Wonder Woman Annual #3 Spoilers/Discussion

[Dr. Poison]

I found this story to be quite epic. Orlando brings the fire after a lackluster few years on Wonder Woman. Seeing Diana face off against Grodd was a nice change of pace. I loved how Orlando had her block Grodd's mental attacks by tying the Lasso around her head! Even better was the last page reveal with the rebooted Paula Von Gunther! I low how Orlando tied her to Gundra the Valkyrie! I'm excited for what comes next!

[Bound4olympus]

The book opens with splash page of Diana, Steve and a woman named Helen fighting Grodd. Next a flashback to Diana rescuing Helen from the burning building that you saw on the preview, covered in Nazi flags. We then follow the child in her years growing up. She was given to Argus agents and those agents were told by Diana to tell the child she was rescued from a terrorist attack and not to give her details because her true origin could ruin her life. Diana watches and mentors Helen as she grows up. She becomes a skilled fighter, an agent in Argus, and then joins the Oddfellow’s with Steve.

We come back to the story of how they ended up fighting in Gorilla city. They are there under Argus orders to rescue a spy and to determine whether Grodds election was legitimate. It turns out his election was and Helen sees for the first time that good and evil are not black and white. Steve used unnecessary force against Gorillas and that didn’t sit well with Helen.

We then cut to Leviathan talking to Helen. He tells her that Diana has been lying to her her entire life. She is the daughter of Nazi terrorists who died at the hands of Argus agents despite the fact that they surrendered. He then informs her that she is a descendant of Gudra the Valkyrie, who was the sole survivor of a war between the Valkyries and the Amazons. Leviathan tells her Wonder Woman lied to her as a means of self preservation. Her actual name is Then we are introduced to a remade Helen, dressed in a suite of armor and now going by the name Paula Van Gunther Warmaster.

[Bound4olympus]

So I have to say, I thought this issue was awesome. This was a classic super hero story and I think Orlando brought his A game with this Annual. He packed in a lot of things. We see Diana in her D.O.M.A uniform a reference to the Heinberg run/Dodson art. We saw references to Greg Ruckas name for the lasso, Simones depiction of the lassos function, and the revamping of a golden age character. The pacing was great and I’m super amped to see where he takes Wonder Woman.

[PopQuezy]

Dr. Poison, I read the issue because of your glowing review and because of my curiosity regarding Orlando's upcoming run. I must say that I am truly impressed.

I loved Diana's voice. Similar to the Bloodlines movie, I loved when Diana would matter of factly state what she would not allow. I also liked that Steve was a tad more violent and less diplomatic than Diana. The action was exciting and while I've never cared for Grodd, he at least made a good antagonist in this issue. I also have high hopes for the reimagined Warmaster, i.e. Paula Von Gunther.

I reserve the right to change my opinion, but based on this annual, I'm really excited for Orlando's upcoming issues.

[Largo161]

This almost sounds too good to be true. Headed to the comic shop tomorrow! Orlando got me giving up my boycott again.

[Harpsikord]

I enjoyed it, but...

I feel like Helen/Paula's heel-turn was way too abrupt. Orlando gave us all of these flashbacks to masterfully establish her relationship with Wonder Woman, to the point that the two of them are very close even despite Diana being busy otherwise (sort of like the opposite of what happened to Rebirth Vanessa Kapatelis), and then... what? Leviathan tells her that Wonder Woman has been lying to her and she switches. Even if that's a pretty hefty lie, that doesn't change who Diana is a person and who she's been to Helen since she was a child. From the way that this issue paints it, Diana was almost like a third surrogate parent to Helen, then... nothing. None of it matters because Diana told one (admittedly big, but) lie. I don't know, I'm willing to see more during this run, but I'm not sure how convinced I am.

[SiegePerilous02]

Kind of rushed but pretty good. A major step up from the last few issues of the main book. And there is potential conflict between Diana and Steve that is actually interesting.

Helen to Paula happened to quickly. But it is cool that this issue set up Paula, Gundra and Kung. Hopefully all three go on to play big roles.

[PopQuezy]

I enjoyed it, but...

I feel like Helen/Paula's was way too abrupt. Orlando gave us all of these flashbacks to masterfully establish her relationship with Wonder Woman, to the point that the two of them are very close even despite Diana being busy otherwise (sort of like the opposite of what happened to Rebirth Vanessa Kapatelis), and then... what? Leviathan tells her that Wonder Woman has been lying to her and she switches. Even if that's a pretty hefty lie, that doesn't change who Diana is a person and who she's been to Helen since she was a child. From the way that this issue paints it, Diana was almost like a third surrogate parent to Helen, then... nothing. None of it matters because Diana told one (admittedly big, but) lie. I don't know, I'm willing to see more during this run, but I'm not sure how convinced I am.

While I mostly agree with you, I also think Helen placed Diana on such a high pedestal that it was inevitable that Diana would fall. At times, it seemed Helen almost saw Diana as a personal Goddess/angel/savior and not truly as a fallible human being. I think a lie that completely destroys who Helen believes she is as a person is enough to drastically alter how Helen views Diana from Goddess to person. Now, while I think the transition to villain could have been better, I also realize that Orlando has a certain amount of pages and I'm happy he chose to focus on the Wonder Woman/Helen...with a splash of Steve...relationship rather than the heel turn in those limited amount of pages he's allowed to tell this story.

SiegePerilous02 - When did the issue set up Kung? I must have missed it.

[Pinsir]

This was a pretty good issue. I guess continuity wise, this is set in the post-Rebirth era (5G, which, is a name I loath). I'm glad there is no indication here that Orlando is using his limited time on Wonder Woman to 'clean up' the Wilson run. By this, I mean have a story where Wonder Woman reforges her lasso, bracelets...tiara....

[Koriand'r]

WOW! The Age of Orlando is upon us!

There has never...ever, ever, ever been a better Wonder Woman annual! In the back of my mind I was thinking of the terrible JLApe WW annual, the Gorilla Knights, Gargantua and issues where Wonder Woman was turned into or befriended a gorilla in the Golden/Silver Age and approached with extreme trepidation. How he took all that and weaved it with Nazis, Gundra the Valkyrie, Paula Von Gunther, A.R.G.U.S. suddenly shiesty and an event I'm not reading and couldn't care less about into an amazing tapestry of Wonder Woman adventure is worthy of applause and my HIGHEST PRAISE!

[Pinsir]

Oh yeah, I forgot this was an event tie in, like, what is it even about? Is Leviathan different than Forever Evil 2? I genuinely can't comprehend these events.

[Arnoldoaad]

I enjoyed it, but...

I feel like Helen/Paula's heel-turn was way too abrupt. Orlando gave us all of these flashbacks to masterfully establish her relationship with Wonder Woman, to the point that the two of them are very close even despite Diana being busy otherwise (sort of like the opposite of what happened to Rebirth Vanessa Kapatelis), and then... what? Leviathan tells her that Wonder Woman has been lying to her and she switches. Even if that's a pretty hefty lie, that doesn't change who Diana is a person and who she's been to Helen since she was a child. From the way that this issue paints it, Diana was almost like a third surrogate parent to Helen, then... nothing. None of it matters because Diana told one (admittedly big, but) lie. I don't know, I'm willing to see more during this run, but I'm not sure how convinced I am.

This is pretty much what I wanted to say as well
I find the issue ok, unremarcable but not boring and then that final page, wow!

- Wonder Woman saved my life so I better become a super soldier for the benefit of society
- Btw your parents were white supremacist terrorist
- well I guess now I know what to do "Puts on Nazi armor"

WHAT!

It is so incredibly abrupt

[kjn]

Well, that was exciting.

But underneath it, I couldn't find anything.

The story gives some nods towards that ARGUS was overreaching and acting without justification, but Diana sure goes along with them easily. This Steve Trevor is just one-note, and that note is violence. While I disagreed with Rucka's Rebirth Steve, at least his Steve had a sadness and an empathy at his core: this one doesn't, and is just violence.

Dialogue feels more like sound-bytes and trash-talk than anything else. There is neither poetry nor levity in the way that Diana talks.

Then we have the handling of Helen Paul. First, we have the issue that Orlando basically took a key part of Donna Troy's origin and transplanted it to her. While not problematic in itself, I think it shows that neither Orlando nor DC have any interest in trying to rehabilitate Donna's origin and relation to Diana.

More troubling is that Helen's turn to Paula von Gunther is predicated on the heritage of blood, which is one of the more toxic memes around: that bad blood trumps a loving family. I'm also not enamored with the idea to make this modern Paula von Gunther into a badass warrior. The original one was an organiser, an inventor, and a mastermind, with lots of BDSM undertones. Here we just have an ersatz Nazi super-soldier.

[Agent Z]

Well, that was exciting.

But underneath it, I couldn't find anything.

The story gives some nods towards that ARGUS was overreaching and acting without justification, but Diana sure goes along with them easily. This Steve Trevor is just one-note, and that note is violence. While I disagreed with Rucka's Rebirth Steve, at least his Steve had a sadness and an empathy at his core: this one doesn't, and is just violence.

Dialogue feels more like sound-bytes and trash-talk than anything else. There is neither poetry nor levity in the way that Diana talks.

Then we have the handling of Helen Paul. First, we have the issue that Orlando basically took a key part of Donna Troy's origin and transplanted it to her. While not problematic in itself, I think it shows that neither Orlando nor DC have any interest in trying to rehabilitate Donna's origin and relation to Diana.

More troubling is that Helen's turn to Paula von Gunther is predicated on the heritage of blood, which is one of the more toxic memes around: that bad blood trumps a loving family. I'm also not enamored with the idea to make this modern Paula von Gunther into a badass warrior. The original one was an organiser, an inventor, and a mastermind, with lots of BDSM undertones. Here we just have an ersatz Nazi super-soldier.

What do you think of this post's views?

https://themyskira.tumblr.com/post/1...ww-villain-why

[kjn]

What do you think of this post's views?

https://themyskira.tumblr.com/post/1...ww-villain-why

I can see where they are coming from. I don't necessarily agree with the interpretation, though I'm fairly sure that Orlando is (again!) working with themes and symbols he doesn't have the tools and framework of thought to handle, and thus runs a high risk of bringing in themes and tropes that at least I find harmful or antithetical to Diana's character (see: mighty whitey; being a good woman is tied to motherhood; abortion is evil). But I really can't say until I get to see more of how he handles this modern Paula von Gunther.

But to me, Veronica Cale is Paula von Gunther's true spiritual successor. What Orlando has here is—so far—a borrowed name put on a generic warrior woman with ersatz Nazi iconography.