Old escape question, Secret Six 14, 2009, how did Diana get free?

[Mark]

I'm organizing some of my back issues and I can't help but read a few as I do. In Secret Six 13 Diana is blasted unconcious by Jennette's banshee scream and when next we see her she's flat out on a table looking pretty well restrained with gas, blindfold and drugs being pumped into her. The demon has to go before he can eat her and pages later she breaks his neck. Did she just power her way out of that? The prison they were in was designed for amazon's so I'd be surprised that she was able to just break free.

[Vanguard-01]

It was never explained.

It was one of the MANY reasons why I hated that story arc.

Diana gets one-shotted by Jeannette, dragged through the dirt, her clothes stolen by Rag Doll, and then sold to a scumbag slaver. She looks like a weakling for the whole run.....and then she just breaks out of imprisonment off-camera?

Yeah, not a fan of that story. At. All.

[Mark]

She's fully dressed in the issue, I think I remember him stealing her boots, but I haven't found issue 13 yet.

It was never explained.

It was one of the MANY reasons why I hated that story arc.

Diana gets one-shotted by Jeannette, dragged through the dirt, her clothes stolen by Rag Doll, and then sold to a scumbag slaver. She looks like a weakling for the whole run.....and then she just breaks out of imprisonment off-camera?

Yeah, not a fan of that story. At. All.

[Vanguard-01]

She's fully dressed in the issue, I think I remember him stealing her boots, but I haven't found issue 13 yet.

He steals her boots and her tiara. He was also contemplating seeing if he could get into her bustier as well.

[Mark]

He steals her boots and her tiara. He was also contemplating seeing if he could get into her bustier as well.

Well I can't say he's the first villain she's ever faced who thought about that, even if he was the first to say so.

[Vanguard-01]

Well I can't say he's the first villain she's ever faced who thought about that, even if he was the first to say so.

Most of her villains never thought of stealing her bustier with the intent of wearing it themselves.

[Carabas]

I'm organizing some of my back issues and I can't help but read a few as I do. In Secret Six 13 Diana is blasted unconcious by Jennette's banshee scream and when next we see her she's flat out on a table looking pretty well restrained with gas, blindfold and drugs being pumped into her. The demon has to go before he can eat her and pages later she breaks his neck. Did she just power her way out of that? The prison they were in was designed for amazon's so I'd be surprised that she was able to just break free.

Diana is almost to Amazons as regular people are to Superman. Once Jeanette's whammy wears off that set-up isn't exactly going to do anything to slow her down.

[Vanguard-01]

Diana is almost to Amazons as regular people are to Superman. Once Jeanette's whammy wears off that set-up isn't exactly going to do anything to slow her down.

I don't know. That's another thing I found pretty ridiculous about Diana's easy escape from the prison.

I mean, look at that setup! It looks like it was constantly pumping some kind of sedative/muscle-relaxant/psychotropic/whatever drug into her system, plus it was completely denying her the use of her senses with the visor over her head. It was called the "Disorientation Room," so the helmet was also likely to keep her in a state of total confusion. That all seems like a setup that should've done a fine job of keeping even a powerhouse like Diana pretty helpless. And she just brushes it all aside so easily that it wasn't even worth showing it to us?

I mean, okay, maybe those drugs were strong enough to work on a regular Amazon, but not Diana's enhanced physiology. But such an elaborate setup just looks like it should've been at least SOME kind of challenge for her. It just made her recovery seem so cheap to me. And a cheap recovery from an even CHEAPER takedown is just massively unsatisfying to me.

[Mark]

It did seem pretty elaborate and while I can understand why no one was monitoring her during the breakout it seems strange that she'd be able to just break out of it.

[Carabas]

I don't know. That's another thing I found pretty ridiculous about Diana's easy escape from the prison.

I mean, look at that setup! It looks like it was constantly pumping some kind of sedative/muscle-relaxant/psychotropic/whatever drug into her system, plus it was completely denying her the use of her senses with the visor over her head. It was called the "Disorientation Room," so the helmet was also likely to keep her in a state of total confusion. That all seems like a setup that should've done a fine job of keeping even a powerhouse like Diana pretty helpless. And she just brushes it all aside so easily that it wasn't even worth showing it to us?

Curse of the tight, unyielding 22 pag format. Stuff gets cut.
Can you imagine for a second that that set-up was going to be able to hold Superman? If no, then it's not going to hold Wonde Woman either.

I mean, okay, maybe those drugs were strong enough to work on a regular Amazon, but not Diana's enhanced physiology.

She doesn't even have an enhanced physiology. She has magical superstrength and speed granted by the gods, not really reliant on muscles.

[Vanguard-01]

Curse of the tight, unyielding 22 pag format. Stuff gets cut.
Can you imagine for a second that that set-up was going to be able to hold Superman? If no, then it's not going to hold Wonde Woman either.

She doesn't even have an enhanced physiology. She has magical superstrength and speed granted by the gods, not really reliant on muscles.

Yeah, I get that stuff gets cut. But like I said, it just made the whole escape seem really unsatisfying. Especially in light of how poorly Diana was treated throughout the story.

Superman? The disorientation effect may well work on him. But even disoriented, Superman could break out of that rig just by thrashing around. With him, the question would be about whether or not the drugs would work on him. If they would, then yeah, that rig should hold him. If not? Then no. He could break out of the rig without even really needing his coordination.

Superman is rarely shown as being affected by drugs of any kind. I really can't remember a story where anyone used drugs on him effectively, unless Kryptonite was also in the mix. Poison Ivy controlled him in Hush by mixing Kryptonite with her pheromones, but that was it. So, Superman may not have been held simply because the drugs were unlikely to work on him at all.

Diana, on the other hand, HAS been affected by drugs in the past. It's a little more believable for the drugs to work on her. But, as you say, it may have just been the fact that her power isn't as dependent on her muscles as one might think.

But she does have an advanced physiology. Her endurance is far above what even an Amazon can do. Tower of Babel? That heart attack Batman wanted to give her seemed to be a long time coming.

[Mark]

I'm sure it was drugs that they were pumping into her, from the looks of the illustration it the wrist and ankle cuffs were designed to scramble her nervous system. When she snapped the demons neck there were bits of electrical energy coming off of them. I'd wager the gas had most of the drugs in it. I still give Ms. Simone credit for showing there were some consequences for Amazon's Attack.

[Vanguard-01]

I'm sure it was drugs that they were pumping into her, from the looks of the illustration it the wrist and ankle cuffs were designed to scramble her nervous system. When she snapped the demons neck there were bits of electrical energy coming off of them. I'd wager the gas had most of the drugs in it. I still give Ms. Simone credit for showing there were some consequences for Amazon's Attack.

Yeah, it was a noble effort on her part, but even her efforts ended up being a bit unsatisfying.

One point required you to just forget what you saw in Amazons Attack. Gail tried to salvage the Amazons in this book by saying that all the baby-killing and atrocities were committed by just those Amazons in that prison. A small number. Obviously, if you remember the book, that seems unlikely. There were wide-angle shots of what looked like the entire Amazon army assaulting Washington D.C. But, it's either accept Gail's explanation, or continue to condemn the Amazons for absolutely hideous writing.

It's a little unsatisfying to think of Gail's solution. How exactly did the US government know every Amazon that was involved in the atrocities? And how were they able to track them and capture them, when the Amazons had lost all their memories themselves? It makes no sense. But, again, accept it or continue to be outraged.

But for me it was also an unsatisfying explanation about the Amazons' punishment. So, these Amazons killed defenseless civilians for no good reason....and their punishment is to be held in a horrible prison for a few months by a guy who makes them look like a bunch of saints? There was no justice to their punishment. Not one of them did or said anything to suggest that they realized the wrongness of what they'd done. If anything, their time in that prison should only deepen their hatred of men and Man's World, since they were so mistreated. I mean, they were willing to commit mass suicide rather than face their punishment for crimes they committed, for crying out loud!

Then comes the big one. So, the Amazons endure a few months (at best) of slavery and abuse for their crimes......and that's it. At the end of the story, they just go back to Themiscyra to resume their never-ending lives in their idyllic little paradise. A few months of pain and then they get to go back to live in luxury for the rest of eternity? Is that justice? I promise you, the families and loved ones of the people those women killed would not say so. They may agree that the Amazon's punishment was too harsh, but they would certainly still believe the Amazons shouldn't just be allowed to go back home without further penance.

Don't get me wrong, I respect Gail's efforts, and I'm sure that she did the best she could. But it still just didn't feel like "enough."

[Mark]

I figure there was a lot of editorial interference at the time.

[gwhh]

good point, did not think of that!!!