It's Thankful Thursday ... On Friday! (Special Respighi shampoo edition)
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Labels: gratitude, thankful thursday, thankfulness, wonder woman
It's Thankful Thursday ... On Friday! (Special strawberry Lau edition)
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Labels: applications, gratitude, mobile, mobile apps, thankful thursday, thankfulness, wonder woman
As a lifelong Wondy fan, will I be seeing the new flick?
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Labels: hey hey ho ho girl power crap has got to go, movies, quit appropriating all my fandoms, wonder woman
My thoughts on the first Wonder Woman trailer
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Labels: comics, meh, movies, wonder woman
"Wondy eyes, they're watching you, they see your EEEEV'RY MOVE!"
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Labels: clap clap, wonder woman
It's Thankful Thursday!
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Princesses don't wear pants
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Labels: comics, geeky, wonder woman
My thoughts on Gadot in her Wondy duds
So,
we finally get to see what Gal Gadot's Wondy duds look like for the upcoming
Batman v Superman flick. My thoughts:
1) I like the outfit. She's been depicted similarly in the comics for quite some time, so this is not anything out of place or new. I could do without the heels, but as those are impractical, naturally, they have her in 'em. Which is also not new -- she is usually depicted wearing heeled boots, so
::shrug::. (Don't get me started on the ballerina shoes from the Golden Age.)
2) I had a slim bit of hope that Gadot would manage to put on more musculature for the role. Alas, she did not. However, I can more easily overlook that bit because -- like Supes -- she could have zero muscles and still flatten a city block. Her strength in pre-52 continuity is a direct gift from the gods, and in post-52 continuity the result of Zeus being her daddy. So, ultimately, whatevs.
3) If you yap about how she "looks like Xena", I will kick your arse into a different hemisphere.
Xena is the blatant ripoff of Wondy, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Wondy's been around since 1941. Also, you may be surprised to know this, but I have always hated the character of Xena. (Lawless, however, I like. She rocks as an actress.) Don't assume that because I love Wondy, I also love Xena. :-)
4) I am still not holding my breath that the flick will be any good. Because this is DC, people. When they manage to eke out a good movie, it's
in spite of themselves.
Labels: comics, movies, wonder woman
Finally, some promising Wonder Woman news
"[C]oming this August, DC will launch
Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman, an all-new anthology series based on the Amazon princess. ... Sensation Comics, which is named for the original forties series which was Wonder Woman’s showcase title, will feature stories set in a variety of eras from the Wonder Woman comics, and won’t be tied into DC’s whole New 52 incarnation.
"Even though the New 52 version of Diana from Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang has received widespread acclaim
[from those who don't know any better and are wholly enamored of the "darker, grittier, MOAR REALS" done-to-death schtick], for many longtime Wonder Woman fans, the newest version of the Amazon princess feels very far removed from the emissary of peace created by psychologist William Marston back in 1941. Sensation Comics will give
old and cranky [author's strikethrough, not mine :-P ] devoted and loyal fans like a us a version of the Wonder Woman character we have been missing. Digital chapters of the series will come out once a week, with every three chapters being collected into single print issues." (
DC Comics Announces Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman Anthology Title)
Thank you, DC! It's nice to see an instance of good breaking through your standard suck.
Labels: comics, geeky, wonder woman
New 52 Wondy: Stolen clothes
Talking about this pic earlier reminded me of my main reason for disliking Wondy's revised, post-52 costume: Instead of coming up with a unique or original take on her getup, they instead stole major elements from Donna's outfit:
Doing that was lazy and stoopid. But hey, that's
totally in keeping with the rest of the way they've handled her post-52 character, so ...
And to clarify: I'm not upset that they changed her costume. They've done that over the decades since she hit the scene in 1941. What I'm objecting to is
how it changed.
Labels: comics, geeky, wonder woman
Nifty Wonder Woman fan art by Mina Rho
I really wish
Mina Rho hadn't deactivated her deviantART account. :-( Had to scrounge around to find
this excellent depiction of the Wonder family that she did:
If you don't know, they are (l-r): Queen Hippolyte (Wondy's mom), Donna Troy*, Wondy, Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl), and Artemis**.
= = = = =
* Formerly Wonder Girl and later Troia, and then ... non-existent as far as the 52 reboot. Yay. :-/
** She briefly "won" the Wonder Woman title away from Diana in a pre-52 story arc ... during Deodato's days of the Wonder Thong.
Labels: artwork, comics, fan art, geeky, wonder woman
New 52 Wondy: Even MORE blugh
I've
mentioned 'afore how I'm supremely unthrilled over DC's 52 reboot of Wondy. Because of said unthrillitude, I stopped at #1 of the new series (Sep. 2011), but continued to follow general plot/character developments as best I could from scraps gleaned online.
While at a con recently, Husband Mike dug through the buck bins to get as many of those issues* that he could find for me. I forgot to tell him about the #0 issue, so he didn't look for that. But, he did pick up nos. 2-17, and I've been reading 'em since then. I just started #16, so I'm almost finished ...
... and it's even WORSE than I could've possibly imagined.
I could rant for quite awhile, but in the interest of pixel conservation, I'll limit myself to the big complaints. Which are:
Horrible, terrible dialogue. So, soooo many bad exchanges. Here's just one:
APOLLO: [Confronting Wondy and telling her to step aside.] "... You've had your fun. It's time for you to step down."
WONDY: "Really? I've never felt more like stepping up."
APOLLO: "Step, then ... into your grave."
GAAAAAAHH!!!
NOTE: If that was the only real clinker, I'd have overlooked it -- comics aren't exactly known for their Shakespearean prose. But, this is just one of
several cringe-inducing bits of dialogue.
Craptacular art. (Okay, so I've crabbed about this before. I can't help it ... IT'S REALLY AWFUL.) I don't know why folks are falling all over themselves for the way Chiang draws; there's nothing attractive or clever or compelling in his style. I haven't hated a look this much since Byrne's run in the '90s.
Flying. Her ability to fly -- from what I can gather -- was
not part of her original skill set in this reboot. Which, okay, since it wasn't when she debuted in the '40s, I can deal with. However, when she
did gain that ability, it was done in a completely dorky manner: She was fighting with a few other gods, Hermes (who was on her side) was laid low temporarily and so plucked out one of his feathers, chucked it at Wondy, and it punctured her ... thus granting her the ability to fly. Not kidding!
And we had to wait until issue #11 for that to happen. Almost a year into the reboot before she got that power ...
and once she had it, she was supremely nonchalant over gaining said power.
NO reaction to suddenly being able to soar. Nothing. No, "Oh, would ya lookit that. I can fly now." Granted, it happened in the heat of a fight, but you'd think she'd remark about this new-found ability at
some later point? Yeah, no.
Where's Wondy? For a title called "Wonder Woman", you'd expect her to get the majority of panel time. HA-HA! YOU FOOL! No, she's regularly eclipsed by the supporting characters doing their godly scheming and plotting and bickering. And then it's like, oh hey, let's see what Wondy's up to for a couple panels ... okay, that's enough! Back to the scheming gods, everyone!
As much as I hate having holes in my collection, this is it. (Save for maybe getting #0.) I will not be buying any more issues of this title until the next reboot comes along, whenever that may be. Which I hope won't be decades away.
UPDATE: I also dislike
her post-52 look.
= = = = =
* Because yes, I whined and asked him to. I know, know ...
Labels: comic, geek, wonder woman
The New 52 Wondy: Blugh
I recently (finally!) finished reading through my backlogged stack o' Wonder Woman comics, which ended at #1 (21 September 2011) of DC's 52 reboot. Because that was the last issue I have, I'm now reading folks' synopses/reviews of the rebooted series, which is currently at #12 (15 August 2012).
It's slow going because, since she's not as popular as Supes or Bats, folks aren't as passionate about sharing issue-by-issue plot details. But from the bits I'm finding so far, I'm not regretting my decision to ditch the title, mainly for the following gigumbous bits:
Pre-52 (Post-Crisis) Continuity
Amazons' history. Amazons are created from clay and brought to life by the Greek gods: "A cavewoman [later Queen Hippolyta], and her unborn daughter [Diana], are murdered by her mate. On Mount Olympus, Ares opposes Artemis' plans to create a new race of female mortals to set an example to other mortals, and Zeus doesn't care. Artemis and four other Goddesses go to the Cavern of Souls where they use all, except for one [Diana], the souls of perished women to create reborn, ageless Amazons." (
source)
Amazons' culture. While trained in combat, they maintain a peaceful, idyllic culture of sisterhood. Themyscira is also known as "Paradise Island".
Diana's creation. Diana is also created from clay and brought to life -- and endowed with special powers -- by the gods, after being sculpted by the Amazon Queen Hippolyta: "Centuries later, Hippolyta prays for a daughter and after making a baby out of clay, the last soul is reborn as a new Amazon blessed with gifts from the gods named Diana." (
source)
Diana's character. Diana conducts herself with dignity, kindness, diplomacy, self-awareness, maturity, and self-restraint, as befits a princess and warrior. She also has a great sense of humor.
Amazons and Diana. All the Amazons feel somewhat motherly towards Diana, and love her wholeheartedly as a special gift to them
all from the gods.
Gods. The Greek gods genuinely care about humans and the Amazons in particular. When addressing Diana and the other Amazons, they speak to them respectfully, referring to them as "Daughter".
Faith. Diana and the Amazons devoutly practice their faith, respect and love the gods, and strive to serve them to the best of their abilities.
Right there, that's all pretty counter-cultural, wouldn't you say? And dang creative. I always liked Diana's unique "parentage", along with that of all the Amazons.
Now we have ...
Post-52 Continuity
Amazons' history. The Amazons are no longer immortal, and maintain their population by searching out sailors (rapey) so they can get preggers, then kill said sailors, and keep the girls but exchange the boys for weapons.
Amazons' culture. "[R]eaders have never seen Wonder Woman's world so bleak, for better or worse, than they do here." (
source)
Diana's creation. Diana is now the product of adultery -- Zeus and Hippolyta. And wow,
that's creative! Now she's just one among a gajillion of Zeus' offspring from affairs. How
unique!
Diana's character. Diana is now "more approachable". "Azzarello strips some of the majesty from Wonder Woman's origins, and in that way perhaps makes the character more approachable -- to illustrate, Azzarello takes Diana from Paradise Island to drinking in a heavy-metal club." (
source) Look, they're
superheroes. We don't
need them to be "approachable", dammit! That's not the point!
Aaand there's
now a thing between her and Supes. Joy.
Amazons and Diana. Diana's Amazon sisters
taunt her: "Azzarello's story has Diana bowing in fealty to her mother, and facing challenge if not outright revolt from her fellow Amazons. Azzarello reveals that Diana left Paradise Island for Man's World not on a quest for great adventure, but because she never fit in with her fellow Amazons, who called her (mistakenly, we know now) 'Clay.' " (Ev'rybody sing! "All of the other reindeer / used to laugh and call him names. / They never let poor Rudolph / join in any reindeer games.")
Gods. Hera is all pissy towards any chick who shacked up with Zeus and actively seeks revenge against them all, including Hippolyta. And the gods are now just a bunch of amoral, self-absorbed, Game-of-Thrones-ish jackasses who see humans as nothing more than pawns (at best) and playthings.
Faith. Faith? What faith? Nothing that I can see so far.
So. No way in heck am I going to read this bleak, depressing, non-unique iteration of Wondy. They dorked up her history* in such a major, unappealing way that all I can hope for is to wait this out until the next, inevitable reboot or retcon.
UPDATE: I've
got more thoughts after caving and reading the issues. And
here's why I hate her post-52 outfit.
= = = = =
* Something I highly doubt they'd even
think of doing with Supes or Bats. Minor tweaks, sure, but not such a
fundamental mess-up.
Labels: comics, geeky, wonder woman
