Wonder Woman #31 Spoilers

[SteveGus]

Zola, as usual, is at least asking the right question.

[SiegePerilous02]

Finally got around to reading my copy.

- Loved the interaction between Diana and Artemis/Moon. In earlier issues, I thought Moon was nothing more than a dumb thug, but the conversations she's been having with Diana regarding the latter's reluctance to embrace her divine heritage have been very interesting. Is Diana embracing her new Godly status going to be beneficial, or is it going to lead to disaster?

- Great to see Aphrodite along with Heph and Eros. I noticed that she remained silent throughout that scene, but her inclusion could indicate a deeper connection to the Amazons than previous issues of this run implied. She was their patron in older stories, after all, so I would like her to actually contribute something of significance.

- I can't help but feel that Diana's lines regarding perfection were a slight dig at previous versions of the Amazons and the fans who want a return to that style. Which shows the Azzarello didn't do as much research as he should have; the Amazons were never perfect, and nobody is really asking them to be. There's a wide range of things between "perfect" and "murdering, baby trading black widows." Dessa's big scene rang a little hollow because we are still in the dark on why the Amazons developed these rules and mentalities in the first place. Why should we care? On the plus side, Diana was fantastic in this scene, as per usual.

- Cassandra ended up being a big pile of nothing, didn't she? I thought she was going to be the Big Bad of this run, but she got taken out before she even did anything of note. The Hades things was really gross; do we really need stuff like that in a WW comic?

- Zeke needs to just go away. He and Zola are just such dead weight, my God.

[Dr. Hurt]

Agred. Zeke is the definition of mcguffin.

[Silvanus]

- Great to see Aphrodite along with Heph and Eros. I noticed that she remained silent throughout that scene, but her inclusion could indicate a deeper connection to the Amazons than previous issues of this run implied. She was their patron in older stories, after all, so I would like her to actually contribute something of significance.

I wonder if she and Eros are going to help the male and female Amazons...um...get to know each other. Diana did say she wants to make sure that the Amazons are able to sustain and grow their populations after the casualties they're lucky to suffer in the war. That could mean being able to have kids more than three times a century--and, of course, Diana would want them to do it in a peaceful and respectful way. Of course,they're related, but enough generations have gone by that some of them should be pretty distant cousins, I would think, so the genetic diversity problem probably is not much different than many isolated villages. Hopefully someone can tell who's too closely related to whom. And hopefully, if Eros and Aphrodite help facilitate things, they'll do it with advice and encouragement, not bullets and mind control.

- Cassandra ended up being a big pile of nothing, didn't she? I thought she was going to be the Big Bad of this run, but she got taken out before she even did anything of note. The Hades things was really gross; do we really need stuff like that in a WW comic?

I partially agree--but she's not gone yet. She's not going to be the big bad, it seems, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's important in taking the FB down.

- Zeke needs to just go away. He and Zola are just such dead weight, my God.

Well--he's a baby, so he doesn't have too much weight to carry. Seriously, I really like how the "protect Zeke!" storyline and the "Amazon raids" subplot have converged, now that having the Amazons protect Zeke is a main way in which Diana is trying to get them to recognize the humanity of men and start to change their attitudes and ways. I also think maybe the fact that he's being raised by so many parents with so much protectiveness will help to make the Last Born a symbolic opposite (along with Diana) of the First Born, who became what he is partly by having no active parent figures (other than wild animals) and no one to protect him.

[SofNascimento]

Agred. Zeke is the definition of mcguffin.

I just hope people don't think that that would be somehow negative.

[wagthedog]

I just hope people don't think that that would be somehow negative.

Of course not. There is nothing negative about the Azz series in the first place.

[Vanguard-01]

A thought about Artemis and her constant pushing Diana to take off the bracelets?

Don't forget Artemis is the Goddess of the Moon. The Moon has been associated with madness and the lowering of inhibitions by virtually every human culture for millennia. It stands to reason that Artemis would see Diana deliberately suppressing herself and would want to see her just really let the walls down and cut loose.

[magisensei]

I wonder if she and Eros are going to help the male and female Amazons...um...get to know each other. Diana did say she wants to make sure that the Amazons are able to sustain and grow their populations after the casualties they're lucky to suffer in the war. That could mean being able to have kids more than three times a century--and, of course, Diana would want them to do it in a peaceful and respectful way. Of course,they're related, but enough generations have gone by that some of them should be pretty distant cousins, I would think, so the genetic diversity problem probably is not much different than many isolated villages. Hopefully someone can tell who's too closely related to whom. And hopefully, if Eros and Aphrodite help facilitate things, they'll do it with advice and encouragement, not bullets and mind control.
.

Interesting idea but a bit icky after all the Amazons are related to them - yes not all of them but some of them in some way after all they are ageless after all. Another idea how do Amazons go about finding a partner - they are warriors after all and the male Amazons are not - would they be deemed worthy enough to be partner to the Amazons? Diana afterall picked the most powerful male on the planet as her partner - would the mating dance between Amazons and male Amazons be a peaceful affair?

And asking the gods to intercede so that they can mate - sounds like a formula for disaster - after all gods don't understand recessive genes and incest.

The question that comes to mind for Azz is how did the first Amazons appear and become ageless in the first place? If the agelessness is a gift from the gods bestowed on regular women then why not just have the Amazons go around the world and pick up orphan baby girls and have them join the tribe - do Amazons really need to have babies?

[magisensei]

I'm sorry, but you are making a mountain out of a mole hill. The Amazons have done some bad things. The last two issues are already showing that the Amazons are NOT vicious, unthinking animals. They are PEOPLE. People who believed that they had to do a terrible thing in order to keep themselves going. People can, and do, change. And Wonder Woman SPECIALIZES in changing people for the better.

It is not so much the lack of faith in Diana and her ability to change her sisters, it is the fact that human nature does not change that quickly. While we don't know what the Amazons are taught about men and the outside world in school - the Amazons have within their society an anti-male philosophy and this is part of their culture - having Diana say suddenly we will allow males on the island seems a lot for these Amazons to take in as it relates to their own cultural biases in regard to males. Plus most of these Amazons are hundreds of years old and can you really teach an old dog new tricks when it comes to personal and cultural biases.

[Vanguard-01]

It is not so much the lack of faith in Diana and her ability to change her sisters, it is the fact that human nature does not change that quickly. While we don't know what the Amazons are taught about men and the outside world in school - the Amazons have within their society an anti-male philosophy and this is part of their culture - having Diana say suddenly we will allow males on the island seems a lot for these Amazons to take in as it relates to their own cultural biases in regard to males. Plus most of these Amazons are hundreds of years old and can you really teach an old dog new tricks when it comes to personal and cultural biases.

Diana brought Dessa around in like two minutes. Even Aleka seems to be coming around. Once again, if Aleka wanted everything with a penis dead, she had Zeke in her arms. One little squeeze, and he would've been dead. Aleka may have even been able to escape punishment by simply claiming it was an accident. She didn't do it.

Granted, we don't know how old Dessa is exactly, but Diana mentioned that Hippolyta had valued Dessa's counsel. I think it's safe to say Hippolyta wouldn't put as much stock in the words of a "greenhorn Amazon."

Human nature doesn't typically change very quickly........in the real world. In a world with Wonder Woman in it? Diana made Ares a better person with pretty much ONE act of compassion and defiance. She made Hera into a better person with just a few months of being nice to her. And these are GODS: creatures who are known for being slaves to their nature. It's not supposed to be possible for gods to change their natures......and yet two of them, at least, appear to have changed their natures after a very short time with Diana.

Amazons are not slaves to their nature. Not nearly to the extent that gods are supposed to be. If Diana could better Hera, she can better her own sisters. Will it happen overnight? No. Will their be some challenges to overcome? I'm sure there will be. But Diana has already proven she's got the chops to make this happen. She's already getting results. It's going to happen.

[BlackFeath]

It is not so much the lack of faith in Diana and her ability to change her sisters, it is the fact that human nature does not change that quickly. While we don't know what the Amazons are taught about men and the outside world in school - the Amazons have within their society an anti-male philosophy and this is part of their culture - having Diana say suddenly we will allow males on the island seems a lot for these Amazons to take in as it relates to their own cultural biases in regard to males. Plus most of these Amazons are hundreds of years old and can you really teach an old dog new tricks when it comes to personal and cultural biases.

Well...it won't be easy, and it won't take just few hours, few days or even few years, but they will change.
About 'old dogs' changing...we had god thousand of years old changing thanks to Diana.

Also...she made Zola stay with Hera... They were not good friends at first...





And then...

[Vanguard-01]

Words cannot express my deep and abiding love for this scene!

[AmiMizuno]

One thing that I kinda of want as a alt story was since Ares is the destruction of War, wouldn't it be interesting to see Eris has the God of War. She is the goddess of chaos and to the lesser power Ares is to. Would Eris be a bad God Of War?

[Rob_Olivera]

Rob! Good to see you.

Thanks, SIL.. I'm not fully back yet. Going through all sorts of inconveniences while moving (which I still haven't finished). Came back here and I see that the Forums were reset! WTH?! What happened?

Yeah, I want them to own it, and I'm OK with "lives drained from them" just meaning "the Amazons killed them." I think it will be more plausible and even more poignant--and they'll have more to "own," in way--if at some level they knew for a long time that these actions were wrong and they felt guilty about them deep down, but let Strife or someone talk them into persisting with these old ways anyway, against their consciences. I wouldn't want it to be flat-out mind control.

WW has had chance to contrast various cultures and form her own opinions of things, but I don't understand why the Amazons would even think they've done anything wrong if it's all they've ever known. That's like someone coming up to me and telling me that suddenly, eating meat is Evil and Immoral. Anyone been to the local supermarket? The meat is packaged with a sticker price on it. At least Dessa acted as if she thought it was wrong to do what they've been doing.

[Rob_Olivera]

Welcome back, Rob. Some of us were hoping you were still alive and kicking.

Oh that, I am! I've been involved in acquiring an apartment after mom passed away in February. It's been an uphill battle ever since with complications after complications with the sale of home and acquisition of the apartment... I'm still displaced so I don't get to log in here often, but I'll be back full time in the next 2-3 weeks, hopefully.