Letters to Wonder Woman#19

Ooo I didn't like this.

It was... Oh, it was brutal.

Don't get the wrong idea, it was amazingly well written Jay, but... Yikes! I mean... Ouch... And then she... Ooo.

Yikes.

I thought the treatment of Diana by Ares was a bit... Iffy. But the council of Gods that appeared was very awesome, you could feel the power behind each of them. Ares has become less the manipulator from his appearances earlier in the series and more of a bastard though, I see! Ha, I didn't expect the bait and switch you pulled. Very cool. All in all, a very strong issue. Good work, my friend!

Oh, and I like the subplots you've started, and the supporting cast is very cool

Haha! Jay! I want you to check that PM I sent you, and then read that bit of feedback, ok?

The issue leads up to a 5 part arc which will shake WW to the core. Diana is meant to be weak in the issue... so if you got that impression.. goal accomplished.

Next issue is the Annual and will explain some things.

all the best,
J.

I really enjoyed this issue. Having worked with you, I know that you had to deal with a lot of rewrites due to keeping continuity and harmony going between other titles, and so that in itself amazes me, because you knocked out a great story after pretty much going back to drawing board. You're very talented, very talented indeed.

What I really liked, and this is piggybacking Charlie's comments, is that you've kept a healthy supporting cast for Diana that isn't just greek characters or superheroes.

I really loved when I found out that Savage wasn't a Savage at all (no pun intended), but Ares, god of war! Great plot twist, though bad for Diana.

Though I didn't enjoy Diana's capture (she got the crap beat out of her!) I did like what you did there, because you introduced, in my eyes, something not seen in comics all of the time: a gritty realism. In real life situations, things don't always happen quick. How many times have the big bad USA had to wait for weeks, months, or years to get hostages back from so-called weakers enemy nations? And powerful as Diana is, Ares is far more powerful. If Ares can prevent the other Olympians from saving Diana from her situation, then I doubt the other superheroes, who have no idea where she is, where she got captured, and have no idea how to find her, can get to her in a few weeks time. The good part to remember though is that she is Wonder Woman, and she will get out of the situation: how, though, is the right question though.

Like Jay said, the upcoming arc will be a whole new set of problems for Diana, and it will definitely change her in more ways than one!

I am very sorry and almost embarrassed to be disappointed by this issue, because it has been well-received, and becaused, like the issue before it, I wanted to like it.

But it is just off...

In addition to the problems I pointed out in Issue #18's lettercol, this issue suffers not only from a lack of resolution, but a shameful debasement of the main character. This is not what Wonder Woman is about...! Now, no one says she can't be on the ropes, or even defeated from time to time, but in this issue she is little more than a pawn and an object of status (to the gods, to her mortal friends)--- with no real control of her destiny.

I, for one, thought the council of the gods was poorly done. Heaphaestus and Ares were never (in any way shape or form) allies--- in fact, they hate each other perhaps more than any one else (Ares cuckolded Heaphaestus, and the smith nearly killed him; that's Greek Mythology 101). And who put Athena in charge? Apollo assumed the Throne of Olympus in the conclusion of my own first nine issue arc on this title, with Athena's advice and counsel--- in fact (and not to be snarky), I would heartily reccommend the creative team read those issues to get an idea of who Wonder Woman is! In that arc, Ares has a significant (though hidden) role, the conclusion of which you probably could do much with.

Guys, I implore you again: take a look at what you're doing here! This title is too important (at least to me) to not deserve your best.

All that being said, I still have faith that the larger framework of the story has a lot of potential, and I'd love to see this team kick butt on this title.

I will give the next issue another try--- (but please, please, please take my advice into consideration--- push the post date back if you have to, re-think, re-write, re-edit, whatever!), but if it's more of the same, I'm sorry to say you'll have lost a reader.

I think ultimately, the biggest problems with this issue remains the fact that three weeks of her captivity passes with no sign of her ability to free herself (a super-hero staple) and that for three weeks, not one of her friends is apparently seeking her out (and when you have Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash searching for you, being hidden is TOUGH); combined with the idea that between the cover's clear, clear implications, and the stated facts, this issue reads (to me, and at least one other person I've talked to about this) one step away from a story you'd see on Grey Archive or its ilk. At least, that's my theory on others (and a fact for me).

Hopefully, this story you hint at will indeed recover the rocky beginning, but right now, this issue has left a very bad taste with the treatment of its iconic star, and the nigh-on-WiR treatment she received.

Take care
Don

Well, in that case, I look forward to being shown I'm wrong, and see what sort of hit you have in your hands.



Take care
Don

Don't worry about it. I like being proven wrong (happens often enough, that's for sure). As for getting deflated, I can understand that feeling. Just gotta dust yourself off and floor the naysayers, that's all. You've got it in you, the story's there...just keep pitching.

Take care
Don

We can agree to disagree on your assessment then.

But I don't intend to leave until I am done.

With all the controvesy I know want to read a title I have never read before and I think I will really enjoy it. When it comes to comics I like to puch the boundries and do things people wouldnt expect in a way and style that is new and different not the same old Sinestro and GL slug fest (not that theres anything wrong with that, hell Gl is one of my fav characters its jsut to prove a point). COmics can become tiresome if every character is the same and if violence is in every issue to such lengthyness, comics are afterall essentially two guys in spandex punching each other. When someone decides to make the threat real and really dangerous Im like' hell yeah'. Im gonna read this and give an honest opinion and Im hoping not to be let down.