There are a lot of things I really like about this story. The initially sympathetic Zeus later reveals his gristly plans for the Amazons. Does he believe he’s actually doing the Amazons a good turn? Or is he simply betraying Athena? As for Athena, her death almost seemed too convenient, a way to get her out of the way so as to advance the plot—but, then, it seems too easy, as though she’s got something up her sleeve. Is she planning her eventual rebirth, like the New Gods, giving herself a newfound relevance? Is she tricking Zeus once again? This plotline is so outrageous it teeters on the ridiculous, but so far, it’s the most fun and exciting part of the story.
The scene with Sarge Steel is also fun, with Sarge going even further off the rails, ready to bring down everyone including, seemingly, himself. We don’t need any description from any of the other characters to explain just why he’s absolutely bonkers, he just is.
I wish I could say the same about the other plot points— Diana’s defeat by Genocide, Genocide herself, and the significance of the lasso. It’s a classic case of show, don’t tell. We keep being told that Genocide inspires a feeling of “overwhelming dread,” but don’t actually see what this means. We see numerous contacts between Genocide and people in this issue, and yet never see how this dread is manifest. Why couldn’t we see a victim’s pleas turn from hopeful to dreadful acceptance? Phobia and the DMA secretary show garden variety pleading; Cheetah seemingly has a normal conversation with the creature, as do Firestorm and Green Lantern, who only seems to have a bad reaction when he’s wrapped in the lasso, and it is only through Canary’s comment that she’s “never heard a Green Lantern scream like that” that we’re supposed to imagine the terror.
But what’s the big deal with the lasso? Diana keeps telling us it’s this terrible weapon, and I assume we’ll see more of that in the future, but what are we supposed to take from this first attack by Genocide? Green Lantern comes to the terrifying conclusion he’s prideful! And alone! I mean, really. Try therapy, dude. Unless we see how these rather mundane feelings are manifest in a terrifying way, all we see is Canary’s report of his scream, which hardly gives goosebumps down the spine.
Similarly, Diana is laid low in this issue not only because of her physical wounds, but because she’s been defeated “as a warrior.” She knows what it means, Nemesis apparently knows what that means, but do we? We didn’t get to see the battle, nor why this is so devastating for Diana, so we have to assume this is a BIG DEAL because Diana is feeling so thoroughly defeated. It just seems so strange for the main character to have a major shift of mood and yet we never see how it happened.
Another aspect I felt could have been more dramatic and interesting was the “golden pathways.” It seems strange that the gods, only recently coming back to themselves, would have the knowledge, power, and resources for something so dynamic. There was a similar situation in an earlier story, when Diana returns to Paradise Island after her powerless phase. Diana was an amnesiac, drawn to return to her homeland so irresistibly that she stole a jet, was shot from the sky, and fought off sharks before finding Paradise Island. These golden pathways just seem so easy, and too much like the deus ex machinas we’ve become accustomed to in recent Wonder Woman issues. But there’s a tradition in Classical literature of the hero having to go through certain rites or trails before they can ascend to another plane or magical land; somehow, working as a manager at a Cancer center doesn’t really cut it. I think the scenes of the Amazons in their worldly disguises, as well as the double page of Zeus receiving the pathways, might have been better used to show something a little more worthy of the Amazon’s desire to return to home, not just a “hey, I’m out’a here!” and a handy walkway.
I really liked the last issue. Finally, we were back to a story that centers on Diana and her supporting cast and the kinds of threats she might face as Wonder Woman. I feel a little deflated that we’re only a third of the way in, and I’m already feeling disappointed; that I’m supposed to accept Genocide is a terrible threat because people keep saying she is; that Diana has been so thoroughly defeated because she’s acting morose, or that the lasso is so terrible is someone else’s hands because, well, because! Certainly there’s a lot of time for this story to get back on track, I just wish I wasn’t already feeling doubtful about this latest version of the ultimate badass Diana foe.
The scene with Sarge Steel is also fun, with Sarge going even further off the rails, ready to bring down everyone including, seemingly, himself. We don’t need any description from any of the other characters to explain just why he’s absolutely bonkers, he just is.
I wish I could say the same about the other plot points— Diana’s defeat by Genocide, Genocide herself, and the significance of the lasso. It’s a classic case of show, don’t tell. We keep being told that Genocide inspires a feeling of “overwhelming dread,” but don’t actually see what this means. We see numerous contacts between Genocide and people in this issue, and yet never see how this dread is manifest. Why couldn’t we see a victim’s pleas turn from hopeful to dreadful acceptance? Phobia and the DMA secretary show garden variety pleading; Cheetah seemingly has a normal conversation with the creature, as do Firestorm and Green Lantern, who only seems to have a bad reaction when he’s wrapped in the lasso, and it is only through Canary’s comment that she’s “never heard a Green Lantern scream like that” that we’re supposed to imagine the terror.
But what’s the big deal with the lasso? Diana keeps telling us it’s this terrible weapon, and I assume we’ll see more of that in the future, but what are we supposed to take from this first attack by Genocide? Green Lantern comes to the terrifying conclusion he’s prideful! And alone! I mean, really. Try therapy, dude. Unless we see how these rather mundane feelings are manifest in a terrifying way, all we see is Canary’s report of his scream, which hardly gives goosebumps down the spine.
Similarly, Diana is laid low in this issue not only because of her physical wounds, but because she’s been defeated “as a warrior.” She knows what it means, Nemesis apparently knows what that means, but do we? We didn’t get to see the battle, nor why this is so devastating for Diana, so we have to assume this is a BIG DEAL because Diana is feeling so thoroughly defeated. It just seems so strange for the main character to have a major shift of mood and yet we never see how it happened.
Another aspect I felt could have been more dramatic and interesting was the “golden pathways.” It seems strange that the gods, only recently coming back to themselves, would have the knowledge, power, and resources for something so dynamic. There was a similar situation in an earlier story, when Diana returns to Paradise Island after her powerless phase. Diana was an amnesiac, drawn to return to her homeland so irresistibly that she stole a jet, was shot from the sky, and fought off sharks before finding Paradise Island. These golden pathways just seem so easy, and too much like the deus ex machinas we’ve become accustomed to in recent Wonder Woman issues. But there’s a tradition in Classical literature of the hero having to go through certain rites or trails before they can ascend to another plane or magical land; somehow, working as a manager at a Cancer center doesn’t really cut it. I think the scenes of the Amazons in their worldly disguises, as well as the double page of Zeus receiving the pathways, might have been better used to show something a little more worthy of the Amazon’s desire to return to home, not just a “hey, I’m out’a here!” and a handy walkway.
I really liked the last issue. Finally, we were back to a story that centers on Diana and her supporting cast and the kinds of threats she might face as Wonder Woman. I feel a little deflated that we’re only a third of the way in, and I’m already feeling disappointed; that I’m supposed to accept Genocide is a terrible threat because people keep saying she is; that Diana has been so thoroughly defeated because she’s acting morose, or that the lasso is so terrible is someone else’s hands because, well, because! Certainly there’s a lot of time for this story to get back on track, I just wish I wasn’t already feeling doubtful about this latest version of the ultimate badass Diana foe.
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