Diana's family away from home: Julia and Vanessa Kapatelis Appreciation 2023

[Agent Z]

First appearance: Wonder Woman volume 2, #3 (April 1987)

Created by: George Perez

An appreciation thread for the Kapatelis women.

[DisneyBoy]

Love them. Extremely well-written and not traditional comic book supporting characters.

Nessie has sadly become synonymous with the Silver Swan but I hope that changes and she's permitted more growth.

...as if they're still even around. Sigh. Thanks reboots!

[HestiasHearth]

Wait, was Julia really "selected by the Olympian gods" to be Diana's "native guide and instructor"? I guess I forgot that tiny detail from Perez's run. I always thought it was just serendipity (and Perez's plotting) what led to Diana meeting Julia and Nessa.

[John Venus]

Wait, was Julia really "selected by the Olympian gods" to be Diana's "native guide and instructor"? I guess I forgot that tiny detail from Perez's run. I always thought it was just serendipity (and Perez's plotting) what led to Diana meeting Julia and Nessa.

Yeah, if there was one thing I didn't like about Perez's run is how so much felt predestine and how much the Gods controlled the lives of the characters.

[DisneyBoy]

No, she wasn't preselected. That blurb plays fast and loose with the facts. Julia was rescued as a child and brought to Themyscira, briefly, but Diana found her way to her by chance. I don't think any Gods took credit for that.

[Fuzzy Mittens]

pretty sure i recall Diana being guided to Julia which is how they first met
though i think it was that magic medallion?

[Gaius]

Diana's best supporting characters

[Garrac]

Diana's best supporting characters

Steve Trevor on the entire run:

bludthinkshesontheteam.jpg

[DisneyBoy]

pretty sure i recall Diana being guided to Julia which is how they first met
though i think it was that magic medallion?

I need to reread to be sure but maaaaybe Hermes guided them to each other?

[MarquisAsh]

I actually just got done rereading his run a couple days ago. She was guided to Julia with Harmonias amulet. I do have to say I did love both Julia and Nessie. I got emotional at the end.

[John Venus]

I need to reread to be sure but maaaaybe Hermes guided them to each other?

It was the medallion. Fuzzy Mittens has it right.

[WonderScott]

I have always wanted to read a story involving Julia, Vanessa, Helena and Cassandra. Something with more depth than any kind of jealousy Vanessa has been written with towards Cassie. Something that plays off mother and daughter bonds, including Diana and Hippolyta.

[Lucas 35]

Does anyone else think their creation was the beginning of the authors all along starting a new run of the Wonder Woman, getting rid of the old cast to create their own OCs? For example, the loss of prominence and importance of Etta and Steve, so Perez then created her OCc to be her main secondary characters and after that, all the author did the same thing and Diana no longer has a strong supporting cast.

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Does anyone else think their creation was the beginning of the authors all along starting a new run of the Wonder Woman, getting rid of the old cast to create their own OCs? For example, the loss of prominence and importance of Etta and Steve, so Perez then created her OCc to be her main secondary characters and after that, all the author did the same thing and Diana no longer has a strong supporting cast.

Eh, it certainly didn't help matters, but Id hardly say it started that particular problem for Wonder Woman. Bear in mind that Etta Candy went from being essentially Dianas Robin to being virtually written out of the comics entirely for a some 30 year long stint. Steve Trevor was killed off, brought back to life, killed off again, and replaced with an alternate universe doppleganger. Not even existing in Wonder Womans comics for about 20 years of existence before Conway brought him back.

For the 50s and most of the 60s Dianas supporting cast was Steve, Hippolyta, Merboy, Birdboy, Wonder Girl, Wonder Tot, and Genro Genie.
The mod era would toss everyone out and give us I Ching, Cathy, and a string of private detectives.
That would be followed by the UN run which made her supporting cast just Hippolyta and Morgan Tracy until eventually Steve was brought back for a brief stay.
Then they got tossed out in favor of the Houston cast of Mike, Stacey, Conrad, and Novak.

Conway and Mishkin did bring back Etta and Steve to Wonder Womans supporting cast in the 80s. But by then they were very different characters from how they were conceptualized. and sharing page time with the likes of Mother Juju the mystic of Washington. Glitch the alien gremlin. Sofia the terrorist turned Amazon. Kieth, the dude whose repulsed by Wonder Woman but obsessed with Diana Prince.

So no, while I think Perez's take on Steve was one of the weakest aspects of his run and I would have preferred a more action hero interpretation on Etta, introducing new characters in the form of the Kapatelis family and working in the likes of Hermes and Mindi into the cast as well is simply following in the foot steps of what has long been established. That unlike with Batman and Superman, writers have free reign to dramatically move the character to any city. Change every aspect of their friend group and way of living. Alter things to make fit with what one has in mind.

Its hardly as if that was the last time either. Messner-Loebs would phase the Kapatelis into a more background role in his run in favor of new characters such as Donna Milton, Hoppy, Camille, and pushing more appearances for Etta.
Byrne would phase out everyone in favor of a new archeologist character with a daughter, replacing them entirely.
And thus it would continue with every run having new characters.

[Agent Z]

https://www.deviantart.com/phil-cho/...sion-683506082