Comments on: Comics Grinder: Wonder Woman

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:27:31 +0000

“Morrison is the most over rated creator since Liefeld was hot stuff in the 90s.”

I’m glad you think Liefeld is a good artist.

By: Wonder Woman fan

Wonder Woman fan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:17:14 +0000

I couldn’t possibly disagree more. Simone’s run started out okay, but it progressively got worse and worse. I’ve never read a comic that is so poorly written. It’s literally a mess. I don’t think Simone gets Wonder Woman at all. She wants to write “Dark Wonder Woman”, a character of her own invention. The new origin stunk up the book, and it wasn’t neccesary. To call her run a “flash point” is just bizarre. She re-heated lots of old storylines, and didn’t even do them well. It’s a lot of same old/ same old, but poorly written. BOP was great, and Secret Six is terrific. Keep Simone away from Wonder Woman, though. She totally does not get her.

By: C. Towns

C. Towns — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:26:17 +0000

morrisons awesome. just had to throw that in between all the morrison hate. i love gail simones run and if she leaves i’d want morrison on board. batman & robin is my other fav superhero comic happening right now.

By: AO

AO — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:12:41 +0000

I’d been buying WW monthly since the start of the post-COIE Perez relaunch, Gail’s version of WW is without a doubt THE worst that I have read during that entire time. The biggest factor is that this is simply an entirely different character. If they ever bring back the pre-Gail WW then I will be happy to read about her again, but I have no interest in whoever this is. I seem to be far from alone in this thinking as Gail’s run has lot 1/2 of it’s readers since it began.

Gail’s first issue: 11/2007: Wonder Woman #14 — 53,090 sales
Gail’s most recent issue: 12/2009: Wonder Woman #39 — 26,152 sales

By: hguwj

hguwj — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:45:14 +0000

It was far from an “excellent run”. The series was made for Terry Dodson and his issues were better than what Simone has done. Of course now he works for Marvel making the godawful X-Men crappier and crappier every month with Land/Fraction. The temporarily good things (at least amongst those that jump indie to the Big 2) always gets even worse in no time.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:17:41 +0000

Gail is the reason I came back to WW. I’ve tried it off and on for years since the seventies. The character always seems plastic and empty to me, more of a golem that was made to look beautiful rather than an actual person. I have all of the Perez run, ending the run with Marinan’s (Hope I spelled it right) last issue. I tried several different writers at different points. Same problem…she was always a diplomat, or a warrior, or a princess…she was never really human.

I’ve read a lot of the comments over on the DC boards and the ones that don’t like Gail’s run start off saying specifics, but when you boil down what they don’t like about it…its that she doesn’t follow the script that they have in their heads as two what Wonder Woman should be…and thats apparantly something stuck in the seveties..an Icon of something rather than a human character.

Gail has been telling some fun, interesting stories to me. To the hardcore, longterm fans, they may seem a rehashing of stories already told…but I’m a returnee, and they see to make the character human and real. She has flaws now, isn’t some perfect Icon that never makes a mistake.

As to Grant, I don’t hate him, he’s done some great work (Doom Patrol, Flash, Animal Man) but this “meta” thing he’s been doing…eh. Grant works better when he’s being twisted. And if fans hate the updating that Gail has been giving WW, they will drop bricks when he does that to her.

By: Gokitalo

Gokitalo — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:27:52 +0000

Nice, GregoryD.

I liked “The Circle,” but Gail’s subsequent Wonder Woman stories were kind of hit-or-miss for me. I dropped it during the Genocide story (and not just because T.O. Morrow lost his rockin’ moustache), but I’m interested in picking up the Black Canary team-up issues…

By: GL_Nova

GL_Nova — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:20:57 +0000

I’ve picked this comic up every month in the LCS to read along and keep up. While funds didn’t orignally allow me to get it, that didn’t stop the story from being compelling, and Gail from crafting a WW story and mythos every bit as invigorating as watching Dick take over as Batman, Kal return his people, and the Green Lantern Corps reshape for war. My gf started reading it, and buying the book for the missus became a must. She loves it, and i enjoy sharing it with her. It’s a great comic that she’s already shown to a number of our female friends to defend how a good story can be told in this medium with a strong Woman at the helm. She’s also excited for BOP to come back. Taking Gail off would be as foolish as forcing Geoff and Tomasi from the GL franchise (that they have helped invigorate). Don’t dissapoint DC. B/c i swear i’ll find a way to make u be the one to explain that to her, not me.

By: Jocutus

Jocutus — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:14:25 +0000

I’ve found the recent Wonder Woman story arc to be something of a mess. The “Rise of the Olympian” story about Zeus replacing the Amazons with men seemed to happen mostly in the background and far, far away from where the actual main story of Diana getting beaten near to death by her own reanimated future-corpse was taking place. “Genocide” was probably intended as a memorable nemesis but was hobbled by one of the worst character designs ever. And then in the climactic battle, the villain falls into the sea and disappears. Along the way her best friend is tortured into a coma, her boyfriend breaks up with her, her mother is replaced by Achilles as leader of the Amazons and Diana ends the story arc (8 parts) when she quits being an Amazon and flies away. And Zeus has been walking around the whole time in a spandex space suit. A lot of this stuff left me scratching my head, not wanting to find out what happens next.

By: dizzy spins

dizzy spins — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:26:29 +0000

Im really surprised at all the positive comments about Gail’s run. Ive loved everything she’s done–from Birds of Prey to Tranquility. But she’s dropped the ball majorly with a book she was seemingly born to write. Her WW is just awful, there’s no other word to use. The tone is just lethargic and flat. My friends and I cant understand how one of our favorites can make something so uninteresting. The faster Gail can be put something else, the sooner her reputation can be restored. I say this as a Gail Simone lover, not a Wonder Woman fan.

By: Herowatcher

Herowatcher — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:34:31 +0000

In the beginning Gail’s Wonder Woman was very good IMO. However, since “Rise of the Olympian” I haven’t liked the character and the storyline. I actually dropped the title. I’m not sure all of this falls on Gail because she had to deal with the aftermath of the Amazons Attack fiasco.

By: GregoryD

GregoryD — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:33:27 +0000

When you need to fight a war, you call Wonder Woman.

When you need it done now, you call the Flash.

When you need to solve a crime, you call Batman.

When you need to read a mind, you call the Martian Manhunter.

When you need a solution to a problem, you call Green Lantern.

When you need a king, you call Aquaman.

When all hope is lost, you call Superman.

By: Sam a.

Sam a. — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:48:21 +0000

Grant morrison said something along the lines after final crisis that he didnt know what to do with her but wants to make up for it maybe an earth-1 wonder woman series

I checked out the end of Rucka’s run and enjoyed it the parts of Gails run that I’ve read are fun and interesting.

I feel Wonder Woman as mass potential from her greek mythology roots to her rogues gallery and I didn’t see it at first but if handled correctly she could be seen as Earth’s greatest warrior (where Superman is its greatest hero and batman its detective) even warrior races like the khuds or Starfires people and others would be willing to challenge her

but I think also Donna troy and Wonder girl need to show up a bit more in wonder woman Nightwing Robin supergirl superboy show up in superman and batman books if she’s in some sort of trouble i would think her family would come running and if they’re going thru a hard time Diana should be there for them but then again DC heroes arent good at taking care of their own

By: Murphy

Murphy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:21:53 +0000

Gail’s Wonder Woman rocks! I have to say I am enjoying her run as much as I did George Perez’s and Greg Rucka’s (and I enjoyed both of them a lot).

Unfortunately, Wonder Woman rarely seems to do that well in sales but that hardly means the book is not good.

By: fm

fm — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:12:08 +0000

I will have to respectfully disagree. It’s an interesting enough take but has taken a dive in the last year. Gail’s WW shows she is hardly capable of a sexual relationship as shown by the whole Tom/babies babies thing and in fact is not much about stopping war. And this comic can hardly be termed as revitalized with the flagging readership. It’s great to love a run but to make sweeping statements to imply this run is doing Morrison a favor by setting up WW? Please. Three years on and WW still does not know who the she is. We don’t even know. I agree the Diana Prince id was handled badly.

By: michael Boyce

michael Boyce — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:26:58 +0000

Gail is great on Secret Six and BoP….

By: Laurence J Sinclair

Laurence J Sinclair — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:02:07 +0000

Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman stories start well and have quite an interesting middlesegment, but always seem to wrap up rather hurridly and conveniently at the end.

By: KET

KET — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:49:23 +0000

“When you need to stop an asteroid, you get Superman. When you need to solve a mystery, you call Batman. But when you need to end a war, you get Wonder Woman.”

The basic problem is none of these iconic characters ever do these things much anymore.

These days, Superman needs a whole Kryptonian army to blend in with. Batman…heh, Batman mostly comes off as a rich thug who beats up other, poorer thugs. And when has Wonder Woman succeeded in stopping an army? You mean that contrived one with Achilles in her own title (which nobody acknowledges elsewhere in the DCU)?

Some WW fans need to face the facts: Simone’s Wonder Woman run has been mostly an unfocused disaster, and it’s mostly gender politics that is keeping her on this sinking title at this point.

By: Kel-El

Kel-El — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:36:20 +0000

We all know that Grant Morrsison simply cannot add another regular ongoing book to his schedule. If he’s writing Wonder Woman, then it’s gonna be for the Earth-One line, where he can address the character in ways he may not be able to in a mainstream book. He’s also waiting for the artist he wants on his WW book to be freed up from Marvel. Once that happens, I believe DC will announce that Grant Morrison and X-artist (I suspect Jimenez) will be the creative team for Earth-One Wonder Woman.
Leave Gail and Co. on the main book. They’re doing a great job!

By: greenman

greenman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:11:09 +0000

Oh, and by ‘post crisis relaunch” I meant Crisis on Infinite Earths. Her run is far and away THE best run since the Infinite Crisis relaunch.

By: DCUFan

DCUFan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:10:38 +0000

The Diana Prince identity has been a part of Wonder Woman’s history since the 1940′s. Although it hasn’t been consistent, it is just as relevant as Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent. With that said, I’d rather see what Geoff Johns or J.T. Krul could do with the character.

By: greenman

greenman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:06:28 +0000

I have been reading Wonder Woman faithfully for over two decades d say two things about this article.

1. Simone’s run has been one of the best since the post Crisis relaunch.

2. The day, if it comes, that Morrison takes over the title will be the day I finally drop the title. That’s not fanboy histrionics, just the plain and simple fact. Morrison is the most over rated creator since Liefeld was hot stuff in the 90s.

By: Bandito

Bandito — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:57:31 +0000

I really like Gail’s Wonder Woman, but lately I haven’t any sense of urgency coming from the book. I believe she has some long-term plans, but I don’t feel like the direction is clear right now. By the end of “The Sinestro Corps War”, for example, Green Lantern readers had a vision of where the story was going for the next year or so, even if the salient details weren’t clear. I would like some forecast of major events to come from Wonder Woman.

Also, I think DC needs to cut its losses and ditch the Diana Prince Government Agent status that is dragging her down like an iron weight around her ankle. Wonder Woman is NOT a costumed crime fighter with a secret identity; she’s a uniformed warrior, a very public ambassador of her culture and its beliefs. She’s an agent of Peace and above all Truth. The notion of her hiding behind any kind of facade is deplorable. Also, none of the supporting cast at the DMA are all that interesting.

By: Vinnie Bartilucci

Vinnie Bartilucci — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:12:56 +0000

Fair enough on the Morrison quote, but how that very nebulous statement has become “Taking over the monthly” is beyond me. Considering what he’s talking about, I would much more expect a stand-alone book, chock full of weirdness and fetish poses.

Sorry, that’s what I would expect from Gail…

By: Gokitalo

Gokitalo — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:37:43 +0000

The, um, “frippery” about Grant Morrison and Wonder Woman comes from comments Grant made about the character after Final Crisis ended. Behold:

GM: “I wondered about that myself. I love what Gail Simone (especially) and other writers have done to empower the Wonder Woman concept but I must admit I’ve always sensed something slightly bogus and troubling at its heart. When I dug into the roots of the character I found an uneasy melange of girl power, bondage and disturbed sexuality that has never been adequately dealt with or fully processed out to my mind. I’ve always felt there was something oddly artificial about Wonder Woman, something not like a woman at all.

Having said that, I became quite fascinated by these contradictions and problems and tried to resolve them for what turned into a different project entirely.”

Last three words. Seems he does have SOMETHING in the works involving Wonder Woman. Source? Why, Newsarama, of course
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/010928-Grant-Final-Crisis.html

By: john

john — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:33:06 +0000

Gail’s WW started off well but has weakened a lot. The whole ROTO and Warkiller was where I got off. Glad you found it your cup of tea. I am willing to see where Grant can take WW.

As for people getting upset? Who is buying WW now that it will change the status quo? Sales are pretty low. WW needs a good shake up.

By: David

David — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:58:59 +0000

Gail should stay. I’m not bowled over by her run but it’s better than everything since Rucka. I find the rumor of Morrison on WW funny since, aside from JLA #7 he did nothing with her in his entire run on JLA, DC 1 Million, and Final Crisis. Perhaps he has some great story ideas that he could pass on to Gail but by his own admittance he can’t write the voice of a woman.

Oh and Secret Six rocks and I am practically giddy about Birds of Prey.

By: RobRG

RobRG — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:45:31 +0000

I’m loving Gail’s Wonder Woman, and I hope she’ll keep writing the title for a long, long time.

By: Mallfunction

Mallfunction — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:45:04 +0000

If Morrison takes over this book than i’m dumping Wonder Woman.

Hate Grant Morrisons writing.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:30:01 +0000

They’d better not remove Gail from Wonder Woman. ESPECIALLY for Grant Morrison. In my opinion, Gail is one of only three writers who’s actually been able to under and write Diana (her, Phil Jimenez and George Perez). Every other writer always writes AROUND her and shows her through supporting characters, which is lazy (Rucka included, sorry).

I hope she stays for years and years…and getting Nicola Scott on with her would be wonderful, but I love Lopresti’s work, too.