Wonder Woman #47 Spoilers

[Rakzo]

I... I don't even know what I was expecting.

Considering that it has been a while since Wonder Woman and Cheetah faced each other, I suppose I was hoping for a climactic encounter that would make both characters justice but both are portrayed quite poorly. Diana is still pretty weak in terms of personality where she starts crying tears of blood... for some reason and barely manages to beat Cheetah in a pretty dull way.

Cheetah is the one who suffers the most here though. She starts talking to herself and revealing her plans out of nowhere while acting like an one-dimensional thief and also being quite weak in terms of character as well! I thought that the worst characterization that she received after the reboot was by Andrew Kreisberg in Green Arrow but this easily beats that. Is THAT bad.

There's some progress about some sub-plots but is about characters that are not particularly interesting nor important.

Also, whatever happened to Diana's new costume? Does anyone know?

Is my own fault for having some hope I suppose.

[Dr. Poison]

I personally loved this. This is Finch's best issue to date. After almost 4 long, excruciating years, we finally get a solid superhero story in this book. Cheetah was written just as cunning and powerful as she was in Justice League, still able to give Diana a run for her money although Cheetah does comment on how Diana seems more powerful since they last faced off(Diana since becoming the GoW). Finch clearly did her homework on the Cheetah until whoever wrote the recent Green Arrow/Cheetah battle. It was a nice surprise to see one of the male Amazons still alive(and oh so bitter). I think he has the makings to be a new rogue down the line. Oh and did anyone catch the tag-line for the next issue "A Beautiful Poison". The Finchs said another old villain is returning - could it be my namesake?

[Powertool]

I may be the new kid in this forum section (actually, given my post count, in the whole forum) but I'd like to say that when I read that this month's issue would have dealt with Cheetah's first appearance on the pages of Wonder Woman, I was honestly hopeful that this could have been the chance for Meredith Finch's run to invert her downward tendency. Especially since last issue hit an all-time low by giving us:

- The long-awaited return of the "brokeback pose" on the pages of the main Wonder Woman title (quite rare after Mike Deodato's departure in the Nineties).

Brokeback.jpg

- A magnificent introduction of the latest addition to the Olympian pantheon by the Finches, Eirene. A character whose very mental health is completely dependent on the presence of Ares at her side (while her beau could easily go for 20+ issues without ever mentioning her), has never heard of non-violent activists and leaders the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Leymah Gbowee, etc. despite being goddess of peace and whose body growth power, being an exact replica of Strife's, is making me suspect that Wonder Woman is slowly turning into an ancillary title of AC Comics' Femforce with all the giant-woman fetish.

Femforce.jpg

- A callback to the artstyle of WW2-era Captain America comic books and Yellow Peril-centered pulp magazines in the form of this guy

This guy.jpg

(Who's also apparently better at haranguing large crowds than at finding a designer who can draw a party logo which doesn't look like a cheap auto sticker on an upside-down Christmas tree.)

- On a very personal note, an explanation to the words of a friend of mine who, when asked whether he liked Captain America: The Winter Soldier, answered "I don't like movies where the villains' plan is more complicated than 'push the button -> make the bomb explode'". I don't know if Zeke/Zeus is the villain of the story, but Joker's bank heist plan from TDK is child's play compared to his!

I mean, I really had my hopes up! If not for this title being good again, at least a temporary respite from all that Donna-in-name-only nonsense and the whole Aegeus farce.

Instead, what did I find in the preview pages? Retcon galore, even involving details established by the author herself less six months ago, dialogues that make Pat Gleason's first experience as a writer on the pages of Robin: Son of Batman even more noteworthy and I don't know how many Amazons slaughtered by Cheetah (a character that was treated like a joke in Gail Simone's run, when she was still tied to a region of the world where cheetahs actually exist) like they were a bunch of Unsullied from Game of Thrones (the TV series, not the books, of course).

To the readers who still bother with this book, tell me: does it get worse after that? I may find this run "so bad you can't stop watching", but there's a difference between looking at a car crash and watching the devastation of Dresden after the bombs.

[spark627]

This just keeps getting worse and worse. The issue is almost all dialogue and it's horrible. Everyone explains everything they are doing and thinking. No one has any personality or semblance to who they were prior to this "writer". There is really no story here, it felt like a typical superhero story from decades ago (a one dimensional villian steals something). This just needs to end. The only good thing was the art, I like this better than Finch's Bratz dolls aesthetic.

[Nyssane]

This issue felt like an episode of Super Friends.

If it were an out-of-continuity story meant for kids, I'd probably really like it. But this is the main universe we're talking about, and it was just all over the place. The one good thing that came from this story is one of the Manazons being alive. I hope that's expanded upon in the future (if I even continue reading). Cheetah was capable, which is always a good thing, but why she felt the need to babble to herself is anyone's guess. Urzkartaga is confirmed as once again being her source of power, which is a little disappointing. I would've much preferred her being tied to a different mythological deity, like Mafdet. I would definitely not put this appearance for Cheetah up there with Green Arrow, though.

It does seem like Doctor Poison will be the next villain. I hope that blonde on the cover isn't her... whitewashing the character would not sit well with me.

[Outside_85]

Sounds like the expected screwup.

It does seem like Doctor Poison will be the next villain. I hope that blonde on the cover isn't her... whitewashing the character would not sit well with me.

Well, looking at Dr. Poison's avatar; Dr. Poison, how exactly would it be whitewashing when the character is and always has been white?

[Rakzo]

I forgot to mention that there was at least one thing that made me smile about this issue:

Amanda Conner's variant cover.

Wonder-Woman-047-(2016)-(Digital-Empire)-005.jpg

Heh, cute. A nice homage to Harley Quinn Valentines Day Special too.

[Nyssane]

Well, looking at Dr. Poison's avatar; Dr. Poison, how exactly would it be whitewashing when the character is and always has been white?

What? Doctor Poison has always been Japanese.

[numberthirty]

What? Doctor Poison has always been Japanese.

If we are talking about Doctor Poison II, doesn't that assume quite a bit that we have know way of really knowing?

[Nyssane]

If we are talking about Doctor Poison II, doesn't that assume quite a bit that we have know way of really knowing?

Considering she's the granddaughter of the first Doctor Poison, it's safe to assume she's at least partially Japanese as well.

[numberthirty]

Considering she's the granddaughter of the first Doctor Poison, it's safe to assume she's at least partially Japanese as well.

Ah, now I've got you. If you buy the story, sure. Am I the only reader that ever wondered if it might not actually be the case?

[SiegePerilous02]

Well this was...so so.

Ok, the Cheetah bits weren't too bad. I liked that someone finally referenced that she worked at ARGUS and took some things with her when she left. What I didn't like was Diana having to explain that the Eye would be useless to her, and Minerva being all "STFU YOUR'RE JUST SAYING THAT SO I WON'T STEAL IT!" Really Babs? Also, Urzkartaga being name dropped contradicts the JL story where the Cheetah was a goddess with no name. If they're gonna be changing things anyway, I wish they had gone with the Egyptian pantheon instead. And while the fight wasn't too impressive, I liked that she proved durable enough to take some hits and could outrace Diana even before Hippolyta Island (ugh) intervened.

I would have laughed so hard if she ate the lone Manazon survivor after his epic verbal smackdown of Bloody Tears Diana.

Overall, this kind of sucked but wasn't awful, which is the best I could have hoped for. Now Cheetah can run into the arms of Tim Seeley where she will hopefully be treated better.

Dr. Poison is next, god help her.

[Dr. Poison]

It seems like Finch did her homework on Cheetah by having her mention A.R.G.U.S. and showcasing her proper power-levels. Perhaps Cheetah will next steal an artifact that will give her power on par with Diana now that she's the GoW?

My only complaint about this story is that it was only 1 issue. Why is it that WW's arch-nemesis only gets a 1 issue story while the Olympians have gotten 42 issues of story so far in this volume?

[DragonPiece]

It seems like Finch did her homework on Cheetah by having her mention A.R.G.U.S. and showcasing her proper power-levels. Perhaps Cheetah will next steal an artifact that will give her power on par with Diana now that she's the GoW?

My only complaint about this story is that it was only 1 issue. Why is it that WW's arch-nemesis only gets a 1 issue story while the Olympians have gotten 42 issues of story so far in this volume?

Because she has a family of gods in this run?

[NYCER]

I personally love this. This is Finch's best issue to date. After almost 4 long, excoriating years, we finally get a solid superhero story in this book. Cheetah was written just as cunning and powerful as she was in Justice League, still able to give Diana a run for her money although Cheetah does comment on how Diana seems more powerful since they last faced off(Diana since becoming the GoW). Finch clearly did her homework on the Cheetah until whoever wrote the recent Green Arrow/Cheetah battle. It was a nice surprise to see one of the male Amazons still alive(and oh so bitter). I think he has the makings to be a new rogue down the line. Oh and did anyone catch the tag-line for the next issue "A Beautiful Poison". The Finchs said another old villain is returning - could it be my namesake?

I feel the same way and rather than reinvent the wheel, I just quoted this great post. I'm happy with the current regime. The prior one just led me to buying the book but not bothering to read it because the 3-year arc focused primarily on every other Olympian but Diana. I hope to God never to see Zola again for a long, long time. Never would be great.