New WW Creative Team: Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad and Travis Moore

[Sebastianne]

I was thinking the same thing but perhaps the Twin Shadows are really the Duke of Deception and the Earl of Greed?

I was thinking the same thing, obviously Twin Shadows are "someones" who answers to "someone" who pulls the strings, which they call the Management.
I also love that a more doctor version of Poison is back. And from what I read Professor Calculus was not a villain in the previous version of him.
I am really glad that we have returned to the thread that this creative team had been bringing, I will not talk about Altuum and its resolution because it falls within the same problems that they built in TotA and it is a negative point for me, but after that "conclusion?" everything is magnificent, I love the incorporation of Siggy, his dynamic with Steve and the humorous tone, it really amuses me a lot; and as we are used to, Cloonrad leaves clues and mysteries to keep us hooked.

[bardkeep]

Just read it on digital. It's also listed as the top-selling new release today on Comixology/Amazon, and I'm not sure what that's worth in practice but it does make me really wish we could see digital sales numbers.

Re: the villains - I thought maybe the twin shadows were Phobos and Deimos and that may be wrong (Duke of Deception/Earl of Greed are also interesting guesses, though both of those pairs run into the issue of being gods who probably wouldn't sign up to be a mortal's errand boys), but I do think they're at least deep cuts from her rogues gallery. I think Cloonan/Conrad have spoken about how they didn't want to invent more villains and they've specifically mentioned bringing back more of the forgotten Golden Age characters so I don't think they're totally new.

In terms of adding bigger names...idk, I think I prefer it this way. This run has erred on the side of goofy/lighthearted and I'd much rather they bring in characters like Professor Calculus and Image Maker than downplay the emotional stakes of a character like Cheetah or Circe. I guess they could've used someone like Giganta but she tends to show up in other titles so maybe DC had other plans for her.

But overall I'm feeling good about this direction!

spoilers:

Things I liked: I absolutely love Steve and Siggy as best bros/roomies and I am so beyond glad they're not trying to shoehorn in any love triangle drama. Siggy's professional attire being a ratty t-shirt with a tie...I love it. He's a really fun addition to the supporting cast. I like Emanuela Lupacchino's art! Didn't blow me away, but still, solid for a monthly and definitely glad to have her as the new regular artist. Making Dr. Psycho a Jordan Peterson type is an interesting take, if a bit heavy-handed. The Altuum arc turned out to be a whole lot of nothing, but man am I relieved that they decided to veer away from the "Amazons are imperialists and Themyscira was their colonial conquest" thing they hinted at. Things I didn't like as much: Altuum was totally pointless. There was never an arc there and there wasn't really any resolution - we still don't really know what he did to mess up the trial. It feels like they meant to do something more with him during TotA, and when it didn't work out that way they hastily wrote him out so they could get Diana off of Themyscira and go back to business as usual. Has there been a writer since Gail Simone who actually gave Etta some semblance of a personality, or made a point to establish a believable friendship between her and Diana? It feels like everyone just makes her the logistics expert/plot device/resident exposition dumper. Again, I like Siggy, but in general it feels like the last time we saw Diana have a meaningful relationship with another woman in her main book was with Barbara in Rucka's Rebirth run (though I did like her dynamic with Zatanna in JLD) and he does nothing to remedy that. In addition to further exploring her relationship with Etta, I feel like putting someone like Donna, Cassie, or Yara in at least a recurring role could help fill that void. General things/lingering questions: Altuum alluded to the clay origin and Diana didn't correct him - does this mean they're bringing it back to canon? Probably not because the arc with the graveyard of the gods relied so heavily on the Zeus origin, but we can dream, right? I liked Young Diana when it was cute, self-contained stories (especially the scene with Diana visiting Nubia in the doorway), but Cloonrad mentioned it'd somehow be relevant to the main story and it seems to be trying to move toward something but it's just been spinning its wheels. That said, I know there's only so much you can do in 5 pages a month and the art is still lovely so I'm not gonna rail too hard on it.

end of spoilers

All in all, I'm glad the run is getting back to what made it tick - fun, wacky adventures with manageable stakes. It's not exactly gonna go down as one of the iconic takes on the character or reshape her lore in any major way (good or bad), but it's still enjoyable and I think Cloonan/Conrad write a pretty good Diana. It's kinda sad that writers having a baseline understanding of the character and not trying to actively destroy the interesting parts of her mythos is all it takes for it to be an above-average run, but that's being a Wonder Woman fan for ya.

[Gaius]

They've really upped the creep factor with Psycho in these past few issues.

[Perseus]

They've really upped the creep factor with Psycho in these past few issues.

Yeah, turning him into one of those grifter, right-wing, manosphere, red pill types was a great idea. Hope he stays that way in future appearances.

[Perseus]

I knew we were gonna get the gods "cleansing" the island for the amazons in some way, really don't like that change and I wish the gods could just be powerful enough to make the island like they use to, but it seemed to end as quickly as it began. So, it would be an easy retcon or to just ignore it all together, I was surprised at how this revelation didn't seem to fully phase Diana. You'd think that would have taken her back a bit, but she took that well.

Steve and Sigfried being roomies is neat, looks like Steve is seeing someone else too. ouch. Unfortunately its not with each other, they be sleeping in different rooms, so close. Etta, Steve, and Siggy are now working at checkmate as a team. Still wish ARGUS was a thing, could have been a great addition to stay in the Wondy verse, but of course...Bendis changed all that with the grace of a bull on cocaine. Now we have Checkmate, yay

Psycho is pretty surreal and scary accurate as a manosphere grifter type, no lie. Set with Wondy clone pet et all. Glad its not all the original members of villainy inc. Don't think everyone would be peachy about this Psycho and there is no way he is working for a woman, at least knowingly. Which is partly why I'm curious how and why Poison is cool with him? I don't know who Calculus is and I'm gonna be honesty, from first impressions I dont care to know. I'm gonna go with some others and say that the shadow twins are Duke and Earl. Wonder what muscle they are bringing? Deimos and Phobos seems too obvious and this team doesn't seem interested in using the more obvious choices for villains, they haven't used Circe or Cheetah or Ares which is a nice change of pace.

[Perseus]

Just read it on digital. It's also listed as the top-selling new release today on Comixology/Amazon, and I'm not sure what that's worth in practice but it does make me really wish we could see digital sales numbers.

Re: the villains - I thought maybe the twin shadows were Phobos and Deimos and that may be wrong (Duke of Deception/Earl of Greed are also interesting guesses, though both of those pairs run into the issue of being gods who probably wouldn't sign up to be a mortal's errand boys), but I do think they're at least deep cuts from her rogues gallery. I think Cloonan/Conrad have spoken about how they didn't want to invent more villains and they've specifically mentioned bringing back more of the forgotten Golden Age characters so I don't think they're totally new.

In terms of adding bigger names...idk, I think I prefer it this way. This run has erred on the side of goofy/lighthearted and I'd much rather they bring in characters like Professor Calculus and Image Maker than downplay the emotional stakes of a character like Cheetah or Circe. I guess they could've used someone like Giganta but she tends to show up in other titles so maybe DC had other plans for her.

But overall I'm feeling good about this direction!

spoilers:

Things I liked: I absolutely love Steve and Siggy as best bros/roomies and I am so beyond glad they're not trying to shoehorn in any love triangle drama. Siggy's professional attire being a ratty t-shirt with a tie...I love it. He's a really fun addition to the supporting cast. I like Emanuela Lupacchino's art! Didn't blow me away, but still, solid for a monthly and definitely glad to have her as the new regular artist. Making Dr. Psycho a Jordan Peterson type is an interesting take, if a bit heavy-handed. The Altuum arc turned out to be a whole lot of nothing, but man am I relieved that they decided to veer away from the "Amazons are imperialists and Themyscira was their colonial conquest" thing they hinted at. Things I didn't like as much: Altuum was totally pointless. There was never an arc there and there wasn't really any resolution - we still don't really know what he did to mess up the trial. It feels like they meant to do something more with him during TotA, and when it didn't work out that way they hastily wrote him out so they could get Diana off of Themyscira and go back to business as usual. Has there been a writer since Gail Simone who actually gave Etta some semblance of a personality, or made a point to establish a believable friendship between her and Diana? It feels like everyone just makes her the logistics expert/plot device/resident exposition dumper. Again, I like Siggy, but in general it feels like the last time we saw Diana have a meaningful relationship with another woman in her main book was with Barbara in Rucka's Rebirth run (though I did like her dynamic with Zatanna in JLD) and he does nothing to remedy that. In addition to further exploring her relationship with Etta, I feel like putting someone like Donna, Cassie, or Yara in at least a recurring role could help fill that void. General things/lingering questions: Altuum alluded to the clay origin and Diana didn't correct him - does this mean they're bringing it back to canon? Probably not because the arc with the graveyard of the gods relied so heavily on the Zeus origin, but we can dream, right? I liked Young Diana when it was cute, self-contained stories (especially the scene with Diana visiting Nubia in the doorway), but Cloonrad mentioned it'd somehow be relevant to the main story and it seems to be trying to move toward something but it's just been spinning its wheels. That said, I know there's only so much you can do in 5 pages a month and the art is still lovely so I'm not gonna rail too hard on it.

end of spoilers

All in all, I'm glad the run is getting back to what made it tick - fun, wacky adventures with manageable stakes. It's not exactly gonna go down as one of the iconic takes on the character or reshape her lore in any major way (good or bad), but it's still enjoyable and I think Cloonan/Conrad write a pretty good Diana. It's kinda sad that writers having a baseline understanding of the character and not trying to actively destroy the interesting parts of her mythos is all it takes for it to be an above-average run, but that's being a Wonder Woman fan for ya.

Yup yup yup.

[Gaius]

Duke of Deception is in one of the upcoming issues so I think he might be "the management" Psycho's been talking to on the phone.

[SiegePerilous02]

Deception could be management, while maybe Greed and Conquest are the twin shadows. Deception took off as Ares's #1 minion in a way the other two didn't, so maybe that will translate to them being subordinate in a revamp

[Shimbo]

Do we think that's it for Altuum, though? He seemed to be talking to Chaos or something else, before Diana shows up. And it seems like the thing wanted to possess him and handle things itself, so perhaps this thread isn't as neat tied up as we think? Then again, maybe they should just let it be.

The Siggy and Steve dynamic was funny, and def fan-service-y but in a fun way. Or at least in a way that fits a Wonder Woman book haha. The panel with Siggy's hand sticking out of his room and beckoning Steve over was hysterical.

Diana asking Etta about the two getting along was also nice characterization. Particularly the follow up panel where Diana looks a bit forlorn when Etta tells her Steve is seeing someone and Diana says it's one less thing for her to worry about.

[WonderScott]

I haven’t read the issue yet, but I’m kind of surprised by the membership of Villainy Inc. As one of comicdom’s first supervillain and all women and non-binary teams, I wish they had honored and celebrated that. It’s a pretty special mix.

Just an initial reaction/thought…

[Perseus]

Deception could be management, while maybe Greed and Conquest are the twin shadows. Deception took off as Ares's #1 minion in a way the other two didn't, so maybe that will translate to them being subordinate in a revamp

This actually makes more sense.

[Perseus]

I haven’t read the issue yet, but I’m kind of surprised by the membership of Villainy Inc. As one of comicdom’s first supervillain and all women and non-binary teams, I wish they had honored and celebrated.

Just an initial reaction…

Those women deserve better then to be stuck with Psycho. I prefer if Villainy inc was Psycho's little pet project while the heavy hitting women get Godwatch.

[BiteTheBullet]

Just a general question. Who is Altuum supposed to be and how does he pose a threat to Diana?

[HestiasHearth]

Yikes. I am not gonna lie: I am not crazy about this iteration of Villainy, Inc. I'm gonna keep on reading to see what Cloonrad does with them. Hopefully, it's something that really sparks my interest.

[Perseus]

Just a general question. Who is Altuum supposed to be and how does he pose a threat to Diana?

He's from a group of people I assume other guys, that came to the island via the gods to clear out the inhabitance (Ecidna and her ofspring) for the amazons to move in. In return, they would get something out of it, peace in the afterlife i suppose. Basically, the Gods didn't create the island like they use to, instead it was already there and inhabited by monster. So, they sent in basically a cleaning crew to kill all the monsters then went against their word and tricked the group to their deaths, except Altuum, who saw the lie. He doesn't seem a threat to Diana and is just going through trauma. Physically, he seems pretty close in physical stats via Diana's little tussle, but Diana could still over power him.