Wonder Woman #38 - Spoilers

[Nyssane]

This was... about how I expected.

Vanessa Kapatelis was a young girl saved by Diana and Steve a while back. While she was hospitalized, Diana kept her company and Vanessa considered her to be "Wonder Woman's Best Friend." A new surgical procedure based on Cyborg allowed Vanessa to move her legs. After a while, Diana stopped showing up, Vanessa's mother Julia died in a "freak car accident," and Vanessa was driven to madness.

Meanwhile, Jason is partying it up in Diana's home. Diana scolds him and blah blah. Then, Steve (who is hunting for Giganta's artifacts in Istanbul) tells Diana there was a distress call from a family Diana had saved earlier in the issue. She goes to the house to find Vanessa as the Silver Swan standing over the family's dead bodies.

Dialogue was the standard awkward Robinson fare. Vanessa's backstory incorporated a lot of elements of Helen Alexandros's (being a ballet dancer) which makes me wonder why they didn't just use Helen. Because this leads to the biggest insult of all: the off-panel death of Julia Kapatelis. Julia was such a major presence in Perez's run that it's just such a slap in the face to longtime fans. Of course, this could just be a fakeout and there could be some dramatic "she wasn't REALLY dead" trope. But it just seems pretty awful.

Also, Steve called Diana "Angel" almost exclusively... it's cute once or twice but not seven times.

The positives? I really liked the art. And Silver Swan doesn't look as bad in-comic as she did on the variant cover.

[DragonPiece]

Don't hate the issue, like you said the art was nice, nitpicks like steve calling Diana angel too much doesn't bother me. I only read bits of the new 52 run and Rucka's run, so I didn't have a previous attachment to this character. Overall a solid read, hopefully Robinson can at least continue this pace and not do as bad as he did in the last arc.

[Rakzo]

Thought this was much better than the last few issues. Classic Robinson mix of interesting reinventions and awkward dialogue (but not as awkward as the last arc).

Great art fron Lupacchino. Promising overall.

[MarquisAsh]

Robinson is getting much better. A little more work on the dialogue like you all said. I love the reference to Liam Sharps Wonder Woman run when she was at the mall. I predicted Jason was going to have a party in Diana’s house lol

[Koriand'r]

Since when does Wonder Woman talk about Jäger shots and gutting fish? Why is she using sarcasm all of a sudden and so self aware? This issue she spoke entirely out of character, but I enjoyed every minute of it!

[Harpsikord]

I actually like this. It wasn't my favorite but it was still good. Silver Swan's design is actually beautiful and menacing, and I'd love to see Luppachino around indefinitely.

I had no attachment to Julia Kapatelis but it's a shame she was basically fridged.

[AmiMizuno]

It seems like their playing with all of three of the Silver swans origins mixing them together. I wonder before this who did you want to be the Silver Swan? Do you still want Helen or Valerie to come back?

[WonderScott]

This was... about how I expected.

Vanessa Kapatelis was a young girl saved by Diana and Steve a while back. While she was hospitalized, Diana kept her company and Vanessa considered her to be "Wonder Woman's Best Friend." A new surgical procedure based on Cyborg allowed Vanessa to move her legs. After a while, Diana stopped showing up, Vanessa's mother Julia died in a "freak car accident," and Vanessa was driven to madness.

Meanwhile, Jason is partying it up in Diana's home. Diana scolds him and blah blah. Then, Steve (who is hunting for Giganta's artifacts in Istanbul) tells Diana there was a distress call from a family Diana had saved earlier in the issue. She goes to the house to find Vanessa as the Silver Swan standing over the family's dead bodies.

Dialogue was the standard awkward Robinson fare. Vanessa's backstory incorporated a lot of elements of Helen Alexandros's (being a ballet dancer) which makes me wonder why they didn't just use Helen. Because this leads to the biggest insult of all: the off-panel death of Julia Kapatelis. Julia was such a major presence in Perez's run that it's just such a slap in the face to longtime fans. Of course, this could just be a fakeout and there could be some dramatic "she wasn't REALLY dead" trope. But it just seems pretty awful.

Also, Steve called Diana "Angel" almost exclusively... it's cute once or twice but not seven times.

The positives? I really liked the art. And Silver Swan doesn't look as bad in-comic as she did on the variant cover.

Ugh. Mergh.

I haven't read the issue yet, but I'm kind of sadly chuckling at Vanessa being a ballet dancer, because that was so not her character in the Perez. She was kind of the epitome of sweet and awkward.

I'll have to see what I think and feel after reading it.

[CRaymond]

Silver Swan's design is actually beautiful and menacing, and I'd love to see Luppachino around indefinitely.

Can we get a scan?

[Sacred Knight]

Julia's death was so vague and glossed over that, being a comic book, I wouldn't be surprised if she's not really dead at all. Granted it works just the way it was written if indeed its straightforward, but again, being a comic, I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to her fate.

Art was great, some of the best Lupacchino's put out and that's saying something. I too dig the Silver Swan costume.

[Nyssane]

Can we get a scan?

Julia's death was so vague and glossed over that, being a comic book, I wouldn't be surprised if she's not really dead at all.

I *really* hope you're right. I just don't see Robinson doing it himself. It'll likely have to be something a future writer undoes.

[Sacred Knight]

Also I'm guessing that the source of her abilities are of course the Cyborg-tech nanites used to help her walk again. It was said it was up to her whether they worked or not, that basically her brain had to will it and essentially tell them what to fix. In her anger she's now telling them to do all this, the wings, the powers, etc.

Further, wouldn't be surprised if she continues to play a role when Darkseid shows back up. Tech based on Cyborg equals New God technology now. So there's an unspoken connection now in her origin.

[Astroman]

I enjoyed the text and dialogue much more than the previous arc and am looking forward to the next ish.

[CRaymond]

image

Thank you very much!

It's funny that Robinson is using retroengineered New God tech to create the Silver Swan. In my reimagining of Vanessa, she's modified using confiscated Thanagarian tech (wings) and some Cyborg parts by the hands of Sarah Charles. Now I'm wondering if I can implement the Tar drug into the Vanessa origin, and let that destroy her mind and then her body.

It really is a shame about Julia.

[SiegePerilous02]

I wasn't overly attached to Julia, but this off-panel death is really annoying. Especially as it sounds like she never had a chance to have much of a relationship with Diana. I disliked Perez pushing her and Vanessa as Diana's main supporting cast and barely utilizing Steve and Etta, and jettisoning others like Darnell and the Holliday Girls completely, but this is too far in the other direction. Robinson could have established Barbara's role as curator of the Black Room for ARGUS as still being canon*, and brought in Julia as her replacement. Diana having a second mother-like figure wasn't really necessary in the post-Crisis canon when she could just fly home, but here it could have worked with Themyscira being hidden. What a waste.

Silver Swan's design looks better in the comic. But, what with the ballet elements and not even bothering with Julia, why not use Helen instead?

*One of the few ideas for New 52 Cheetah that had potential, and it even works better with Rucka's Barbara than it did with Johns's/Ostrander's.