus's offspring?

[kjn]

There is a big difference between introducing her as "daughter of Zeus" and "just another one of Zeus's offspring".

Yes, but both point in the same direction, where Hippolyta and the rest of the Amazons are minimised and erased.

Now, if Diana was to refer to Zeus as her sperm donor, I'd be OK with that.

[Carabas]

Why do you think it's important for Diana to identify as Zeus's offspring?

I don't think this. I just find the fixation on this weird.

[Gaelforce]

I don't think this. I just find the fixation on this weird.

To me, it's not weird at all.

Having grown up with comics and been a collector for over 40 years, I'm hard pressed to think of any hero who regularly references a maternal figure as a source of power/major influence on them. Alfred raised Bruce. Hal was inspired by his father and got his ring from Abin Sur. Jon and Jor-El were Kal's influences.

Diana initially was created by her mother who wanted a child, and was raised by women who taught her how to tap her potential. Gods and goddesses have both given her gifts, but the primary source of her history and her powers came from women.

Writers have been minimalizing/eliminating this aspect lately. Since Zeus became her father, she can't go home (so the Amazons are eliminated from influence/story) and she's referred to as the daughter of Zeus, not the daughter of Hippolyta or the Princess of the Amazons, etc.

It's a major change after 70 years, starting with the nu52.

A character created to be the embodiment of a woman's potential has been co-opted into being just another male powered/influenced character in a costume.

For some of us, that's a pretty big deal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[Dr. Poison]

I just want to thank you for asking this because I have honestly been a bit worried. The mention of doing quite a bit of mythological stuff initially leaves me curious if that means we will get one long arc of the gods before going into that sort of thing.

You're welcome! I'm not big on Diana fighting menaces from public domain so I was hoping we'd see the rogues sooner than later.

[kjn]

I don't think this. I just find the fixation on this weird.

I can recommend reading Alan Sizzler Kistler's article for an in-depth discussion on this.

To me, the Zeus origin goes against Marston's vision for the character as a person born out of the capabilities and power of women. Instead she is tied into the old meme—that goes back to the old Greeks!—that women are just empty vessels and what matters is the vitality of the father, while Diana's character concept from the beginning rejected that idea, just as it rejected the old Greek legend of the Amazons as barbarians.

That in and of itself should be enough to reject the change. But there is more.

Zeus in the Greek myths is a thoroughly unpleasant figure viewed from a modern—and feminist—lens. He tricked Hera into having sex with her, or in some interpretations raped her, after she had refused to marry him. He raped Antiope, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, and Leda. He ate his first wife Metis while she was pregnant with their first child, since it was prophesised that a future child of theirs would supplant him. He also gave explicit permission to Hades to abduct and rape Demeter's daughter Persephone.

ETA: He also killed Demeter's mortal lover Iasion out of jealousy.

Meanwhile, the clay origin is rich in mythic resonance, arguably even more so than having a god as a father. The Galatea myth is referenced by Marston, but Pérez made an even stronger mythic connection where Diana is presented as an inversion of the Pandora myth. Note here that Pandora—sent to curse men with evil, discord, trickery, and deceit—was explicitly created by the orders of Zeus. Given the role the goddesses played in Pérez's run, Diana can be seen as a restitution from the goddesses for following Zeus's earlier orders. Diana takes not the role as a half-god walking on earth, but as the first woman.

From a meta-storytelling perspective, Wonder Woman has struggled with having too many stories that primarily involve the gods since the Pérez days. Some such stories are fine, as are stories where the gods meddle with mankind (like in the Illiad). But there is a severe lack of the "mundane" stories where Diana deals with earthly concerns and human affairs. Zeus as her father pushes her even more towards dealing with primarily mythological stories.

[millernumber1]

I don't think this. I just find the fixation on this weird.

The others have articulated it better than I can, but fundamentally, making her origin "another one of Zeus's offspring" (and adding a brother), you've made Diana incredibly less unique and powerful symbolically. The clay origin is unique - people sometimes say it's off putting, but I don't find it more offputting than being one of dozens if not hundreds of demigods with nothing really unique about you. If Superman was one of hundreds of babies that landed on earth from Krypton, would that make his origin better or worse? (You can argue Supergirl, but I think one of two is still better than one of hundreds.)

Add to that the whole idiocy of someone looking at Wonder Woman - created by the love of women alone - and saying "you know what she needs? More dudes" - and I think it's perfectly reasonable to be strongly irritated or upset by the new origin and the obsession DC has with making it central to Diana's ongoing stories.

[Geraldofrivia]

I don't think this. I just find the fixation on this weird.

I find New 52 origin, a big joke by DC on Wonder Woman like Robot chicken changed the origin of Superman.

[SiegePerilous02]

A twitter update from Wilson:

Very glad to hear this. She's looking to Marston and Rucka for inspiration, and will be using some old faces. She's saying all the right things. I have a good feeling about this run.

[kjn]

More health updates from G Willow Wilson via Twitter:

I live. (includes photograph of nice socks)

this is tmi but nobody warned me about post-operative gas

I note that even if her body didn't go through the surgery unscathed, her sense of humour did.

[Last Son of Krypton]

"There has also been some disquiet over the quality of the book, but the appointment of G Willow Wilson as writer, which you will have first read about in June on Bleeding Cool, confirmed by DC Comics a month later, and joined by Cary Nord as artist. has put many worries to rest, as their run starts in November.

The comic is still planned to be twice-monthly – indeed it looks like January will have three issues out. So there will need to be

But at New York Comic-Con, the word being shared was that there are currently three separate creative teams working on the ongoing Wonder Woman series. Not all were aware of each other. Oh and no one seems to be sure which order their stories will be running, which could make for a continuity headache.

It’s probably best for such a thing to be sorted out in an office in Burbank rather than in a bar in New York, and by now it probably has been. But I am told it made for some entertaining conservations at NYCC…"

Source: https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/10...-wonder-woman/