“Look, you can’t put the Superman #77s with the #200s. They haven’t even discovered Red Kryptonite yet. And you can’t put the #98s with the #300s, Lori Lemaris hasn’t even been introduced.” — Sam
“Where the hell are you from? Krypton?” — Edgar Frog
Yeah, the main reason their relationship means so much to me is because it's NOT perfect. Hippolyta can be overbearing and difficult and she projects onto Diana all the time, and they're both strong-willed and sensitive to a fault. One of my favorite Hippolyta/Diana moments ever is the scene from Phil Jimenez's run where they're shouting at each other in a restaurant so intensely that the waiter has to tell them they're disturbing the other patrons and they're both humiliated.
But all of us have gotten into dumb arguments with our mother or felt like she was being overbearing or intrusive. Every mother of a daughter has projected onto her, done too much, and let her anxieties get in the way. It's real, it's where the core humanity lives, and it's the litmus test for all WW writers - when Diana and Hippolyta's relationship works, you know the whole story is coming from the heart.
That's what upsets me so much about this scene. There's no humanity in punching your mother, especially when her "sin" is caring too much. Only a cruel, bitter person could find themselves in it. And that's why it made me reconsider the whole run. I don't think Tom King is cruel or bitter - I just think unlike Mr. Miracle, which I loved, he hasn't approached this book with any honesty or authenticity. Sampere is a master and the visual storytelling and form of the book are excellent (though it only works on an issue-by-issue level - taken as a whole, it's utterly incompetent), but other than the one story with Diana and the dying boy, the writing has been soulless.
On further reflection...I think the closest thing he has to a connection point is the idea of her being constantly underestimated and having a huge chip on her shoulder (she punches Hippolyta because she's so frustrated that she's underestimating her) because that's how he feels about the IP on a meta level. It lacks humanity because everything is thematically wrapped around her corporate identity. It's why he brings in Batman and Superman so much.
Reread Historia recently and I think that's another reason why this run spontaneously lost its hold on me. That book is a masterclass in how to tell a story that's epic, dark, subversive, and thematically dense but still bursting at the seams with heart.
It's everything King clearly wants to do with this book but will never pull off because he can't find himself anywhere in it.
Last edited by bardkeep; 01-31-2024 at 11:54 AM.
Like everyone else this makes no sense even if she isn't the Daughter OF Zeus anymore Diana still should be blessed w the Powers of the Gods and if i'm not mistakin Speed and Flight Powers are a Gift from Hermes so she should be able to outrun a bullet.DO BETTER Mr King.
Ironically WW as a demi-goddess actually has a logical reason to NOt have super-speed.
But that's another angle... if divinely empowered.... Will any of Diana's powers be inherited by a child of hers? As a demi-goddess it's obvious, it's literally in her blood. But if it's NOT?
Just to be clear I do think he means it to be for canon Wonder Woman also. But the Wonder Woman he had say she couldn't outrun bullets was a future alternate universe Diana which we know will be changed in future issues. for all we know she might have lost her godly given gifts and only have standard Amazon powers. All of this is unlikely, but it still isn't canon Wonder Woman that said it.