Wonder Woman: Evolution Announced

[Rightoya]

Aquaman is current WW. She has fought him multiple times. There was a Mera fight in Rebirth. She struggled twith a plane in gww, and to lift the watchtower with Superman etc. If you mean if she did any of this this year no. But all of this happened in the last few years of rebirth, which is the most current version.

Most current is the post-Death Metal version of Wonder Woman.

Have you considered that maybe Diana struggling against these characters isn't a knock against Diana and is more of something of a compliment to the other characters involved? Aquaman and Mera aren't any to sneeze at and Mera's control over water gives her something that Diana SHOULD reasonably struggle against: range. DC is a big universe and Diana should struggle sometimes.

That would just work if DC would put the effort into bringing Aquaman and Mera to the Kryptonian and top Green Lantern tier, which they don't, and most of the fights between Wonder Woman and Aquaman are so awfully written that she just looks like a weak jobber and that don't truly helps him either.

[SiegePerilous02]

That would just work if DC would put the effort into bringing Aquaman and Mera to the Kryptonian and top Green Lantern tier, which they don't, and most of the fights between Wonder Woman and Aquaman are so awfully written that she just looks like a weak jobber and that don't truly helps him either.

They don't do it as frequently, but there are instances of Atlantis characters challenging Superman.

Aquaman has stood up to Superman in the early parts of DC Rebirth, and in the New 52 Ocean Master took out both Clark AND Diana.

[WonderLight789]

Have you considered that maybe Diana struggling against these characters isn't a knock against Diana and is more of something of a compliment to the other characters involved? Aquaman and Mera aren't any to sneeze at and Mera's control over water gives her something that Diana SHOULD reasonably struggle against: range. DC is a big universe and Diana should struggle sometimes.

Diana has range attacks too. She has gear, she can fly and has super speed. Things she has never tried to use when fighting mera and aquaman. If AQ and Mera are on her level. I would like to see them consistently having power performances that are proerly writen to prove it. In those battles WW had against them, she was written as a one dimensional grounded brick. That did not use any of her other powers, her gear and her so called top tier level skills and tactics as a fighter. That to me is bad. For both sides. Because in the end, it doesn't show any side under a good light in terms of fighting and power capability.

[Shimbo]

Diana has range attacks too. She has gear, she can fly and has super speed. Things she has never tried to use when fighting mera and aquaman. If AQ and Mera are on her level. I would like to see them consistently having power performances that are proerly writen to prove it. In those battles WW had against them, she was written as a one dimensional grounded brick. That did not use any of her other powers, her gear and her so called top tier level skills and tactics as a fighter. That to me is bad. For both sides. Because in the end, it doesn't show any side under a good light in terms of fighting and power capability.

I generally agree with you but I haven't been impressed by a fight scene in American superhero comics in a looooong time. I agree that Diana and her book should lend themselves to cool displays of martial arts and physicality....but it just doesn't happen that often :/ for sophisticated fight scenes using all a character's abilities I look to manga and anime.

[Gaius]

Portion of an interview Philips did.

Grunenwald: Gotcha. Let’s talk about Wonder Woman: Evolution. That launches in November. I wanted to ask about the scope of the series, because it sounds it sounds like maybe a more cosmic Wonder Woman story than we’re used to, but it also sounds really personal. How would you describe the scope for that series?

Phillips: What I initially told Mike Hawthorne is, I want it to look and initially feel like this big cosmic story, but once you get into it, it’s actually a very character-driven personal approach to Diana. So while she’s in this giant setting, I actually think there’s something really interesting to the contrast of this gigantic endless universe and Diana trying to figure out a lot of important questions. Even though we’re asking umbrella questions about, is humanity worthy of even being in this universe anymore? Have they overstepped? Are they a threat to not only their own planet, but are we now a threat beyond our planet? Are we just a bigger threat than the universe can kind of handle? Diana [has to] reconcile with that, but also more personally questions of, Where do I fit into this? Have I done something wrong to allow humanity to get to this point? Those things will really push her.

This book has been really hard to solicit or give the ‘elevator pitch’ to because there are levels that, I’ll spoil it once you go deeper. So while that’s like the ‘elevator pitch’ version of the story, there’s another story within that. The most I’ve been saying about it is, literally question everything that happens in this book, to the point where Mike and I wanted to design a story that, when you get to issue 8, you read the ending, and hopefully say, ‘holy ****,’ [and] you can go back and read issue 1 and find weird nuggets that we’ve been dropping about the truth the entire time. One of the cool benefits was we knew where the story was growing from day one. Mike’s had full outlines for all the issues, so when he draws things, there’s little hidden things starting in issue 1 that actually tells you the truth of where the story is going, that even Diana doesn’t pick up on. We’ve tried to design something that’s really engaging and that you can read through more than once and find different things.

Grunenwald: You mentioned truth generally. Truth is kind of Wonder Woman’s whole thing. From the solicitation and the way that it was announced, it sounds like she’s sort of acting as an attorney for Earth. How is she going to reconcile being truthful about what Earth is like while still defending it?

Phillips: I’m so glad you asked that question. Yes, we wanted to initially take all of the things that are symbols for Diana like truth, or even physical things like the bracers, and put all of this up for question. Wonder Woman as a symbol is in question. Truth is in question for both the reader and for Diana. When you’re taken by these godlike beings, and told that they’re going to destroy the planet, do you believe them at face value, if you’re told that this is the consequence of you not participating? I think Diana is somebody that would be, like, swords at the ready, ‘what I need to do, I’ll do,’ but there’s also interestingly not a lot of questioning, what is the truth behind this or even what is my own truth? Am I the person that should be standing trial for humanity? And kind of questioning her role as a human and Amazon, you know, her blood also was the blood of a god in it, so you have somebody that, her own personal truth is in question.



We wanted to set part of it as, like, a Platonic dialogue, so there is a character that comes in to talk with Diana, and she’ll do things like question [her], you know, are you happy, Diana? You have been a member of the Justice League, you finally left your home to go live on Earth, but do you like the decisions you’ve made? I think asking those questions as somebody gets older is a really weird thing to have to think about, and Diana has probably never stopped to think about [it]. So putting her in conversation with someone that kind of, I don’t even know what to call them, [is] almost like a guide through the trials, that follows [Diana] around essentially, they’re very inquisitive and ask her a lot of questions that she doesn’t want to be asked. As she’s facing a lot of moments from her past, so we also have a ton of people coming in like the Amazons will be in there, the Justice League will be in there. So I feel like almost every issue you’re getting like another new blast from the past. It’s just been a lot of fun.

Grunenwald: Will Wonder Woman’s bisexuality play any role in the series?

Phillips: I don’t know that it does entirely. One of the big things that I’m interested in, with Harley, with Wonder Woman, with any queer characters that I get to take on — I’m a big proponent that we get to just exist without justifying that element. For Harley, there’s never been a segment of questioning her identity, and I find that to be amazing, she can just talk about it without having to have a monologue about what it means to be a bisexual woman. And I’m not saying there’s not a place or a need for those things, but I’m currently interested in media where we just exist in the world, like doing a normal thing, which is really, I think, a cool move forward for these characters. So these things can be, like, an element of who Diana is, but in this one, I think we’re looking more at some of the larger questions of where she fits in on Earth or with the Amazons or with the gods.

Grunenwald: I was just curious, because it’s an aspect of the character that I feel like hasn’t been explored a lot.

Phillips: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I think with Harley, it has been explored there. And I totally agree with you. It’s maybe not something I set out to explore, because I don’t think there’s a very romantic element to the story we’re telling. It’s very isolating for Diana to be alone on a planet. And even when other people come into the story, are they real? Are they an element of the trial? Are they summoned by the gods? Those things kind of come into question, so there wasn’t really an opening for anything too romantic.

[Guy_McNichts]

I'm not going to lie: this premise and the ideas presented would be very compelling...with a writer I trusted understanding Diana.

And, honestly, with every new word and interview, I trust this writer less and less. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is going to be another botched opportunity.

[WonderLight789]

I'm not going to lie: this premise and the ideas presented would be very compelling...with a writer I trusted understanding Diana.

And, honestly, with every new word and interview, I trust this writer less and less. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is going to be another botched opportunity.

I think i would hardly trust any writer with something like this. Only because the whole concept of Diana doubting herself, asking who she is and where does she fit is overdone. Specially by writers like this, who right from the get go talk about the character being difficult to relate to or whatever. I'm like, let the girl have some fun, be confident, sassy and kick major ass without a sword and shield. That would be a new approach given everything it has happened with the character these past years.

[HsssH]

I'm not going to lie: this premise and the ideas presented would be very compelling...with a writer I trusted understanding Diana.

And, honestly, with every new word and interview, I trust this writer less and less. I hope I'm wrong, but I think this is going to be another botched opportunity.

Very good points, but her short story in 80th anniversary special made me a bit more optimistic.

[Gaius]

[I'm a Fish]

As long as it's not a battle-hardened, jaded Diana that needs Superman to tell her to be more optimistic, then I'll like it.

You know, I'm hoping this isn't a case of, "Clark tells Diana she has to be more open to the human experience, which she initially denies, until the events of the comic unfold and she learns her lesson about becoming more human."

I could definitely be reading way to much into it though, especially since there isn't even a preview.

[Guy_McNichts]

He might only show up for the first issue, but I feel like they're putting too much emphasis on Superman and her friendship with him.


I'm not confident in this series at all.

[John Venus]

How quickly has bright optimism turned into jaded cynicism.

[Sebastianne]

WONDER WOMAN: EVOLUTION #3
Cover by MIKE HAWTHORNE
Variant cover by JULIET NNEKA

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jNWiS2jph58GapNzu9jcPc-1920-80.jpg

[Guy_McNichts]

How quickly has bright optimism turned into jaded cynicism.

I hope I'm wrong, but these interviews and tweets aren't inspiring a lot of optimism for me.

Lot of talk about Diana's humanity & how she fits in. A need to "figure her out." They keep bringing up Superman.
I feel like we're going to need to bust out Gaius' Bad Wonder Woman Writing bingo card. I think a few squares have been marked before the series even started.

Again, hope I'm wrong. I'll be thrilled if I am.
But if you're a Wonder Woman fan long enough, sooner or later you learn to live by the axiom "I'll believe it when I see it."

[Nyssane]

I think this is a pass for me. There's just too much WW out there that I have to start being a bit more selective. If some classic WW villain shows up I might check it out, but I doubt that.