WW#5 Tom King Preview, Review and Spoilets discussion

[Vordan]

As a "Circe is Wonder Woman's archnemesis" believer, it made me happy that Sovereign was nervous about recruiting her and conceded she might possibly use him to her advantage rather than the other way around. Turning Steel into a pig before accepting the offer made me cackle too. Also as someone who thinks Grail doesn't have to suck, Sovereign respecting her enough to recruit her in person was a nice touch. Grail being the evil dominatrix certainly is one way to build her up as a foil for Diana. Glad King is not having all of the Wondy villains meekly follow Sovereign's lead, they all show that they're not lackies like Steel is. What the hell is going on with Angle Man though, I'm intrigued.

Yara sounded off but I do think King mostly understood what drives each of the Girls. Yara's a hothead who cares underneath all her bravado, Cassie is the tomboy who became more comfortable with herself after meeting Diana, and Donna is Diana's little sister and thus the most like her. And yeah I loved how they decided **** their oaths actually, they were going to help Diana like it or not.

[LordUltimus]

Yeah, but the same narrative is also describing Grail as a full on god and she has less claim to the title than Circe does.
Like, Circes parents are the anthropomorphic personification of the sun, and a nymph usually

Grail is a New God, not an Olympian; the rules are different.

[bardkeep]

Cassie says Diana got her powers from her mom and she straight from Zeus...so the clay origin is settled. Now the question is the parentage of Cassie...is Zeus still grandfather or father?

It kinda sounded like he was going with the original Cassie origin, where she's just a kid with a lot of nerve who went up to Zeus and asked for her powers. I guess her being Zeus' daughter is compatible with that, but either way I'm glad they brought back that element of her origin. And speaking of that conversation, I feel like they must be planning something big with Hippolyta, considering her being on Olympus is the only thing from Rebirth canon that's been referenced multiple times.

Anyway, I really liked this issue. You could tell King read Jimenez's run before writing it, and I mean that as a very high compliment. Cassie has her personality back, Diana and Donna actually feel like sisters, and Yara (stilted dialog aside) works well as the brash one in the dynamic. And that last page really made me smile.

I get why people are surprised/put off by Circe working with the Sovereign, but there's definitely precedent for her working with other villains if they make a compelling offer. She helped the Gorgons in Rucka's first run and Cale in his second run, and with Cale she just did it for money. Sovereign himself said she could be playing them and that shot of her whispering to Angle Man makes me think she's scheming.

I'm curious to see more about how King's approaching Grail because I loooove that intro - it's the first time I've ever been intrigued by her. I suppose they never went full-on dominatrix with Circe, but it does kinda feel like he's giving Grail the hedonistic, sexy, casually cruel element that Circe lost with Rebirth. Tbh I don't know how I feel about it.

The Super Sons/Trinity backups are already stale for me. The first one was cute but I'm over it.

[Vordan]

Circe is totally going to screw Sovereign over, it’s a classic case of hubris with him. He’s even self-aware enough to acknowledge the possibility, yet he’s arrogant enough to dismiss it because he’s a king and that means he’s her better. I loved how all of the Rogues get to show that while they might work with him they’re not working for him via torturing Steel. Circe turns Steel into a pig, Psycho forces his way in, Giganta grows big and looks down on Steel condescendingly, Silver Swan freaking drops him from a great height so he can see her perspective, Grail forces Sovereign to come in person and ask for help, only Angle Man doesn’t torment Steel and he’s nuts.

[Skytten]

A very, very little detail that annoyed me this issue was that in the "Injustice 2" game Donna and Diana played. The game had nearly all the characters from Injustice 2 but with Jon added. However the one Wonder Woman rep with the exception of WW herself Cheetah was not included. Even in a Wonder Woman book such an obvious thing and it shows creators and peoples lack of care for the Wonder Woman universe.

[thwhtGuardian]

A very, very little detail that annoyed me this issue was that in the "Injustice 2" game Donna and Diana played. The game had nearly all the characters from Injustice 2 but with Jon added. However the one Wonder Woman rep with the exception of WW herself Cheetah was not included. Even in a Wonder Woman book such an obvious thing and it shows creators and peoples lack of care for the Wonder Woman universe.

That's really reaching for a reason to be annoyed.

[Skytten]

That's really reaching for a reason to be annoyed.

Hahaha yeah probably. But small things like that always happen to Wonder Woman. like when the Justice League died and everybody had somebody at their coffin except for Wonder Woman who only had Donna hidden in the back.

[Primal Slayer]

Cassie says Diana got her powers from her mom and she straight from Zeus...so the clay origin is settled. Now the question is the parentage of Cassie...is Zeus still grandfather or father?
Cassie seriously needs a costume. She admits to having been a tomboy graduating to princess because of her admiration of Diana. Soooo she needs to look the part at least in costume.
I agree that Diana could have taken out Yara and Cassie much more quickly than she did....maybe she was just toying with them and then she was like ok...game over I win.

I would assume if Cassie is back to being Zeus's daughter or getting her powers from him that she should be physically as strong as Shazam and able to show Diana a bit of a harder time than Diana would've believed. But Cassie went with brute strength which doesnt necessarily give you a win.

The back up with Trinity continues to be my favorite part of the book by a country mile. I'd read a whole book with her playing with Jon and Damian.

I really enjoyed this bit and continue to enjoy that Trinity isnt a carbon copy of Diana. But I need to see her with other people, esp other female heroes/wonders

A very, very little detail that annoyed me this issue was that in the "Injustice 2" game Donna and Diana played. The game had nearly all the characters from Injustice 2 but with Jon added. However the one Wonder Woman rep with the exception of WW herself Cheetah was not included. Even in a Wonder Woman book such an obvious thing and it shows creators and peoples lack of care for the Wonder Woman universe.

I was actually thinking the same thing when looking over the lineup. Its a small annoyance but nothing Id harp on beyond calling it out once. But you can also say its just how the in-universe world views Diana. Alone.

[Skytten]

I was actually thinking the same thing when looking over the lineup. Its a small annoyance but nothing Id harp on beyond calling it out once. But you can also say its just how the in-universe world views Diana. Alone.

Could very much just be that.

[Gaius]

We can head cannon the Injustice games are actually good in DC Universe versus the shlock we’re stuck with in the real world.

[Rac7d*]

Since phycho backstory from Harley Quinn real then
He hates women because he is short

[Largo161]

I haven't read the entire issue yet(I just woke up) but I did read the page where Angle Man is re-introduce and wow........just wow. What King did there with him is just stunning. Anyone who reads this will realize he's far from the joke some folks have made him out to be.

Yes! The Angle Man page was almost worth the $4.99 all by itself.

We’ve said it over and over again, WW’s Golden and Silver Age rogues could all be contenders if someone with the imagination and skill would invest in them. (I was expecting his look to be tweaked, though.)

“You have bewitched it…No fair”—LOL

I was actually looking forward to Diana taking on Villainy Inc. without the Wonder Girls. Alas…

[Koriand'r]

Grail got all the fanfare Circe should have. She's worthy of a direct meeting with the Sovereign surrounded by decadent décor, while Circe is dressed down and outside on the farm slopping hogs. I miss when she had people for stuff like that.

[Sebastianne]

I just cant help but laugh at Yara/Donna in these mahestic outfits and then theres...Cassie. But nonetheless, seeing the 3 together, I LOVE IT. I need more of it. And only took us a couple years into Yaras creation for it to happen

Just when I thought this whole issue was wasted just to justify that the Wonderful Girls weren't going to be part of this story, this spectacular final page appeared.
That is why, despite the slow pace of this story, I am loving this run more and more.

[Skytten]

Just when I thought this whole issue was wasted just to justify that the Wonderful Girls weren't going to be part of this story, this spectacular final page appeared.
That is why, despite the slow pace of this story, I am loving this run more and more.

Love the detail of the Jack picture in Diana's apartment.