Wonder Woman #14 Discussion/Spoilers

[Joao]

So, as in Gods and Mortals, the lasso is a deus ex machina. Diana defeats Ares by lassoing him, then defeats the Maru virus by lassoing herself. How lucky to have an accessory that basically allows her to overcome any foe or obstacle. I'm sure it's a shark repellant, too.

I don't know EXACTLY how it worked with Ares in Year One, but the lasso seems to work to break the effect of lies, deception, delusion, trickery etc. and show the truth (in a broader sense). In Pérez it worked in the same way: Ares was so blind for power that didn't stop to think about the consequences of his acts.
I agree that it can be overpowered and that's not ideal. But I'm fine with it until now, and happy to see it is more a magic weapon than just a cowboy lasso or barely used at all.

Added deus ex machina aspect by having Athena tell them where they have to go to contain the virus, as well as Diana just guessing (how?) that the poison in the UN was in the school. I don't understand making the gods so distant and mysterious if they can hand her a cell phone with everything she needs to know. I'd rather have the scheming, self-involved gods of Azzarello and Rucka's first run, and actual mythology, instead of these deus ex machina figures who help without demanding anything in return. There is just no real struggle here. Everything is handed to her.

Ares talked about how kids are taught the ways of war in school, so Diana took that as a hint. No one was there to attack the obvious targets, so she thought of the vulnerable ones instead. Kinda rushed, yeah, but still acceptable.
I don't disagree with your point about her patrons, though.

Additional demerit points for Ares' pompous speech being repeated by Barbara. Talk about decompression.

Well, she was translating it. Language has been a big part of this story, so I thought it was cool. Besides, it was the first encounter Barbara had with the gods. Interesting to see how she had difficulties to translate, perplexed/amazed as she was.

I loved the Jenny Frison variant. Not a fan of the Nicola Scott one-- Diana's pose is undynamic and weird. And that panel where Steve is holding her face after she defeats the virus is probably one of the ugliest of Diana I've ever seen.

LOL her mouth is weird sometimes, too big and expressive for her face. But except ocasional disproportion, I thought the art was lovely. Jenny Frison's is amazing as well.

[SeanT]

I don't know EXACTLY how it worked with Ares in Year One, but the lasso seems to work to break the effect of lies, deception, delusion, trickery etc. and show the truth (in a broader sense). In Pérez it worked in the same way: Ares was so blind for power that didn't stop to think about the consequences of his acts.
I agree that it can be overpowered and that's not ideal. But I'm fine with it until now, and happy to see it is more a magic weapon than just a cowboy lasso or barely used at all.
.

But it's an easy solution. There's no challenge. If she simply has to lasso a villain to have them see the error of their ways, there's nothing Diana herself has to do. There has to be some learning or growth or breakthrough for the hero to show how she's overcome the villain. Otherwise, it's lazy, and bad storytelling. It was lazy under Perez and it's even lazier here.

[richalex]

I prefer Gods and Mortals. This did absolutely Nothing. Atleast in Gods and Mortals, we had plenty of build up and action and villians, with Decay, Demios etc. When Julia, Steve, Diana etc broke into the airforce base to stop them from releasing the Nuclear missles, you felt the terror and panic that they were going through. Diana's battle with Ares was even more powerful, she couldn't stop him with brute force, not exactly, but she could with the lasso, atleast temporarly. That wasn't Dues Ex Machina, how else do you think she should beat a god? But "Week One" other than the art, just simply wasn't enough of a page turner. Where most of the issues could have been combined, some of the scenes of those issues were not fleshed out enough. I would rather they just call this Chapter One of "Year One" and Godwatch is Chapter 2.

I've said many times in other threads, the lasso needs to be that powerful, the Golden Perfect. It needs to be considered one of the most powerful and coveted items in the DCU, not just simply a lasso that can make you tell the truth. Gail Simone was starting to bring it back to that level of power and I hope Greg continues with that.

[CRaymond]

wellllll... Ares is magical and so's the lasso. Makes sense the reaction and outcome would be magical too.

I agree with you on that second and third sentence though.

The script got REALLY weird. SEAR became ARES and allovaudden we're in a superbattle that gets international and explosive.

[Stormcrow]

Regardless of the many problems I had with Azzarello's run, I gotta say his portrayal of Ares has been the one time I've found the character to be interesting (even when he kept calling him War).

What Rucka did here? Not so much.

Honestly, the one redeeming quality of Year One has been Nicola Scott's art, which is fantastic and one of my favorite renditions of Wonder Woman ever.

But the whole story was a drag to read through, it just felt completely unnecessary. And stuff like the dead soldiers on the shores of Themyscira and Diana making her debut in a mall shooting rubbed me the wrong way.

[Koriand'r]

So I'm the first poster to spot the Lynda Carter homage with Diana's jeans/belly-baring blouse on the final page? Clever, Ms. Scott, very clever!

I was so glad to see her in something other than a t-shirt and jeans (it seems like lately that's her default Man's World outfit) but I did wonder how she knew how to tie her top like that after only being in the states for a week. I guess Etta doesn't only push drinks (though I love that part of her characterization) it appears she also gives good fashion advice.

As for the story itself it was awesome! Leave it Rucka to update Perez's first issues with almost the same conclusion yet make everything seem fresh and new. The patron's use of the phone was a nice touch!

I'll take a godly Ares that elicits actual fear to a writer inserting a transparent Marty Stu into the plot seemingly out of vanity any day.

[Dr. Poison]

I was so glad to see her in something other than a t-shirt and jeans (it seems like lately that's her default Man's World outfit) but I did wonder how she knew how to tie her top like that after only being in the states for a week. I guess Etta doesn't only push drinks (though I love that part of her characterization) it appears she also gives good fashion advice.

As for the story itself it was awesome! Leave it Rucka to update Perez's first issues with almost the same conclusion yet make everything seem fresh and new. The patron's use of the phone was a nice touch!

I'll take a godly Ares that elicits actual fear to a writer inserting a transparent Marty Stu into the plot seemingly out of vanity any day.

Yeah, I'll take big, bad, dramatic Ares over the Frank Gallager-lite(Shameless) version from the New 52 any day.

[Nyssane]

I liked it, but I agree with others that it did feel rushed. And yeah, don't get me started on the Shakespearean speech. Blah. Part of me is happy that Year One is over and that we can focus on her present adventures (or the pasts of other WW characters). But the other part is like... no more Nicola Scott?!?!

[Dr. Poison]

I liked it, but I agree with others that it did feel rushed. And yeah, don't get me started on the Shakespearean speech. Blah. Part of me is happy that Year One is over and that we can focus on her present adventures (or the pasts of other WW characters). But the other part is like... no more Nicola Scott?!?!

Right? Nicola Scott has ascended to the "holy trinity" of Wonder Woman artists alongside George Perez and Phil Jimenez in my eyes. Hopefully she comes back to this title after she concludes her next arc of Black Magic.

[Joao]

I liked it, but I agree with others that it did feel rushed. And yeah, don't get me started on the Shakespearean speech. Blah. Part of me is happy that Year One is over and that we can focus on her present adventures (or the pasts of other WW characters). But the other part is like... no more Nicola Scott?!?!

Pretty much how I feel. Nicola is a goddess. And as much as I love Bilquis Evely (a fellow Brazilian artist!), her style is drastically different. I'm excited though, her character designs are amazing and richly detailed. I hope she fits the story.

[Nyssane]

Pretty much how I feel. Nicola is a goddess. And as much as I love Bilquis Evely (a fellow Brazilian artist!), her style is drastically different. I'm excited though, her character designs are amazing and richly detailed. I hope she fits the story.

In a perfect world, Evely will do the post-Year One six and then Nicola Scott the six after, and the two could alternate while Liam Scott continues with the Lies story arcs. Because I do love me some Bilquis Evely too.

[millernumber1]

Right? Nicola Scott has ascended to the "holy trinity" of Wonder Woman artists alongside George Perez and Phil Jimenez in my eyes. Hopefully she comes back to this title after she concludes her next arc of Black Magic.

I adore Nicola's art, have ever since she did a one-shot for the Angel TV series tie. I think I heard that Black Magik has...a two year story? Or maybe a 5 year story? Pretty sure she won't come back until that's done.

[LordTrump]

The pacing of this has been awful. Ares shows up for 5 seconds and y'all are like "yeah, waaaaaay better than azzarrello!!!" Her using the lasso on him is supposed to last ditch after her physical fighting is squandered and she realizes she can't beat him physically. It's both why it's weird to have him in injustice as well as make this fight so awful. Ares here couldn't beat Ambush Bug.

[Koriand'r]

Pretty much how I feel. Nicola is a goddess. And as much as I love Bilquis Evely (a fellow Brazilian artist!), her style is drastically different. I'm excited though, her character designs are amazing and richly detailed. I hope she fits the story.

Ewww, I don't like her style at all.

[Scott Taylor]

Ares is such a diva.