Wonder Woman #6 Spoilers & Discussion

[NYCER]

Rucka said that in the current continuity she is 28 and that the year one portion of the story happened 10 years ago...so she's supposed to be 18 when she arrives in Man's world.

Sorry I don't have any sources to back it up nor don't have the time right now to go and provide one, but I'm sure someone else can!

In other words, it's still unsure in #Afterbirth whether Diana is immortal.

I wish the other storyline were as compelling as YEAR ONE even if some of Rucka's choices, e.g., Diana getting her gifts...while in jail, are too cuckoo for my taste.

[numberthirty]

Whether Rucka plans on putting Cheetah firmly in that position remains to be seen, but it can't be disputed that he's elevating her importance to a higher place than it has been in ages. Whatever alliance their forming in the present has no guarantee of lasting forever, either.

While I won't discount this possible outcome, it doesn't feel like it's absolutely where this is headed.

[numberthirty]

Because it creates a personal connection and relationship between them that will only elevate their future enmity once Barbara becomes the Cheetah?

She is Cheetah during "The Lies". Does it seem like there is some huge degree of enmity during that story line, to you?

[Silvanus]

Seems like there could be a rating between "great" an "average"--like maybe "good." In the absence of "good," I went with "great," four stars.I liked the gods as animals, and I thought Diana's and everyone else's mutual bewilderment was kind of funny and kind of charming. But there was nothing that really knocked my socks off.

Similarly, for me the run as a whole is competent and likeable, but not that compelling; I'm not dying to see what happens next. It just seems like a modest variation on old status quo. But, it's pretty good, and I'm glad others are loving it.

ETA I do think that the idea that she essentially earned her powers by winning the tournament is a nice compromise between--or even synthesis of-- skills gained by training and true superpowers. I'd like it to be established, though, that the powers are now an integral part of her, and maybe were always destined to be hers, and that they can't be taken away by the gods as easily as they were given. It's interesting that Heph is one of the patrons in teh cell did he gift her with powers? The lasso or any of her gear could be his gifts, but she already had them before the visitation in the cell.

[Darius]

Let's try to keep the conversation of the full issue out of the preview threads.

Rucka and Scott are working so much magic in the Year One story so far. I'm absolutely loving it.

Things I loved in this issue:

• The incorporation of Barbara into Diana's origins is a great idea, and Barb is witty and confident.
• I'm digging the use of animals as the gods rather than full-blown humanoid deities.
• Another character from WW's 75 year history returns! Lieutenant Michaelis was in Perez's first arc and it's pretty cool to see him return.
• More naked Steve!

Things I didn't love as much:

• Etta Candy didn't seem as bubbly and fun as you'd expect her to be.
• The whole Dr. Perez thing was rather cheesy in my opinion.
• The Gods gave Diana superhuman strength? I guess that means the Amazons aren't all superhumans?

What did everyone else think?

I mostly love love love Year One ... My gripes are pretty minor. Love the art, love the story being centered around communication, trust, honesty rather than "blood curdling masculinity" too. I was slightly worried that Rucka was going to take a darker bend but he's been pleasantly bright and positive for Year One's first few issues. Happy to see the Amazons back in the "Advanced" civilization category. Love how Steve pervcieved them as super advanced but living the simple life!

Don't love Etta being so serious, but I do love that she's already showing that she's willing to trust Diana and has a very finely tuned BS detector with how quickly she recognized "Dr. Perez" as a charlatan. Thought the Perez nod was both cute and kinda rude, does Rucka have beef with him or was the whole thing meant to be cheeky? Honestly it came across a bit like Rucka was throwing shade at Perez by the time Barbara showed up and making a point of undoing some of Perez ground work for Post-Crisis ... Maybe I'm reading more into it than I should though.

Agreed, more naked Steve

I was hoping for Amazon training rather than "gifts", but I do like that Diana's skill level is established before the gifts are bestowed as it's clear that even at normal Amazon power level she's a force to be reckoned with and could go toe to toe with any of DCs great fighters without powers.

I'm curious as to when they are going to address her birth or creation in detail

[brettc1]

Loved the issue. All the moments with Steve, getting the photo we see in The Lies, the muted and more mysterious use of the gods. Great.

Hermes was a tortoise. LOL!

Also since we are talking homages - I am pretty sure in the first six Perez issues Steve's buddy who helped them all stop Ares was Michaelis.

Oh, I do have a quibble. Why would Diana start talking to Etta as if she expects her to understand what she's saying?

I guess because the alternative is to sit there mute, which also accomplishes nothing. Also Etta seemed to be the first woman Diana had seen in the outside world so she made a natural, though erroneous, leap that Etta might be able to comprehend her.

[SiegePerilous02]

While I won't discount this possible outcome, it doesn't feel like it's absolutely where this is headed.

Of course, we have yet to meet Ares properly and Rucka may feel Ares fits the "Arch-nemesis" label while Cheetah is more along the lines of a Harvey Dent-type figure. An incredibly important character and one of the top tier villains, but maybe not #1. But we'll see.

She is Cheetah during "The Lies". Does it seem like there is some huge degree of enmity during that story line, to you?

From Cheetah's side, most definitely, at least in the first 1.5 issues. She claims to hate Diana and blames her for her current state. Of course, her mind is starting to fade and those feelings are mixed up with confused other emotions (as Diana herself points out).

If we go back to the Silver Age, most of the enmity in the Supes/Lex dynamic was on Lex's side. And they were once friends as well, with brief hopes spots that Lex could be redeemed.

[ShaunN]

I enjoyed this issue a lot, as I am enjoying all of Rucka's run, so far. It is great to have a writer who really respects WW, the Amazons, and the historical characters.

I have mixed feelings about Diana's acquisition of her powers after she enters "man's world." On the one hand, one of the things I liked about the Perez run was the idea of Diana being a special Amazon -the only child on the island, raised with every Amazon as her mother, who also had unique gifts - for example, the fact that she was flying from the time she was a child. However, I do agree that this new origin clears up a lot of questionable points of the past, most notably the obvious unfairness of Diana competing in a contest against other, less gifted Amazons.

I note that in both of the recent WW series, - this one and "The Legend of WW" - Diana acquires her powers after leaving Themyscira. In "Legend", however, her powers are innate, just not awakened - they need to be awakened by both her conscious choices and the power of Gaea. Before that happens, she uses various accessories to give herself superpowers. Notably, in Legend, Diana rejects the gods when they offer her power and it is Gaea, coming to her, that makes her superhuman.

The fact that this idea of Diana gaining her powers after leaving Themyscira is now becoming the dominant story of her power is interesting. I wonder if this is connected, in any way, to the upcoming movie. So far, what I've seen of the movie shows a Diana who appears to be much, much less powerful than the one in BvS. I wonder if the film has her gaining powers while in man's world and the writers of her comic series have been told to build on this.

[dianafan1985]

I dont know if I am a fan of Diana being gifted by the Gods so late in life while she is in a jail cell.

Thats my single issue with this story. I don't like it.

[brettc1]

To me, the gifts from the gods reminded me of the scene in the original Clash of the Titans were Perseus finds the various items in the arena...

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/3...-The-Gods.html

I don't have an issue with it. In fact, one could argue that Rucka has taken Perez original concept a step further. In the Perez origin Diana is gifted with her extraordinary abilities at birth, but here she only gets them once she had won the tournament and gave up her place in Paradise to return Steve Trevor to his world.

And she never would have won the tournament had it not been for her Amazon Training.

(see what I did there? )

[Javier Velasco]

My issue isn't so much that WW got her gifts from the gods after she left PI. She was already seen as being exemplary and the favorite to win the Contest for a variety of reasons. My problem with the gifting from the gods is that it is a fairly large deal in WW mythos... and we didn't get to see it. Diana told us that she was given gifts, but we didn't actually see it occurring. Just me, but I would think that two pages of Diana getting magically imbued with all of the power that a menagerie of Olympian gods can muster would be more exciting than two pages of people talking in a jail cell about it the next day. I mean, what actually occurred in the issue action-wise?

She took the bars off her jail cell.

Considering that pretty much all the action we saw in the last Lies installment was the reflection of WW fighting in someone's eyeball, I have to wonder if he thinks that action always has to be portrayed obliquely, in order to be "interesting"

[brettc1]

My issue isn't so much that WW got her gifts from the gods after she left PI. She was already seen as being exemplary and the favorite to win the Contest for a variety of reasons. My problem with the gifting from the gods is that it is a fairly large deal in WW mythos... and we didn't get to see it. Diana told us that she was given gifts, but we didn't actually see it occurring. Just me, but I would think that two pages of Diana getting magically imbued with all of the power that a menagerie of Olympian gods can muster would be more exciting than two pages of people talking in a jail cell about it the next day. I mean, what actually occurred in the issue action-wise?

She took the bars off her jail cell.

Considering that pretty much all the action we saw in the last Lies installment was the reflection of WW fighting in someone's eyeball, I have to wonder if he thinks that action always has to be portrayed obliquely, in order to be "interesting"

Respectfully disagreeing in that I am enjoying the gods being "off screen" as it were. I think it adds to the sense that they are GODS and not just another bunch of people with super powers. They are mysterious, which I think makes them more interesting. Rucka also seems to be tapping into the legends of the Olympians manifesting themselves as animals, as they did to evade Typhon.

I do agree there could be more action. The Lies seems especislly padded at the moment.

[Outside_85]

My issue isn't so much that WW got her gifts from the gods after she left PI. She was already seen as being exemplary and the favorite to win the Contest for a variety of reasons. My problem with the gifting from the gods is that it is a fairly large deal in WW mythos... and we didn't get to see it. Diana told us that she was given gifts, but we didn't actually see it occurring. Just me, but I would think that two pages of Diana getting magically imbued with all of the power that a menagerie of Olympian gods can muster would be more exciting than two pages of people talking in a jail cell about it the next day. I mean, what actually occurred in the issue action-wise?

She took the bars off her jail cell.

Considering that pretty much all the action we saw in the last Lies installment was the reflection of WW fighting in someone's eyeball, I have to wonder if he thinks that action always has to be portrayed obliquely, in order to be "interesting"

I have to agree, the gifts from the gods was a bit of an anti-climax. This was supposed to be a big moment in Diana's and the story's life, possibly where we might also have learned why Diana is there in the first place; as in what do the gods really intend she do with the gifts? But no, since we skip to the day after we end up with the impression that the gods and their mission is secondary to Diana getting established with Barbara, Steve and Etta.

[brettc1]

I have to agree, the gifts from the gods was a bit of an anti-climax. This was supposed to be a big moment in Diana's and the story's life, possibly where we might also have learned why Diana is there in the first place; as in what do the gods really intend she do with the gifts? But no, since we skip to the day after we end up with the impression that the gods and their mission is secondary to Diana getting established with Barbara, Steve and Etta.

But what would it gave been otherwise? Lots of talking god-heads. blah blah chosen blah blah mission champion outer world blah blah blah.

This way the focus is squarely on Diana, as it should be. Plus it was beautiful the way she described the visit.

[Outside_85]

But what would it gave been otherwise? Lots of talking god-heads. blah blah chosen blah blah mission champion outer world blah blah blah.

This way the focus is squarely on Diana, as it should be. Plus it was beautiful the way she described the visit.

Eh, well I would like to think that founding Diana's mission in the world is the prime reason we are getting this story, not just doing the rounds regarding who her friends are.

There are less clunky ways of having focus than how this part of the story is going. I mean ideally Diana's character and all of her support pieces should come into this naturally... not have all of that come rushing in first then pretend there's another story that might matter or not afterwards. Compare this to how Perez told it: Diana gets a divine mission while on Paradise, she is visited by the Gods there and she is ready when Steve goes into a tailspin, then we get the story of Ares getting dangerously close to triumph and it's Diana's mission to stop it, picking up friends, allies and enemies along the way.

Reaching over from another thread, the stuff above is part of the reason I favor the Sharp/Jungle story over the Scott/YO story... Jungle has better pacing, structure and plot. Scott's art is very pretty... but thats kinda the only reason I am reading this bit.