Wonder Woman #21 - Discussion & Spoilers

[Mel Dyer]

When it comes down to liking it and wanting more of the same, on a scale of 1-5 - five, being very much - I liked it and wanted more, ..very much.

For my money, the die is cast for the forseeable future. I like the cast of regulars, excluding recurring characters and villains. Though I would like to add one more female regular, I would absolutely love to see them continue in the comic. I liked the villains, so much, I'm sorry they didn't have more to do and can't wait to see what they will do NEXT! While the comic'snot perfect, it was entertaining, ..and there's nothing here that I find so objectionable that I wouldn't buy the next comic.

As for Diana, her pretentious Shakespeare-in-the-Park dialogue in the past comics - thee, thou, thine, doth, art - is something I can do without. The faux-Elizabethan pretentions really did surprise me, because I don't think of Mr. Rucka as a pretentious writer, who needs to do something like that. Just the same, the rest of the run has been so-ooo goodish, even that awful scripting, which I doth HATE, won't keepeth me from checking out the next issue.

I think there's solid ground here that can be built upon, even if the next writer tweaks it, a little. I think the next creative team can leave everything in the comic, as is, and season to taste. That's progressive, considering where this comic has been. That's hopeful.

[Agent Z]

When it comes down to liking it and wanting more of the same, on a scale of 1-5 - five, being very much - I liked it and wanted more, ..very much.

For my money, the die is cast for the forseeable future. I like the cast of regulars, excluding recurring characters and villains. Though I would like to add one more female regular, I would absolutely love to see them continue in the comic. I liked the villains, so much, I'm sorry they didn't have more to do and can't wait to see what they will do NEXT! While the comic'snot perfect, it was entertaining, ..and there's nothing here that I find so objectionable that I wouldn't buy the next comic.

As for Diana, her pretentious Shakespeare-in-the-Park dialogue in the past comics - thee, thou, thine, doth, art - is something I can do without. The faux-Elizabethan pretentions really did surprise me, because I don't think of Mr. Rucka as a pretentious writer, who needs to do something like that. Just the same, the rest of the run has been so-ooo goodish, even that awful scripting, which I doth HATE, won't keepeth me from checking out the next issue.

I think there's solid ground here that can be built upon, even if the next writer tweaks it, a little. I think the next creative team can leave everything in the comic, as is, and season to taste. That's progressive, considering where this comic has been. That's hopeful.

When did Diana ever talk like that?

[Mel Dyer]

When did Diana ever talk like that?

Taketh another goodish look at Wonder Woman's first battle with Ares. It's like Rucka was parodying Perez, for a few panels - thee, thou, thine dialogue doth sayeth ALL, Agent Z!

Thou art truly evil, yon Darkish Lord! Thou doth verily foul the very air, we doth breatheth! Back war god! Back to yonder Areopagus!

I cannot be the only person, who read this issue.

[Frontier]

I can't wait until the next issue. Diana in Vegas? I'm down .

I think the version of Ares that we saw in this issue was the one you mentioned just without his armor on.

I am wondering if we're going to see Ares go full-on God of War mode at some point before Rucka's run ends, if only to see how the genuine article looks and compares to Deimos and Phobos' pretending to be their father.

[Dr. Poison]

I can't wait until the next issue. Diana in Vegas? I'm down .

I am wondering if we're going to see Ares go full-on God of War mode at some point before Rucka's run ends, if only to see how the genuine article looks and compares to Deimos and Phobos' pretending to be their father.

Good point. Perhaps he'll look a bit more like Sharp's rendition of the character from this cover:

[brettc1]

While I am sure I'm supposed to be impressed that Dian is barely slowed down after being shot twice through the body, I was mostly trying to rationalize how that can happen the second time when she know bullets are coming at her.

Considering we've seen past versions block attacks coming from 360 degrees, this seemed like nerfing to me.

Good to see Diana offering to help Cale with her daughter, rather than blaming her for putting other lives in danger to protect her family as Rucka did in his first run years ago

And hey, does Ares look a lot like Superman?

[Vanguard-01]

While I am sure I'm supposed to be impressed that Dian is barely slowed down after being shot twice through the body, I was mostly trying to rationalize how that can happen the second time when she know bullets are coming at her.

Considering we've seen past versions block attacks coming from 360 degrees, this seemed like nerfing to me.

Good to see Diana offering to help Cale with her daughter, rather than blaming her for putting other lives in danger to protect her family as Rucka did in his first run years ago

And hey, does Ares look a lot like Superman?

It was still coming at her from a sniper rifle in a concealed location. Diana knew bullets were coming her way but she didn't know specifically from where. Lots of sniper rifles fire supersonic rounds, so hearing it would be tough. A flash suppressor would cut down on visual cues as well.

You could also make a case that she just wasn't fully concentrating since she was concerned about Steve at the time she got hit that second time.

Bottom line? Getting hit that second time let her figure out from whence the next bullet would come and she blocked that one easily.

[Largo161]

Sharp did awesome work on this issue. Previously I wasn't sold on his action sequences, but this was good. Both he and Evely are upping their game as we get to the conclusion

[brettc1]

It was still coming at her from a sniper rifle in a concealed location. Diana knew bullets were coming her way but she didn't know specifically from where. Lots of sniper rifles fire supersonic rounds, so hearing it would be tough. A flash suppressor would cut down on visual cues as well.

You could also make a case that she just wasn't fully concentrating since she was concerned about Steve at the time she got hit that second time.

Bottom line? Getting hit that second time let her figure out from whence the next bullet would come and she blocked that one easily.

Sadly the sound argument doesn't really work, because her enemies are firing at her on full auto. So how could he hear individual bullets anyway.

As for the speed of the bullets, heat vision travels a lot faster.

I get Ruckas intent and the first shot was clever. After that it's hard to justify the second shot based on precedent.

[Vanguard-01]

Sadly the sound argument doesn't really work, because her enemies are firing at her on full auto. So how could he hear individual bullets anyway.

She does it all the time under normal circumstances. Does it make sense? Does ANYTHING Superman and Wonder Woman typically do make sense? No. But it's well-documented that Diana has something of a sixth sense for detecting danger. Maybe not quite as good as Spider-Sense, but not far off either.

As for the speed of the bullets, heat vision travels a lot faster.

Well first, a bullet only has to travel faster than sound to be impossible for her to hear coming. Technically, a sniper rifle firing a Kryptonite bullet at supersonic speeds would be all it would really take to kill or at least wound Superman. His super-hearing can't help him if the bullet arrives before the sound does.

Second? DOES heat vision travel faster than a supersonic bullet? We have no idea just how fast it really travels. Because it looks like a laser (well, a sci-fi laser anyway) we tend to assume that it moves at light, or near-light, speed, but there's no real proof of that. Indeed, seeing as how Batman and less powerful heroes have managed to dodge his heat vision, despite having nowhere near light-speed reaction times, it seems likely that heat vision doesn't really move very fast at all.

I get Ruckas intent and the first shot was clever. After that it's hard to justify the second shot based on precedent.

I just chalk it up to 1.) her not knowing where the shot was coming from, 2.) her being distracted defending herself from automatic weapons fire and wanting to insure Steve's safety, and 3.) the fact that the bullet may have been coming too fast for her to hear it. It's kind of a perfect storm of factors all working against her.

[marhawkman]

Yeah, it's always a lot easier to stop something you know is coming. Like the saying goes "forewarned is forearmed".

[brettc1]

She does it all the time under normal circumstances. Does it make sense? Does ANYTHING Superman and Wonder Woman typically do make sense? No. But it's well-documented that Diana has something of a sixth sense for detecting danger. Maybe not quite as good as Spider-Sense, but not far off either.

This is the root of the problem. Rucka is trying to circumvent the non-sensical via logic.

Well first, a bullet only has to travel faster than sound to be impossible for her to hear coming. Technically, a sniper rifle firing a Kryptonite bullet at supersonic speeds would be all it would really take to kill or at least wound Superman. His super-hearing can't help him if the bullet arrives before the sound does.

Again this makes sense. But when Superman can hear a signal watch a hundred miles away the second it is pressed (instead of eight minutes later when the sound would reach him, if it did at all with all the competing sound waves in between]] or from the edge of space with no air to transmit sound, we see that again you cannot use logic to circumvent the ridiculous.

Second? DOES heat vision travel faster than a supersonic bullet? We have no idea just how fast it really travels. Because it looks like a laser (well, a sci-fi laser anyway) we tend to assume that it moves at light, or near-light, speed, but there's no real proof of that. Indeed, seeing as how Batman and less powerful heroes have managed to dodge his heat vision, despite having nowhere near light-speed reaction times, it seems likely that heat vision doesn't really move very fast at all.

Clark can fire his heat vision across hundreds of miles and have it hit the target instantly. So it's speed is at least hundreds of miles per second, at least thirty times faster than a hypersonic bullet. Again, very little about Batgod makes sense LOL

I just chalk it up to 1.) her not knowing where the shot was coming from, 2.) her being distracted defending herself from automatic weapons fire and wanting to insure Steve's safety, and 3.) the fact that the bullet may have been coming too fast for her to hear it. It's kind of a perfect storm of factors all working against her.

Interestingly it's Steve who saves her from the second shot. Yay