My book look from yesterday has spawned yet another post. I was flipping through the issue in which Ann Forfreedom’s letter appeared, Wonder Woman #212, and realized that it was the first issue of they story arc where Wonder Woman submits to series of tests to prove she is worthy to be in the Justice League.
Now, the tests were Wonder Woman’s idea… she’s frazzled because she can’t remember the years she spent as the depowered Diana Prince, and doesn’t feel she deserves re-admission to the Justice League. Plus, she doesn’t want to have an amnesia episode in the middle of a mission and fail to save someone. It’s a legitimate concern, but still very uncool of the rest of the Justice League to agree to it. And also, very uncool of the writers to make Wonder Woman have to pass a series of tests for the all-male Justice League when feminist outcry is the reason she’s an Amazon again in the first place… that was not smart thinking.
Anyway, Wonder Woman unknowingly sets about her first task. She goes to a club called The Casbah as Diana Prince, but her woman’s intuition tells her it is dangerous and so she enters as Wonder Woman, defeating the bad guy, The Cavalier, and saving her friend. Had she entered as Diana, she would have likely been captured and failed the task. Afterward, Superman gives his report on the event to the Justice League, but Batman is incredulous:
He doesn’t believe the bit about Wonder Woman’s intuition, the key decision behind the success of the mission. And it turns out, he was right:
It was Superman!! What the hell?? Way to handicap the test. It’s bad enough that she has to do these tests in the first place, without being patronized by the boys in the Justice League. If you’re going to have tests, let her AT LEAST pass them on her own merits. Good work undercutting her success, Superman.
I wonder how long new feminist readers lasted on Wonder Woman? Her return was pretty hyped up in Ms. and other places, but good lord the stories that followed were not good at all.
Tags: Batman, Justice League, Superman, Wonder Woman
