Tag: Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman in No Man’s Land: Anatomy of a Great Scene

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, FilmLeave a comment

Originally posted on Panic in the Skies January 23, 2018

For all its misses, the DC Extended Universe has mustered up a single film that took over the box office while also receiving strong praise from critics. Wonder Woman stands out at the only unqualified success from DC’s cinematic universe so far. It also provided one of the best scenes in any superhero movie.

I’m referring, of course, to the No Man’s Land scene, which nearly got cut from the film. Luckily, director Patty Jenkins won the argument and kept the scene in the final cut despite the fact that Wonder Woman wasn’t fighting a villain. It’s an iconic moment, and the film builds up to it incredibly well.

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Those Blasted Superfriends: Superfriends Rest in Peace

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, FilmLeave a comment

I might seem mean-spirited with these rants against Superfriends, but I laugh because I love. These old cartoons provided me with many hours of entertainment as a kid, although I suppose that’s arguably proof that television rots your brain.

This time around, I’m graduating to the more “mature” version of the show, Challenge of the Superfriends. Specifically, the episode I’m looking at is called “Superfriends Rest in Peace,” which actually proves quite dark for the era and results in the on-screen “deaths” of multiple superheroes.

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Thou Shalt not Kill

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

One of the oldest traditions in superhero comics is that the good guys don’t kill. There are exceptions out there, such as Wolverine, who sometimes the secret death squad X-Force or the Punisher, whose body count is somewhere in the thousands. But in general, superheroes haven’t killed since the Silver Age or even before. But the question is, why? Certainly some villains (*cough*Joker*cough*) deserve their necks snapped. Why is it that these guys who dress up in pajamas and pursue vigilante justice don’t do what sometimes needs to be done?

In an attempt to answer that question, or at least look at how the code against killing developed, here’s a look at some of the more iconic superheroes and why they don’t kill.

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Superhero Evolutions: Wonder Woman, part two

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics1 Comment

Through the 1980s, Wonder Woman changed a lot due largely to editorial laziness and inconsistent writing. People just couldn’t be bothered to try and keep her consistent from one issue to another up until Perez’s post-Crisis reboot. Going into the 90s, though, Wonder Woman changed even more, not due (entirely) to creator laziness but rather due to attempts to repeatedly market her or reinvent her for a changing crowd.

The 1990s brought a lot of change to superhero comics. Fans veered toward the idea of “grim and gritty” and superheroes who were less idealistic than the Silver Age icons. Paragon heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman suffered as a result. The market also targeted comic book speculators, the folks who mistakenly thought that buying special edition comics was a good investment. As a result, there was a big push to churn out major event after major event in an attempt to convince the speculators to buy variant covers, holo-foil covers, and comics where the iconic superheroes were supposedly “changed forever.” The death of Superman is a good example of this, with people rushing out to buy the issue where he died under the impression that it would make them rich someday. The fact is that such issues A) meant nothing in a comics universe where death was a speedbump, and B) were not rare like the valuable comics of the Golden and Silver Ages, and thus never really increased in value. That didn’t stop speculators from buying into comics, however, nor did it stop Marvel and DC from creating constant upheaval in their stories to appeal to said speculators. Wonder Woman had to face this battle as well as the fact that DC didn’t really know what to do with the iconic female superhero. She was a feminist character in a market primarily composed of adolescent males. So how do you get her to sell to high schoolers?

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Superhero Evolutions: Wonder Woman, part one

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

“Go in peace my daughter. And remember that, in a world of ordinary mortals, you are a Wonder Woman.”

Wonder Woman has changed a lot in both powers and looks in her 80-plus years of existence. Even today, in an era where creators try to keep continuity more or less consistent, she changes radically from writer to writer. So let’s look at the greatest of the female superheroes, her origins, and the changes she’s been through over the years.

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Crowning Moments of Awesome: Wonder Woman

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

How did I become a Wonder Woman fan? It boils down to the fact that she’s my wife Sarah’s favorite comic book character. Sarah’s not a huge comic nut like I am, but in my attempts to get her more interested in my hobby, I chased down back issues of Wonder Woman. And what I learned is that she is awesome, through and through.

One hard part about listing the most awesome Wonder Woman moments is that I first have to figure out what interpretation of Wonder Woman I’m going with. Unlike Superman and Batman, she’s not automatically a huge seller, despite her iconic status. DC Comics has constantly tried to reinvent her, struggling with the fact that she is the prototypical feminist character in an industry that is dominated by adolescent males who, unfortunately, are not always the most progressive folks when it comes to seeing women as something other than sex objects. She’s been a warrior woman, a pacifist, a female version of Superman, a true goddess, and a waitress as a taco joint – often simultaneously.

For this list, I’m going with what I think makes Diana of Themyscira stand out as unique among superheroes: her focus on the positive aspects of femininity. William Moulton Marston created her as a response to the fact that his society saw femininity as weakness, and that not even women wanted to be womanly. Even in comics today, the feminine aspects of superheroines, except for sexuality, are often downplayed. Yes, they can kick ass alongside the men, but when they are shown to be at their best, their masculine traits are emphasized over their feminine ones. Wonder Woman, by comparison, is at her best when the traits usually downplayed in superhero comics are emphasized. She is tender, compassionate, and peaceful. When she does fly into battle and start kicking ass, she does so with grace and never uses more force than is necessary to win the day. Unlike other superheroes, she doesn’t have a code against killing, but will only do so to protect others. Essentially, Wonder Woman is a mother or a sister, with the entire world as her family. That means that she is very tender and merciful to those she loves, but is a terrifying opponent to those who would harm those she loves – which, in her case, is everybody. So this list is focusing not only on Wonder Woman the ass-kicker, but on the moments where she combines that badassery with the compassion and sense of truth that makes her a paragon even among other paragons.

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Avengers

My Favorite Superhero Casting Jobs (so far)

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, FilmLeave a comment

Superhero movies vary from extremely faithful adaptations to the realm of, “Why bother calling that giant cloud Galactus in the first place?” Similarly, casting our favorite superheroes has been a grab-bag of terrible choices, ideas that seemed bad originally but turned into pleasant surprises, and actors that so perfectly fit into their roles that it’s hard to imagine anybody else taking their place.

The list below deals with the latter, focusing on my ten favorite casting choices in superhero movies. The actors who made this list not only turned in great performances, but in my opinion helped define the way people think about their iconic characters. That means that I did leave out some great performances, such as Adam West’s Batman or Heath Ledger’s Joker, because those characters have so many different interpretations that it’s hard to embrace just one.

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My Favorite Panels: An Alternate Origin for Wonder Woman

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

Wonder Woman turns 70 this year, and as a comic book icon she has received many retellings of her origin over the years. Despite its many iterations, that origin largely follows certain constants (except, oddly, in her blockbuster movie): Themiscyra holds a contest to choose a champion to visit the outside world, Princess Diana dons a disguise to enter the competition after her mother has forbidden it, she wins and becomes the ambassador of her people. The details change, but the general theme stays the same. But of all the different retellings of this origin, one of my favorites comes from Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman #4.

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New 52

Successes from DC’s New 52

On By Charlie BrooksIn ComicsLeave a comment

In 2011, DC Comics kicked off the “New 52,” canceling all of their previous titles and rebooting their superhero universe with 52 titles in a brand new continuity. Despite an initial uptick in sales, it’s safe to call the experiment a failure, as the whole continuity got rebooted again in 2016 with “Rebirth.”

There were a lot of reasons why the New 52 failed, but it primarily boils down to a lack of consistently good writing. DC editorial tried to pick and choose from the old continuity, deciding that some things happened and some things didn’t, but never developed a consistent timeline that its creative teams could follow. Editors also heavily meddled in the direction of the books, often hamstringing talented writers. (Prime example: the excellent Gail Simone getting what should have been her dream project on Batgirl, only for the story to turn joyless and perfunctory as the character got sucked into Batman’s “Death of the Family” crossover.)

Despite its failings, the New 52 did have a few gems. Here are a few titles I found really enjoyable.

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