Spoilers? (highlight if you want to read it):
Guessing Mr. Badguy from the beginning is Apollo, based on the "sun/son" puns and the fact that he made those three girls into oracles. Granted, Zeus has a lot of kids to choose from, but my guess is Apollo. Also, how badass was Chiang's rendition of Hermes? And making Hera a mysterious woman in a peacock cloak?? I AM SO INTO IT.
(end of possible spoilers)
DC has kind of screwed the pooch on a lot of their reboot* but, fortunately, I can make fun of them from afar because I have never been a big DC reader. Granted, I'm not a huge Marvel reader, either. I truly love the ideas of all of their characters, but am often disappointed, on both counts, by the writing and actual in-universe character development. So, for the most part, I'm more of an Image/Vertigo/indie-/web-comics kind of gal. However, there are exceptions to every rule. For instance, Old Man Logan was stellar, Frank Miller's Batman is obviously a good bet, and I think Mark Millar's work often makes a fun read (I gave his run of Ultimates a go and found them to be very enjoyable).
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| the cover of WW No. 3, to be released in November |
Then there's Wonder Woman--a character I have always wanted to like, but couldn't really get into until now. Sure, maybe it's my Azzarello sympathies (100 Bullets was EXCELLENT. Don't even get me started) or my ridiculously predictable soft spot for smart, subtle references that suggest a writer cares enough to do research. Either way, I'm digging it. The only way they could have further wooed me is by making WW one-breasted, seeing as she's an Amazon and all**. Man, I really hope they keep impressing me. If the covers of the next couple of issues are any indication (see #3, to your right), I think they will.
For now, I'll just send my thanks and good thoughts to Azzarello and Chiang and hope that DC gets their crap together--not so much for me, since I barely qualify as one of their readers, but for all the chicks out there who read their comics looking for role models. I'm lucky, because I'm not very invested in this brand. I feel for all my ladies who read Catwoman, Redhood, and Suicide Squad, etc, and felt pretty grossed out afterwards; all it took was reading the articles to make me feel let down. This is part of why I wish all of the Marvel/DC characters were public domain: imagine all of the sweet comics that would come out of amazing comics folk, like Aaron Diaz of Dresden Codak***, which would essentially be creator-owned. Yes, there would also be a lot of super horrible comics, but that's the same exact thing that happens with prose fiction these days. True story.
so, Stats:
Wonder Woman No. 1: ★★★★★ radical
DC, In General: ★ ...meh
This Hard Cider We Got at QFC: ★★★ certainly drinkable
My Day, In General: ★★★★ solid
Today's Nap: ★★ could have been better
*I doubt I need to inform any of you of the articles surrounding the Starfire/Catwoman f### up, but here's a popular Comics Alliance one, just in case. I found this interview with an incredibly astute 7-year-old girl to be the best. Aaaand, Let's Be Friends Again is, as always, the best comic about comics. Warning, in case my parents have started reading this: they swear
**I found out tonight that, apparently, somewhere in her origin story, she was made out of clay by the Amazons and bestowed with gods-like powers or something, but I think the Amazons would have pulled the ol' "make her in our own image" move, seeing as how they were the most hardcore group of warriors in history.
***click that link and LOOK AT HIS REDESIGNS!! I'm not the biggest fan of his Wonder Woman, but Ms. Marvel and Superman are aces. Plus, his art is just plain pretty. Here's his regular comics, too: http://dresdencodak.com/archives/