The G.W.Wilson run in review

[brettc1]

Bleh.

That’s about the best way I can describe it. Sub-par, Lacklustre, and uninspiring also come to mind.

From the first arc where Diana was unable to stop Ares from blowing up a family while she was right there watching, I had trepidation’s about the direction GWW was going. Things only got more worries one when she failed to defeat Ares in pitched combat while Aphrodite was able to stop him with a few words.

It’s not that the writing of Wonder Woman herself was inconsistent, it’s that it was consistently unremarkable and outshone by the authors own new characters, noteably Maggie and Atlantiades. Over and over again Diana underperformed and had to be rescued by her secondary characters. When not being physically overwhelmed, she was made to agonise over her worthiness.

GWW said it took a while find Diana’s voice. Apparently when she discovered it, it was the voice of an barely trained novice struggling with personal esteem issues, who often looked ready to cry if spoke harshly to her. The only times she won a fight cleanly it was wrapped up so briefly and without spectacle that it seemed the writer was actually more interested in getting to Diana’s next dressing down.

Add to that plots that went nowhere (Grail, the Zoo Crew) and Diana not even noticing she lost her most prized possession, and you are left with a run that has the basic element of storytelling but lacks any true flavour. It’s like a sandwich with no fillling, just bread and butter.

Measured alongside her appearances in the Team book JL DARK, GWW’s Diana comes off as a very poor second. I’ve read worse runs with Wonder Woman, but a good many that were better.

[Manakel]

I liked the 5 or 10 first issues but then it all descend in a spiral to nowhere. To compare it with Rucka, with his run he opened doors for other writer and use what is already there to tell a great story. Wilson close the doors and feel obligated to invent things (not even consistent with previous issues) in order to tell a story. It startee with a good intention but ended badly. By the way Ared was searching for Athena but it seems Wilson didn't even care about what she put in motion.

[Factor]

It was definitely a disappointment. I absolutely love her Ms Marvel, so I was really excited for her take on WW, but it seems like she never really found her voice in the book.
It was by no means bad, but I guess we were expecting a character-defining run and got some okay arcs instead.

[Dr. Poison]

For me, it felt like a lot of false hope that never panned out. 2 stars.

[Nyssane]

2 Stars. Nowhere near the atrocities that are the Finch/Robinson runs, but ultimately very meh. It's a shame because there were some great concepts there, and I particularly liked the direction she was going in with Ares.

[Vordan]

Pretty meh. I’d rate it along the post-Rucka/pre-Robinson runs. Not terrible, just boring for the most part, and with little staying power.

[Gaelforce]

Two stars.

I never once felt that we got a Wonder Woman story in all of this time. Just about every single time (I think the only exception was her hugging it out with Cale), someone else solved the problem for her. Every 'feat' we saw was followed almost immediately by a loss that required the intervention of Aphrodite/Maggie/Atlantiades to ultimately win.

The bulk of it, in context, comes across as Maggie's story, including her sudden re-appearance as a full-fledged Amazon at the end of the run (is she Diana's replacement in the upcoming storyline?), and Atlantiades story as they discover who they really are.

We got the zoo crew, who just up and vanished, we got Maggie, who was the hero more often than Diana was, and we got the death of Aphrodite and the apotheosis of Atlantiades. I really hate to say this, but it feels like one of the major points of this entire run was to add a gender fluid character to Diana's pantheon of gods.

I just felt that, like I felt with Azzarello, Wilson had a story she wanted to tell and just used Diana's book to tell it. Diana was pretty much irrelevant, the ending felt rushed and the storyline still feels incomplete.

It's really a shame because I loved her run on Ms. Marvel and I admire her as a person, so I was really looking forward to her turn on Wonder Woman, but sadly, I've been disappointed from the get-go.

I'm tired of seeing Diana having to be torn down in one way or another and I long for the powerful, compassionate, competent and, most importantly of all for me, *confident* superhero I love.

[SiegePerilous02]

Meh. The first couple arcs were shaky but showed some promise, that unfortunately seemed less and less likely to materialize as the issues and arcs progressed.

I can't say I;m sorry to see Wilson go at this point. I'm sure she's a talented writer, this just wasn't a good fit for her.

I just felt that, like I felt with Azzarello, Wilson had a story she wanted to tell and just used Diana's book to tell it. Diana was pretty much irrelevant, the ending felt rushed and the storyline still feels incomplete.

Agreed, though I'd say that while Azzarello got a lot wrong, he at least had some better moments for Diana.
She definitely doesn't come off as weak willed there as she does here. I'd say Wilson is better than Robinson and Finch, but far below Rucka and even Azz in some ways.

[Nyssane]

Oh, yeah. Maggie was just such a random character to introduce and spend so much time on. Any time she saved Diana, I just rolled my eyes. Wilson perpetuated the cardinal sin of Wonder Woman by creating a new character and pushing them instead of focusing on Wonder Woman and her existing characters (who definitely still need it - where the eff are the Oddfellows? Where's Manny and the two other dudes who worked with Steve?). She could've spent that time developing the far more interesting trio of mythological misfits.

[Dr. Poison]

Meh. The first couple arcs were shaky but showed some promise, that unfortunately seemed less and less likely to materialize as the issues and arcs progressed.

I can't say I;m sorry to see Wilson go at this point. I'm sure she's a talented writer, this just wasn't a good fit for her.



Agreed, though I'd say that while Azzarello got a lot wrong, he at least had some better moments for Diana.
She definitely doesn't come off as weak willed there as she does here. I'd say Wilson is better than Robinson and Finch, but far below Rucka and even Azz in some ways.

Wait a minute folks. As I said earlier, Wilson's run was a disappointment for me. While I agree that Wonder Woman never really shined in Wilson's run and didn't have any memorable moments and many storylines feel incomplete, this was nowhere near as bad as Azzarello's dumpster fire. Yes, Azzarello gave Diana a few good moments but he also gave her some of the worst moments in her publishing history such as when she crunched Orion's testicles, threatened to castrate him, and impaled/killed her mentor Ares(who was not a villain in that continuity). These horrific moments more than eclipse the few shards of good moments Azz gave to Diana. While Wilson didn't do much good for Diana, she certainly didn't give Diana any character assassination moments like Azzarello did so that should count for something IMO.

[SiegePerilous02]

Wait a minute folks. As I said earlier, Wilson's run was a disappointment for me. While I agree that Wonder Woman never really shined in Wilson's run and didn't have any memorable moments and many storylines feel incomplete, this was nowhere near as bad as Azzarello's dumpster fire. Yes, Azzarello gave Diana a few good moments but he also gave her some of the worst moments in her publishing history such as when she crunched Orion's testicles, threatened to castrate him, and impaled/killed her mentor Ares(who was not a villain in that continuity). These horrific moments more than eclipse the few shards of good moments Azz gave to Diana. While Wilson didn't do much good for Diana, she certainly didn't give Diana any character assassination moments like Azzarello did so that should count for something IMO.

Agree to disagree. When I re-read the run, I was mostly fine with Diana herself even though I still can't stand the Amazons or ignoring established characters.

But those moments aside (and I'm not too bothered by any of those at this point), there are more "Hell yeah!" moments for Diana there than here I felt. Like shooting the love bullets at Hades and defeating Artemis in God Mode. We didn't even get anything approaching that here.

Regardless, I'd rather read Rucka, Perez or Marston than either of them.

[Dr. Poison]

Agree to disagree. When I re-read the run, I was mostly fine with Diana herself even though I still can't stand the Amazons or ignoring established characters.

But those moments aside (and I'm not too bothered by any of those at this point), there are more "Hell yeah!" moments for Diana there than here I felt. Like shooting the love bullets at Hades and defeating Artemis in God Mode. We didn't even get anything approaching that here.

Regardless, I'd rather read Rucka, Perez or Marston than either of them.

I definitely agree on your last point.

I can't, however, agree that a few victories for Diana in Azz's run overshadow the train-wreck moments that I mentioned in my previous post.

[Sacred Knight]

2. It was basically a less-clunky Robinson run. It had the same types of problems.

And for the record I to would take Azz's run any day over this. I vehemently disagree he ever gave her character assassination moments. The problem with Azz's run were sex pirate Amazons, and a new supporting cast overtaking Diana at times (a common problem in many runs as we've seen). Everything else was pretty damn awesome, and worthy of the critical acclaim it received at the time.

[SiegePerilous02]

2. It was basically a less-clunky Robinson run. It had the same types of problems.

And for the record I to would take Azz's run any day over this. I vehemently disagree he ever gave her character assassination moments. The problem with Azz's run were sex pirate Amazons, and a new supporting cast overtaking Diana at times (a common problem in many runs as we've seen). Everything else was pretty damn awesome, and worthy of the critical acclaim it received at the time.

One thing that helps it tremendously for me is the artwork, at least when Chiang himself was drawing. Even if I dislike what is going on plot wise (like everything to do with the Amazons), at least the book's style was carrying it.

We couldn't even get that here with the constant rotation of underwhelming artists.

[Gaelforce]

Okay, my fault for bringing up Azzarello, but the comparison wasn't on particulars but style. IMO both Azzarello and Wilson felt like they came into the book with a story/direction that was divorced from Diana and her cast. Both introduced new characters (or new versions of them) and the narratives of each seemed to focus more on these newly introduced characters and their stories than on Diana and hers.

Let's not let this stray into yet another good/bad Azzarello thread, please.