Wonder Woman # 4 Preview

[Outside_85]

Okay, I re-read the issue. No one actually threatens Steve.

Considering their attitude toward anything and everything with a penis, however, it's a more than logical assumption that the Amazons would have butchered him on site if Diana hadn't gotten to him first. So the point pretty much stands.

No, the point does not stand, not even a little bit, because there has been a relatively large amount of male visitors to this secluded 'man-hating' island over the course of several different books and all of them have made it off it again unmolested by Amazon hands, even a few who definitely would have deserved every last bit of it.

As opposed to this particular run in which we see incontrovertible proof of the Amazon's compassion and benevolence toward people. Even icky males.

I know which one I prefer.

Yes we do... we get a picture of something we had to assume was nearly the same before.

1) We saw Azz's Amazons hate on men and want to murder men.
2) We've even heard reports of them having preferred murder methods for men.
3) And if Azz wanted us to believe there was more to their attitude toward men then just "Kill, kill, kill!" then he should've shown us that.

1) Have we? They didn't seem to have any problems standing besides those men who they should perhaps fear the most: their sons and brothers.
2) Written by Robert Venditti in an entirely different book... one which just happened to feature Amazons that looked more like Rucka/Scott's than Chiangs
3) Or perhaps he was just not interested in showing it due to it not having much of anything to do with the story he wanted to tell? Why should he derail what he wanted to do to add stuff that should be in the appendix of any other book?

[Awonder]

LOVE it! So beautiful!

Their badge came with a plane and guns that are clearly more advanced than Amazon tech(from the way the conversation sounds). Grasping that while not being able to grasp that there could be some other meaning to the trident is not exactly advanced.

Your post fails to mention algebra. Obviously, you are therefore incapable of grasping the complexities mathematics.

Just because Posiedon is the first and main reference they think of when seeing the trident, that is not a foregone conclusion that the Amazons can't grasp that there could be other meanings.

[Vanguard-01]

Nevermind. We've derailed enough as it is.

[borntohula]

This preview seem to have gotten everyone very interested --in another run :P

Here's Steve in that run. One of few times he made an appearance. He didn't get speared, castrated or what not.

Ska?rmavbild 2016-08-06 kl. 08.44.26.jpg

As for the preview. Seems okay enough. I still think Rucka's dialogue is stiff. Sounds like they're talking with same voice. Seems like the second issue to tell an origin that's taken others 2 pages. Hope it'll have some better filler stuff than Diana getting snake bit.

they are both on record as saying they didn't like.

Can you produce a link?

Would be interesting to hear/read their thoughts.

[GEMINUS1]

Start listening around minute 37. Nicola Scott begins talking about the current run and explicitly states that everything from the Year One comic is real.

[numberthirty]

Start listening around minute 37. Nicola Scott begins talking about the current run and explicitly states that everything from the Year One comic is real.

Assuming that is the case and she is not bending the truth for the sake of the story they plan to tell, blech.

Why is a familiar version of this story being told for "whatevernth" time?

It's not even like it's bad. It's just been done, and done better.

[numberthirty]

Just because Posiedon is the first and main reference they think of when seeing the trident, that is not a foregone conclusion that the Amazons can't grasp that there could be other meanings.

While that is certainly a possibility, I don't see anything on the page that should lead me to even entertain said possibility.

[Awonder]

While that is certainly a possibility, I don't see anything on the page that should lead me to even entertain said possibility.

Do you think their conclusion is wrong? If it's not wrong, why do you care? Do you really want a page or two of them discussing all the possible symbolic interpretations of trident?

This just seems like like a very odd thing to nitpick. But stories strike us all in different ways I suppose.

[numberthirty]

Do you think their conclusion is wrong? If it's not wrong, why do you care? Do you really want a page or two of them discussing all the possible symbolic interpretations of trident?

This just seems like like a very odd thing to nitpick. But stories strike us all in different ways I suppose.

One reader's take...

The idea that while they have just seen two bits of tech that are way beyond their own these people with the tech most likely have a link to a part of their world is just odd.

To me. Obviously, it probably doesn't bug other readers than much.

[trypr]

There's a clear, stark and measured difference between this depiction of the Amazons, and Azarellos; getting caught up in the particulars of that, without acknowledging the obvious seems a little absurd. The simple fact is that this is a departure from what went before, and one that is going to please many long term fans of the characters. And I do mean characters, because the restoration of recognisable faces among the Amazons, alongside new ones that further their diversity and the idea of what they represent is important of itself: and to me that is a radical change, because the context of what they represent matters to me in the broader world, though I recognise that is not an investment everyone is going to have.

There are some assumptions, that mirror many classical colonial ones, when we frame the image of how "advanced" a culture is in terms of how their technology relates to our own cultural development; especially military technology. The Amazons have known at least two millennia of peace, without threats that their own extraordinary skills, abilities and weapons have not been able to overcome. There is little reason for them to have applied any scientific knowledge towards developing a "modern" arsenal, but that doesn't mean they do not study science or that they do not understand the principles that drive the weapons they have discovered; it's heavily implied they do, on both counts. Io and Areto both appear very comfortable handling them; the surprise of the council is a failure of imagination, not comprehension. Indeed why have modern buildings and refrigeration and food distribution techniques when your society has no need for them? It's not a question of knowledge, so this term "advancement" is highly contextual: is our society and technology advanced because of the damage it does to the environment we depend upon, because it is wasteful of resources and fuelled by social inequality? Because of the violent power we can project? Undeniably wonderful things have arisen from it, but are these things that would be immediately evident in our fashion, architecture and spirituality? Is a person intelligent because they can do complicated mathematical calculations or because they can live and thrive within a desert environment? These are different skill sets, different values, that are not transferable to either situation.

The Amazons clearly understand what they found, but as Hippolyta implies, understanding what those things together say about a people, their culture and their intentions, is another matter: and part of the DNA of Wonder Woman is western-european cultural history and an engagement with our conception of democracy and the influence of the customs and symbols of ancient Greece. And, Phillipus specifically describes Steve as a supplicant, and this was a very important thing in ancient Mediterranean civilisations, and calls back to Rucka's Hiketeia and his research driven creative process. Given that modern superhero stories are an evolution of classical myth this is a natural and interesting thing to explore, to me: as several posters have said, that is Poseidon's Trident on the SEAL team badge, and Poseidon is real in the DCU.

Further, I think there is a lot we don't see but are left to infer; that's how Greg Rucka writes and, while it doesn't interest everyone, that kind of structured, layered, economical story-telling is something he is very good at. Pointedly, it's clear that Steve Trevor's injuries are grievous, yet the Amazons can be confidant he'll make a full recovery, and their surgery is not what we might expect, and it's bathed in a purple glow (and there's a big lens/crystal visible in the left of the frame). Look at how they are managing the aircrash; their organisation and strength. The difference between this and Morrison's vision of a technologically "advanced" amazon society might just amount to flying cars and guns; and it might be worth thinking about why we always distil the visual language of progress to those two things.

Now can I just take a moment to say how happy this preview makes me, and how much I love everything about these panels and the care, compassion and emotional expression on display. And it's all so, so beautifully depicted. I'm just ecstatic with what the team have done, and if it doesn't grab you then I think it's a shame, but let's not assume we've seen the full picture yet.

[Dr. Poison]

Assuming that is the case and she is not bending the truth for the sake of the story they plan to tell, blech.

Why is a familiar version of this story being told for "whatevernth" time?

It's not even like it's bad. It's just been done, and done better.

To make it clear that Azzarello's origin is no longer cannon? DC has said that Rebirth is about bringing back what was missing from their characters/universe and making the tone lighter and more positive.

[SiegePerilous02]

Assuming that is the case and she is not bending the truth for the sake of the story they plan to tell, blech.

Why is a familiar version of this story being told for "whatevernth" time?

It's not even like it's bad. It's just been done, and done better.

The last detailed origin story we had for her that was part of the main DC universe canon was Perez's in 1987. Like Johns' did with the Secret Origin in his GL run, it's kind of necessary to retell the story in a modernized way that doesn't date the material in a certain era, while also seeding new plot developments in the origin that will pay off in the present (Atrocitus and William Hand stuff in GL, possibly Diana meeting Barbara and the first appearance of "Godwatch" here). The New 52 didn't give us a detailed origin, just vague half assed stuff here and there, and that's probably contributed to the whole house of cards collapsing as soon as Azzarello left.

Morrison's and DeLiz's runs may be better (YMMV though, I already like the interactions between Diana and Steve better here than in Earth One, which I otherwise love), but they are also not in the main canon and can't be used as a foundation. This gives Rucka more freedom, and those authors are probably better off given free reign in their own little sandboxes. Perez's run is great, but there's a lot of stuff that hasn't aged well, particularly in the overly detailed origin.

[CaptainCanada]

The last detailed origin story we had for her that was part of the main DC universe canon was Perez's in 1987. Like Johns' did with the Secret Origin in his GL run, it's kind of necessary to retell the story in a modernized way that doesn't date the material in a certain era, while also seeding new plot developments in the origin that will pay off in the present (Atrocitus and William Hand stuff in GL, possibly Diana meeting Barbara and the first appearance of "Godwatch" here). The New 52 didn't give us a detailed origin, just vague half assed stuff here and there, and that's probably contributed to the whole house of cards collapsing as soon as Azzarello left.

Yeah, I agree there. I'm a huge fan of the Perez run, but that was almost thirty years ago, and a ton of stuff has changed since then. In particular, if you're bringing back Steve as a love interest, I'd say it's necessary to give us some context to how their relationship started out.

[hkgkindaichi]

so Amazons don't need to wear bracelets anymore ?

[SonOfBaldwin]

That gun bit is pretty well impossible to misjudge.

Again. Wait until you've read the issue. Because you're incorrect. The Amazons are technologically advanced. Just in ways the preview doesn't show and most wouldn't expect.