Wonder Woman #5 Spoilers and Discussion

[Silvanus]

The link is dead, but OMAC or Brother Eye would also make sense, given its history with Diana.

And Sasha's connection--I think (after refreshing my memory via Wikipedia) that the last time Rucka used Sasha she has having her OMAC nanites extracted, so it seems likely he picked up more or less where he left off and had some of those nanites remain or get restored--possibly by Doctor Cyber. Maybe Dr. Cyber worked with what was left over to build her own version of OMAC (and Brother Eye), explaining why it doesn't have the distinctive font or manner of speaking that darkseidpwns mentioned.

Of course it could be both those AND Cyber. Dr Cyber never appeared in volume 2 or 3, so tying her with OMAC could be her new origin story.

I think that's very likely. I'd also like to see Cassandra (she of the cyber neck) involved somehow, though there's not too much evidence so far that Rucka wants to do very much with characters and story elements from Azzarello.

Assuming that Brother Eye is involved, I wonder if the event of Futures End will also be involved. If so, maybe the discrepancies in Diana's memory/history will be explicitly linked to Convergence and the crossing over of different realities.

[Darius]

I also enjoy how, like Marston, Rucka uses Steve as a natural counter point to the more perfidious concept of masculinity that Cadulo is espousing. The warlord sees the photo of Diana and naturally assumes that Steve has it because he wants to possess her. Steve points out that is not the way his feelings towards Diana run at all.

There's an interesting contrast to be made with the recent Superman Wonder Woman series. Not with the way Superman acted in the stories, but rather with the way the series overall was constructed, with the creative teams giving Superman are more and more dominant role in the storytelling to the point where Wonder Woman felt like the regular guest star in an extra Superman title.

On the other hand, years ago Ruckawas writing both the Superman and Wonder Woman titles and while I disagreed with some of his creative choices I generally felt he gave equal gravitas to both characters where there stories crossed over.

Yeah and it's nice to see Steve being able to be a strong character who is clearly central in Diana's life but hasn't been relegated to "much older brother" status either. Not to bash Perez choices, but I always felt like he kind of neutered Steve as a character by making him so much older and strictly platonic. This Steve has potential for at least sexual tension but could also end up being only a loving friend because of the personality Rucka is going with. I'm interested to see where they take this from here.

[brettc1]

Yeah and it's nice to see Steve being able to be a strong character who is clearly central in Diana's life but hasn't been relegated to "much older brother" status either. Not to bash Perez choices, but I always felt like he kind of neutered Steve as a character by making him so much older and strictly platonic. This Steve has potential for at least sexual tension but could also end up being only a loving friend because of the personality Rucka is going with. I'm interested to see where they take this from here.

I think the lines from Etta and him carrying around the photo are strong indicators there will be sexual tension at the very least. Which is good.

One of the biggest complaints many had with the Tom romance, and one of my own with the Superman romance, was that everything just fell into place very quickly. Though at least with Tom there had been lots of hints and chemistry prior. About my only complaint with Gail Simone's run is, not that she broke up Diana and Tom, but that she left it like that. The break up was the perfect point at which to make the evolving romance really interesting, but instead we just went back to square one.

So it doesn't surprise me that Rucka is using the bi monthly story telling to give us BOTH stories - the lead up to them getting together (which is good) and the aftermath of them having separated but still in orbit of each other (which is even better )

[brettc1]

And Sasha's connection--I think (after refreshing my memory via Wikipedia) that the last time Rucka used Sasha she has having her OMAC nanites extracted, so it seems likely he picked up more or less where he left off and had some of those nanites remain or get restored--possibly by Doctor Cyber. Maybe Dr. Cyber worked with what was left over to build her own version of OMAC (and Brother Eye), explaining why it doesn't have the distinctive font or manner of speaking that darkseidpwns mentioned.



I think that's very likely. I'd also like to see Cassandra (she of the cyber neck) involved somehow, though there's not too much evidence so far that Rucka wants to do very much with characters and story elements from Azzarello.

Assuming that Brother Eye is involved, I wonder if the event of Futures End will also be involved. If so, maybe the discrepancies in Diana's memory/history will be explicitly linked to Convergence and the crossing over of different realities.

Actually the first time I read your post I thought you meant Nessie, Julia's daughter who got cybered into Siver Swan during Ruckas first run.
I dont think we've seen any of the volume 2 supporting cast in the flashbacks, so I'm interested in what Rucka will do in that regard.

[SiegePerilous02]

Actually the first time I read your post I thought you meant Nessie, Julia's daughter who got cybered into Siver Swan during Ruckas first run.
I dont think we've seen any of the volume 2 supporting cast in the flashbacks, so I'm interested in what Rucka will do in that regard.

I think the Kapatelis women might be out. I like them well enough, but it seems that Barbara will take on Julia's role as being one of Diana's first friends in Man's World and will be the one who teaches Diana English. So Julia is kind of unnecessary, and the young teen role should probably be filled by one of the Wonder Girls.

Myndi Mayer would be cool though, she was Perez's best character. And I guess we always need a generic cop friend, so maybe Ed Indelicato has a shot too. I'm more curious to see if the Holliday Girls will be making an appearance, depending on how young Etta is in Year One.

[brettc1]

I think the Kapatelis women might be out. I like them well enough, but it seems that Barbara will take on Julia's role as being one of Diana's first friends in Man's World and will be the one who teaches Diana English. So Julia is kind of unnecessary, and the young teen role should probably be filled by one of the Wonder Girls.

Myndi Mayer would be cool though, she was Perez's best character. And I guess we always need a generic cop friend, so maybe Ed Indelicato has a shot too. I'm more curious to see if the Holliday Girls will be making an appearance, depending on how young Etta is in Year One.

It would be a shame, I think, if Julia and Vanessa just disappeared into the ether. Did the book specifically state that Barbara taught Diana English? I may have missed that reference amid the pages of Steve's naked chest...

We don't know exactly what is going on with Lies. Hopefully it WON'T be the same route that Azzarello went down, where the whole clay story is an elaborate lie from the outset. Much may depend on what happens in the movie, since there is a clear move by DC to link their printed books more closely with the cinematic versions, at least to some degree. A lot depends on the popularity of the printed characters already, so readers will probably see very little change from the comic book Batman to align with the movie version, except with the costume he wears.

Wonder Woman, on the other hand, has not enjoyed that strong and extremely consistent fan base. So we may see a period of flux where her backstory and character move to align with whatever parent company WB feel is best to sell the character. On the other hand its hard to see how they could align the current Steve and Etta in the comics to what the movies are going to give us, without yet another reboot. Hopefully that will not be the case.

[Frontier]

It would be a shame, I think, if Julia and Vanessa just disappeared into the ether. Did the book specifically state that Barbara taught Diana English? I may have missed that reference amid the pages of Steve's naked chest...

Well, Barbara did mention a time when she knew Diana and she didn't speak in "poetic verse" or something like that, implying either that Diana didn't talk like this in her younger years or that Barbara knew her when Diana was first starting to learn how to speak English.

[Javier Velasco]

I don't think Julia and Vanessa have been in the mix since pre-Flashpoint. I think Vanessa's last appearance was in Final Crisis. Given that the Steve and Etta that corresponded with them no longer exist, and Diana's earliest days in Man's World are now attached to Steve Trevor, unless Rucka re-introduces them in the next 3 origin issues, they are probably history.

[Javier Velasco]

Regarding the final reveal...

This is the problem with Rucka's storytelling. Whatever I felt about Simone's run, she at least understood that she was dealing in a serialized medium. So each issue had enough interest that if the final issue came up a bit short, you at least had been getting some action filled satisfaction throughout.

Rucka does not do this well. Quite often you end up with entire issue of people just talking at each other to set up something that is supposed to be earth shattering two or three issues down the way. And too often that "something" is underwhelming.

In terms of this story, i will be very surprised if in order to solve her problem/save the day, Diana actually uses her powers. She might fight someone briefly hand to hand, but then she will probably talk to someone and achieve a pyrrhic victory. But we haven't seen superspeed or superstrength yet, I rather doubt we will.

I hope I am wrong and the final page of issue 12 shows her smiling and flying away from a bunch of waving Amazons on Themyscira with Steve Trevor in her arms, but not getting that vibe.

[Dr. Poison]

I don't think Julia and Vanessa have been in the mix since pre-Flashpoint. I think Vanessa's last appearance was in Final Crisis. Given that the Steve and Etta that corresponded with them no longer exist, and Diana's earliest days in Man's World are now attached to Steve Trevor, unless Rucka re-introduces them in the next 3 origin issues, they are probably history.

Unless they bring back Vanessa as the Silver Swan, I really don't care if we see she or her mom again. I didn't dislike them but they never really held my attention for very long with the exception of when Vaness was the SS.

[Lex Luthor]

Unless they bring back Vanessa as the Silver Swan, I really don't care if we see she or her mom again. I didn't dislike them but they never really held my attention for very long with the exception of when Vaness was the SS.

She's barely necessary for Silver Swan since its basically a legacy position. I personally liked the Kapatelis but I still dont like them enough for them to have replaced Etta and Steve as Diana's most notable supporting cast. Maybe they can be reworked but I dont think we'll see them ever since they are unnecessary.

[Agent Z]

She's barely necessary for Silver Swan since its basically a legacy position. I personally liked the Kapatelis but I still dont like them enough for them to have replaced Etta and Steve as Diana's most notable supporting cast. Maybe they can be reworked but I dont think we'll see them ever since they are unnecessary.

How are they unnecessary? I don't mind Etta and Steve but why should they be Diana's only consistent supporting cast members?

[Koriand'r]

I just hope Diana gets ALL of her powers back, the sisterhood with fire, the unity with beasts and an occasional tiara toss would be nice too. We haven't seen one of those since before Flashpoint. Come to think of it we haven't seen the Azzarello powers like swiss army bracelets and god mode lately either, they're probably gone forever though, like Julia and Vanessa.

[edgar5203]

Regarding the final reveal...

This is the problem with Rucka's storytelling. Whatever I felt about Simone's run, she at least understood that she was dealing in a serialized medium. So each issue had enough interest that if the final issue came up a bit short, you at least had been getting some action filled satisfaction throughout.

Rucka does not do this well. Quite often you end up with entire issue of people just talking at each other to set up something that is supposed to be earth shattering two or three issues down the way. And too often that "something" is underwhelming.

In terms of this story, i will be very surprised if in order to solve her problem/save the day, Diana actually uses her powers. She might fight someone briefly hand to hand, but then she will probably talk to someone and achieve a pyrrhic victory. But we haven't seen superspeed or superstrength yet, I rather doubt we will.

I hope I am wrong and the final page of issue 12 shows her smiling and flying away from a bunch of waving Amazons on Themyscira with Steve Trevor in her arms, but not getting that vibe.

Simone's run had the most pathetic action scenes I've ever seen in a comic. I prefer an issue full of dialogue to nonsensical action scenes (like Wonder Woman being clocked by a teen age boy with no powers... huh?).

[Vanguard-01]

Simone's run had the most pathetic action scenes I've ever seen in a comic. I prefer an issue full of dialogue to nonsensical action scenes (like Wonder Woman being clocked by a teen age boy with no powers... huh?).

I think you're confusing Simone's run with the Finch run?