What.
Okay, a friend-turned-enemy coming at you stronger than ever and blowing out some windows in a few buildings while you both fly through the air and poke each other, sure, okay, very traumatic. The inner monologue vowing that no one else will die in your name while you engage in possibly the pussiest bitchfight ever, totes lame. The weird midget turning protesters to murder... okay, that was actually kind of cool, but since we didn't actually SEE the murder or have much emotion invested in either side of the argument (it was like a protest of librarians fighting over the Dewey Decimal system v. straight alphabetical, I'm sure both sides had valid reasons to be protesting but honestly, WHO CARES) and then the midget got dead right afterwards (also out of sight), the cool factor was instantly mitigated.
The Olympus bits. Really? Infidelity is still a valid plot point between a couple of gods who have been around for, let's think about this, literally thousands of years? I swear, by 800 A.D. the real Hera would have keyed Zeus' car and ditched his skeezy ass, or taken up with the pool boy. There's not a lot left to get angry about after the fifth or six-thouandth half-god baby. ("It's a miracle child!" "It's a miracle you don't have the syph, idiot. Don't wake me when you come home; I'm throwing a garden party tomorrow.") And plus, these guys are pretty stupid to even be in the same room as Ares anymore. ("So, a guy walks into a bar--" "LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING." "I'm just telling a joke!" "That's what you said last time, and then we had drinks with this guy named Napoleon." "Aww...")
My original beef still applies. Now all we know about Diana is that she's loyal to her friends and doesn't want anyone to die. Oh wait. So is every other superhero ever. I think the problem is that comic writers simply don't know how to write women. If the women have emotions, they're too weak. If they don't have emotions, they're too masculine. If they have characterization, they're get shoved in a refrigerator.
I think I'm done with Wonder Woman for now. Maybe if Joss did the movie, I'd be open to reading it again. (HINT HINT, DC.)
- RD
Showing posts with label wonder woman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wonder woman. Show all posts
Thursday, January 29, 2009
I'm sorry, Greg Rucka
I tried to like Wonder Woman (#195-199), I really did. But honestly, she's kind of an annoying character, her staff isn't much better, and all that stuff with the gods was more interesting on Xena. Sure, the gag about the mock book cover made by her publisher was vaguely funny, if you're into blatant T&A, and her personal chef is an interesting guy to have around, but. I dunno. It's still boring.
Rucka had the perfect opportunity to grab newbies to the book with the introduction of Jonah, a new staff member. We saw him jump into the life of a human in the ambassador's orbit, with only glimpses of the Woman herself, but aside from a single panel of competence, Jonah is a bumbling nerd, struck dumb at the sight of her star-spangled panties. (I can't be the first person ever to type that sentence.) I hoped he'd get better, but in his next appearance, Jonah is late for work because his alarm didn't go off. He wasn't feeding the kids, helping an old lady cross the street, holding up a liquor store or anything else that would require, y'know, personality. He didn't even get a thought bubble to explain that he hit snooze because he was up all night working on his Wonder Woman fanpage. ("here are sum hot new pics & a sotry i wrote about me & her getting MARRIED!!! plz R&R or i wont post chapter 2.")
The other humans aren't much better; the book protest guy isn't so much evil as vaguely irritating (and honestly, I'm not actually sure what it is about Diana's book that he's protesting. Paganism? Lesbianism? Not even Harry Potter protesters were invited to appear on Crossfire, so I don't know why the head of the Campaign to Keep Children Ignorant or whatever it's called is taken so seriously). The doctor lady who threatened the midget (yes, EXACTLY) is clearly Up To No Good, but she doesn't seem to have a motive or an actual plan, so I can't bring myself to care. Diana's staff are overwhelmingly competent and sensible and everyone else they run into is a parody of humanity.
Don't even get me started on Olympus.
The worst part is that I don't have a sense of Diana's actual personality. I'm five issues into Rucka's run and all I know is that she's sweet and genuine and works too hard. She's a paragon, clearly a good, smart lady, and everyone around her loves her or hates her. I was hoping for a little more character (and not so much cleavage, after JC's claim that Drew Johnson was trying to create a WW with reasonable proportions. The most I'll give him is "less outlandish," but that's about it). This is precisely why DC bores me - the heroes are perfect and the humans are predictable.
- RD
Rucka had the perfect opportunity to grab newbies to the book with the introduction of Jonah, a new staff member. We saw him jump into the life of a human in the ambassador's orbit, with only glimpses of the Woman herself, but aside from a single panel of competence, Jonah is a bumbling nerd, struck dumb at the sight of her star-spangled panties. (I can't be the first person ever to type that sentence.) I hoped he'd get better, but in his next appearance, Jonah is late for work because his alarm didn't go off. He wasn't feeding the kids, helping an old lady cross the street, holding up a liquor store or anything else that would require, y'know, personality. He didn't even get a thought bubble to explain that he hit snooze because he was up all night working on his Wonder Woman fanpage. ("here are sum hot new pics & a sotry i wrote about me & her getting MARRIED!!! plz R&R or i wont post chapter 2.")
The other humans aren't much better; the book protest guy isn't so much evil as vaguely irritating (and honestly, I'm not actually sure what it is about Diana's book that he's protesting. Paganism? Lesbianism? Not even Harry Potter protesters were invited to appear on Crossfire, so I don't know why the head of the Campaign to Keep Children Ignorant or whatever it's called is taken so seriously). The doctor lady who threatened the midget (yes, EXACTLY) is clearly Up To No Good, but she doesn't seem to have a motive or an actual plan, so I can't bring myself to care. Diana's staff are overwhelmingly competent and sensible and everyone else they run into is a parody of humanity.
Don't even get me started on Olympus.
The worst part is that I don't have a sense of Diana's actual personality. I'm five issues into Rucka's run and all I know is that she's sweet and genuine and works too hard. She's a paragon, clearly a good, smart lady, and everyone around her loves her or hates her. I was hoping for a little more character (and not so much cleavage, after JC's claim that Drew Johnson was trying to create a WW with reasonable proportions. The most I'll give him is "less outlandish," but that's about it). This is precisely why DC bores me - the heroes are perfect and the humans are predictable.
- RD
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