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 shit,’ [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.