Wonder Woman #34 - Discussion & Spoilers

[BrianWilly]

It doesn’t matter if the clay origin was confirmed or if she’s actually Zeus’s daughter. Rucka made it macrocosmically-clear that the gods granted Diana her powers. Even if she has to be Zeus daughter in defiance of all sense or continuity, her incredible powers are still the separate gifts of her patrons, like how neither Hercules or Perseus can fly or talk to animals without other gods allowing them to.

Even Shea Fontana went with this explanation. Her arc maintained that Diana’s body might be enhanced, but it was enhanced through the gods’ blessing.

The fact that Robinson is contradicting both those stories is his fault and his fault alone. Not even DC’s. As people have made clear, he could have gone with this pointless Zeus birth retcon and still had her powers come from all the gods. Instead he’s shown pretty abysmal understanding of both Wonder Woman’s stories from within the last two years and of Greek mythology in general.

[Nyssane]

Even if this is true it just seems like adding unnecessary layers that make the character even harder to understand IMO. This was unnecessarily sloppy given its been a year since rebirth and they did this to hammer out details that was missed in the new52.... the last part isnt directed at you but just me talking generally.

Oh, I 100% agree. It's making a messy story even messier.

[CRaymond]

Of Zeus' demigod children, only Alcaeus, Dionysus, Pollux, and Asterion and would be considered superhuman by comic book standards.

NOT A FAN of Azzarello's motley crew of demigods "mutants". Diana's divine blessings can be from a variety of places, it doesn't change HER.

[Astroman]

Winds don't even cause tsunamis, earthquakes do! I guess Jason just never took an elementary school science class lol?

That's not entirely true. There is a type of tsunami called a meteorological tsunami or 'meteotsunami' that are caused by weather.
http://theconversation.com/explainer...tsunamis-29584
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteotsunami

[Outside_85]

Of Zeus' demigod children, only Alcaeus, Dionysus, Pollux, and Asterion and would be considered superhuman by comic book standards.

Really? What about: Hecules, Apollo and Artemis?

[Gaelforce]

Really? What about: Hecules, Apollo and Artemis?

Apollo and Artemis are gods, not demi-gods, being the children of Zeus (a god) and Leto (a titan).

Or did I miss something here?

[NYCER]

Yeah, thats not what happened. They appear in one frame and the next she has power and says the patrons gave them to her.

In other words, Gaelforce is correct and your extrapolations from Rucka's text and Scott's art from WW #6 are clearly erroneous.

Nothing Rucka wrote supports your contention that "Diana is the daughter of Zeus . . . despite everything else" absent some major mental gymnastics and fanwankery.

Diana received her powers from the patrons because the patrons gave Diana "gifts." If she was already powered up by merely being Zeus's daughter, then why didn't she exhibit any until she ripped off the gate of her jail cell? The proposition you espouse is indeed nonsensical.

The return of Jason is simply yet another retcon in a long line of retcons of Diana's origins and mythology. Personally, I'm sick of it, but DC doesn't seem to care to sticking to a definitive version of Wonder Woman's origins.

[CRaymond]

Really? What about: Hecules, Apollo and Artemis?

Hercules is the Roman name for Heracles, whose birth name was Alcaeus.

As Gael says, Apollo and Artemis are twin children of Leto, the goddess of modesty and daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe.

Dionysus is a tricky case, being twice born as the god Zagreus if you follow that convoluted myth. Pollux is considered immortal following his death, but shares his immortality with his mortal twin brother. Asterion is a mortal monster.

[Sacred Knight]

....so he got his powers from Zeus, ("We're twins" he exclaims, noting that's why they both have powers) BUT DIana very clearly got her powers from the Patrons, who visited her while she was under military detainment....

so wtf? Can we just sweep this under the "well, he's the twin from the magical reality, and since that was created by the Gods, he's "real" and exists. But I was born of clay so we're spiritual siblings" and get this nonsense over with?

Nope, we can't. I mean, yes, they definitely need to clarify the power situation, but its not going to be in this way. They're not going to give the "Jason is a product of a false reality" narrative. I know some desperately want it, but its a pipe dream that's just not going to happen. Diana is still Zeus's child. Outside of showing the birth again, there's not much more the writing can do to be more clear on that. But they do need to clarify whether or not in this continuity if Diana has ever displayed any sort of ability inherited from her father. We know the vast majority if not all her powers come from her patrons again. But does she have god mode anymore, for instance? You went the pick and choose method again, so tie it together please. It doesn't have to even take that much time to clarify. Readers don't need things shoved in their face all the time, but clarification does become necessary when you choose to rework your continuity in this fashion all the time.

In fact I think it would be a better scenario if they just say that Diana inherited nothing power-wise from her father yet Jason did. But we need to know one way or the other.

[numberthirty]

In other words, Gaelforce is correct and your extrapolations from Rucka's text and Scott's art from WW #6 are clearly erroneous.

Nothing Rucka wrote supports your contention that "Diana is the daughter of Zeus . . . despite everything else" absent some major mental gymnastics and fanwankery.

Diana received her powers from the patrons because the patrons gave Diana "gifts." If she was already powered up by merely being Zeus's daughter, then why didn't she exhibit any until she ripped off the gate of her jail cell? The proposition you espouse is indeed nonsensical.

The return of Jason is simply yet another retcon in a long line of retcons of Diana's origins and mythology. Personally, I'm sick of it, but DC doesn't seem to care to sticking to a definitive version of Wonder Woman's origins.

A couple of things about that...

- First off, Diana absolutely exhibited what could be potentially be powers before being gifted. On the page.

- Second, we are talking about a run where Diana's mind is full of mental constructs she did no place there. It's not much of a stretch to buy into that checks on her powers were also built in.

[numberthirty]

Of Zeus' demigod children, only Alcaeus, Dionysus, Pollux, and Asterion and would be considered superhuman by comic book standards.

NOT A FAN of Azzarello's motley crew of demigods "mutants". Diana's divine blessings can be from a variety of places, it doesn't change HER.

Going to have to politely disagree, Perseus is straight up superhuman.

[Pinsir]

In ancient Greece Herakles was a god, he had a cult devoted to him and the Romans used the word to describe other deities in Celtic and Germanic cultures (Orgmos in Celtic, Thor in Germanic). Terminology such as demi-god didn't really mean all too much back then.

[CRaymond]

Going to have to politely disagree, Perseus is straight up superhuman.

Oh? Which myth? Please tell me. I immediately think of Perseus and Hercules, and I thought Perseus was gifted entirely with magical weapons.

In ancient Greece Herakles was a god, he had a cult devoted to him and the Romans used the word to describe other deities in Celtic and Germanic cultures (Orgmos in Celtic, Thor in Germanic). Terminology such as demi-god didn't really mean all too much back then.

The cult goes old too. The superhero strongman was worshipped in ancient Egypt as Khonsu.

For the sake of this discussion, we define demigod as individuals who have one human parent, one divine parent.

[numberthirty]

Oh? Which myth? Please tell me. I immediately think of Perseus and Hercules, and I thought Perseus was gifted entirely with magical weapons.

Yep.

That said, just that he could hang in there an not get killed right off the bat by some of the creatures he went up against feels pretty "Superhuman" to me.

[CRaymond]

Well this thread is chock full of differences in opinion.