Wonder Woman #3 Preview

[Agent Z]

On thinking about it more, the book really does just remind me more and more of Grant Morrison's Earth 2, right up to a villain with mind control powers...

I'll keep reading it obviously, but I'm not sure if this is the Wonder Woman story a lot of us wanted at the moment.

I don't see how this is remotely like Earth One outside of that one aspect and the latter is far from the first Wonder Woman story to feature a villain with mind control.

If anything, this arc has more in common with Rucka's first run.

[Koriand'r]

Rucka's run moved faster and wasn't as heavy handed. So far my problem with King is his emotional beats aren't landing for me. I'm supposed to feel sad about the murder of innocent Amazons, the destruction of their families and some random soldier's suicide, but like someone said earlier, Dr. Psycho has made dozens of people jump off buildings, so the stakes here while high, sort of feel par for the course and underwhelming. Maybe that's because there's been so much real life turmoil in the news recently, it's made me numb to comic book drama? I don't know.

[Perseus]

I agree with most of your points, but I feel this story so far is playing it very safe with politics, which is something I expected from Tom King.

The misogynists are all mustache twirling evil men who always underestimate the strong woman. It downplays the casual misogyny from common people who condescend on women without even thinking twice about it.

Plus, making all the problems the works of an old geezer just seems dated and bland. I would have liked it if the face of the misogyny was changed to reflect the changing times, since now we have young, hip misogynists poisoning the minds of the youth. Not to mention the fact that immigration was not a concept which really work well in Diana's lore and so King had to change things drastically to fit the story he wanted in a Wonder Woman book.

What Siege Perilous said; an old geezer manipulating everything through his wealth, power, and control is not actually dated and bland considering that's what happens to this day. I personally like that it didn't end up being a 'court of owls' rip off when that crap was hot. Psycho, to me, is that young hip misogynist poisoning the youth, he is a textbook case of a weak man who uses traditional stereotypes and propaganda, rebrands it, and then makes a podcast about it. He literally was super heavy handed about it under the previous run, on top of a cringe 'milk-empire' because I'm sure that was a stupid twitter thing no one cares about. Psycho is the talking head, Sovreign is that CEO who controls all the media.

Have you heard misogynists? They are mustache twirling villains. I don't want the book to be Wonder Woman: Microaggressions. highlighting casual misogyny in the book is fine, making it seem like it's the most important issue facing women is optically really bad considering those old geezers and actual misogynists have done more harm and clearer harm; stripping women's autonomy, freedom, futures, potential, choice, manipulating a narrative to audiences about why women would be happier being submissive. I like the book tackling the big stuff. There's a difference between the macro and micro for a reason.

[Perseus]

Rucka's run moved faster and wasn't as heavy handed. So far my problem with King is his emotional beats aren't landing for me. I'm supposed to feel sad about the murder of innocent Amazons, the destruction of their families and some random soldier's suicide, but like someone said earlier, Dr. Psycho has made dozens of people jump off buildings, so the stakes here while high, sort of feel par for the course and underwhelming. Maybe that's because there's been so much real life turmoil in the news recently, it's made me numb to comic book drama? I don't know.

Yes.....??

[Agent Z]

What Siege Perilous said; an old geezer manipulating everything through his wealth, power, and control is not actually dated and bland considering that's what happens to this day. I personally like that it didn't end up being a 'court of owls' rip off when that crap was hot.

Old men who use wealth and power to get their way isn't outdated but I think the way King presents it here sort of is. Guys like the Sovereign aren't kings hiding in the shadows, they're out in the open, flaunting their power while other people do nothing about it either because of apathy or fear of retribution.

Then again, maybe that would have been too depressing for a Wonder Woman comic.

[SonOfBaldwin]

Old men who use wealth and power to get their way isn't outdated but I think the way King presents it here sort of is. Guys like the Sovereign aren't kings hiding in the shadows, they're out in the open, flaunting their power while other people do nothing about it either because of apathy or fear of retribution.

Then again, maybe that would have been too depressing for a Wonder Woman comic.

But isn't that what we see in issue #1--everyone from an average joe on the street to talking heads on news programs, including complicit women, all espousing misogynistic ideas in one way or another, to one degree or another?

[Frontier]

I get it conceptually, I just don't think the execution has been all that interesting.

[thwhtGuardian]

I think I liked the second feature with Lizzie and Damian better than the actual story.

There's nothing terrible about the main plot, it's competently written and I actually really liked Wonder Woman just walking right in the front door. But the whole motivation behind the plot just feels really weak. I like bashing Trump and crazy conservatives as much as any sane person but this just comes across as really heavy handed and not as smart as it very obviously thinks it is and that kind of unearned smugness just rubs me the wrong way so it makes getting into the story pretty tough.

[WonderScott]

I like that the story is delving into real-world issues - misogyny, bigotry, discrimination, isolationism, immigration, colonization, etc. - in a superhero world. The Sovereign being a “real” authoritarian in the U.S. based on the lies he and his forefathers forced upon citizens to secretly maintain control and power readily parallels the Deep State, other conspiracy theories and objective lies that some people in the real world believe to maintain supremacy culture.

Here’s it’s a combo of all of that as well a literal Lasso of Lies that compels some people to believe in them. It’s an interesting question for Wonder Woman and her Lasso of Truth. What if someone discovers or is shown the truth, but really doesn’t care if the consequences are them having to change and be less selfish, bigoted, etc? The story makes sense to me in that meta-textual way, but that’s also something I appreciate in stories.

Using the U.S. as a contorted reflection of Themyscira is also interesting. Queen Hippolyta leading the Amazons into an era of peace and equity and Sovereign and his forefathers manipulating power from the shadows and making generations of citizens think they are actually “free.” In some ways there’s more truth in that.

Personally, I don’t get the sense that King is trying to make Sovereign into Diana’s Luthor or Joker. My take is he’s found a way with Sovereign to comment on all this culturally and politically to launch his run without the associations of past Wonder foes. I don’t mind the narration device, but I wouldn’t want or expect it for the entire series.

What I disliked most about the issue was the invisible jet. I’m a proponent of the Amazons having advanced tech and this seems like a Man’s World thing with the guns. I just don’t see Amazon warriors using guns, but here we are. It’s hard to have a full opinion until I know more. Perhaps Diana is just bluffing.

[nj06]

I read the issue and overall enjoyed it. The art is great and seeing more of the Sovereign is interesting. However, I do hope that the next issue has Wonder Woman fighting more than just military soldiers.

[bardkeep]

On thinking about it more, the book really does just remind me more and more of Grant Morrison's Earth 2, right up to a villain with mind control powers...

I'll keep reading it obviously, but I'm not sure if this is the Wonder Woman story a lot of us wanted at the moment.

I think the story itself is great and it's what most people wanted on paper. Overtly political, bold, and ambitious; tangible stakes and scope that feels epic; a Diana that's very powerful, competent, and has gravitas; a story that has actual focus and isn't just meandering. The plot is incredibly compelling and the mystery has me totally locked in, plus Sampere's artwork alone is more than worth the price of admission.

The real issue is the storytelling - specifically the pacing, framing (i.e. all of it told through Sovereign's POV), and lack of character work. It has no heart. It's hard to feel emotionally invested when there's no supporting cast and the lead is a blank slate badass whose internal life we can't access. Hoping that gets better with time, but he's been trying to use shock value scenes as a substitute for earned emotional beats and it just doesn't work.

[Koriand'r]

I think the story itself is great and it's what most people wanted on paper. Overtly political, bold, and ambitious; tangible stakes and scope that feels epic; a Diana that's very powerful, competent, and has gravitas; a story that has actual focus and isn't just meandering. The plot is incredibly compelling and the mystery has me totally locked in, plus Sampere's artwork alone is more than worth the price of admission.

The real issue is the storytelling - specifically the pacing, framing (i.e. all of it told through Sovereign's POV), and lack of character work. It has no heart. It's hard to feel emotionally invested when there's no supporting cast and the lead is a blank slate badass whose internal life we can't access. Hoping that gets better with time, but he's been trying to use shock value scenes as a substitute for earned emotional beats and it just doesn't work.

Better late than never, I just read the Hellfire Gala 2023. That's truly politically bold, ambitious and epic in scope, but that's easy to do when you have 10 titles in which to tell the story. In contrast, Wonder Woman's is moving along at a snail's pace. I wish the book still shipped twice monthly, like it did during Rebirth. It feels like I'll be on Social Security before King gets through.

[Agent Z]

But isn't that what we see in issue #1--everyone from an average joe on the street to talking heads on news programs, including complicit women, all espousing misogynistic ideas in one way or another, to one degree or another?

I meant more in line of the Sovereign himself being out in the open, not being a puppet master operating in the shadows.

[Vordan]

Better late than never, I just read the Hellfire Gala 2023. That's truly politically bold, ambitious and epic in scope, but that's easy to do when you have 10 titles in which to tell the story. In contrast, Wonder Woman's is moving along at a snail's pace. I wish the book still shipped twice monthly, like it did during Rebirth. It feels like I'll be on Social Security before King gets through.

Amusingly that Gala issue likewise got plenty of hate from the X-Fans when it came out.

[Koriand'r]

Amusingly that Gala issue likewise got plenty of hate from the X-Fans when it came out.

I know, that's why I waited so long to read it, didn't want the era to end. They introduced a great team only to destroy it in some of the most implausible ways possible. The scope though made me love it, that and the surprises. The dressed up to die, Irwin Allen nightmare quality was unbeatable.