Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods

[DABellWrites]

I agree completely. The reason Wonder Woman isn't making money is because of the choices the editors make on who to put on the book....in part. The other part is that there's so much disparity as to who Wonder Woman is that writers are kind of...almost scared off from her. Case in point, Tom Kind didn't agree to do Wonder Woman until George Perez's memorial service and said that George had to convince him to write her book. Even George had to be convinced to take her book (to keep a disparaging viewpoint from being written into her story.) It's rare...and I can't think of any creator who has ever said they regret their run unless it's to say they wanted to do more.
However, by the same token, there's been creators who take on the series that really should have done much better than they did. Gail Simone who has discussed editorial interference. G. Willow Wilson I would have expected so much better from but she wrote the co-stars with more care, concern and energy than she did Diana herself. Likewise she had Cary Nord on art (for some of it.) Cary is an amazing artist, but he drew Diana so waifish. She did have Xermanico whom I thought was exceptional and man would I have loved to see him stick around. James Robinson...the very same James Robinson who made Starman such a stellar awesome and amazing book....just tanked....and tanked....and tanked. There's been others who could have and should have done better. Another issue that has plagued Wonder Woman of late has been the round robin of artists. Comics are part story and part art and a lot of times, people pick up a book because the art is cool, they stay because the story draws them in, but if there's a big shift in the art, it will push them right back out.
At least now with Tom King and Daniel Sampere, we have a chance of something really great (or really tragic...it just depends if we get Grayson/Supergirl King or HiC King.) And Sampere on art is one of the top artists at DC right now, hopefully he can maintain a monthly schedule (and with what seems like a huge lead time, I can't see why not.) Maybe we will finally get a Wonder Woman book that deserves to be a mega seller.

The best quote I heard about Tom King on WW is that he's going to make YouTubers a lot of money. Now, the problem here isn't which Tom King you're going to get, it's how will the editor reign in his worst tendencies or will King give him free reign to do whatever he wants. Considering the WW editor said do what you did for Supergirl, and everyone is high off the WoT story, I doubt King is going to have much trouble getting his ideas down, unless the powers that be interfere.

[kcekada]

I had no idea that Jimenez'/Perez' Paradise Island Lost was considered a highly regarded classic...

I would guess that's limited to WW fans -- and not true in general. I recall Jimenez's run for great art and interesting concepts -- the floating island. As far as a classic story or arc -- not really. That said, it was more interesting than anything I've seen from a Wonder Woman comic book in the past ten years. Of course, I could say that about the industry in general -- it's not limited to Wonder Woman by any means. I don't think the big two are handling their properties very well -- probably too concerned about multimedia to do a good job with print.

[Stanlos]

I would guess that's limited to WW fans -- and not true in general. I recall Jimenez's run for great art and interesting concepts -- the floating island. As far as a classic story or arc -- not really. That said, it was more interesting than anything I've seen from a Wonder Woman comic book in the past ten years. Of course, I could say that about the industry in general -- it's not limited to Wonder Woman by any means. I don't think the big two are handling their properties very well -- probably too concerned about multimedia to do a good job with print.

OMG!!! I have been interrogating myself over and over because of my severe dislike for Scott Snyder's JL and all the Metals Dark Multiverse Doorknob Totality crap. I am so so soooooooooooo glad to read someone else observed similar absence of quality/a point/direction

[HotBoy]

I would guess that's limited to WW fans -- and not true in general. I recall Jimenez's run for great art and interesting concepts -- the floating island. As far as a classic story or arc -- not really. That said, it was more interesting than anything I've seen from a Wonder Woman comic book in the past ten years. Of course, I could say that about the industry in general -- it's not limited to Wonder Woman by any means. I don't think the big two are handling their properties very well -- probably too concerned about multimedia to do a good job with print.

In my humble opinion, two classic stories came out of Phil Jimenez's run:

Wonder Woman #170: "A Day in the Life" co-written with Joe Kelly: To this day, many comic book fans, at least on social media, mention this story when they talk about how they imagine not only what Wonder Woman's day-to-day looks like, how she puts her skills for science and diplomacy to work, but also regard it as the blueprint for how to do this genre of story. At the time that it came out, some Wonder Woman fans were snarky about this or that in regard to the details, but I think the story has, for the most part, stood the test of time.



Wonder Woman #172: "Her Daughter's Mother" (featuring the death of Hippolyta): Our Worlds at War was a most disjointed and ridiculous event that didn't make a ton of sense as the writers didn't communicate important details about the nature of it. But in Jimenez's issue, he tied together and clarified so much, and shocked people by making the Wonder Woman tie-in the very best issue of what was supposed to be a Superman event. That death scene with Hippolyta, showing the true ravages of war, still haunts.

[WonderScott]

The best quote I heard about Tom King on WW is that he's going to make YouTubers a lot of money. Now, the problem here isn't which Tom King you're going to get, it's how will the editor reign in his worst tendencies or will King give him free reign to do whatever he wants. Considering the WW editor said do what you did for Supergirl, and everyone is high off the WoT story, I doubt King is going to have much trouble getting his ideas down, unless the powers that be interfere.

I’m anticipating multitudinous rant-y video diatribes denouncing King’s “agenda” on his Woke-r Woman.

[HestiasHearth]

In my humble opinion, two classic stories came out of Phil Jimenez's run:

Wonder Woman #170: "A Day in the Life" co-written with Joe Kelly: To this day, many comic book fans, at least on social media, mention this story when they talk about how they imagine not only what Wonder Woman's day-to-day looks like, how she puts her skills for science and diplomacy to work, but also regard it as the blueprint for how to do this genre of story. At the time that it came out, some Wonder Woman fans were snarky about this or that in regard to the details, but I think the story has, for the most part, stood the test of time.

I have always imagined Wonder Woman to have a sense of humor, obviously (always hated every time a writer made her a wet blanket or haughty) but I have always felt that making her fire off one-liners "that could make a sailor blush" is just...off. It reeks of a writer feeling cool and edgy for making this paragon of virtue and kindness a raunchy, foul-mouthed badass or whatnot.

[Shimbo]

I have always imagined Wonder Woman to have a sense of humor, obviously (always hated every time a writer made her a wet blanket or haughty) but I have always felt that making her fire off one-liners "that could make a sailor blush" is just...off. It reeks of a writer feeling cool and edgy for making this paragon of virtue and kindness a raunchy, foul-mouthed badass or whatnot.

Being a paragon of virtue and kindness is not mutually exclusive with vulgarity in private company, especially when the man she's talking about is Luthor...

Anyway, isn't she a paragon of truth? In which case, vulgarity is truth and truth can be vulgar. So, I fail to see the issue. Seems like another thing Diana isn't allowed to do or be because....reasons?

[DABellWrites]

I’m anticipating multitudinous rant-y video diatribes denouncing King’s “agenda” on his Woke-r Woman.

Wonder Woke is more fitting. Then again, it's Wonder Woman, even when she does get an A-Lister talent. I doubt the vast majority of people will pay attention to her, only when a specific page or panel gets them riled up. Which knowing how controversial he can get, yeah, expect that to happen a lot. Just get ready for people to claim King has emasculated or self-inserted as Steve Trevors, because I've seen that argument a lot.

[Frank]

I dont think it's necessarily "high stakes" that is needed (well maybe for something like Revenge of the Gods it is) but for general stories...they just need depth. High Stakes are life and death, world ending etc. We've actually had high stakes....Hera and Shazam killed Zeus and took the throne of Olympus. That's pretty high stakes, there was just no depth to it. Why did she do it? Reasons. How did Wonder Woman win? Reasons. A fair amount of flash and bang but no boom. Which, to be honest, a fair amount of modern writers do no know how to write depth into their stories...it's all video game story boarding. Granted, comic books have lost a decent amount of pages for exploration and exposition of story. Likewise, when we do get writers who treat monthly books like chapters of an overarching story (as it should be) modern readers complain about the length and time it takes to get the story out. Look at some of the most popular runs in comics history...New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez, X-Men by Claremont with Claremont being the master of layering plot and details month after month.

This. "Reasons." What I disliked about this "Revenge of the Gods" is that it felt like it had as much thought behind the storyline and character motivation as "Amazons Attack," which was reportedly based on how cool it would look to have Amazons invading New York. And this story also suffered from the ambiguity/laziness of "magic." I don't expect magic to be strictly defined (it's counter-logical, after all), but what types of power does Hera actually have? Do all the gods shoot magic beams? What does it mean that Hera is only powerful with the strength of the Wizard, and why is Hippolyta, a newly-raised diety, able to impart equal power to Mary as the Wizard is to Billy? When there's no attempt at definition or distinction - when it's all just feel good or flashy - I find it hard to care.

[Stanlos]

In my humble opinion, two classic stories came out of Phil Jimenez's run:

Wonder Woman #170: "A Day in the Life" co-written with Joe Kelly: To this day, many comic book fans, at least on social media, mention this story when they talk about how they imagine not only what Wonder Woman's day-to-day looks like, how she puts her skills for science and diplomacy to work, but also regard it as the blueprint for how to do this genre of story. At the time that it came out, some Wonder Woman fans were snarky about this or that in regard to the details, but I think the story has, for the most part, stood the test of time.



Wonder Woman #172: "Her Daughter's Mother" (featuring the death of Hippolyta): Our Worlds at War was a most disjointed and ridiculous event that didn't make a ton of sense as the writers didn't communicate important details about the nature of it. But in Jimenez's issue, he tied together and clarified so much, and shocked people by making the Wonder Woman tie-in the very best issue of what was supposed to be a Superman event. That death scene with Hippolyta, showing the true ravages of war, still haunts.

I have to second these, but I would say all of Phil's WW tie-ins for OWAW and 171 as a pseudo pre-amble were ACES and easily the very best of the crossover.

While OWAW was a Superman crossover, Jimenez on WW and PAD over on Supergirl and YJ had vastly superior stories delving into the impact of war.

I also stan the crossover with Gotham as it was a lovely examination of Diana and Batsy-poo's supporting cast. His art was just top tier on those issues as well.

I also felt like his Paradise Lost and Girlfrenzy storylines were also i stant classic. To this day, I find that Magala reveal to be the most cinematic sequence I have ever read in any comics. Should Phil get bored of comics, he should totally pursue directing.

Of course I confess my bias on this next one as I heart Skartaris. I heart Villainy Inc. And that arc had BOTH! To boot it saw some pretty stellar artwork from a talent I did not know.

While not an arc, I just loved the Charlies Angels like vibe whener Diana, Donna, and Cassie worked together. I really miss that and hope the weirdness of New Poopy-2 will be gone with the Dawn. (Soooooooooooo very unnecessary if all they wanted to achieve was divinity for Diana--something which had they read her book they would have known was literally ALREADY THERE.)

[Will Evans]

What is New Poopy 2?
I keep seeing that referenced.

[Alpha]

What is New Poopy 2?
I keep seeing that referenced.

It's the New 52

[WonderLight789]

Why was gww offered a WW title again? I still don't understand.

And why can't we go back to the clay origin? Ruka said she was given powers by the Gods, it was also said in Fontana run. And in the current run she was said to be made from clay. So why daddy zeus again? What will it take for it to go away?

[Psy-lock]

What will it take for it to go away?

Most likely a successful movie adaptation with the clay origin.