Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special

A
lex Lu: Those of you whove been reading Greg Ruckas, Liam Sharps, and Nicola
Scotts current run on Wonder Woman will know that Diana Prince has played
many roles over her 75 years of life. Princess. Warrior. Taco restaurant
employee. Her identity and background have changed so many times in so many
disparate ways that its often difficult to reconcile her identity in the archetypical
ways our culture breaks down her Trinity compatriots Batman and Superman. How
then, should we celebrate her 75th anniversary? Well, why not embrace and honor
every facet of her persona?

Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special is a special gem that offers something for
each of her fans no matter which identity they claim to best represent her. The
anthology title features contributions from many of DCs best creators including
Rafael Albuquerque, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Fabio Moon, Marquerite Sauvage,
and Renae De Liz, to name a few. The stories are divided by pinup art from
illustrators such as Jenny Frison, Sebastian Fiumara, Nathan Fairbairn, Phil Jimenez,
and Romulo Fajardo Jr.. This wealth of creative diversity produces some truly
unique and uniformly inspirational takes on what it means to be and live in a world
where Wonder Woman exists to inspire and, of course, save the day.

For those interested in Diana as a warrior, Gives Us Strength by Rafael Scavone

and Rafael Albuquerque is the story for you. Albuquerques moody painted style
lends the story, set in Nazi occupied France, a tense and dramatic feel. The story,
where Diana saves a group of French rebels from a platoon of Axis soldiers whove
surrounded them, shows Diana at her most physically imposing. Albuquerque takes
pains to highlight the intensity of her musculature and powerful stature as she takes
down the soldiers single handedly and ultimately slices through a tank.
In Mairghread Scotts and Riley Rossmos One Side, Dianas physical strength is
again highlighted as she takes down Goliath. However, in this story, the
confrontation between two giants is used as the gateway to a complex moral tale that
highlights Dianas role as a diplomat and philosopher. She muses on the many
shades that the word justice can take across cultures, times, and
circumstances. Seeing how quickly justice can morph into bloody vengeance, she
concludes that perhaps it is not enough to be just. Perhaps it is even more important
to be merciful.

These philosophical musings lead into what I see as the highlight of Wonder
Woman 75th Anniversary Special: a text interview between Lois Lane and Wonder
Woman, written by Greg Rucka with illustrations by Liam Sharp. Here we see
Diana and Lois discuss the difference between artifice and mendacity, or the line
that separates a lie meant to manipulate a foe versus one that breaks the implicit trust
in a friendship. Its easy to say that Wonder Woman is honest, but she isnt, really,
as Rucka points out. Shell feign in a fight to gain an advantage. Even the act of
asking her asking Lois for coffee is manipulative in a way that is not necessarily
pejorativewe seek the results we want. In this way, Rucka points out the moral
greys in Wonder Womans thought process and in doing so, points out our own. We
as a species have a tendency to blur out the complexities in the individual until they
fall completely into the dark or rise into the sun. Until they are Batman or
Superman. Perhaps then, Rucka says, its important that we have Wonder Woman
between the two. Perhaps her multifaceted past is not a weakness, but a source of
strength and we havent even gotten into the parts about Wonder Womans gods or
her flirtation with depression. This segment is ultimately a beautiful conversation
that highlights Ruckas intimacy with the character in a concise and moving way.
Its worth buying the special for it alone.
Perhaps this is all too serious for you, though. Perhaps youre looking to have some
fun with your comics. Luckily, this book has you covered there, too. Fabio Moons
The Age of Wonder shows us what it means for Wonder Woman to be a source of
inspiration. Its always a treat to see Moon render a classic character with his
distinctive brush. He gives us a short but beautiful look into the lives of three
Wonder Woman fans who model their outfits after her and stumble upon the
encounter of their lives as they witness Diana herself take a hydra down in the
middle of a city street. As we move from the perspective of the first fan meeting the
second to the two of them happening on the third, the narration concludes that Diana
reminds us that were not alonestranded on an island. Because of her, we dream.
Because of her, we wonder. Wonder Woman not only inspires us to be better as
individuals, but to dream big and unite to accomplish greater things together.

Is this still too sappy for you? Okay, well then Hope Larsons and Ramon Bachs
Democratic Design may sell you yet. This story features Diana and Etta Candy
taking a trip to Idea, the DC Universes off-brand Ikea furniture store. Theyre
shopping for Wonder Womans new apartment when Human Tank bursts through a
wall and Diana is forced to chase him down as he rampages through the store. The
action is all rendered in a fun, bright cartoony style that exaggerates the characters
facial features and lends the proceedings a lighthearted air. Larson imbues the
conflict and the very nature of being in not-Ikea with a sense of hilarious existential
weight not seen since 500 Days of Summer. If you want to laugh, this is the story for
you.

Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special is a book as powerful and diverse as

Wonder Woman herself is. The book features contributions from many more
illustrious creators than the ones Ive discussed above, including Colleen Doran,
Brendan Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, and Jill Thompson. All these stories serve to
highlight Dianas strengths as a fighter, a diplomat, a thinker, and an inspiration for
our time. She reminds us that we are more than archetypes. We are, all of us, strong
enough to make our own choices each day. We can choose to be better. To be
stronger, smarter, and friendlier to one another. We can choose to unite and together,
be wonderful as well.

Kyle Pinion: Im keeping this fairly short as Im on a three day work-trip to

Americas southwest and am utterly exhausted. Still, I made just a tad bit of time for
this book and can share a few meagre thoughts.
Its hard to not feel a little trepidatious around anniversary issues. They tend to be
back-patting affairs that bring back a bunch of previous creators with a history on a
character to pump out a few quick stories that have probably occupied the bottom of
their shelf for years. Where this Wonder Woman iteration of that type of book
succeeds is where it avoids those type of trappings. For example, the war-torn
Gives us Strength that opens the issue is not only some of Albuquerques best
work this year, but it also kicks off a set of stories that uniquely define every aspect
of the character, in a story by story basis, as you note. The Fletcher-Kerschl
collaboration has a similar energy, but is radically different in what element of
Dianas persona it seeks to zero in on, and both stories are buoyed by the fact that
these are two creative teams that havent touched the character in the past. Theres
no twinge of nostalgia here that often cripples these affairs, its a line-up of talents
finally getting a chance to unleash some energy on perhaps DCs most unique hero.

I actually dont think it starts to flag to me until we hit the Rucka-Sharp Lois and
Diana interview. Im usually a sucker for that kind of meta playfulness and I can
remember as far back as the Death of Superman Newsday magazine being a
particularly memorable highpoint in the in-world periodical is sold in the real
world effort. So I should have really glommed onto this like a fly to honey, but I
struggled to wrap my head around what Rucka was aiming for here. I think Rucka
has a keen understanding of Dianas psyche and the pairing of these two never fails
to be an intriguing combo (the headstrong and brash Lois set in conjunction with the
serene and all-loving Diana). But perhaps its just my very tired eyes, but what really
interests me (the revelations around Dianas origins) he tap-danced around as I
guess you would in an interview like this and I had trouble really working up much
care about what she thinks about monotheistic entities and how she treats her
friends, and Im not sure if thats Ruckas approach to Dianas sort-of info dump
discussion style or my own brain fog. Perhaps Ill feel better about it after a good
nights sleep, but much like the mostly-text issue Rucka produced of Lazarus, this
left me a little colder than Id like.

And from there, the book ranges from enjoyable (the Larson/IKEA story) to draggy
but cute (Gail Simones return to the character) to a bit shameless in its page-filling
(the excerpt from Thompsons recently released Wonder Woman: The True
Amazon). The most effective part of the book was surely the Renae De Liz short,
which reminded me how much I need to get on board with The Legend of Wonder
Woman collection when that hits stores in December. This one short alone contained
just enough to sell me on De Lizs take from the weird Nazi villains like Red Panzer,
to the mention of the Holliday Girls, to a keen understanding of Diana as a character
that isnt just a sword-slinging Red Sonja type or a female version of Superman.
On that note, I am very happy to see that *almost* every creative team veered away
from the sword-slinging version of the character, and pared her down to just the two
weapons that she really needs her lasso and her bracelets. Shes a character rooted
in love, submission, and defense, not DCs version of Xena.
Anyhow, some nice pinups (especially the Frisson one) aside, its hard for me to
imagine seeing this as an essential pick-up, particularly for the price. Theres nice
little bits and pieces, but Id rather you spend that money on the current Wonder
Woman run also with a new issue out today, where Rucka is shining, or throwing
that support behind De Liz whole-heartedly. Or better yet, do both, and at least keep
your curiosity at browse level for this one.

Final Verdict: Alex recommends a buy, Kyle recommends a browse

Alexs Roundup
While all eyes are on rightfully on Wonder Woman this week, there are number of
other titles out this week that are worth picking up. My recommendations include:

Wonder Woman #9

Teen Titans #1

Deathstroke #5

Detective Comics #943

Batgirl #4

Kyles Roundup
Not the best week, but I sure dug Action Comics #966, which brings Lois and Clark
face to face with the new Superwoman and knits all those already closely hewed
together titles even closer. And yes, I also had a nice time with this weeks Detective
Comics #943. Its rare that both Detective and Action, DCs two flagships are both
enjoyable at the same time in recent history (the former having basically struggled
since 2011 especially). While neither book is quite to the level of the main titles in
their line, they provide really good support and fill gaps that Batman and Superman
leave in their own sizable wakes in this case, both of these comics give attention to
the Gotham and Metropolis supporting casts. And with this issue, its worth noting
that the complete elimination of New 52 Lois is more or less completefor better or
worse. I have mixed feelings about this, but I knew the older Superman and Lois
integration would always be an ungraceful one.

The Flash #9 was also great fun, giving us the first meeting of Barry and Wally, and
some serious reflection time from Wally on the previous Reverse Flash/Daniel
West. This is definitely Williamsons best effort with that character in particular.
And of course, Wonder Woman and Deathstroke continue to be my favorite reads of
the entire line.
Available At: http://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-reborn-round-up-wonder-woman75th-anniversary-special-is-a-celebration-of-dcs-most-complex-hero/ Retrieved
October, 30, 2016
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