The Great Wonder Woman Readathon: Post-Crisis
Jan 10, 2016 2:34:16 GMT -5
shaxper and SJNeal like this
Post by Crimebuster on Jan 10, 2016 2:34:16 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #34
written by George Perez, art by Chris Marrinan and Will Blyberg
Synopsis: Shizzle gets real, yo.
Hermes goes apehouse on the Evil Amazon City, but something's not quite right with him; he's hurting. Diana stops the fighting and tries to convince the Evil Amazons to give Hermes Gaea's Girdle, but they think she's totally nuts. I don't blame them. Diana does convince Hermes to use his powers to help Cheetah, anyway, for wahetver that's worth.
Meanwhile, an Evil Amazon with an eyepatch is hatching sinister plans. She was the Evil Science Lady's assistant, and now she is bringing the Evil Science Plan to fruition. This doesn't actually involve any science, mind you, but instead seems to have something to do with her using Gaea's Girdle to resurrect (?) an all-powerful Evil Amazon Avatar named Shim'Tar.
Diana discovers this after Hermes tries to retrieve the Girdle and gets whalloped but good. Diana then discovers that the new Evil Queen she had been kinda getting along with is dead - learning this when Shim'Tar throws the Queen's severed head at Diana. Yikes!
Shim'Tar attacks, and it's instantly clear that she's much more powerful than Diana. After all, she just cleaned Hermes's clock, and dude is a god, albeit a crappy one. The two of them battle across the city, destroying a fair amount of it in the process.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the subplot actually meets up with the main plot after months of dithering! So, while all this has been happening, Julia and Steve Trevor get word that something is very wrong in Egypt; Julia's friends there have found all sorts of bad things. So Julia and Steve travel to Egypt, where they meet with some very skeptical government types. Those guys send a squadron of fighter planes to Evil Amazon City, which is now visible because Gaea's Girdle is no longer shielding the city from outside eyes - instead, it's powering Shim'Tar. Against Julia and Steve's strong protestations, the Egyptian Air Force attacks the city! TO BE CONTINUED!!
Notes: There's a lot to get to here, most of it involving Shim'Tar, so let's get right into it.
Firstly, there's the mystery of just who or what Shim'Tar is. Spoilers, this is not addressed next issue, so I'm just going to discuss it now. I see five possibilities for Shim'Tar's identity based on her appearance (more on this in a moment) and powers:
1) She's Diana's aunt Antiope, somehow returned from the dead via Gaea's Girdle. This sort of makes sense, except Antiope was blonde.
2) She's Phthia, somehow returned from the dead via Gaea's Girdle. This makes more sense, except Phthia was also blonde.
3) She's Gaea herself! I don't think this makes any sense. Then again, we know almost nothing about Gaea.
4) She's Dr. Cyber! Her mask looks a lot like Dr. Cyber's, and we don't yet have a Post-Crisis version of Dr. Cyber. Plus, one of Dr. Cyber's big things was that she ran a secret army of evil women, which Shim'Tar comes already equipped with.
5) She's Artemis.
So, I know that later writers introduce a version of Artemis who is a rival of Wonder Woman's, and who is a member of the Evil Amazons. Pre-Crisis, though, Artemis was the original Wonder Woman, who lived thousands of years ago. Given Shim'Tar's design, it's clear she's supposed to be some version of Wonder Woman - her helmet has the tiara embedded in it, she has Diana's mane of black hair, it's basically Diana, only evil and "modernized." So it would make sense if Shim'Tar was another Wonder Woman - the original, Artemis. And also, as it happens, the original Artemis, since another later comes along.
That's what I'm leaning towards, anyway. I'm almost talking myself into Dr. Cyber though, but that's probably wishful thinking since I think Dr. Cyber is awesome.
I do think Shim'Tar's design is also really interesting, Not only is she supposed to be a version of Wonder Woman, but it feels to me like George is intentionally commenting on modern superheroes with this design. It's a twisted version of Diana - with the armor, and the super big guns, and the big armored boobs. I'd say it was a Liefeldized Diana, except this is a couple years before Liefeld became a verb. But I think George is purposely making this Dark Diana hper-violent and hyper-sexualized as a comment on modern superheroics, and how, in contrast to Diana's old school values, this Wonder Woman is actually a murderous villain and not a superhero at all.
I'll discuss Shim'Tar more next issue, but she's potentially a really interesting and powerful addition to Diana's rogue's gallery.
Other notes: Boy, Hermes didn't exactly cover himself with glory here. He got his butt kicked and accomplished nothing other than looking like a moron, which is what he seems to do best.
There's a letter in the lettercolumn praising Inspector Ed Indelicato, who along with Lt. Shands forms the Bert and Ernie cop duo in Boston. The editors respond that Indelicato has become a fan favorite and as a result is featured in the new Annual. What the actual screw?! That's not real, is it?
There are a bunch of severed heads on the cover, including several stuck on pikes. That's not something you see in Wonder Woman every day!
My Grade: B+. One second we're discussing ancient history over tea, the next, people are lobbing severed heads at Diana. That escalated quickly.
written by George Perez, art by Chris Marrinan and Will Blyberg
Synopsis: Shizzle gets real, yo.
Hermes goes apehouse on the Evil Amazon City, but something's not quite right with him; he's hurting. Diana stops the fighting and tries to convince the Evil Amazons to give Hermes Gaea's Girdle, but they think she's totally nuts. I don't blame them. Diana does convince Hermes to use his powers to help Cheetah, anyway, for wahetver that's worth.
Meanwhile, an Evil Amazon with an eyepatch is hatching sinister plans. She was the Evil Science Lady's assistant, and now she is bringing the Evil Science Plan to fruition. This doesn't actually involve any science, mind you, but instead seems to have something to do with her using Gaea's Girdle to resurrect (?) an all-powerful Evil Amazon Avatar named Shim'Tar.
Diana discovers this after Hermes tries to retrieve the Girdle and gets whalloped but good. Diana then discovers that the new Evil Queen she had been kinda getting along with is dead - learning this when Shim'Tar throws the Queen's severed head at Diana. Yikes!
Shim'Tar attacks, and it's instantly clear that she's much more powerful than Diana. After all, she just cleaned Hermes's clock, and dude is a god, albeit a crappy one. The two of them battle across the city, destroying a fair amount of it in the process.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the subplot actually meets up with the main plot after months of dithering! So, while all this has been happening, Julia and Steve Trevor get word that something is very wrong in Egypt; Julia's friends there have found all sorts of bad things. So Julia and Steve travel to Egypt, where they meet with some very skeptical government types. Those guys send a squadron of fighter planes to Evil Amazon City, which is now visible because Gaea's Girdle is no longer shielding the city from outside eyes - instead, it's powering Shim'Tar. Against Julia and Steve's strong protestations, the Egyptian Air Force attacks the city! TO BE CONTINUED!!
Notes: There's a lot to get to here, most of it involving Shim'Tar, so let's get right into it.
Firstly, there's the mystery of just who or what Shim'Tar is. Spoilers, this is not addressed next issue, so I'm just going to discuss it now. I see five possibilities for Shim'Tar's identity based on her appearance (more on this in a moment) and powers:
1) She's Diana's aunt Antiope, somehow returned from the dead via Gaea's Girdle. This sort of makes sense, except Antiope was blonde.
2) She's Phthia, somehow returned from the dead via Gaea's Girdle. This makes more sense, except Phthia was also blonde.
3) She's Gaea herself! I don't think this makes any sense. Then again, we know almost nothing about Gaea.
4) She's Dr. Cyber! Her mask looks a lot like Dr. Cyber's, and we don't yet have a Post-Crisis version of Dr. Cyber. Plus, one of Dr. Cyber's big things was that she ran a secret army of evil women, which Shim'Tar comes already equipped with.
5) She's Artemis.
So, I know that later writers introduce a version of Artemis who is a rival of Wonder Woman's, and who is a member of the Evil Amazons. Pre-Crisis, though, Artemis was the original Wonder Woman, who lived thousands of years ago. Given Shim'Tar's design, it's clear she's supposed to be some version of Wonder Woman - her helmet has the tiara embedded in it, she has Diana's mane of black hair, it's basically Diana, only evil and "modernized." So it would make sense if Shim'Tar was another Wonder Woman - the original, Artemis. And also, as it happens, the original Artemis, since another later comes along.
That's what I'm leaning towards, anyway. I'm almost talking myself into Dr. Cyber though, but that's probably wishful thinking since I think Dr. Cyber is awesome.
I do think Shim'Tar's design is also really interesting, Not only is she supposed to be a version of Wonder Woman, but it feels to me like George is intentionally commenting on modern superheroes with this design. It's a twisted version of Diana - with the armor, and the super big guns, and the big armored boobs. I'd say it was a Liefeldized Diana, except this is a couple years before Liefeld became a verb. But I think George is purposely making this Dark Diana hper-violent and hyper-sexualized as a comment on modern superheroics, and how, in contrast to Diana's old school values, this Wonder Woman is actually a murderous villain and not a superhero at all.
I'll discuss Shim'Tar more next issue, but she's potentially a really interesting and powerful addition to Diana's rogue's gallery.
Other notes: Boy, Hermes didn't exactly cover himself with glory here. He got his butt kicked and accomplished nothing other than looking like a moron, which is what he seems to do best.
There's a letter in the lettercolumn praising Inspector Ed Indelicato, who along with Lt. Shands forms the Bert and Ernie cop duo in Boston. The editors respond that Indelicato has become a fan favorite and as a result is featured in the new Annual. What the actual screw?! That's not real, is it?
There are a bunch of severed heads on the cover, including several stuck on pikes. That's not something you see in Wonder Woman every day!
My Grade: B+. One second we're discussing ancient history over tea, the next, people are lobbing severed heads at Diana. That escalated quickly.