Comments on: Wonder Woman #0 Review OR Kind Of Cute On The Surface, But Troubling Below

By: Tim Hanley

Tim Hanley — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:03:31 +0000

Yeah, the point of it all is what had me confused about this issue. It was pleasant enough, storywise, but it doesn’t seem to be adding a lot to the overall story.

By: Tim Hanley

Tim Hanley — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:03:18 +0000

That’s a great point, Gus. I’ve been waiting for Athena to show up for a while, and that owl is the first Athena-related thing we’ve seen so far. I’m with you in hoping she comes back big.

By: Tim Hanley

Tim Hanley — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:02:56 +0000

Technically, the creation of the Amazons WAS compensating for the abundance of males. That was Marston’s goal for the character, to present an alternative to the violent males who dominated the early years of the superhero genre.
I agree that greatness is genderless, but to me the current continuity is getting to the point where the Amazons are actually a detrimental influence on Wonder Woman. It’s not that she’s learning from all perspectives so much as anything useful comes from men and the Amazons are murdering, lying jerks. I’d like some balance at least in terms of Wonder Woman’s influences.

By: Karl

Karl — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:13:59 +0000

Surely SL its really because Diana is a woman that makes who she is and what she does exceptional? Wasnt that Marston’s point all along, back then? I agree with Tim that we would be far better served with an all female origin background instead of having her rely on male gods for her powers.
I liked this issue, tho wasnt entirely sure what the point of it was…all the other ‘O’ issues Ive seen have actually contributed something to the ongoing books [see the recent Supergirl one, its great] but this hasnt. Was it just a twee attempt to give us a Silver Age flavour and nothing else. I dont understand the point of it, tho it was delightfully silly at times [I didnt approve of her stealing that egg, tho].
The dialogue was reminiscent of some Thor issues for me, and was a bit drawn out. Some have commented that the opening pages narration was Marston inspired but for me it felt like Stan Lee had written it, hyperbole-driven it was.
And I adore the vintage Wonder Girl stories too – when she wasnt being carried aloft by an overly-camp genie, she was being caught in giant clams [no comment] or being the unwitting beard between Mer-Boy and Bird-Boy’s homoerotic wrangling. You cant fault it.
The only thing missing in this zero issue were the ice-cream cones in Hippolyta’s hair! Its made me think one final thing tho – teenage Diana was actually bearable in this, and it makes me want to see her instead of the grown-up version currently inhabiting the regular book and Justice League!

By: Gus

Gus — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:26:25 +0000

I would like to point out that this issues marks the first time iconography relating to Athena being used. The scowling owl on Paradise Island was clearly a reference to “Wisdom” (who also happens to be goddess of organized warfare). I was hoping it would pay off later in the story and was sad when it didn’t. She has been conspicuously absent from the series since it’s start, along with Hestia and Dionysus (but who cares about them). I’m hoping Athena comes back in a big way this year.

By: SL

SL — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:13:29 +0000

You make it sound like the creation of the Amazons were just compensating for the abundance of males. Isolating a bunch of females in a single title doesn’t really address the feminist problem in comics. It side steps the issue.

Wonder Woman is still the premiere woman and she’s rightly being portrayed as exceptional. The point I think Azzarello is making is that she surpasses the Amazons instead of being another Amazon. Being a woman with only female influences doesn’t automatically lead to goodness. Greatness is gender-less and learning from all perspectives is far more positive. Wonder Woman is exceptional because of her character. It has nothing to do with her gender, which is a feminist to say.