The Batmom

Wonder Woman #13

Wonder Woman #13; Brian Azzarello, Tony Akins, Dan Green

Covergirl: Before New York Comic Con, I adored Cliff Chiang and felt a little disappointed every time Tony Akins’ name appeared on the cover.

After New York Comic Con, after hearing Tony Akins talk about his art, after hearing him reference wide-ranging influences that include Victorian funereal photographry and British footballer Wayne Rooney, I was psyched to see his name on this week’s cover.

(P-S-Y-C-H-E-D! Let’s! Get! Psyched! My pom-pom shaking days ended decades ago, but that little bit of perkitude is forever etched in my brain.)

That said, the cover didn’t blow me away, though I did find the use of space (i.e. the sand stretching in front of Diana) interesting and effective. Nice break from the Covers of Much Action.

We don’t always need a boot in the face. Though I love to say MOTHERFUCKER, and when you get a boot in the face, you get to say MOTHERFUCKER.

Ramble: Another great read. Let’s get my one hesitation with the book out of the way first, then dive into the happy.

My One Hesitation with the Book

The bit about the scientists seemed out of another book; Supergirl, maybe.

Diving into the Happy

I particularly enjoyed the family dramedy; both the poolside scene at Apollo’s re-imagined Olympus, which looks like a newly minted movie star’s first multimillion-dollar estate, and the Hera-Zola smackdown in Diana’s London apartment.

Also enjoyed the Siracca reveal, especially the final dramatic shot and the initial interaction between the demi-god and Diana, her half-sister.

Siracca appears first in the form of a child, which allows us for a brief moment to envision a maternal Diana. She’s fresh off a display of her superhero chops. The juxtaposition of that ass-kickery with her taking care of a small, scared child succinctly reminds of us Diana’s gender duality.

Do you like that phrase, gender duality? I learned it in graduate school. $30,000 bucks buys you some swell jargon.

Wonder Woman #12

 

Wonder Woman #12/Brian Azzarello & Cliff Chiang

COVERGIRL: Like: darker palette, bright moon, and Apollo’s glowy accoutrements. Love: Wonder Woman grabbing Apollo and delivering a smackeroo.

All superheroes are loners, but Wonder Woman is an Other among superheroes, defying standards and refusing to be a This or a That.

On cover #12, she’s subverting a familiar romantic stance (e.g. Life's 1945 kissing sailor photo) and seizing the male position. Apollo, a sleek and manly god as painted by Cliff Chiang’s brush, is here emasculated.

I’m not saying Wonder Woman consciously wars in the name of woman; she’s just who she is. She defies expectations, stereotypes, and genres. She’s not grabbing Apollo because she is woman, hear her roar. She’s grabbing Apollo because he needs his shiny ass kicked. That she is woman, and occasionally roars, is not a point she is making but the point is made nonetheless.

Wonder Woman walks the walks and leaves the talking to others.

INSIDE STORY: Apollo raises a new Olympus, replete with skyscrapers as flashy as he.

Wonder Woman removes her cuffs and undergoes an astounding transformation: her eyes glow, her power surges.

Zola’s water breaks.

Hera, cast out of the realm of the gods by Apollo, becomes mortal and auditions for the newest Real Housewives.

She also chucks Zola off a ledge; Wonder Woman gains flight and saves her.

Has Diana sprouted wings? Nope. Her dear friend Hermes, the kind and brave messenger we’ve grown to adore over 12 issues, zings a feather at her, temporarily granting her flight. How typical of him, acting the friend and savior. Too bad he STEALS ZOLA’S BABY TWO SECONDS LATER, BETRAYING DIANA.

RAMBLE: YOL. That’s Yelping Out Loud. Start using it.

I have never been so surprised by a comic. I opened the book to take a peek while my son was brushing his teeth. He finished brushing but I couldn’t stop reading. Though he was puffing impatiently and waving Green Lantern #5 in my face, I could not put the book down

When I reached the betrayal, I YOLed. I shouted, “What?” I whispered, “et tu, Hermes?”

I felt betrayed. I’m not even lying. And I was so happy I felt betrayed, I yelped again. Because this is how much I love this book. To feel a visceral response to a work of art, this is one of the great joys of reading. To render a character and tell a story with such skill that your readers respond like I did, must be one of the great joys of creating.

All hail Chiang and Azzarello. And Hermes be damned.

Supergirl 11 & Wonder Woman 11

SUPERGIRL COVERGIRL: I like a crisp cover. This one looks sloppy. But it also hints at more Banshee. As I’m far more interested in that family’s story than the tale of the Zor-Els, that’s a good thing.

INSIDE STORY: Supergirl has disappeared. Rather, issue 11 has, likely under my bed or somewhere else in my bedroom, currently dark and occupied by five sleepers, 1 big, 2 small, 2 feline. I’d rather write book-less than wake them up and stop writing.  Going on memory.

First off, re: my Covergirl comments, that wasn’t a Banshee on the cover. The creature doesn't even look like a Banshee. The text even says it's not a Banshee. Intense wishful ignorance on my part.

But Siobhan/Silver Banshee and Tom, siblings of the Clan Smythe, are very much present in the book, providing emotional support, friendship, and an apartment to Supergirl. Until a giant self-replicating robot (possibly sent by Simon Tycho?) attempts to grab her, whereupon she decides she’s better off alone.

RAMBLE: See Ramble below Wonder Woman.

WONDER WOMAN COVERGIRL: A small foot twisted atop my new Wonder Woman, tearing Zola’s left leg in two. Should I go buy another copy, or let this stand as testament to 1) my children’s ability to destroy; and 2) my own stupidity in leaving my beloved Wonder Woman open to injury?  

Actually, the tear on the bottom left provides a visual response to the lightning bolt shooting out from Wonder Woman’s golden weapon on the upper right. So perhaps the owner of the small, tearing foot is a genius artist, soon to embark upon a raging career ensuring their mother a spot in a chi-chi retirement home.

The presence of three major female characters on the cover makes me happy. They are a contrasting crew; none alike but all together.

Wonder Woman looks lifted from a 1930s Olympics poster. “Now throwing the shot-put for the Amazons … .”

INSIDE STORY: Gaga Strife returns home to mummy Hera, who’s offering up the throne recently vacated by Zeus in exchange for ... Zeus. Rather, the baby in Zola's stomach who, we have been led to believe, is Zeus.

Power-thirsty Artemis joins forces with crown-craving Apollo and kidnaps Zola, fatally wounding Lennox in the process. Zola delivered, Hera tells Apollo the throne is his. Wonder Woman and Hermes show up and beg to differ.

RAMBLE: Good read from Wonder Woman, what with the godly machinations and Apollo slinging a pregnant woman under his mighty arm.

You know what I appreciate about Diana, every issue? Diana is large. She’s always been large, and I love the visual/physical fact of her size.

The other superheroines are extremely muscular and athletic, but Diana is the only one who has to shop at LongTallSally.com.

 Diana's lithe sister Strife possesses the skinny boyish figure so often celebrated in glossies, but in this book, we celebrate the largest woman in the bunch.

As for Supergirl, she bores me still.

Next month DC releases origin issues for its New 52 books, offering up backstories for its revamped superheroes. With this issue, numbered 0, I arrive at a year's worth of comic books.

I’d like to push at least one of my superheroines aside and pick up a thing or two new, perhaps Birds of Prey or something from Marvel. Supergirl’s my likely target.

Unless I’m so re-disgusted by that Catwoman cover, I have to toss her out in protest.

SUPERGIRL: Who the Hell are These People and What the Hell is Going On?

Supergirl/Kara Zor-El: Recently arrived to earth from her home planet, Krypton. Older cousin of Superman on Krypton; younger cousin of Superman on earth

Silver Banshee/Siobhan Smythe: Kara's new friend, also possesses superpowers when in Banshee form

Supergirl’s home planet, Krypton, has been destroyed, along with most of its inhabitants. She and an unknown number of other Kryptonians are on earth. Having saved Siobhan from her fate, i.e. to be Silver Banshee, and having pulled Siobhan's brother Tom out from within his father Black Banshee, where he had been trapped for years, Supergirl finds herself with nothing to do. Until ... read above.

WONDER WOMAN: Who the Hell are These People and What the Hell is Going On?

Diana: Wonder Woman. Hails from Paradise Island. Offspring of illicit tryst between Zeus

Zeus: Diana's father

Hades is trying to force Diana’s hand in marriage. Diana is trying to smash that hand into tiny hellish bits.