"Wonder Woman's" Meredith & David Finch Discuss Donna Troy's New 52 Introduction

[Vanguard-01]

Can someone explain to me how we know Donna will be a "robot doing her creator's bidding?" I've seen nothing to back that up.

So Donna was born with a somewhat vacant look in her eyes. That can just as easily mean she hadn't achieved full consciousness yet.

It seems much more that Donna will follow her creator's directives, because they'll be able to manipulate her young mind into believing that their way is best. This will put Donna firmly in the "misguided" class of villains. Misguided villains, by the by, are Diana's favorite villains to reform.

[Semicyon]

YAY! HECATE!!!

We finally meet Hecate, and it makes since that she has a hand in creating a WW supervillain, since she's been in the mix, since the very beginning of the Greek gods. This ALSO means that Circe will no longer be possessed by Hecate, because Hecate is a separate being with her own deal, forcing writers to completely recreate Circe AND Hecate, respectively. She's also totally responsible for the First Born's rise to power, and let's not forget there's a connection Cassandra the Mad, who excavated her tomb! This is a good thing!

Let's hope the creators don't screw it up or waste it.

Yeah, I do like the possibility of two antagonists for WW. It's actually playing out now in Superman/Wonder Woman, weirdly enough, in a similar fashion with Magog working on behalf of Circe.

[Pinsir]

If Hecate is here, that means that she isn't possessing Circe!

[Pinsir]

Can someone explain to me how we know Donna will be a "robot doing her creator's bidding?" I've seen nothing to back that up.

So Donna was born with a somewhat vacant look in her eyes. That can just as easily mean she hadn't achieved full consciousness yet.

It seems much more that Donna will follow her creator's directives, because they'll be able to manipulate her young mind into believing that their way is best. This will put Donna firmly in the "misguided" class of villains. Misguided villains, by the by, are Diana's favorite villains to reform.

I never got this impression, in fact by the preview we got she is clearly authoritative, in control, and looks pissed.

[numberthirty]

Can someone explain to me how we know Donna will be a "robot doing her creator's bidding?" I've seen nothing to back that up.

David, what can you share about Donna's look and again, what differentiates her aesthetically from Diana?



David Finch: Meredith referred to Donna as a blank slate, which is really what she is, coming out of the caldron. She is a canvas for Derinoe and the other Amazons to write upon. In these first few appearances, I've really tried to emphasize that. She isn't really attached or bonded to anything or anyone yet and she has been created from clay much like Wonder Woman's original origin. I'm really trying to present Donna right now as an echo. Essentially she's Wonder Woman, without the heart.

..........

[Dr. Poison]

I never got this impression, in fact by the preview we got she is clearly authoritative, in control, and looks pissed.

Plus - she's going to be Queen of the Amazons soon which tells me she'll definitely have a will of her own.

[Dr. Poison]

Depends on the reviewer, but I'll guess that most would reserve a 1 or 2 for something that they find really offensively bad, whereas a 5 or 6 would be something they disliked somewhat but considered more or less marginal. That would leave 3 and 4 for something that's seriously bad but not offensive. Really, I think reading the review gives us a much better sense of the reviewer's opinion than just looking at the numbers--and, numbers aside, most of the reviews I read for the Finches' first two issues were pretty negative.

I guess I've never cared enough about professional reviews as much as you and some of the others here to think about them in that light. I kind of wish professional reviews would just go away as some people seem to place too much worth upon them. Maybe it's because it floored me that any professional reviewer could positively rate the garbage that Azzarello cranked out when he was on this title and that has jaded professional comic reviews in my eyes from here on out.

Anyways, thanks for your explanation.

[Gordonstar]

I don't read any reviewers, they're biased or pushing agendas.

[Vanguard-01]

..........

"Blank slate" doesn't mean "robot."

It means that Donna is a child. Innocent. Ignorant. She doesn't know anything beyond what she is told. And Derinoe will fill her head with her agenda.

In these kind of stories, that almost always means that the hero will get through to this "villain" and show him/her that he/she has been lied to and used.

Superboy was a blank slate in much the same way at the beginning of Young Justice. He still wasn't a mindless automaton. He just needed to be shown another way.

[Pinsir]

I don't read any reviewers, they're biased or pushing agendas.

There's nothing wrong with this

[numberthirty]

..........

"Blank slate" doesn't mean "robot."

It means that Donna is a child. Innocent. Ignorant. She doesn't know anything beyond what she is told. And Derinoe will fill her head with her agenda.

That could be the case. If you want to state your take as fact, fine.

You asked what pointed towards "robot/bidding". I quoted an answer where David chose to reemphasize the term "Blank Slate". That is where I think folks are getting the robot/automaton/whatever angle from. It's a possible version of what that phrase could mean.

[Mel Dyer]

If Hecate is here, that means that she isn't possessing Circe!

I love that.

I love it, because the possession angle was being completely ignored or wasted, anyway! Now, it also appears that Circe is a being with cosmic awareness and ambitions, ..which is what she damn well should have been all along. Let's hope this sticks, before some lazy, uninspired celeb writer comes along and turns her back into a bad, soap opera cliché, again ..or Christina Aguillera.

[Vanguard-01]

That could be the case. If you want to state your take as fact, fine.

You asked what pointed towards "robot/bidding". I quoted an answer where David chose to reemphasize the term "Blank Slate". That is where I think folks are getting the robot/automaton/whatever angle from. It's a possible version of what that phrase could mean.

I didn't state my take as fact. Like everyone else here, every one of my posts has a de facto "In My Opinion" attached to it.

My opinion is based on experience with similar stories and a basic knowledge of how stories often work.

A story where Diana fights a mindless zombie version of a character who is supposed to be important to her is going to be much less interesting than a story wherever Diana fights her innocent and misguided sister and shows her how to take control of her own life.

[numberthirty]

The obvious flipside of that coin is how interesting do you expect "The way stories often work" to be?

Sounds like a depressing scoop of vanilla ice cream, to me.

[Vanguard-01]

The obvious flipside of that coin is how interesting do you expect "The way stories often work" to be?

Sounds like a depressing scoop of vanilla ice cream, to me.

"Wonder Woman redeems a misguided villain?"

Sounds like a Wonder Woman story I actually want to read to me.