Wonder Woman #35 SPOILERS

[wagthedog]

In one of the myths Zeus gave birth to Athena from his head. Figures he got some skills

True, I will give you that. There are some weird myths and strange s@%t that has gone on. Maybe it is not as way way left as I originally thought.

[borntohula]

Neither, really. It left me curious and wanting more, so it was less satisfying than provoking--or "stimulating," to borrow a word from Diana in Secret Origins. But it certainly wasn't ho hum; it left me feeling moved.

It reminded me a bit of Morrison's Bat-god ending. Will be interesting if it'll be used as such (at least in Batman and Robin), or like his -what I'v heard- largely ret-conned New Xmen.

I guess I'll never understand the assumption that what one god (let alone the king of the gods) can do, all gods can do. Or the need to know the mechanics of the gods' powers. If they're gods, there should be some mystery.

Hera described hers as being able to wish whatever to happen. Besides Hippolyta, which I think was due to Zeus.

I suppose her true nature must have been able to stir from sleep and manifest outside Zola's body form time to time, almost like she's now able to leave Zola's body behind altogether.

Seems like it. Especially since Zola asks who Athena is when Diana thanks her.

True, I will give you that. There are some weird myths and strange s@%t that has gone on. Maybe it is not as way way left as I originally thought.

Not much of the myths rings right to me neither to be honest

Which is also why I think the new baby Zeus is interesting, no one fully knowing what he was up to. It's up to them to nurture him, no matter what his true nature or intentions was. They're not just about to reform society, but also religion :P

[Silvanus]

This is a problem that I had with the Gods early on in this run. Why do full gods like Artemis and Apollo resort to fisticuffs against Wonder Woman when they all should have hazily defined powers and be able to dispatch Wonder Woman via other methods.

When Wonder Woman "challenges" Artemis in her own realm (so she can submit and get Artemis on her side), Artemis says "my realm, my rules," and then turns into a bear. The implication is that there are "rules" constraining what gods can do when they fight with each other outside their own realms. I assume that these "rules" are more like laws that the gods by the their nature are normally unable to break; otherwise, I'm sure they would break them, since they're no the law-abiding type.

She is just a demi-goddess and gods like Artemis should have just wiped the floor with her without resorting to brawling.

Apollo says in issue 13 that Diana proved more powerful than not only any of the demi-god children of Zeus, but any of his god children (such as Strife) who were not among the Olympian 12. Why this was remains somewhat mysterious. I'd like to think that it's because there was some magic in being the heir of both the king of the gods the queen of Amazons and their mutual submission ot each other--but that's just head canon. I had hoped Azz would get into why Diana was more powerful than other demi-gods or lesser gods; that's one of the more interesting unresolved issues for me. Maybe another run will get into it.

[napolid]

This was a consistently great run, And I'm sad to see it end.

[borntohula]

Btw. This has probably been discussed before, but Strife sort of being Diana's Joker? While not as villainous (or murderous. Since Gods mostly just tinker with things), but some good love/hate.

Being that she won't let Diana die (to get peace) is a fun dynamic. She needs to help her, but can't help herself from causing trouble for Diana

[Mel Dyer]

So, Zola and Swee Pea - I mean 'Zeke' - are going to be with us for awhile. That should be interesting, ..for awhile. How long will he remain a baby? If Zeke should eventually grow back into the old, naked, testy Zeus and resume his place on Olympus, ..leaving Diana to travel the globe with Zola and Hermes, ..that will also be okay. I think that will work, very well, ..but am sorry that Aleka won't be joining them.

Really hope we can get Aleka back, as a regular. If her red-haired, yet-to-be introduced daughter, Artemis, shows up to carry on her mother's oath to protect Zola and Zeke...sweet! That could definitely work.

I can see a Wonder Woman animated series growing out of this.

WW finally, FINALLY has a great cast of regulars...irreverent Zola, ubiquitous Lord Hermes, Zeke, with Hera and the others (the Smith, Amazons, gods) guest-starring. If this means Wonder Woman gets to do her 'Doc Savage' thing, a little longer, ..GREAT start! While I am dreading the possibility of this comic losing its Whovian qualities, as we move into more superheroish material, I think November looks promising.

[SiegePerilous02]

So let me get this straight:

- This whole plot came into being because Zeus was bored one day and decided he wanted to try being a baby?
- We don't get any explanation for why the Amazons have the tradition of killing their baby daddys and trading away the sons? Or who that cloaked figure was?
- What about that glowing needle Strife had Hephaestus make?
- No explanation for what Cassandra's ultimate goal was, how she came into possession of the Minotaur or anything about her organization?
- Were the New Gods completely pointless to this story?
- No follow up on Hades learning to love himself?
- Please tell me the lasso played some part in the climax here, because Christ on a taco, if we went three full years without the damn thing doing ANYTHING, I'm going to pull my hair out.

Obviously, these are all snap judgments and I will have to read my copy when I pick it up today or tomorrow, but my first impressions from reading these spoilers are not very good.

[Justice Prince]

Plot-wise, this finale leaves a lot of threads dangling. no doubt. But I guess the run was always more about character and themes than plot. At that level, it make sense to me that Wonder Woman's greatest strengths here are mercy and compassion, which finally inspire the Minotaur--who looks more like the #0 version under his hood--to return the favor she showed him.

While the run started to get a bit more character driven towards the end I'd say that the majority of the run was actually pretty much plot at the expense of character.

[Justice Prince]

1. What was the point of all this? Athena becoming human and giving birth to her father and causing all this chaos?

From what I've gathered is that it was a plot so that Zeus could circumvent the prophesy of his death.

[SteveGus]

Zola was Athena? I defy this to make less sense.

Now, Zola was the only one of Azzarello's characters that I liked or could see having a place in a Wonder Woman title. (Please, let's never see Milan again.) A plucky companion with a libido as large as Etta Candy's appetite strikes me as an interesting way to update the concept, especially since Etta Candy exists but has no part of Wonder Woman's world.

Athene Parthenos, Athena the Virgin, was among other things the Greek goddess of modesty and chastity. Now, of course, fidelity to myth shouldn't constrain the writers, and isn't a valid excuse for bad moves a writer makes either. Still, it seems that Athena was acting out of character when she as Zola allowed herself to be impregnated by Zeus.

[sirjustin86]

Enjoyed the issue, but forgive me for asking (I've collected the entire run, but not one for re-reading issues too often), was Athena even mentioned before now? I'm glad the 'vessel' of Zola wasn't sacrificed, but I was left scratching my head. Was Zola always sharing a body with Athena from her birth? Why did Zeus do all this? To circumvent the prophecy of the first born killing him or last born usurping him?

[Vonter Voman]

I liked it very much, but there's a LOT unexplained. We don't know nothing about what's happening in Themyscira (though it seems they were handling it), we don't know what happened to Hippolyta, what will be of Poseidon, who will rule Hades... nothing. But... I already expected an end like that. An end that doesn't end things. Also, I guess issue #34 served as a "first part of the end".
Zeus simply wanting to rebirth as something else also bugs me. I actually think it's a fair point, but it remained superficial (apparently on purpose, since Athena just say "perhaps"). At least we got to know how Strife played into all of this.

I don't know what Strife is refering to when she says FB returned to Olympus for a special weapon. If someone understood it, could you care to explain to me?

Also, we discussed this here, that Athena wouldn't need to be born as Zola many years ago... but it seems she really was. But then how did she show up in Secret Origins? Well... maybe she could change her form, and that would explain the other gods not knowing she was "gone".

Anyway. A good and touching issue in its own merit, but it deliberately ends without really ending.

I forgot to mention. I'm glad the Minotaur still was a "cow". Really deceived me, didn't seem so at all.

One problem is that while it leaves open to another writers to continue it, it doesn't seem the Finches are going to follow that other than the God of War stuff.
The biggest problem here is Hippolyta. And now I'm just thinking that Hera couldn't restore her just because deep inside Hera didn't want to, as she was returning to her nature.

[Gaelforce]

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[Silvanus]

Zola was Athena? I defy this to make less sense.

Now, Zola was the only one of Azzarello's characters that I liked or could see having a place in a Wonder Woman title.

She's still herself; Athena incarnated herself as Zola 20 years ago, but the goddess' "true nature slept" within her mortal "vessel," and apparently the so-called vessel developed a personality of her own. As far as Zola has ever known, she's always been an ordinary human, and that becomes true at the end of the story, when Athena, leaving Zola's body, at Diana's request leaves Zola alive.

(Please, let's never see Milan again.)

I love MIlan, but that's partly because because after reading issue 16 I watch "The Daddy of Rock and Roll," the documentary about Wesley Willis, on whom Milan was based. I think turning WIllis into a demigod was a crazy brilliant move.

A plucky companion with a libido as large as Etta Candy's appetite strikes me as an interesting way to update the concept, especially since Etta Candy exists but has no part of Wonder Woman's world.

Athene Parthenos, Athena the Virgin, was among other things the Greek goddess of modesty and chastity. Now, of course, fidelity to myth shouldn't constrain the writers, and isn't a valid excuse for bad moves a writer makes either. Still, it seems that Athena was acting out of character when she as Zola allowed herself to be impregnated by Zeus.

I actually like that this collapses the virgin/whore dichotomy. At the same time, the virgin goddess wasn't so much "acting out of character" as dwelling within a mortal whose character was quite different.

Also, Athena says something like "as Zeus once gave birth to me, I gave birth to him," so I don't think it's clear now whether Zola was impregnated by Zeus or whether she reproduced asexually, as Zeus did when he gave birth to Athena. (Clearly, Zola's not asexual, but it's possible that none of the men she was with were Zeus.)

[Vonter Voman]

About the art, not Chiang's best. Also, while it can be understandable that she would be with her normal outfit beneath the armor, at the end Diana appears with her blue boots, something that shouldn't happen.

And who is the naked woman, after all? It's obviously figurative, but who? "Who"?