Comic Craze

[viciouswishes]

I've always wanted to know more about Wonder Woman, beyond her theme song and lasso of truth and since DC is restarting the series, I figured it was the perfect time to pick up an issue.

In it, Wonder Woman is missing after she killed a villain. (She doesn't kill people as a rule.) So her sister, Donna has taken over as Wonder Woman. A group of supervillains attempted to capture Donna in order to lure Diana from hiding.

It was a little cheesy in plot. There were some ramblings of 'omg, look a woman saves men' which is too much of a simple gender switch for me. I was impressed by the art as Donna's boobs were proportional with her body and not coming out of her collarbone. I'll probably pick up the next issue to see where it's going.

Yes, this is the comic that will have the lesbian Batman. In fact, it already has a lesbian character, Montoya, an ex-cop. But don’t tell anyone that there will two lesbians. ;)

Since I don't know a lot about the DC 'verse, beyond Batman, Superman, and some of the JLA, I can't really say if there's off-characterization as a lot of the characters involved are minor/B characters whom I'm familiarizing myself with. Though I have seen complaints about Supergirl as cult leader.

But so far, I'm really enjoying the storytelling. I like ensemble storytelling on tv and I think they're doing a good job of it here. Liking five issues means that this is something I'll be reading every week.

Millar is writing Civil War and it's well, Millar. Kind of like an Angel speech if the entire AtS episode was Angel's exposition. Unfortunately, it's probably required reading for following the Civil War plotline.

Jenkin's Front Line is a lot better. It's looking at it from a media perspective, from a personal perspective. It takes the exposition and gives it character. So much better than the main Civil War one.

Now I have to read the second trade of Morgan's run of Black Widow. I'm sure it'll be just as awesome as the first one. Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, is a former KGB agent/spy who just wants to retire in the desert. She's angry and shoots people when they harass her and others.

Have you all gone to Girl-Wonder.org yet? There are some great comic discussions going on in the forums.

Bonus MP3: Kate Bush - This Woman's Work

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Gotta applaud your musical taste! Have you ever heard the French version of The Infant Kiss?


Gabrielle

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

It's on a live EP that I don't think is available on CD and it's just beautiful. Even better than the original version!


Gabrielle

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

It would be worth it for you to find a copy of Wonder Woman: An Illustrated History if you want a fairly concise history of the Amazing Amazon. I haven't picked up an issue of the relaunch yet but I probably will since my gf is way into Wonder Woman.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec. I'll have to check it out. *g*

[mmmchelle.livejournal.com]

Greg Rucka wrote Wonder Woman coming out as bisexual in the beginning of the plot line that eventually culminated in her disappearance. He also did a graphic novel before taking over the title called "Heketia." Hopefully, I spelled that correctly. Wonder Woman isn't openly bi in it, but the homoerotic subtext literally jumps off the page.

I just read the one where WW kills the head of Checkmate. I was with my friend M. who is a long time DC comics fan, and she found the killing quite disturbing, whereas I liked the fact that it was very pragmatic.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

That's definitely what I'd heard. (Oh, feminist comic blogs...) :)

I really do like heroes that have their shades of gray. For me, it's why Batman was always more appealing than say Superman.

[sheepfairy.livejournal.com]

I thought the new Wonder Woman was okay - I'm really not sure where they're going with it, though, so I'm still a little leary. DC comics has always kind of had a problem with the Wonder Woman series. The sales generally aren't very good, and so they like to try and change things up every couple of years, but all the shuffling around of her supporting characters and back history gets jarring after a while. Generally, I think she tends to be written better in group settings, or other characters' novels, which is sad. But I am hoping that the new series will help to turn things around some, and I do usually like Dodson's art.

And, yeah, the Supergirl thing is pretty wierd, but I've thought this new version of the character was weird since she showed up, so I just kind of shrug it off. Everybody else seems spot-on to me. Although, until now I hadn't known that Steel even had a niece, so I'm not quite up with my DC canon either.

Based on what you've said about Millar's Civil War, I think I might just download it off the internet instead of buying it.

And, I think I might go join girl-wonder now - It's so nice that more women are reading comic books now. Or, well, I guess they always were, but I don't feel as isolated about it now.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I've heard that Wonder Woman has had problems in the past, but I figure that I'd give it a try. The art was definitely great. I was happy about the realistic boobs.

Good to know about the rest of the characters.

I'll probably end up buying the rest. I'm weird about having it if I'm going to read it. That and I love my comic book store and want to support it.

I guess they always were, but I don't feel as isolated about it now.

Exactly.