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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 23, 2016 10:59:20 GMT -5
 I finished Volume Six of New 52 Wonder Woman, Bones, a couple of nights ago. This is the conclusion of the major Wonder Woman storyline that started with the first issue of Wonder Woman when the New 52 started in 2011. Written by Brian Azzarello. Art by Cliff Chiang. It was epic! (And I don't mean "epic" in the comic-book sense where there was a long, dull story where the Multiverse was threatened and almost destroyed yet again.) I collected the first 18 issues of Wonder Woman before I quit comics for a while starting in 2013, and New 52 Wonder Woman was probably the series I most looked forward to every month. It was a love/hate relationship as Azzarello mixes in a lot of stupid stuff. Like the method by which the Amazons procreate. They swarm onto a lone ship in the middle of the ocean, seduce the men and then kill them. Stupid. There were a lot of lame rationalizations for this from Azzarello's fans. It was allegedly faithful to the Greek myths about the Amazons. Even if this was true, so what? I don't see any reason to feel bound to the myths of a misogynistic culture. And it isn't true anyway. There is no version of the Amazon myth where they attack a ship and kill all the men. It was a dumb move. It seemed that Azzarello was upset by the idea of a society of women without a deep, dark secret like this. (Within the story, I treat it as a slander spread by the male gods. I like to think that Azzarello intended it to be interpreted that way.) And then there's Wonder Woman's parentage. It turns out that Zeus is Wonder Woman's father. I don't really have a problem with getting rid of the "molded out of clay" origin. But making Zeus the father is such a trite cliché of Greek mythology. And besides that, it's a missed opportunity. Hercules should be Wonder Woman's father! I'm not pulling that out of left field. It's right there in Wonder Woman's origin in the first issue of Wonder Woman from 1942. When Hercules and his army can't defeat the Amazons fairly in battle, he seduces Hippolyta and steals her girdle. Also, some of the designs of the Greek gods are really dumb. I got used to Poseidon, but Hades ruins every page where he appears. (A lot of them are pretty cool, I admit. I love every panel where Artemis appears.) But spread over so many issues, Azzarello did so many things right! I still haven't read the whole thing. In the collected editions, the story is spread out over six volumes. Volume Four ( War) takes up where I quit reading it, continues into Volume Five ( Flesh) and concludes in Volume Six ( Bones). And my library system has Volumes Four and Six but not Five. But I have read the conclusion. And there's more to like than there is to dislike. It's about the power struggle in Olympus when Zeus disappears. There are several major contenders. Among the old gods, the best bet is Apollo. But there are a couple of new faces in the mix. Most important for most of the twists and turns of the story is the First Born. He is a piece of work! He is the oldest child of Zeus and Hera and he was buried deep in the Earth and abandoned when he was born. He hates everything. He is sadistic and hateful and horrible and terrifying. And he's great for this storyline but I hope they never bring him back. Also very important in the fight for the succession is the Last Born, Zeus's last child, the baby Zeke. This mother is a mortal, the tomboy farm girl Zola. But Zeke is a rather passive character as he is just a baby and only weighs about ten pounds. Wonder Woman gathers an interesting cast of characters in her long struggle to protect Zeke and stop the First Born. My favorite is Hera. It was so nice to see somebody treating Hera like a character instead of mostly ignoring her the way they do in most adaptations of the Greek myths! (A notable exception is the film Jason and the Argonauts. Hera is played by Pussy Galore! Awesome!) Like I said, there's so much to love in this version of Wonder Woman. Ares is pretty cool. The New Gods show up. Hermes has bird feet. And Strife! I love Strife. I think I like her even better than Artemis.  It has its problems beyond what I've discussed here. But when it's good, it's great! Azzarello aims high and misses the target a lot. But it is so spot-on so much of the time. Recommended for Wonder Woman fans willing to bite the bullet and deal with the dumb stuff knowing that it's going to get a lot better within a page or two. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 23, 2016 15:41:49 GMT -5
You really make me want to pick up that run, HoosierX! (And I have read none of the Nu52 books!)
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 23, 2016 18:49:02 GMT -5
This week's Hyperion #1 was pretty interesting. What's so weird about the character is that he's a complete carbon copy of Superman but written in such a way where he has a broader appeal, even probably exceeding that of Superman, at least that's how I felt with his Supreme Power interpretation
However, I'm still kind of leery of it eventually becoming a forced tie-in to Standoff
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 23, 2016 19:42:45 GMT -5
You really make me want to pick up that run, HoosierX! (And I have read none of the Nu52 books!) I can see why a lot of people who never cared too much about Wonder Woman think it's so great. Personally, I think it needed an editorial tweak here and there from somebody who'd read a Wonder Woman comic book now and then. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Best Wonder Woman ever? Uh, no. |
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Post by String on Mar 23, 2016 22:03:50 GMT -5
You really make me want to pick up that run, HoosierX! (And I have read none of the Nu52 books!) I can see why a lot of people who never cared too much about Wonder Woman think it's so great. Personally, I think it needed an editorial tweak here and there from somebody who'd read a Wonder Woman comic book now and then. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Best Wonder Woman ever? Uh, no. I'd heard great things about Azzarello's run and your comments certainly would support those views regardless. I may check this out at some point. (Heck I still need to catch up on re-reading Perez's WW run post-Crisis) The last time I read any WW was Rucka's run pre-Infinite Crisis and I think pre-52 too. Due to the JLU cartoon, the wife wanted to read some of Diana and that was the run at that time so I added it to my pull list and read each issue after she was done. Again, I think no one writes strong female leads like Rucka does and I seem to remember liking how he incorporated some ancient Greek fable elements and traditions into his stories. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Mar 24, 2016 3:27:40 GMT -5
You really make me want to pick up that run, HoosierX! (And I have read none of the Nu52 books!) At one point it was the only DC title I was still picking up. (I had no problem with the Zeus reveal as I never cared for the molded-from-clay origin.) |
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 25, 2016 9:06:15 GMT -5
I ordered a bunch of new comics, mostly getting some of the comics I missed between 2013 and now. I got the next two issues of Birds of Prey to finish the Mr. Freeze storyline. Queen Sonja only lasted one issue after I quit in 2013, so I got that. I got a few more issues of FF, the series with Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Medusa and Darla Deering. I also ordered Comedian #6, the only issue of the Before Watchmen fiasco that I was missing. One of the major eBay dealers had most of the comics I wanted, but they didn't have Grayson #15 (which I need to complete the Robin War). I didn't want to spend $5 on postage just for one $3 book, so I browsed around for some of the other books I'm curious about. And I ended up getting the first four issues of the new Squadron Supreme series. I love this cover. It's a variant that was not available from the dealer I used. (It seems to be rather expensive as I've seen it for $12.) So it looks like, yeah, I pulled the trigger on Squadron Supreme. I was hoping to flip through it at the LCS or Barnes and Noble before committing. I really really hope it's not terrible. (I just had a fearsome thought! What if Norman Osborne turns out to be their major villain? My biggest pet peeve with modern Marvel is bringing back Osborne, making up his affair with Gwen Stacy and then using him so much! Ugh! Norman Osborne is the main reason I will never read Spider-Man again.) |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 16:36:52 GMT -5
I thought Squadron Supreme started really weakly, but got a bit better over the last couple of issues - still not setting the world alight for me
On Osborn, I could certainly have done without the retcon relationship with Gwen Stacy (which I just don not find believable at all), but I think he was really used well after his return - Machiavellian but bordering on mad.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 25, 2016 17:19:36 GMT -5
I was at the library today to pick up this:  I already have all the Ozymandias issues (it's not a very good series) and I assume I have all the The Crimson Corsair issues, but I was never able to read them two pages at a time, the way they were originally printed in the back of all the Before Watchmen series. I've long been curious about whether or not The Crimson Corsair was any good. I was pleased to see the series had been collected and surprised I could get it through my library system! Hooray, San Bernardino County Library System! I haven't read it yet, so I may not be quite so pleased after I've been through it. Barnes & Noble is near the library, so I had a thought. I could go over and see if they have that Wonder Woman volume that the library system doesn't have. That's New 52 Wonder Woman, Volume Five, reprinting Wonder Woman 23.2, then 24 to 29. (I think.) It's called Flesh.  They have it! So I stood there and read 23.2 (the origin of the First Born) and 24, which has Apollo summoning Wonder Woman (she's now the god of war) to a meeting of the gods. It's pretty cool. And the cover to the next issue looks like this: I decided to wait until the next time I'm there to read the next chapter. I can hardly stand it! But I was running out of time, plus I like reading these things over a period of time. Then I went over to the magazine rack at B&N to check out the comics and they had Batgirl #49:  I think I've mentioned that I've been thinking of collecting Batgirl again. But I don't like Black Canary's white hair. If the creative team can't see that such an arbitrary change is unnecessary and silly, who knows what other foolishness they might inflict upon beloved characters? I'm not opposed to all changes, but at $4 or $5 a pop, I like to have a little more confidence that the property is being handled by people who care about the characters. So I decided to give it a chance and I read the first four or five pages. I like the art and I found the story intriguing. So I bought it. Batgirl is on probation! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 26, 2016 13:18:37 GMT -5
I've read about half the Crimson Corsair. It's pretty good! I hope the second half lives up to or surpasses the promise of the first half.
I thought I would recognize the storyline because I remember reading those two-page segments during the Before Watchmen period. But it didn't stick at all! There is not one image or situation or character that I recognize at all!
And I'm developing a theory about how Crimson Corsair works in the Watchmen Universe ...
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 27, 2016 2:47:00 GMT -5
This week's Hyperion #1 was pretty interesting. What's so weird about the character is that he's a complete carbon copy of Superman but written in such a way where he has a broader appeal, even probably exceeding that of Superman, at least that's how I felt with his Supreme Power interpretation However, I'm still kind of leery of it eventually becoming a forced tie-in to Standoff Waitaminute: Hyperion has his own book, now? |
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 27, 2016 5:24:49 GMT -5
This week's Hyperion #1 was pretty interesting. What's so weird about the character is that he's a complete carbon copy of Superman but written in such a way where he has a broader appeal, even probably exceeding that of Superman, at least that's how I felt with his Supreme Power interpretation However, I'm still kind of leery of it eventually becoming a forced tie-in to Standoff Waitaminute: Hyperion has his own book, now? Yes and it co-stars androgynous boy-girl #23456 who needs Hyperion to be her "hero" |
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 27, 2016 7:12:47 GMT -5
Waitaminute: Hyperion has his own book, now? Yes and it co-stars androgynous boy-girl #23456 who needs Hyperion to be her "hero" I am less than enthused. |
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Post by hondobrode on Mar 27, 2016 17:36:05 GMT -5
I can see why a lot of people who never cared too much about Wonder Woman think it's so great. Personally, I think it needed an editorial tweak here and there from somebody who'd read a Wonder Woman comic book now and then. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Best Wonder Woman ever? Uh, no. I'd heard great things about Azzarello's run and your comments certainly would support those views regardless. I may check this out at some point. (Heck I still need to catch up on re-reading Perez's WW run post-Crisis) The last time I read any WW was Rucka's run pre-Infinite Crisis and I think pre-52 too. Due to the JLU cartoon, the wife wanted to read some of Diana and that was the run at that time so I added it to my pull list and read each issue after she was done. Again, I think no one writes strong female leads like Rucka does and I seem to remember liking how he incorporated some ancient Greek fable elements and traditions into his stories. I liked Perez's version but didn't love it. Rucka had the best run IMO. |
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Post by berkley on Mar 28, 2016 1:31:51 GMT -5
I used to check out the Azzarello/Chiang WW every now and then to see how they handled the Greek mythology and the New Gods but wasn't impressed in either case. Orion was written as a sort of obnoxious, over-grown adolescent, while the Greek Gods were painted in tried and true superhero comic fashion as petty tyrants who needed to taught lessons in morality by WW & co. Most of Chiang's redesigns didn't work, for me. I thought the First-born was done pretty well, though even that tailed off towards the end. I won't be reading anything else by Azzarello.
I love Perez but his artwork was at a low ebb IMO during his WW run, except for his outstanding redesign of Ares. Rucka's I looked at a bit and thought there might be some potential there but it didn't last long enough to say for sure - or maybe I just didn't see enough of it. Also the artwork seemed terribly drab and dull.
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