I do wonder about Wonder Woman

It is a received truism that heroines can’t carry solo titles. Why this should be the case is not so clear – do fan-boys really need male heroes to identify with, while fan-girls don’t read capes and powers? Or is it that too simple and the fate of Heroines rest solely on the quality of their creators?
DC currently has four heroines headlining their own titles, only one of which is not tied to another franchise; Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Power Girl and Batwoman. Of those four, three are entertaining, while one is most definitely not. Can you guess which one is letting the side down?
Batwoman debuted last month in Detective Comics, to almost universal acclaim. It’s not hard to see why, when one considers the great attention and care Rucka and Williams have afforded this eagerly anticipated launch. Kate Kane/Batwoman comes with an intriguing back-story, a strong set-up, and she kicks ass while taking names with the best of ‘em. This queering of the Bat world has legs, and I suspect she’ll be around for some time to come.
Power Girl is new to the world of solo titles too, debuting the month before. Palmiotti, Gray and Conner take a stylistically different path, but the result is still the same – a strong (I’m not talking super-strength) female protagonist with a solid set-up, and a nice fun tone that contrasts well with the rest of DC’s line. Power Girl and Batwoman are unto night and day in approach and attitude, but there is more than enough room for both.
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) has been with us for half a decade, but it is only recently that she has come into her own under the direction of Gates and Igle. This team has transformed the title – simply by dialling back all the unnecessary baggage Loeb saddled her with and presenting a well-loved character as she is best remembered. Tying the title into the main Super-continuity has only helped to emphasise Supergirl’s importance to the Superman family, and the creator’s enthusiasm for the character and her cast is infectious.
Wonder Woman is a mess. For what seems like a lifetime, she has been locked into a meandering story arc, confusingly titled Rise of the Olympian. Confusing, because I’m still waiting for the Olympian to rise – perhaps he has felt impotent in the face of all that female empowerment? Though female empowerment is probably a little too strong a term, when Simone has the titular heroine admit to wanting to get pregnant by tricking a man she doesn’t love into the deed, so she can re-populate the Amazon race (which flies in the face of all known logic).
Wonder Woman has suffered over the decades from a lack or relevance; created during the Forties as a wish fulfilment for William Marston’s submissive bondage fantasies, Wonder Woman none-the-less came into her own as a proponent of America’s flag-waving patriotism during World War II, and it has to be said that Marston’s singular vision gave her a unique identity. And, strangely, she was adopted as a Feminist Icon.
After Marston left the strip though, Wonder Woman (as a result of criticism from Frederic Wertham in Seduction of the Innocent) was reduced to appearing in some rather insipid comics, that focused either on romance or using her powers in competitions to best the baddies rather than taking any direct action.
Wonder Woman’s lack of relevance to the world outside comics reached such a point during the late Sixties, and her sales dipped so comparatively low, that DC were seriously considering cancelling the title and losing their rights to publish Wonder Woman. A last ditch attempt to save the title was implemented in Wonder Woman #178, which had Wonder Woman go without her usual trappings to investigate and clear Steve Trevor of a crime he didn’t commit, and the change was startling. As drawn by Sekowsky, the star-spangled shorts and eagle-emblazoned bust wearing Wonder Woman looked dated, frumpy and out of place. The new look Diana Prince was a revelation, and suddenly relevant to the world around her. The new look took for awhile, and allowed Wonder Woman to participate in many different stories encompassing espionage, horror and fantasy alongside straight super heroics, but those changes were sadly rolled back at the start of the Seventies, and it is debatable whether Wonder Woman has ever truly recovered or become relevant again, despite being re-invented during the mid-Eighties.
The overriding problem I have with Wonder Woman is the over bearing reliance on her back-story with the Greek gods and the Amazons – these two themes seem to be the default mode for any creator coming onto the book. Instead of serving as background colour, they have become (what seems like) the interminable focus – and there is some evidence that readers are turned of by magic/fantasy themes in comic books. Simone has seemingly ignored Wonder Woman’s Diana Prince civilian ID, and Wonder Woman is the poorer for it.
The one bright spot at the end of Rise of the Olympian was Wonder Woman’s renouncing of her Amazon heritage – I sincerely hope this means a return to telling stories that have some relevance to the world of today, or at least entertaining. I shall be reading with a watchful eye – the first glimmer of a plot by the Greek gods and I may just be out of here.

Justice League: Cry for Justice #1

I have flip-flopped back and forth on this title; when it was first announced as an ongoing I was pretty enthusiastic. When it was demoted to a mini-series, my enthusiasm drained away, but at least James Robinson was still going to be writing a Justice League title, yes? Then I saw those preview pages, and my heart sank – this was going to be the same James Robinson newly returned from Hollywood (where his writing skills had obviously atrophied – Hollywood will do that) that left me flat on the first few issues of his Superman run. Robinson has brushed up on his comic book writing skills immeasurably since those disappointing days, and his Superman (well, Mon-El and The Guardian) run is one of DC’s highlights in my book. Still, I wasn’t sure I was going to buy into an unnecessary mini-series, having sworn of them earlier this year.
However, in a week when my only other comic book purchase was to be Batman and Robin, I thought what the hell, and plunked down my hard earned cash to hear the Justice League Cry For Justice!
Well, leaving aside the opening scene on the Justice League satellite with Hal getting all worked up about the meaning of justice (buy a Thesaurus you cheapskate!), and the beat-you-over-the-head-with-it concreting of the theme, it was OK. Not brilliant, but certainly serviceable for a cape and powers comic book. I’m even optimistic that Robinson’s writing will improve going ahead, as he shakes of the bad habits learned writing scripts for Hollywood for a number of years.
Let’s talk about the art, shall we? Honestly, I thought the art was the weakest element of the book; painted art that was worthy of an ‘A’ level merit badge, but little else – stock poses, faces that don’t actually show any expression (unless it’s extreme), and annoying painterly tricks wrapped up in a photo-realistic bow. I understand why a large number of comic book readers faint at the sight of some photo-realism (hence Alex Ross’ strange popularity) but it’s an art style that exists only to allow the artist to flatter his ego, and waste time producing images with very little content beyond the surface gloss. I’m not sure Cascioli even did any real character research, as there are some glaring mistakes to be found within these pages.
So, a mixed result; I will be buying the next issue hoping for signs of improvement from Robinson (I don’t hold out much hope for Cascioli), but I am confident that Robinson’s up-coming run on the League title proper will be a vast improvement - both on his writing here, and what has come before on the Justice League of America.

Long Live the Legion!

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/050912-Geoff-Return.html
I understand the need to rest properties that haven’t performed as well as one might have hoped, but I really think Legion has been given a raw deal.
DC teased the new Adventure Comics as a Legion title, otherwise why release that ‘0’ issue reprinting the Legion’s first appearance, and have been spotlighting all three iterations in Legion of Three Worlds recently – so the natural conclusion was that the Legion would be getting a full blown series as a result, whether in Adventure Comics or elsewhere.
However, after the announcement that boring ol’ Super Conner is getting the limelight in Adventure Comics, and that the Legion will be relegated to ‘co-feature’, we now find out that the first Legion arc is Star Boy, the second is Lightning Lad, and that the series will continue on spotlighting single Legionnaires.
After the last series was cut short (to not muddy the waters for Johns’ fan-wank Lo3W) and shamefully wrapped up with the execrable issue #50, I would say Legion fans deserve better.
LLL

Wonder Woman #31

I’m bored.
I’m bored of Genocide, and I’m bored of the Olympians. I’m bored of Greek Gods and their plots, and I’m bored of Amazons.
But answer me this? Why does Wonder Woman not use her Diana Prince ID, especially when visiting hospitals?
I liked Chang’s art though.

Justice Society of America #26

I’m not sure I know what to say about this, but I’ll give it try.
This issue of Justice Society of America was an over-indulgent, saccharine saturated, sophomoric good-bye to the Society from Johns and Eaglesham – and it couldn’t have come sooner.
Eaglesham still needs a lot of work, especially in perspective. Look at that double page spread on pages 4 and 5 – if Maxine was to stand up she’d take out the roof of the house. His figures are still stiff, and everyone looks awkwardly posed.
I wish Johns had played to his more brutal instincts, and had a villain attack Coutney’s house during the birthday party – I would have been delighted to see a few heads ripped off to rid us of some crap characters, and stop characters I actually like getting all cutesy about ice-cream and cake.
Oh well. Johns has gone, now bring on the new blood!

The Flash: Rebirth #2

Flash Fact.
Barry Allen may have been a little dull, and slightly conservative, but at least up until Iris’s death his character exemplified the bright super-heroics of the Silver Age. His stories were fun.
Barry’s death during Crisis on Infinite Earths was the final nail in the coffin for that era, ushering in a new, more ‘realistic’ Marvelised style at DC. The only fanboys who remember Barry, and what he stood for, are now in their 40’s; so the reasoning behind returning Barry is slightly suspect. Especially when his return comes with an added Noughties edge.
Did DC not get the message when they tried the exact same thing when they returned Kara Zor-El? That character floundered under the weight of her dark edge; neither fish nor fowl, she appeased neither the readers who remembered the original, nor the majority of readers who preferred the post-Crisis version she replaced. It’s only 5 years later that the character is back on track; will Barry face the same fate?
On the strength of this series so far, without the pull of Geoff Johns, he just might. If you are going to change a character so much, especially his personality, then you may have as well created something new. The ‘new’ Barry has a ret-conned tragedy in his past - supposedly to justify why the original was a police scientist - and a morose outlook on life. I have a feeling Grant Morrison may be rolling his eyes somewhere.
Van Sciver’s art is far too busy to be anything more than adequate; and would benefit greatly from less noodling and more storytelling.

Justice League of America #32

Sometimes, I wish the internet had never been invented.
I’ve railed against McDuffie’s writing on Justice League in the past, but I actually enjoyed this issue. Unfortunately, I can’t disassociate it from all the insider information, and the whining, McDuffie has made us, the reader, aware of from his postings on the DCU Message Board. If I hadn’t been made privy to all that behind the scenes info, the editorial interference, I might have enjoyed the issue and perhaps his run in general, even more.
McDuffie has referred to the line-up he has at present as Cap’s Kookie Quartet, but without Captain America. However, that period of The Avengers was when they actually became interesting; and I think this line-up is pretty solid – an interesting, and diverse, collection of not quite ready for prime time members.
Back in the old days, most writers didn’t want to bother with the ‘big guns’ in the JLA, preferring to write them out with a passing reference to Superman being busy on a mission off world, or something similar, and concentrated on the members they could actually develope. Why couldn’t that be the case here, instead of making the big song and dance about it all?
Rags pencils are a welcome change to Benes and his imitators.