DC Rebirth One Year Later – Wonder Woman

Welcome back to DC Rebirth One Year Later, where we look at DC books that are part of DC Comics’ Rebirth initiative one year after it began. And with this one, we’re looking at what quickly became one of the most anticipated books of the initiative after the creative team was announced: None other than the solo book of the Spirit of Truth and savior of the DC Extended Universe, Wonder Woman.

Once again, SPOILERS for anyone not caught up on the book, so turn back if you don’t wanna know what’s been going on without reading the book yourself. So, first off, I just wanna make clear that this book is SO cathartic for anyone who hated the New 52 Wonder Woman book. If you liked that book, and I know there were those who did, then I’m sorry, this book is probably not for you. But if you’ve been waiting for a return-to-form Wonder Woman, this is for you. And the decision to bring Greg Rucka back to write the book was a great choice by DC. Granted, I would’ve liked to see Gail Simone return to the book, but in hindsight, when it came to telling the opening stories of this book, Rucka was probably the better option. Hopefully, The Simone will return at a later point. Although, if you’ve been waiting for that moment as well, you might be interested to know that Gail Simone will be writing a Wonder Woman/Conan crossover book in the future, so there’s that.

So, again, this is very much return-to-form for Wonder Woman. During the events of Justice League’s Darkseid War, Diana learned that she had been deceived in regards to a great many things as it pertains to her past, which is further proven upon putting herself in the Lasso of Truth. To make a 24 (going on 25) issue story short, Diana never returned to Themyscira upon leaving it with Steve Trevor. The one we’ve seen her come back to in the New 52 is a fake, as have been the incarnations of the Greek Gods she’s encountered during that time. How and why this happened is still a little unclear, although I’m assuming this will be fully explained in #25 next week. What will also likely be explained is the true nature of Diana’s origins. The implication SEEMS to be that she was made from clay, but then how do you explain her apparent twin brother Jason (part of the revelation made in Darkseid War) being born on the same day, unless they were both made from clay? And what about the true nature of the fakes and their existence? They can’t simply be illusions, since Steve sees them too, and they created Donna Troy in the new continuity, and she’s very much real, but I’ll get into that when I talk about Titans.

Some people might see that as a cheap method of setting things back to the status quo, by implying that everything that’s happened with Wonder Woman in the New 52 no longer counts. I disagree. Other than the apparent retcon of her relationship with Superman due to events in his books (which I’ll get to when I talk about them), a lot of those stories still happened. The fact that she was interacting with people who weren’t necessarily real or genuine does not negate that fact. For better or worse, those events and how she handled them are a part of her history and contribute to her character development.

Wonder Woman, however, is not the only character being taken back to their core elements. Steve Trevor is back to his awesome-yet-constantly-needing-to-be-saved-by-Wonder-Woman self, and is reasserted as Diana’s primary love interest. Personally, I tend to prefer the idea that they USED to date, and that relationship helped better them as people before becoming just friends, but I can deal with them in a relationship far sooner than her and Superman. Etta Candy is sporting a new look wherein she’s still African-American like her New 52 self, but is also thicker and curvier. Also, she’s a hell of a lot more fun to read, which is a big point of interest for me, because I love when Etta Candy is a delight. Barbara Minerva’s backstory is made sympathetic again, and the tragedy of her transformation seems even more-so as it’s implied (if not outright stated) that she and Etta might have had feelings for each other. I DO have a bit of a nitpick in that I wish her design included the long red hair and a string bikini, perhaps similar to how she looks in Injustice 2 perhaps, but I at least get what they were doing with this look. The Amazons are also all brought back to their awesome selves, and it seems the idea of Hippolyta and Phillipus as a possible couple might be coming back, which is VERY appreciated. A lot of Diana’s rogues make returns, like Doctor Poison and Doctor Cyber, all of whom are appreciated. And then there’s Veronica Cale, and holy shit, does she work GREAT as one of the primary antagonists of this book. She’s just sympathetic enough in her character and the things that happen directly to her that you can at least understand some of the things she does, but man oh man, does she do some fucked up stuff to Diana and pretty much everyone who gets caught between them. There’s even a scene where she manages to get a leg up over Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor at an auction (long story for those who haven’t seen it), and it is glorious.

One thing that was a bit odd in terms of how this book has unfolded is that, because Wonder Woman was one of the books that would be released twice a month, Rucka was telling two different stories in the same book, with current events being told in the odd numbered issues, and past events being told in the even numbered issues. And while the end of each issue made clear which future issue would continue which story, it could prove confusing for anyone going into the book late and not knowing that. My advice? Wait for the trades to come out, since they collect the specific stories. And while it was released second, start with the Year One storyline, since it better explains everything. Plus, it’s probably my favourite arc of the book. Why? Wonder Woman’s origin story with Greg Rucka as the writer and Nicola Scott as the artist. That combination is, for a lack of a better term, wonderful.

…*sighs* But, now we gotta talk about where this book is going, and that’s where things get a bit murkier. If you haven’t read the most recent solicits from DC, it seems that James Robinson will be taking over as writer of the book in September, and that the first arc of his run will specifically be about Jason, the apparent twin brother of Wonder Woman. So, basically, we’re getting a Wonder Woman book…that is not actually ABOUT Wonder Woman, but a man. Granted, I fully expected the book would eventually get into explaining the existence of Diana’s brother, but if what we’ve heard and read about Robinson’s story is correct, then he is basically the star of this story, not Wonder Woman. This is more than a little problematic for many fans, for a few reasons. Even ignoring the fact that this is kind of a slap in the faces of the more feminist comic book fans, and Wonder Woman IS a feminist icon, so that IS a legitimate problem, I don’t care what anyone says, what the hell kind of sense does it make to have a book where the title character is not the MAIN character? I can only hope this arc doesn’t last long, because otherwise, there’s probably gonna be a SERIOUS drop in the book’s sales.

Other than that, though, where does the book go? Well, a lot of that is probably gonna depend on the outcome of next week’s issue, which will be Greg Rucka’s last on the book. Afterward, Shea Fontana will be getting a quick run on the book before Robinson takes over. After all that, though? Who knows. Hopefully, like I said, the Jason arc won’t last long, and then maybe we can eventually get Gail Simone back on the book. It just feels like it’s time, and we know she can write some awesome Wonder Woman stories. Even if it’s only for a little while, it’d still be appreciated.

Anyway, that’s pretty much all I have to say about the book so far, at least as a more general look at it. I MIGHT decide to give a more in-depth look at Wonder Woman: Year One someday down the road, though. For now, leave your own thoughts on the DC Rebirth Wonder Woman book before, and next, what say we round out the Trinity by going up, up, and away? ^_^ Ja né!

Jyger’s Rant – Wonder Woman (2017 Film) (WARNING – SPOILERS)

 

Well, I went to see Wonder Woman yesterday as part of my birthday present. And honestly, I can say it’s one of the best experiences in the theater I’ve had in quite some time, and is easily the best DC movie I’ve seen since The Dark Knight. In fact, I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to admit this publicly or not, but…

…Yeah, I like this film better than The Dark Knight. I know that might cause disbelief in some, but I can’t help it, it’s how I feel. As such, this is gonna be a little different. I was gonna put the word “review” in the title, but honestly, there’s not a lot I’m going to be reviewing with this, especially since I want people to go see it themselves. Actually, there’re just a few points I wanna make about it, including one that’s not even really an issue with the movie…but I’ll get to that later.

So, first things first: Goddammit, does Gal Gadot nail this character. Diana in this movie is beautiful, smart, strong, and sexy. She is compassionate to a fault, yet a powerful and deadly warrior to all who cross her and leave her no other options but to fight. And to anyone confused about that, allow me to explain: Wonder Woman technically does not have a no-kill rule as Superman and Batman are SUPPOSED to. However, her willingness to kill is born out of her compassion. It’s a matter of “This person is leaving me no other choice but to do nothing, and innocents will die if I choose to do so, so if I have to take on the burden of killing someone to protect the innocent, then so be it”. And in all-out war, it’s a little easier to understand that mindset. She’s naive about how the world off her island works, but that’s understandable for obvious reasons, and in the end, she learns to accept and love humanity for both the good and the bad.

I’m still a little sour about the fact that, just like in the New 52, it turns out Diana being sculpted from clay is a lie and that she’s actually the daughter of Zeus. However, here’s the thing you need to understand about that: The lie actually makes a bit more sense here, both in why it was told and how it was revealed. Honestly, my problem was never really with Wonder Woman being a demigoddess. My problem was with the hows and whys of that change, as well as what it did to her as a character, and how it made her supporting cast look in retrospect. Here, though, it doesn’t really change much of who Wonder Woman is, and the lie is only perpetrated by Hippolyta to protect her. So it works better than it did in the comics. Would I have preferred her original origins be kept intact? Yes, but again, it still works as is, so I can’t be TOO sour about it.

One thing I actually wasn’t so bothered by, but have kind of become a little bothered by, is the race change to Doctor Poison. If you don’t know, Doctor Poison in the comics is Japanese. In fact, she was a princess in disguise, and was a character with her own agency. Here, she’s played by a Spanish woman, and it’s revealed that at least one or two of her breakthroughs in chemistry were inspired by Ares. So, yeah, that’s a problem. However, on the flip side…Look, I’m just gonna admit this: I barely knew who she was going into this movie. And that’s mainly because a lot of Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery usually get pushed aside for Cheetah, Ares, and Circe, with the occasional Veronica Cale and Giganta. I’ve heard she’s actually appeared in Wonder Woman’s new solo title, but I’m still reading through that. So one reason it actually doesn’t bother me as much as it probably should that they changed Doctor Poison so much is because now, with her appearance in this movie, I’m inspired to do my research and find out more about her. Still, it probably would’ve been better to just do the character more correctly in the first place.

I’ve pointed out to my friends in the past that I wasn’t sure if I really considered Wonder Woman’s theme in Batman v Superman to be the most fitting for the character, but I still liked it. The reason I liked it, primarily in BvS, was because it was the only freaking song in that entire Goddamn movie that got me amped for ANYTHING going on in it. But, again, wasn’t sure how well it fit the character. Hearing it again, along with some of the remixes present in this movie… … …Yeah. Yeah, I just have to accept the fact that this is this Wonder Woman’s theme song, and that I really do love this song. lol

And I suppose I should bring up a bit of an elephant in the room as it pertains to this movie. Specifically, as it turns out, Erich Ludendorff is actually a real person. And, it probably won’t shock anyone to hear that he did not die in 1918 via a sword running through him on a roof. In fact, he died of liver cancer in 1937. And, he was among those who specifically suggested the armistice in the first place. So, yeah, the movie obviously takes more than a couple of liberties with history.

But yeah, you might have noticed that all the downsides I’ve mentioned about this movie are all pretty much nitpicks. That’s because there’s really nothing about this movie that ruins it in any way, shape, or form. Really, the biggest issue I have isn’t even with the movie, but rather the studio. And if you’ve looked on comic book news sites, you probably already know this, but if you don’t, let me just explain this right now: There is a scene where Wonder Woman is going through the trenches with Steve Trevor and his team at No Man’s Land, and the whole way there, Diana is seeing the suffering the war is causing. Men, women, children, animals, all are harmed in some way, shape, or form by this war, and all the while she’s told there’s nothing she can do about it, that No Man’s Land can’t be crossed. So what does she do? She strips out of the clothes Steve got her down to her armor, and just WALKS across No Man’s Land, deflecting bullets, until she gets into a run and finally hunkers down behind her shield as the Germans start laying down fire from their multiple machine guns. This is so much gunfire that it’s left even her immobile…but that’s the point. By taking their fire upon herself, it gives Steve and the other soldiers a chance to charge the grounds and take down the Germans keeping them at bay.

So why am I bringing this scene up in such detail above all others? Well, for two reasons. One, it’s the most memorable and important scene in the movie to many who saw it, and I’ll explain why in a sec. The second is because, according to Patty Jenkins, that sequence of events almost didn’t make it into the film’s theatrical release. In her own words, “I think that in superhero movies, they fight other people, they fight villains. So when I started to really hunker in on the significance of No Man’s Land, there were a couple people who were deeply confused, wondering, like, ‘Well, what is she going to do? How many bullets can she fight?’ And I kept saying, ‘It’s not about that. This is a different scene than that. This is a scene about her becoming Wonder Woman.’”…If I may be allowed to go off on a tangent here…WHAT. THE. HELL, WB?! She had to CONVINCE the studio it needed to be in. Why didn’t they understand from the beginning how important this was? This is why I think they’ve failed with these movies up until this point, and why this scene is so important: Not only is it a scene showing Wonder Woman doing what needs to be done for her to accomplish her goals, but that one act completely turns the tide, and so Wonder Woman’s actions inspire others to do what they must. THAT is the point of DC superheroes, Superman especially: To inspire. To show the world how to save themselves. Ultimately, it comes down to something a vampire once said:

THAT’S what DC superheroes are supposed to be! Hell, it’s not even just superheroes. Even Poison Ivy, someone who is really more of an anti-hero and, even at her best, cares very little for humanity, does what she can to stop people from destroying the world, and will protect the people she DOES care for to the death. Wonder Woman is in this movie is someone who is out to save humanity, and in the end does so regardless of how bad we can be, because of how good we can be. Her actions inspire us to be better. THAT’S what Superman was once upon a time in movies. Even Batman, as tortured and clearly human as he was, could be seen as an inspiration for how a man can take that torment and darkness and turn it into something positive for humanity. Granted, it also helps a lot that he’s filthy stinking rich, but you can still see the building blocks there for how a person can take the worst of themselves and do something good with it. And I hope to God that this is the direction they take from now on, and that they don’t try to ignore the critical success that this movie has made. Hell, I’m pretty sure they’ve already learned their lesson, since despite resisting that scene, they’ve put snippets of it in every trailer I’ve seen for the movie thus far. And if they have, MAJOR kudos to them. You were late to the party, but at least you made it. And, with any luck, Justice League will be all of what made this movie great and MORE.

Oh, and lastly, I wanted to make something clear. I know I’ve given Zack Snyder a lot of hell for these movies. But, let us not forget that he was a producer on THIS film as well. He deserves credit for it, the same as his wife Deborah who was also a producer for it, the same as Patty Jenkins for directing, the same as Gal Gadot for physically bringing the character to life, the same as Chris Pine for Steve Trevor, Lucy Davis for Etta Candy, and everyone else in this movie for their performances (seriously, I can’t think of one bad performance in this movie), and the same as Geoff Johns and everyone else who worked on this movie. And, on a more personal note, I just wanted to give my most sincere condolences to Zack and Deborah for the loss of their daughter. No matter what anyone has to say about them for how they perform at their jobs, we can all agree that no parent should ever have to go through what these two have. And that’s all I have to say on the subject.

Bottom line, Wonder Woman is a great film, and if you haven’t seen it, for the love of God, it’s well worth the price of admission to go see it in theaters. And if you HAVE seen the film, let me know what you thought of it in the comments below. Play us out, 331Erock.

A Look At Wonder Woman & Mera From The Justice League Infinite Fanfic

Well, I announced earlier this week that I’m doing a Justice League fanfic entitled ‘Justice League Infinite’. As such, I’m going through all seven members of this world’s League, what makes them different from their counterparts, etc. So far, we’ve looked at Batman, The Flash, Poison Ivy, and Superman. So, for today, let’s go ahead and take a look at this world’s version of the Spirit of Truth, Wonder Woman.

Origin wise, this version of Diana of Themyscira is pretty much the classic sculpted-from-clay story. Not that I have a problem with Wonder Woman being a demigod, just that it taints her back-story in a bad way. She also has her sister, Donna, who is a mirror duplicate of herself as a child and a possible inheritor to the Wonder Woman title, AND THAT’S ALL. lol What’s different is that, not only was her mother Hippolyta the first Wonder Woman on the Justice Society (an idea that’s been tossed around on occasion), but recently, Hippolyta and Aquaman were tricked into entering a fight to the death, which was witnessed by Diana and Mera. As a result of that, and as a means of keeping their respective peoples from declaring war on each other, Diana and Mera married, becoming co-Queens of each other’s lands, and thus uniting the people of Themyscira and Atlantis (meaning Themyscira is no longer a land bereft of men). Of course, the two were already close friends, thus making their relationship a bit interesting now that they’re wives. In terms of personality, Diana is a compassionate, loving soul, but while she will try to negotiate her way out of a confrontation, she will fight with the ferocity of a lioness if necessary to protect the weak and defenseless. Likewise, while she will not bring death to humans, she has no such compunctions for demons, monsters, undead, and some aliens.

Regarding Wonder Woman’s costume and appearance, take her Earth 2 costume in the New 52 (only with gold replacing all the silver and red boots instead of blue), give her chest coverage that her Justice League War costume had and the ponytail (because I LOVE it, lol), and a red cape like she’s sometimes seen in on some of her more diplomatic missions. As far as her skill set goes, she has her usual package of super strength, speed, reflexes, durability, and stamina, tracking skills, and is a master of both unarmed combat and wielding a shield and sword. She’s also a highly skilled diplomat and negotiator, meaning that she can oftentimes avoid ever having to use such gifts in combat by putting an end to conflict before it ever even begins. She can also fly fast enough to keep up with Superman, but as a means of reserving energy, she mostly prefers to fly on the back of a pegasus. As always, Diana wields the unbreakable Lasso of Truth, which forces one to reveal their true nature, tell the truth, and even free them from brainwashing or other types of control. Finally, she has the Bracelets of Victory, which guard against all forms of attacks. When the bracelets are removed, however, most of her natural abilities increase to ludicrous levels, the likes of which even Superman cannot contend with. For all of these abilities, though, Wonder Woman isn’t invincible. Her stamina, while incredible, does have limits, meaning she will eventually tire out if a battle runs for too long. Also, while removing her bracelets doesn’t cause her to go into a berserker mode like in the comics, it DOES put a huge strain on her body. Just a couple of minutes is long enough for her to be ready to pass out in this state. Finally, while her compassion is a great gift, it also comes coupled with a sense of self-sacrifice, constantly causing her to put herself in harm’s way to protect others. Granted, she more often than not walks away without being too harmed, but when you consider the possibility of her leaving Themyscira without its Queen…well, hindsight is 20/20.

…So, that’s all there is to know about Infinite Wonder Woman, but what about her new wife? Granted, she won’t be joining the Justice League, but she will be making an appearance or two, so let’s look at Mera.

Again, Mera is very similar to the mainstream version seen in the comics: A princess/assassin from another dimension sent to kill Aquaman, but instead fell in love with the King of Atlantis and married him. She’s also become somewhat of a surrogate mother to Jackson Hyde, AKA Aqualad, due to his estrangement from his father, Black Manta. In this universe, she’s also a close friend to Diana, and accepted her proposal to get married for the sake of their friendship and their peoples (which is quite the twist from Flashpoint). While kind and loving, she is also known to fly into fits of rage when wronged. You know the old saying “Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d, nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d”? If William Congreve had lived in today’s society, he likely would’ve been talking about Mera. And yeah, I know, it can be something of a sexist comment, but it’s most certainly true of Queen Mera ‘Don’t You DARE Call Me Aquawoman’. While she understands that she SHOULDN’T kill, she at times has difficulty keeping the desire to in check.

Mera is more or less exactly like the mainstream version of her in both appearance and powers. Like Aquaman, the Queen of Atlantis is perfectly capable of surviving in a kingdom at the bottom of the sea, meaning she has the strength, durability, and enhanced sight of someone who lived in a place so dark and having such constant pressure put on her. She’s also an extremely fast swimmer, and possesses a leap out of the ocean measuring at approximately 1000 feet. Mera also possesses telepathy, able to send messages to someone’s mind and receive replies, though she lacks skill in terms of digging deeper into a person’s thoughts. Her trademark ability, however, is her skill in manipulating water. She can shift water around to her will, form hard water weapons, and launch concussive blasts. Also, get her REALLY mad, and she could conceivably warp the water molecules inside of someone to hurt them from the inside. Ultimately, her greatest weakness is her anger, as it can blind her in combat and cause her to make mistakes. Also, while she’s durable enough that bullets would only scratch her skin, she is by no means invulnerable.

Anyway, that’s it for Wonder Woman and Mera. Next time, we wrap up our look at the Justice League Infinite with Green Lantern and Doctor Fate. Ja né!

DC Comics’ Convergence + Characters and Concepts I’d Like To See Make a Permanent Return

DC Comics recently announced the event that is clearly intended to be the Crisis On Infinite Earths anniversary event, and it’s not exactly what I was expecting, but I’ll nonetheless take it. The event is referred to as Convergence, and it follows up on plot hooks going back as far as Justice League International’s finale, and heavily involves recent revelations from Superman Doomed and Future’s End. Long story short, Brainiac (or rather A Brainiac) has been bottling people and cities from various worlds across different universes in the Multiverse. In fact, some of these universes don’t even exist anymore, meaning that this version of Brainiac managed to survive the Multiversal reboot of The New 52, as did the people he’s captured.

According to what I’ve read up on, the current New 52 books will be taking a two month break in April and May (so I guess I’ll be saving a bit more money than usual, lol), which explains why all the current arcs in the storylines are ending at the same time. During this break, there’ll be a weekly series for Convergence, as well as a number of two-part miniseries that’ll cover different worlds involved in Convergence. Basically, seeing what these characters have been up to since the last time we saw them, and probably tying into the greater events of Convergence. And since I’m seeing worlds based on the last year or two of the pre-Flashpoint New Earth, the pre-Flashpoint Earth 2, Superman Red Son, Kingdom Come, and several others, I would imagine there’ll at least be SOME comics in this event that’ll catch my attention.

So, a common theory among fans right now is that, following Convergence, the current reality of The New 52 will be adjusted to include a number of characters and concepts from past continuities. Others are suggesting that this is the end of The New 52, and the restoration of the previous continuity. Honestly, I’m hoping for the former, since there has actually been some great stuff in The New 52 that I would hate to see wiped away. Plus, if that happened, what the hell would’ve been the point of the past 3+ years? It would’ve just been a complete waste of our time. With that said, there’s plenty of the previous continuity that I would like to see integrated into the current one, and plenty of BAD stuff we’ve seen in The New 52 I would like to see done away with. So, with that said, here’s a list of changes I’d like to see after Convergence is over, be it returning characters and concepts, or the end of current ones…

#1 – The Return of the Classic Superman Costume

This is actually something that is possibly being teased for before Convergence, if I’m correct, that is. Basically, I took notice of the fact that solicits for Superman #38 promised a new costume for the Man of Steel, and that his pelvic area was hidden or otherwise obscured on the cover of every book he was on that month. My theory is that he’s either returning to the old tights, or his current costume is being adjusted to resemble it and its colour scheme. Honestly, either one works for me.

#2 – The Return of the Justice Society

Now, there ARE a ton of heroes on Earth 2, but they aren’t really so much a team. Bringing back the Justice Society would be a huge benefit to the Earth 2 books. But beyond bringing back the JSA, I would also bring back some of its members, like Jade, Wildcat, Doctor Mid-Nite, Liberty Belle, possibly even the Kingdom Come Superman, and so on. That said, I think I would wanna keep the newer costumes for those that have been around in The New 52. No offense to the original designers, but I just think the newer costumes look a bit better.

#3 – Lois and Clark Back Together

I’m sorry, but the romance between Superman and Wonder Woman needs to end. Like, NOW. This was doomed to fail from the beginning, and I think reader response has proven that it did. It really says it all when even Man of Steel knew well enough to have Clark and Lois together. I don’t even care if they’re married or not, I just wanna see them back together. That said, wouldn’t necessarily have to cancel Superman/Wonder Woman, just make it about them teaming up to fight supervillains instead of ‘the fauxmance’. Speaking of Wonder Woman, though…

#4 – The Restoration of Wonder Woman and the Amazons

Seriously, we need the old Wonder Woman back. Badly. Beyond the obvious, having her be the compassionate diplomat once again, her back-story and the history of the Amazons needs a change from the current New 52 version. What bothers me most about the changes to her back-story isn’t so much the fact that I mind her being the daughter of Zeus. That much I can live with. Rather, it’s Hippolyta bending over backwards for Zeus (or was it forwards? I honestly can’t remember), and the HORRIBLE changes to the Amazons, making them pirates and rapists. That, above all else, needs to be undone. If you wanna keep Diana as a demigod, fine, but fixing the situation with the Amazons is a must, and the circumstances surrounding the tryst of Zeus and Hippolyta need to be changed to make her look better. Finally, just a cosmetic note, I think I’d want the silver on the Wonder Woman costume made gold again. Gold just looks better on Diana than silver, to be honest.

#5 – Bring Back Proxy (and several others)

Beyond some of the more obvious heroes to bring back (Blue Beetle, Donna Troy, Plastic Man, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, Elongated Man, the Blue Lantern Corps), one that I would like to see make a comeback is Proxy, AKA Wendy Harris. Seeing as how Babs is currently Batgirl, and I actually rather like what they’re doing with her nowadays, bringing Proxy back to fill her role as Oracle would seem like the best option. The loss of Oracle, as someone who helped to coordinate the various heroes on Earth, has been significant, and is still being felt nowadays.

#6 – Reform the Birds of Prey

I cannot frakking believe I forgot to mention this before, but bringing back the Birds of Prey would be amazing after this, and here’s why: In the final issue of Gail Simone’s run on Batgirl, we learn that Babs has the means by which to get ahold of pretty much EVERY SINGLE SUPERHEROINE ON EARTH. That means she could conceivably form a team out of ANY of these women. You wanna see a team-up of Strix and Katana? Catwoman and Batwoman? Zatanna and Raven? Misfit and Vengeance Moth? Starfire and Bleez? Any and all of these are now possible. Heck, she’s also in touch with Helena Wayne, so she could conceivably call in help from Earth 2 superheroines like Power Girl, Red Tornado, and Aquawoman someday. The Birds could actually succeed the Justice League as the greatest assortment of heroes on Earth at that point. People, just TRY and tell me you would not read a book like that. 😀

Anyway, that’s all for now. Leave a comment below on stuff you’d like to see change following Convergence, and we’ll see if we get any of these wishes. Ja né!

What I Bought This Past Week – The Marvel and Dynamite Books (Fearless Defenders #11, X-Men #7, Legends of Red Sonja #1, Red Sonja #5) (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Time for the other half of…

Hey Woolie, “When’s Mahvel”? Right now! XD We got two Marvel comics, two Dynamite comics, a double helping of Gail Simone, two superheroine team books, and just about every well-known woman writer and artist in the biz these days (that was available) teaming up to do a single book, so let’s get started! It’s Ladies Night, starting with Fearless Defenders #11!

Dammit, why is this book getting cancelled next month?! WHY?! We just started a subplot involving Annabelle and Ren, and knowing my luck, it could be months before we ever see either of them again! Seriously, we need to get as many people as we can to buy the trade when it comes out, maybe that’ll convince Marvel to bring this book back. In the meantime, though, it looks like the last two issues revolve around the Amazons and Warrior Woman’s attempts to try to steer them into being a more peaceful race than the army of bloodthirsty warriors they’ve been. Only problem is that the literal mother of all monsters has decided to give them a better deal than Hippolyta is. Oh, and also, Annabelle and Ren had sex…I don’t know how they managed it, given Ren’s little situation with her hands, but they did it. Good issue, just sad that there’s only one more to go.

X-Men #7 was a little odd at first, since I had to get adjusted to some of the changes that occurred during Battle of the Atom. Long story short, Jubilee met a future version of Shogo (the kid she’s looking after), and Kitty and the past versions of the X-Men from All-New X-Men decided to join present day Cyclops because…I guess they like working with obvious terrorists? No, I’m sorry, I’m not over this: Scott Summers is a villain now. I keep hearing people defending, and I don’t know how they cannot argue this point. He got sent to prison for a pretty damned good reason, got busted out, and is now working underground with Magneto and Emma Frost, not to mention the fact that he’s always been kind of an asshole, a point he even kinda admitted to at the end of Avengers vs X-Men when he said that Charles Xavier was responsible for the best in him. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Professor X? Oh yeah, he got MURDERED BY SCOTT SUMMERS! You can’t even say it wasn’t his fault since the Phoenix to possessed him and his group, when he was allowing the Phoenix to come back in the first place! Scott Summers = EVIL!

…What was I talking about? Oh yeah, X-Men #7. So yeah, Jubilee’s gone, and I’m assuming Rogue has stuff she needs to do with the Uncanny Avengers, since she’s not around either. Instead, we have Karima Shapander, the former Omega Sentinel now back to normal and trying to get her life back on track, and Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix…Or just Monet, that works too. o.O Long story short, Ana Cortes, the heir to a billion-dollar company with diversifications in shipping, oil, real estate, and weapons, has uploaded Lady Deathstrike‘s consciousness into her body, becoming a combination of the two. At first, she wants to get ahold of the Omega Sentinel. When a confrontation with Money and Karima ends bad for her, she then learns about something far more powerful that she plans to obtain: Arkea. On a side-note, it seems Jubilee is actually going to be able to legally adopt Shogo without any problems, and we finally get an explanation for the little scuffle between Bling and Mercury in X-Men #1: Bling asked Mercury out, and Mercury freaked out and punched her…Okay, I’ll admit, I’m not very knowledgeable on either character, but I was under the impression that Mercury was supposed to be a bit likeable than that. However, Bling tells Jubilee that it’s alright, because she doesn’t like Mercury like that anymore, and that she likes someone else now…while looking right into Jubilee’s eyes…Um, I feel the need to again point out that I’m not very knowledgeable about Bling, but considering that she’s attending the school while Jubilee USED to be a student and is now simply staying there…Okay, I’ll just ask. How sizeable is the age difference between the two? Because if it’s just a few years, that’s fine, but if it’s more than that, this could get into kinda icky territory. So yeah, somebody in the comments section, let me know what the approximate age difference is so I can move on from that. Overall, though, a good jumping-back-on issue.

Legends of Red Sonja #1, the name pretty much says it all. It’s about a bunch of people telling their own stories of the exploits of Red Sonja. However, to me, the true appeal of the Legends of Red Sonja series is the fact that Gail Simone has gathered an all-star team of female writers, authors, artists, and more to put this book together. Names like Carla Speed McNeil (Finder, Queen & Country), Marjorie Liu (Astonishing X-Men, Tiger Eye, X-23), Nancy A. Collins (Swamp Thing, Jason Vs. Leatherface, the Final Destination tie-ins), Kelly Sue DeConnick (Captain Marvel, 30 Days of Night, Blue Dragon, Fruits Basket), Molly Mahan (Vampirella, The Mocking Dead, Codename: Action), Devin Grayson (Batman, Catwoman, Black Widow, and even Linkara’s favourite comic book series of all time, The Titans), and many more. Women who love comics, feminists who love comes, you owe it to yourselves to, at the very least, give this book a look.

Speaking of Red Sonja, Red Sonja #5 gives us even more bloody barbarian brilliance. We get some more awesome dialogue between her and her bodyguards, where we see she has actually become MORE pissed off by Annisia shutting down one of her favourite taverns. By the end, the late King’s son uses leeches to cure Sonja of the plague, and she takes on Annisia in the arena where they battled together for their lives as slaves. However, this seems to have worked out in someone else’s favour, as they are cornered by the forces of the man who made them slaves, King Bazrat. And just that name, Bazrat, makes him insanely evil to me. lol But yeah, the conclusion comes next month, and I can’t wait to see how Gail Simone wraps up her first arc with Red Sonja.

Anyway, that’s it for everything I bought for this past week. Check in next week as we see what our favourite Talon, Calvin Rose, is up to. Ja né!

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Updates on Progression of Infinite DC – Wonder Woman + Trailer + Special Sneak Preview

So, I thought I’d give an update on what I’m doing with my Wonder Woman fanfic that I’m writing for National Novel Writing Month. I’ve posted a few here and there on Twitter, but I thought I’d give a bigger one here, plus a special sneak preview of the fanfic! So, let’s get the ball rolling.

So, first and foremost, at the time of writing this article, I have written 12,789 words so far. So I am a little behind, but I will catch up, I’m not too worried about that. Still plenty of time to get caught up, and it actually helps a bit that I currently have little to no life. lol Anyway, for those that don’t know about the subject matter, here’s a trailer I did on YouTube for the fic…

All images belong to DC Comics, and the music is Those Chosen By The Planet – Remastered, originally by Nobuo Uematsu, and the Wonder Woman theme, performed by The Boomsters. Anyway, here’s the synopsis that you can read on my novel’s page on NaNoWriMo…

Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, and princess of the Amazons. She was granted life by the Greek Gods of Olympus themselves, and gifted with abilities that made her the greatest of her people. Now, she is an ambassador to the world of men, and a champion of equality, truth, and justice. She is Wonder Woman.

However, she’s rapidly running out of time, as a vision from approximately two weeks in the future tells the tale of a zombie apocalypse that is set to begin in Washington, D.C. Sure enough, the dead are beginning to rise again, from zombies of the worst men the world has ever produced, to undead beasts stitched together as crude, nightmarish creatures. If the events of her vision come to pass, there’s nothing she can do to save the capital of the United States. Thus, Wonder Woman must find the cause of the apocalypse and stop it before it happens, or the land of the free will fall.

So yeah, it’s technically another zombie apocalypse story…sort of. Where it’s different is that most zombie stories take place during or after the zombie apocalypse. This is about Wonder Woman trying to stop the zombie apocalypse before it happens, which will include an actual time and date at the beginning of chapters and after break lines to reference the ticking clock leading to the events of her vision. And for those wondering how Wonder Woman fits into a zombie apocalypse story, it’s very simple: Her sources. She has regular contact with people who work with the government, she can speak with the Greek Gods, she’s even been to the underworld to talk with Hades, which is where the souls of the dead go. So really, when you think about it in those terms, she’d actually be one of the first DC superheroes to respond to a plague of zombies.

In addition to the powers I listed previously, I’ve decided to have her bracers limit her overall strength and speed, and that removing them grants her the full potential of her power, though without the berserker stage that’s in the comics

As for other characters aside from Wonder Woman that will be appearing, as you could gather from the trailer, antagonists will include Grundy, Giganta, and Captain Nazi. As I alluded to on Twitter, Adolf Hitler and Josef Mengele will be brought back as zombies, as it’s all part of Captain Nazi’s plan. Given that this is a zombie story involving DC Comics characters, you can probably guess who one of the major villains is. Steve Trevor and Etta Candy will be giving aid to Diana by giving her information through their government connections. Hades will be begrudgingly helping Wonder Woman, as it’s the only way to regain control of the underworld (seeing as how looking over said underworld is kind of his job, and if the souls of the dead stop going there, he’s kinda screwed). Hippolyta will be making appearances, as will Artemis and Philippus. By the way, seeing as how Gail Simone wanted to have those two get married in the comics, and Dan Didio was actually on board with it (Yeah, I know o.O), Artemis and Philippus will be a married couple in my fic. Superman and Batman aren’t so much in the story as they are alluded to a few times, though I have considered having them appear in nightmare fuel visions (by the way, I have considered making this a Rated M story for FanFiction.net, just so you know). And there will be other characters who pop in from time to time, but I think I’ll keep them to myself for now. ^_^

Hades, as he will appear in my story

Anyway, with that all out of the way, here’s a sneak preview of what’s to come. Just remember, I’m constantly making additions and revisions, so this might change by the time it’s ready to be posted, but here’s a look at Chapter 2 of Infinite DC – Wonder Woman.

Diana wanted so badly right now to have some sort of gag for her ‘companion’ as they approached the location of one of the few known gates to the underworld, hidden in the hills outside of Washington, cloaked by magic against anyone with the vision to see through it, or the knowledge of its presence. Adolf had not shut up the entire trip there, and while Wonder Woman had been blessed upon birth by Aphrodite with a near-endless amount of compassion, the former leader of the Nazi regime was testing it. A LOT.

“Peh, ‘warrior women’,” Hitler spat. “You are inferior beings created by pagan ‘Gods’. If you had been at war with my regime, we would have left you a bloody smear on your little island hideaway, which is the ONLY reason you still exist today, in the wake of our righteousness.”

“Yes, the Nazis were VERY righteous,” Wonder Woman replied sarcastically. “Which is why you’ve been rotting away in the deepest, darkest corner of Tartarus for the past 70 years or so.”

“Make no mistake, small Amazon,” Adolf growled, “I WILL have revenge for the indignities I’ve suffered in both my life and my afterlife, including on you.”

“First of all, I’m nearly twice your size,” Diana countered. “Second, revenge isn’t exactly befitting the supposedly righteous. Third, SHUT UP!”

“Or what?” Hitler mocked. “You’ll knock my head off my shoulders? I’m dead, what do I care? I’ll bite your feet clean off, and let you die from the infection!”

Diana scowled as the gate came into view. Normally, this gate would require a blood sacrifice in the light of the full moon to pass through. However, due to Wonder Woman’s status with the Gods, she was allowed free passage whenever she wanted. It wasn’t a problem with any of them for her to be allowed free entry, since the underworld wasn’t exactly a place she liked to traverse to regularly.

As she came within a few feet of the gate, however, the ground began to shake. It caused the ground to crack slightly, and Diana knew in her gut that this was NOT a tremor. She looked around for the cause as Hitler stumbled about clumsily. Picking the undead Nazi up, she found a stone slab and tied him to it with the Lasso of Truth.

“Hey!” Hitler yelled. “What do you think you’re doing?! I’m completely helpless here!”

Diana shrugged with a smirk. “You’re dead, what do you care, remember?”

Adolf was about to snap back, but soon found himself shrieking like a child as a giant monster burst out from the ground. It looked like a gigantic black spider with its eight legs replaced with at least a dozen massive, slime-covered tentacles, huge red butterfly wings attached to its back. It let out a loud, shaky shriek that sent chills all across Diana’s bones.

“Oh, it WOULD have tentacles,” Diana observed as the beast hovered off the ground. “And somewhere right now, Supergirl is giggling at me, I’m sure.”

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this brief preview of Infinite DC – Wonder Woman, and with any luck, I should be done in time for the end of November. Ja né!

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NaNoWriMo Project Revealed: Infinite DC – Wonder Woman + Basic Rundown of Wonder Woman’s Origins

So, if you’ve been following my Twitter today, I’ve decided to throw my name in the hat and write a story for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it’s called. This unfortunately means updates to Birds of Prey: Dark will be a little less common, and What I Bought Today will be pushed to every other week instead, covering what I bought within two weeks of each other. But, comic fans that follow me can rejoice, for I’ve learned that among the MANY forms of literature accepted for NaNoWriMo is Fanfiction. So, for the month of November, I will be aiming to write a 50,000 word fanfiction of a DC Superhero I have never written before. My friends, I give you Infinite DC – Wonder Woman!

Dammit, that needs to be on an album cover. lol

So, what will this story be like? Well, like with Infinite DC- The Man of Tomorrow and Infinite DC – Tales of the Caped Crusader, it won’t be her origin story, instead taking for granted that you know her origins…However, because I know that Wonder Woman’s one of those trickier characters with an often changed back-story due to retcons, reboots, and just different interpretations of the character, here’s the basic rundown of her origins, and get ready to hear me reference changes to it in different continuities A LOT. lol

Wonder Woman, AKA Diana, is the daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons inhabiting Themyscira, an island cut off from the world of man. The Amazons are a group of immortal warrior women that had been slaves at one point (to whom changes depending on continuity, but it’s usually Heracles), but managed to free themselves with help from the Greek Gods and escaped to Themyscira, or Paradise Island as it’s alternatively called. At some point, Hippolyta had a daughter named Diana. The usual story given is that she moulded her from clay and the Gods brought her to life, though in recent years with the 2011 reboot, AKA The New 52, it’s been retconned that this was a lie to protect Diana from Hera’s wrath, as she was actually the bastard child of Hippolyta and Zeus. Now, while I don’t necessarily mind what it does to Diana specifically, making her a demi-goddess, I probably won’t be incorporating THAT into my fanfic version of Wonder Woman since it carried with it some seriously bad changes to her mother and the Amazons in general.

The birth of Diana

Anyway, the point is, they were cut off from the rest of humanity, though they were able to watch from the island, usually through some sort of device or magic or a combination of the two. However, this all changes when a man named Steve Trevor, who works with the US military (be it as an Air Force pilot or an intelligence agent), crash-lands on Themyscira. After it’s determined that Trevor is no threat to them, Hippolyta decides that the greatest among the Amazons will escort him back to America. Thus, a tournament is held, and while Hippolyta forbids Diana from entering, she does so under disguise anyway and is able to emerge victorious. Hippolyta’s reaction changes based on continuity, but the one I like best is probably from the 2009 animated film, where she accepted Diana’s decision and recognizes her as the one best suited for the job.

…Okay, I know Linkara already did this joke, but tell me you don’t hear porno music in the back of your head while reading this. XD

Thus, Diana becomes Wonder Woman, and is granted many gifts to assist in her new role, as Steve Trevor’s escort, as an ambassador for her people, and as a champion against the forces of evil. First, she is given her costume (again, in the movie, it’s supposed to resemble the American flag to honour the land she visits), along with a tiara that doubles as a throwing disc and can grant her some telepathic abilities, a golden lasso that she can use as a whip or noose, and a pair of bracers made from Athena’s indestructible shield that reflect all manner of attacks. In some continuities (specifically the TV show from the 70’s), she could immediately change clothes into her costume by spinning really fast, which I’m SORELY tempted to include here. As for the version of the costume I’ll be going with…Eh, I suppose the classic swimsuit-like costume works best, though probably with the Gladiator-style skirt, a nose-guard on her tiara (which is actually one thing Frank Miller did with Bonkers Betty that I kinda liked), and the ponytail she’s been seen rocking in the upcoming Justice League: War animated movie.

Wonder Woman as seen in Justice League: War

Her other gifts change depending on interpretation, but I’ll be going with the blessings the Greek Gods gave her in the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths interpretation of the character for the most part: Demeter grants her superhuman strength and rapid healing. Athena imparts great wisdom, intelligence, and tactical skill, both in armed and unarmed combat. Artemis blesses her with enhanced senses far beyond normal humans. Hestia grants her control over the “Fires of Truth”, which not only protects her from flames, be they natural or supernatural, but are also channelled through the Lasso of Truth to reveal a person’s true intentions, make them tell her secrets, or free people from mind control. Hermes gives her great speed, enough to deflect bullets with her bracers, and the power of flight. Finally, Aphrodite bestows great beauty (so if you ever wondered how she can be so hot, you can thank the Goddess of Love, lol) and a seemingly endless amount of compassion for the world and the people around her.

Lastly, Wonder Woman possesses an invisible plane. Again, this is something that changes between continuities. Sometimes, it’s a jet that Batman built her. Sometimes, it’s a pegasus that transforms into a jet. In the movie, the Amazons just kinda had it sitting around with no frigging explanation as to where it came from, which is both a little annoying and funny as hell. Me personally, I kinda like the version where it was a mass of magic, malleable goop that took the form of an invisible jet, or other invisible vehicles and objects if the situation called for it, and was actually self-aware and worked freely alongside Diana. I thought that was really neat, and provided for one of the most awesomely surreal moments you’ll ever see in comics, when she looped it with Green Lantern’s constructs around the moon and all the super-powered heroes PUSHED THE FRAKKING MOON.

Look, it’s Dotted Line Girl! (Infinite geek points to the first person that gets it, ROFL)

But yeah, that’s the basic rundown of the character’s origins. So, what’s my story gonna be about? Not telling, partly because I want it to be a surprise, and admittedly because I’m still going over it in my head. Oh, and the reason I’m not giving it a fancy name based off any nicknames or titles of hers, like The Man of Tomorrow or Tales of the Caped Crusader, I just do not want any confusion as to what this is. Also, I’m not really planning on doing any other solo stories for Wonder Woman, but if I do, I can just call it Infinite DC – Wonder Woman II or something like that.

The first issue of the Post-Crisis Wonder Woman comic

Anyway, wish me luck on this one, and we shall see if I make the 50,000 word minimum by the end of November. Ja né!

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What I Bought Today – Batman #22, Superman Unchained #2, Nightwing #22, Batgirl #22, Fearless Defenders #6 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Well, despite heat and sore feet, I have ventured uptown on this Wednesday and returned to show you all…

*Groan* Well, this was the expensive week. Five books, one week. Thank God three of them were among the cheaper ones out nowadays. Let’s begin with the two expensive ones, starting with Batman #22.

Yeah, I’m calling it right now: Red Hood One is The Joker. Maybe it’s someone else and this is a HUGE swerve, but I’m pretty sure it’s him. And if that’s the case, I would just like Scott Snyder to know that I’m fine with that, so long as we learn NOTHING ELSE ABOUT HIM. NOTHING. The whole point of the character is that we’re not supposed to know who he really is. Otherwise, Zero Year has been superb. I have a slight issue with Bruce and Alfred coming to the point where one actually has to hit the other, but considering it’s Alfred having to slap some sense into a younger and rasher Bruce Wayne, I guess it works. The Riddler proves to be an awesome villain hanging out in the shadows, though I HIGHLY doubt he’ll remain there much longer, as he clearly has plans that will require him to step out into the light. Overall, great issue, can’t wait to see what in the hell happens next.

Superman Unchained #2…When I saw the preview pages for this, my reaction was “Ooh, this looks good!” And you know what? That’s the first frakking time I’ve ever had that reaction to a book starring Superman in the New 52. I’m gonna spoil the first 8-10 pages a bit for y’all, so if you don’t wanna know what happens, skip ahead to the next book I talk about now: Superman flies to Dubai, sees thousands of people trapped in the Burj Khalifa after it’s knocked over (which, for those unaware, is the TALLEST MAN-MADE STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD), and manages to save them all at the last frakking second, even with a giant mech suit trying to kill him…Okay, for realsies? This is the best Superman title going right now, but it really says it all that this is the best Superman title simply because it FEELS like a Superman book and doesn’t do anything to screw up the winning formula for him. Hell, we even see Lex Luthor up to his old tricks! Now, of course, there are some moments that feel SLIGHTLY groan worthy, like Superman later having to fight corrupt soldiers, and once again we find Lois Lane in need of being rescued, but I’ll still fuckin’ take it over the Lobdell titles! Oh, and don’t even get me started on Justice League, that’s a rant for another day!…Oh, and Batman was in this. lol

Nightwing #22 was great. Will Conrad’s art is actually really good, and because of the similarity to Brett Booth‘s work (minus the beefcake) and the fact that the book still has Andrew Dalhouse as the colourist, I honestly might not have noticed the difference too much. The stuff with Tony Zucco honestly makes me wonder if Zucco is actually legitimately reformed or not. Prankster very quickly capitalizes on the mistake Nightwing made by not personally ensuring he gets handed over to the authorities, as he holds Chicago ransom and reveals the sins of the Mayor. Overall, continues to be great.

Batgirl #22………Oh boy. Look, I’m gonna skip what I thought of most of this book, because thank God, most of this book actually works REALLY WELL for me. I’m not really a huge fan of the romantic interest in this series, but this issue helps to sell him for me, and I’m grateful for that. Also, the first page was hilarious. However, I have to talk about the ending, because it encompasses the worst of this book nowadays: Jim Gordon is an idiot right now in Batgirl. I don’t know if Gail Simone is intentionally writing him to be an idiot, but frankly I don’t give a damn. IT’S ANNOYING AS FUCK. I’ll talk more about this in a separate rant, but for now I’ll just say that I’m already fed up with this, and if it gets much worse, I might just be dropping Batgirl, at least until this particular story arc is over.

Fearless Defenders #6 was okay. I really feel bad for the fans, though, since a character they really grew to like has died. I won’t spoil it, but suffice to say for a friend of mine who made a guess on it, it’s NOT Hippolyta. Unfortunately, I can’t feel too bad since I’m rather unfamiliar with her (in fact, note to self: Buy first 4 issues of this book to get caught up). Kinda ends on a pretty sad and uncomfortable note, but we’re left with the promise that it could get better, so I guess we’ll see. I will once again say that it is AWESOME to see all these super-heroines in the same place at the same time. ^_^

So that’s it for this week. Next week, it’s Catwoman’s turn at bat with Crazy Steve-I mean Batman, and Supergirl has an encounter of the Cyborg kind. Ja né!

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What I Bought Today – Detective Comics #21, Earth 2 #13, The Movement #2, Batman: Li’l Gotham #2, The Fearless Defenders #5

Well, my birthday has come and gone, but it is now officially Wednesday, so it is time to check out…

…with my birthday money. And whoo, did I get a lot of books, so let’s start off with The Adventures of Harper Row #3!…Oh, sorry, I mean Detective Comics #21. lol

Okay, I should note that I didn’t buy Detective Comics #0, since it was done by the previous team who did Detective Comics that I REALLY didn’t like, so I’m a little lost on some stuff that happens here. The jist of it from what I can tell is that an ex-lover of Bruce’s who turned out to be an assassin is back and looking to kill him. Fortunately, it’s Harper Row to the rescue, reminding us all why she’s so awesome. Unfortunately, the assassin gets away, but is punished by her boss: Ra’s al Ghul, who appears to be out of his cell and back in power. In the back-up, we see that Kirk Langstrom is back, his wife having found him and returned him at some point, but is still transforming into the Man-Bat at night. Apparently, he likes the power it gives him, and feels he needs it to be of any use to the people on the streets of Gotham City. Too bad a John Doe is discovered that leaves him to believe he may have committed murder. Uh oh.

Earth 2 #13 picks up where the Annual left off, with Captain Steel headed off to a fire pit in Rio de Janeiro, one of the many created by Terry Sloan. While he’s doing that, Hawkgirl is still tracking down clues regarding why Green Lantern‘s lover, Sam, was murdered, and how and why he’s connected to Apokolips forces. Fighting a horde of giant Apokorats, she nearly gets taken down by a surprise attack, only for her attacker to be killed by an exploding Batarang from the new Batman…Damn, this guy is one cold mother frakker. Meanwhile, Captain Steel emerges from the fire pit, horribly burnt and with his left arm completely gone, screaming they have to save the world from “her”. And who is her? The Red Lantern!

Before I get to the main plot of The Movement, I should clear up an error I made with the first issue. I said that the main cast are all completely new characters. Not so. Two of them have appeared before. Katharsis was in a couple of issues of Batgirl that I missed due to getting into the series late, and Tremor was actually a member of Secret Six before the reboot. My bad, folks. Speaking of Katharsis, it seems that she’s got a major chip on her shoulder and is pretty much out to just kill cops. This rubs Virtue the wrong way, and she and the rest of the team go looking into a lead regarding the killer in Coral City, while Katharsis goes looking for the source of the corruption in town, only to find herself in a massive brawl with the CCPD. Also, Mouse mourns one of his fallen rat friends…and then eats it… … …Gail Simone, I love ya and all, but you can be kinda sick sometimes. lol

Gotham City Sirens, HO! XD

Batman: Li’l Gotham #2, HOLYCRAPBLUENIGHTWING!!! Seriously, blue Nightwing being in this book is frigging awesome. I don’t think anything could beat that-HOLYCRAPGOTHAMCITYSIRENS!!! So yeah, plenty of awesomeness in this book, and all kept clean enough that kids can read it and enjoy. We need more books like this, for realsies.

…Huh. It’s not a video game, and yet I WANT that video game. 😛

I’d heard about The Fearless Defenders for a while now, so I decided to pick up #5 today. Lucky for me, it makes a good first impression with me, as I’m a sucker for both kickass super-heroines and situations that call for LOTS of heroes in the same place at the same time. Can’t say as I know too much else about what’s going on, only that Valkyrie has brought Hippolyta (Marvel’s Warrior Woman) and Dani Moonstar to Descanso De Deus in Brazil, they fight Doom Maidens, Caroline LeFay, and Mr. Raven, but are hopelessly outnumbered until Misty Knight arrives with MASSIVE back-up, as you can tell from the cover. Unfortunately, while victory is theirs, Valkyrie becomes Brunhilde again, which leaves She-Hulk to try to knock some sense into her. Note to self: Bring snacks for next issue’s fight, as well as tissues since someone is being advertised to die.

*SIGHS HARD* Okay, so that’s everything for today. lol Check in next week when I…Are you kidding me?! Apparently Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, Li’l Gotham, and Superman Unchained are ALL gonna get released on the same frakking day…I’m Jyger85, and I have a serious issue. lol Ja né.

Wonder Woman In The New 52 – I NEED TO VENT…AGAIN

Okay, I know I already talked about this before, but I feel the need to bring up the problems occurring with Wonder Woman in the New 52. Namely, I feel that there’s a definitive lack of respect for the character at times. Before I start on that, though, I would like to point out that I got a lot of these images, as well as some additional info I wasn’t already aware of, from DC Women Kicking Ass. She writes an awesome Tumblr, and you should all really give it a look sometime.

Now then, back to poor Diana. Her origin story has been altered so that, rather than being sculpted from clay and granted life by the Gods, it turns out that was a lie and that she’s really the result of a one night stand between her mother and Zeus. Now ultimately, this one didn’t bother me quite as much, since it just meant she’s a Demigod instead of a Golem (she was made from clay, that technically makes her a sort of Golem), though it does irk me that Hippolyta would lie like that. Plus, it pretty much makes the events of The Circle either non-canon or based around complete bull. What bothers me far worse is THIS.

…Seriously, what the hell? Turning the Amazons into killers, rapists, and slave traders was not only unnecessary, but it completely RUINS them as characters you want to see come back. And because they’re tied to Diana’s backstory, that in turn hurts her as well. Oh, and don’t even get me started on THIS.

But that’s just her solo book. Y’know, the one where the character is supposed to excel the most? Then there’s Justice League. I mentioned before that her current characterization works for the first arc, and I still stand by that. However, all that changed when THIS happened…

All of a sudden, Wonder Woman has gone from a strong, independent woman who forced a sword through Darkseid‘s eye socket to basically just being Superman’s girlfriend. And no, it’s not JUST because they’re dating, it’s HOW their relationship is unfolding, where we see Superman trying to teach and lecture her on humanity and how best to hide among them, and, oh good grief, does it make me wanna vomit!

Look, I get that at the beginning of Justice League, she was new to Man’s world, but as of this time in JL, she’s been a part of it for FIVE YEARS! She does not need Superman to teach her this stuff. She would have picked all this up while here. But no, we have to have Superman teach her because…well, just because. And that’s the problem in a nutshell: These two do not come off as equals in this relationship, as I’ve stated before. And it’s made all the worse by the fact that Supes is likely still holding a torch for Lois, and storylines suggest that their relationship will eventually end BADLY. And the sad thing is, it could actually still be worse. Don’t believe me? Read Frank Miller’s work that includes them as a couple. It makes me feel like DC will someday drop the pretences and just go ahead and release adult love novels featuring DC Superheroes. Hell, if Fifty Shades of Grey can become a best-seller, I’d believe anything could sell that much.

And then there’s her appearances in Batwoman as of late, where she’s……..um, actually pretty well written. I’m serious, while I don’t pick up Batwoman on a regular basis, what I’ve read of it depicts Wonder Woman pretty well. Powerful, confident, and compassionate. I WAS cringing for a moment when it became apparent that Batwoman was harbouring a schoolgirl-like crush on her, but thank goodness they didn’t go in the direction of a Batwoman/Wonder Woman/Superman love triangle, and we instead see Batwoman proposing to Maggie Sawyer…Um, Batwoman IS a DC title, yes? o.O

Anyway, that’s all from me for now. Post your thoughts, opinions, whatever, and let’s hope that things don’t degrade much more. Hell, this makes my brain ache, and I already have a really bad cavity in my mouth right now. I don’t need any more pains in the region of my head. Ja né!

Related articles

• She Has No Head! – Is the Destruction of The Amazons The Destruction of Feminism in DC Comics? (comicbookresources.com)
• “Because they are both heroes and wear red and blue” (dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com)