Wonder Woman Rogues Gallery Appreciation 2023

[Gaius]

[Access]

If we are really thinking about replacing Ares with Zeus,I gotta ask,are we gonna makes him the starter villain,the threat the patrons saw fit to call upon a amazon champion to deal with?How would that work exactly?

[Perseus]

If we are really thinking about replacing Ares with Zeus,I gotta ask,are we gonna makes him the starter villain,the threat the patrons saw fit to call upon a amazon champion to deal with?How would that work exactly?

Its easily explained as Ares being consumed by war, he had gone literally insane and could not think clearly, and Diana needed to show him the truth of his actions and what they would bring about i.e. the death of everything. This is why the lasso scene in Gods and Mortals is so powerful, not only does Diana stop Ares by showing him the outcome of his supposed desire but also Ares tasks her to stop his influence around the world. Eventually we get the Rucka nuanced version who is more ideologically nuanced and still an antagonist but could also be an ally if the situation called for it.

[Gaius]

Its easily explained as Ares being consumed by war, he had gone literally insane and could not think clearly, and Diana needed to show him the truth of his actions and what they would bring about i.e. the death of everything. This is why the lasso scene in Gods and Mortals is so powerful, not only does Diana stop Ares by showing him the outcome of his supposed desire but also Ares tasks her to stop his influence around the world. Eventually we get the Rucka nuanced version who is more ideologically nuanced and still an antagonist but could also be an ally if the situation called for it.

Yes, Rucka's first run cracked the code for me on how to still use the character in a post-origin setting.

[John Venus]

In the myths, Zeus claimed that he could not stand the sight of Ares face and that out of all his children he considered Ares the worst. You could easily spin that into him being a sympathetic villain driven mad by his abusive father leading him to burn everything to the ground.

You could end a 'Gods and Mortal 2.0' with Diana realizing that 'yeah, Ares was bad but this is just beginning, Zeus is the true big bad'.

[WonderScott]

Yes, Rucka's first run cracked the code for me on how to still use the character in a post-origin setting.

Agreed. Rucka did a great job with modernizing the gods and playing around all the ways that Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, etc. have relevancy. I wish we had gotten much more of that before he was off the title.

[WonderScott]

If we're discussing wishes, I'd love the return of Hypnotic Woman, Circe, and Blue Snowman in the main book. I'll also like a horror-focused Dr. Poison story for Halloween.

I love the Doctor Poison idea. I like the idea of Blue Snowman, I struggle with making them work in a contemporary way.

Hypnota/Hypnotic Woman is interesting too. So much could be done with them. That’s part of the reason I’d like to reintroduce a new version of Eviless to pull together Villainy Inc. Would Hypnota/Hypnotic Woman try to subtlety influence other members?

[WonderScott]

I'd like to 2nd a good horrific Dr. Poison story around Halloween. My other wishes for this year are that we see both Queen Clea and Osira back in big ways.

Haha… I agree with these too! (We need another Wonder title!)

Queen Clea is a must… get her back in the title before Aquaman tries to snatch her.

[PopQuezy]

I love the Doctor Poison idea. I like the idea of Blue Snowman, I struggle with making them work in a contemporary way.

Hypnota/Hypnotic Woman is interesting too. So much could be done with them. That’s part of the reason I’d like to reintroduce a new version of Eviless to pull together Villainy Inc. Would Hypnota/Hypnotic Woman try to subtlety influence other members?

My idea is to separate them from other ice-based villains like Mr. Freeze, Killer Frost, and Captain Cold. I wanted them named Billy Brilliant, and they work for ARGUS. They create blue snow so cold that it actually freezes time and the people within a certain radius. Dolos or Dr. Psycho plays with Billy's mind causing them to go insane and transform into the Blue Snowman and ARGUS, Steve, and Etta are their targets. They plan to put D.C. in a cold so deep that time freezes and all of our political functions stop too. ARGUS commands Steve to kill Blue Snowman but of course Diana objects. This leads to a lot of potential drama between Wonder Woman and Steve/ARGUS while also separating Blue Snowman from being another person who shoots ice out of a gun. I would also want to modernize their Blue Snowman suit. It would still be something gender-neutral but not as silly as the original.

I would give Hypnotic Woman a slight upgrade. I would let her keep the power to fly and cast illusions like in Future State Suicide Squad. I would also upgrade her to create psychic constructs to make her more of a physical match with Wonder Woman. I'm not certain what story I would give her. She, Psycho, and Dolos all have such similar powers that it's hard to give each a different niche.

That being said: I do think Cloonrad had a great idea with the Image-Maker plot that seemingly dropped. Image-Maker said that when Diana "died" Nubia, Hippolyta, and the Wonder Girls all filled in a space that she occupied that was now vacant. I actually do think a storyline with Hypnotic Woman having Villainy Inc. creates havoc around the globe posing as various Wonder Woman illusions could be a good storyline to explore where Diana specifically fits in this new Wonderverse. What does Diana bring that these other women cannot? Kinda like a Reign of the Wonder Women, and we discover this is a Circe plot.

[Gaius]

Agreed. Rucka did a great job with modernizing the gods and playing around all the ways that Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, etc. have relevancy. I wish we had gotten much more of that before he was off the title.

Yeah, still theorize Aphrodite was going to replace Poseidon if Rucka's run continued.

[Guy_McNichts]

I feel like Silver Swan should be a more emotional foe for Wonder Woman.

The common thread through the various Swans is they're all woman who have their insecurities exploited so they can be turned into living weapons of war. The "Silver Swan"--regardless of who wears the mantle--is an affront to pretty much everything Diana stands for. Like, she should be offended by the very idea of a Silver Swan.
And then when Vanessa of all people becomes one...that's the ultimate low-blow that should shake Diana to her core. Even more than good friend Barbara becoming Cheetah.

This isn't a particularly bold insight...and some writers have acknowledged it...but I feel like the gravity of the Silver Swan and what she would mean to Wonder Woman--whether it's Vanessa or not--has been lost in recent years.

[Gaius]

I feel like Silver Swan should be a more emotional foe for Wonder Woman.

The common thread through the various Swans is they're all woman who have their insecurities exploited so they can be turned into living weapons of war. The "Silver Swan"--regardless of who wears the mantle--is an affront to pretty much everything Diana stands for. Like, she should be offended by the very idea of a Silver Swan.
And then when Vanessa of all people becomes one...that's the ultimate low-blow that should shake Diana to her core. Even more than good friend Barbara becoming Cheetah.

This isn't a particularly bold insight...and some writers have acknowledged it...but I feel like the gravity of the Silver Swan and what she would mean to Wonder Woman--whether it's Vanessa or not--has been lost in recent years.

It definitely has in Vanessa's case. Both Rebirth and Bloodlines were lesser versions of the original storyline because they tried to speed run the process with none of the actual in-universe years of Diana and Vanessa being surrogate sisters and lacking the out-of-universe context of Jimenez using the Kapatelis women being replaced by the Sandmarks to give Vanessa feelings of abandonment.

In hindsight, I like Bloodlines would have been better off adapting one of WW more standalone stories like Hiketeia or League Of One.

[signalman112]

Bryan Mon.

WWCheetah.jpg

[WonderScott]

My idea is to separate them from other ice-based villains like Mr. Freeze, Killer Frost, and Captain Cold. I wanted them named Billy Brilliant, and they work for ARGUS. They create blue snow so cold that it actually freezes time and the people within a certain radius. Dolos or Dr. Psycho plays with Billy's mind causing them to go insane and transform into the Blue Snowman and ARGUS, Steve, and Etta are their targets. They plan to put D.C. in a cold so deep that time freezes and all of our political functions stop too. ARGUS commands Steve to kill Blue Snowman but of course Diana objects. This leads to a lot of potential drama between Wonder Woman and Steve/ARGUS while also separating Blue Snowman from being another person who shoots ice out of a gun. I would also want to modernize their Blue Snowman suit. It would still be something gender-neutral but not as silly as the original.

I would give Hypnotic Woman a slight upgrade. I would let her keep the power to fly and cast illusions like in Future State Suicide Squad. I would also upgrade her to create psychic constructs to make her more of a physical match with Wonder Woman. I'm not certain what story I would give her. She, Psycho, and Dolos all have such similar powers that it's hard to give each a different niche.

That being said: I do think Cloonrad had a great idea with the Image-Maker plot that seemingly dropped. Image-Maker said that when Diana "died" Nubia, Hippolyta, and the Wonder Girls all filled in a space that she occupied that was now vacant. I actually do think a storyline with Hypnotic Woman having Villainy Inc. creates havoc around the globe posing as various Wonder Woman illusions could be a good storyline to explore where Diana specifically fits in this new Wonderverse. What does Diana bring that these other women cannot? Kinda like a Reign of the Wonder Women, and we discover this is a Circe plot.

Intriguing ideas for Blue Snowman!

I’ve long wanted Doctor Psycho’s manipulation of ectoplasm into constructs to return alongside his telepathic powers. For Hypnota I’d have their power be more in the sway of her direction or a compulsion implanted to do something. It be far subtler in influencing the victim as there would need to be some truth that gets twisted with the affected person. (I thought I had in line with hypnosis, which IIRC part of hypnosis is that you can make someone do something radically different from who they are.) For Duke of Deception, I think of lies, misdirects, creating intrigues, and some illusion casting powers. He’s straight up about telling lies and gaslighting people to influence the, to believe his POV and act accordingly. He might have some sort of divine aura around him that’s equally charismatic as it dangerous for those uninitiated and unpracticed in who he is.

[WonderScott]

Yeah, still theorize Aphrodite was going to replace Poseidon if Rucka's run continued.

I definitely liked that Ares, Athena and Aphrodite were getting set up to be the three most powerful Olympians. That was an interesting use of the gods.