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So how else to turn
Wonder Woman in to a character that can be found
on page and on screen for the film adaptation
the WB is desperate to push out? Re-invent her!
Give her a 1993 jacket, 1992 pants, and make her
in to a much younger woman with a racially
ambiguous appearance that can be fitted to any
young up and comer who will be brought on board
for the impending adaptation. JMS conveniently
also reboots the origin of Wonder Woman to fit
that of a movie where this new Wonder Woman is a
young warrior without a home and a family and is
piecing the bits of her past life together to
realize her destiny once and for all. Like
something out of a screenplay! There is a lot of
exposition to be had with the introduction of
this new canon, so JMS takes every page to form
at least three paragraphs of Diana learning of
her back story and what her purpose is. The
catch is that the women from the Amazon split
apart and fled from the great war that took down
their world, so now Diana has to find them
before the mysterious army of men that brought
down her world, do. For some as of yet
unexplained reason, Diana is the one they want
the most. Filled with severely out of place
humor, and unusual extrapolation that doesn't
make a lot of sense, this "All New" version of
Wonder Woman is basically set up for a new arc
that will also be easy to put on film when the
time comes because it's so formula and broad
it's just a no brainer for any screenwriter.
Diana has to piece
the parts of her story together, she's still
developing her powers, much like Superman she's
something of an alien in a new world that was
orphaned, and she can do whatever is convenient
to the story. For example she can probably,
maybe, sort of fly, but not really. She can jump
high distances and land on the ground without
harm, but there's never any explanation on why
the flight is important if she can leap high
distances and fall without hurting herself.
Meanwhile, the art by Don Kramer leaves much to
be desired as some of the panels are akin to art
you'd find in the early days of Image comics
when they were churning out Marvel and DC knock
offs without paying attention to detail. One
splash in particular featuring Diana landing on
a sand dune is pretty sloppily drawn and lacks
any form of dynamic or style this character is
purported to possess. I just didn't care about
this stock origin that features three macguffins
to keep this new arc moving along. Diana has to
find the escaped Amazonians, she has to bring
together her ultimate origin, and she has to
find out who is leading this assault on the the
Amazons. And where did she get those clothes?
And if she's trying to remain incognito wouldn't
she stand out in that garb? Nevertheless, DC and
the WB want a Wonder Woman movie, and they've
enlisted two legends to re-invent this character
for modern sensibilities so they can adapt this
material once it's set its roots down in the
comic world among fans. It's darker, edgier,
sleeker, and pretty much about as sucky as you'd
expect.
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