chezkevin: Wonder Woman Volume 1: Blood

You've seen the movie. Now read the comic! Or at least, read my review of the first 6 issues of the 2011 reboot. Six years ago I read the first issue of Wonder Woman the week it came out, and told myself I'd get the second issue. Well. . . it's been 6 years and I never did. Which is why they make paperbacks.

Wonder Woman Volume 1: Blood
Collects Wonder Woman (2011-2016) #'s 1-6
by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins

Azzarello and team redefined Wonder Woman for a new age, the "New 52" era of DC, a bright future where comics were still 2.99, and DC threw out 52 whole titles to celebrate the reboot of their universe (caused by "Flashpoint").

For the time, Azzarello made a controversial rewrite for Wondy's origin, that has now been universally accepted, even written into 2017's film featuring Gal Gadot. Most commonly her origin was that her mother made her out of clay -- but Azzarello added a slight wrinkle that opened up a whole other world to explore -- particularly, that of the Greek Gods. In this Wonder Woman, Wondy's mother Hippolyta had an affair with Zeus but, to protect Diana from the wrath of Zeus's wife, Hera, Hippolyta fabricated a story that cast Diana as a "miracle" child that she made out of clay. This also explains the title for the paperback, "blood," because there's a series of discoveries for assorted people and Gods that yes, Diana shares blood with those of the Gods, for better or worse.

Having the pantheon of Greek Gods isn't too shabby for your supporting cast. It's fun re-imagining designs for them in the modern age, and there's delight in getting to guess at any particular character, before they reveal it to you. For example, Hades is drawn as a child with candles for a face, while Strife is a pale raver girl with a pixie cut and a tattered black dress. Poseidon is a HUGE frog beast!

Most of the paperback is spent on world-building here, that the plot can't really move quite along. Wondy discovers another woman, a regular person named Zola, who also had relations with Zeus, so there's a double jeopardy here, of having to protect two generations' worth of people from the wrath of Hera.

The design again stands out here. Cliff Chiang draws Wonder Woman as an Amazon, much taller than Zola, which is a detail they seem to leave out in team books like Justice League. Cliff Chiang draws the first four issues while Tony Akins the last two. Akins is serviceable, but I'd prefer the bold, straightforward lines of Chiang any day.

The Amazon world of Themyscira too is convincing -- I'm particularly impressed by the prostration scene between Hera and Hippolyta in issue 4, once Hera's come to seek retribution over her husband's infidelity. It's weird to see Hippolyta punished, and nothing of Zeus -- but I'm betting we'll see him eventually. Hippolyta offers her sincerest apologies, and there's a mutual respect between both women, but Hera can only admit that she's still a woman, and turns Hippolyta to stone (or clay? presumably using Medusa. We never see that part). It's such a human reaction to a human situation (that of infidelity). To lash out when you're upset, and when you're a God, you get to lash out as much as you like.

There's another theme of home, how the girl, Zola, has to leave her home to escape Hera's wrath, and how Wonder Woman has to leave her home of origin, Themyscira, after learning that she's both shamed the Amazons by consorting with Outsiders, and been lied to by her mother in a conspiracy for her origin.

One last comment on sex: There's a very smart sequence where Hippolyta explains what came over her, when she had the affair with Zeus. They fell in love while sparring, and to know that they denied their story to poets (kept their relationship a secret) made it more special to them. Like she says,

He -- we -- were glorious.

Strength supporting strength....sinews entwined...

Absolute control...given up.

At the risk of getting too hot and heavy for readers, here's the comic snippet:

From what I've read, sex politics was a Marstonian approach (is that a word?) to Wonder Woman, where submission to bondage was the ultimate sign of love. William Moulton Marston was the creator of Wonder Woman, mind you. So in that sequence, for Hippolyta, love was in that act of sex, when Zeus gave up control, "absolutely."

There's certainly a lot to think about in this first volume, but this comic is on a slow burn. So we'll just have to read more to see what happens next. If this trade paperback were something like a movie, we're only about halfway through it. Hope you still have some popcorn left!

BONUS PAGES:

Here's the 3-page prostration sequence from Issue 4, my favorite scene.