Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to the month Earth #2 Wonder Woman celebrates in honour of the two-headed god Janus.
How’s that for a niche nerd intro?
Anyway, as usual, I go away for a couple of weeks and suddenly, all the comics are released – yes, all of them – and all the news is revealed – yes, all of it – so I’m going to have to be brief with my reviews this week.
In news, as well as confirmation that both Lex Luthor and Hippolyta are going to be in Justice League, we’ve had a few new images released from both that movie and Wonder Woman:
Director Patty Jenkins has been chatting a bit about Diana’s motivation, as well as the reason for the WWI setting of Wonder Woman – something that contains a very important word that I will highlight a lot:
“My approach was to focus on telling the story of mechanised war and how that would look to a god visiting our world for the first time. I wanted the audience to understand the horrors that a war on this scale makes possible and how shocking that would be to someone who comes with a strong sense of honor and justice. She doesn’t realise yet just how senselessly dark the world can be.”
And another image has Diana getting her sword for the first time:
What’s notable about that is Entertainment Weekly‘s description of the sword:
In the image, Wonder Woman has broken into the Amazonian armory and is stealing their fabled weapon known as “the god killer.”
That’s new. Of course, ‘the god killer’ sword did feature in the recent Tony Daniel Deathstroke run, and Diana does have a sword capable of splitting atoms, but Diana’s never owned one officially described as ‘the god killer’ before. And why would she need a ‘god killer’ during World War I, I wonder?
Also, IIRC, the only time Diana’s ever stolen her armour and/or weapons was in… the old Justice League cartoon series. Hmm – <Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In voice>very interesting</Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In voice>.
Talking of said series, though, the new Justice League Action is still going strong, with crazy old James Woods as crazy old Lex Luthor getting the power of Zeus and a certain nu52 power couple still canon:
Meanwhile, in case you ever wanted to know how to draw Wonder Woman in the style of Lynda Carter, here’s Cat Staggs telling you how:
After the jump, let’s talk (briefly I’m afraid) about all the DC comics I spotted since the previous WWW that featured the Amazon princess: Aquaman #13, Batman ’66 meets Wonder Woman ’77 #3, Dark Knight III #7, Justice League (Rebirth) #11, Justice League v Suicide Squad #1-3, Trinity #4 and Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #13.
Aquaman #13
Plot
Aquaman is fighting N.E.M.O. (no, not the Captain), who are trying to cause a war with Atlantis. The Justice League try to help.
What does Diana do?
Stand around a bit in a snorkel and say things like “Let’s see it” and “We’ll stand with you!”
Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77
Plot
Ra’s al Ghul continues to try to obtain a book during World War II.
What does Diana do?
Fight some assassins (with Steve Trevor’s help), although they have a tendency to dissolve when interrogated.
Dark Knight III #7
Plot
Superman and Wonder Woman’s daughter tries to steal her baby brother from the Amazons.
What does Diana do?
She’s not having not none of that and neither are the Amazons.
Justice League (Rebirth) #11
Plot
The Justice League have to fight the supercriminals, including Amazo, until they win. The end.
What does Diana do?
Get hit a lot by Amazo.
Justice League vs Suicide Squad #1-3
Plot
The Justice League and the Suicide Squad have a fight. The Justice League are winning… until Killer Frost freezes them all by draining Superman of his sunlight. However, Amanda Waller needs their help to fight a new enemy… Maxwell Lord!
What does Diana do?
She beats up Harley Quinn, who thinks they’re still ‘best friends‘.
Extra note
It’s worth realising that Maxwell Lord is a quite important old school character, not just the season 1 villain in Supergirl. Most importantly for our Diana, back in the day, as he has the power to control people with his voice, he was able to cause Superman to attack Wonder Woman, with Diana eventually having to kill Lord in cold blood to prevent him doing so again. This (eventually) led to the year without the Trinity between Volumes 2 and 3 of Wonder Woman. Of course, Superman knows all this, even if everyone else doesn’t, as he knows the Maxwell Lord of his universe very well.
For more info, here’s a video:
Trinity #4
Plot
The dreaming Trinity wind up on Themyscira where they encounter the young Wonder Woman.
What does Diana do?
Lots of things, including fight in the Amazon Games and meet her mum again.
Extra note
Worth noting is that there are lots of tie-ins with the ongoing Wonder Woman storyline and its new continuity, including the appearance of a certain tree, Batman spotting the origins of the Amazon language in the same way as Barbara Minerva did, Hippolyta being dark-haired and the Amazons referring to their ‘patrons’
Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #13
Plot
Wonder Woman’s out of it, so Steve Trevor has to protect her from their enemies.
What does Diana do?
Act all crazy then get put into a badly drawn London mental ward.
Extra note
Veronica Cale seems to want to find the way to Themyscira (just as Ares does…) and needs Diana to help her. Steve does well at the old guerilla warfare. Renato Guedes is nowhere near as good an artist as Liam Sharp.
Disclaimer: Owing to the small fortune it would take to buy every single DC comic each week, this is not a guaranteed rundown of all the comics that feature Wonder Woman. If you know of any I’ve missed, email me or leave a comment below and I’ll cover them the following week
