Zero to hero

[colonel_green]

Four scans from Wonder Woman #40.


My shop was missing a box of its orders this week, so I didn't get this issue on Wednesday; but I flew home for the weekend, so I bought it (and Daredevil #504) at my old LCS.  I didn't see any posts from this issue looking over the last three pages, which kind of surprised me.

Ever since Etta showed up in #14, some people have debated how the differences between the inter-Crisis and current version of the character are related.  This issue provides at least a bit of a bridge, though the character's close relationship with Diana is still completely out of nowhere.

Diana visits Etta in the hospital, and Etta tells her and Steve that she has a secret:





Diana gets a call about chaos downtown caused by the creepy kids from The Bloodening, and gets ambushed by Power Girl:



Simone posted over on CBR that this is Aaron Lopresti's final issue on the title, and that this image was partly his request to draw a final big iconic pose.

I'll miss Lopresti, who provided very good illustration for all but a handful of the last 20+ issues.
 

char: etta candy, char: steve trevor, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, title: wonder woman, creator: gail simone, creator: aaron lopresti

Comments

[yaseen101]

That last page is definitely bad ass.

[bluejaybirdie]

Little Diana versus a huge shark is awesome. I would love to see the rest of that story (not to mention Polly's reaction).

[neuhallidae]

Motto this!

[sherkahn]

Amen to that.

[darkknightjrk]

I'm thinking of the end of the training sequence in 300--Diana comes back inland wearing the hide of the shark and the people bow to her...except for Polly, who grabs her by the ear and throughly disciplines her. :D

[crinos]

*Little Wondy walks into the main dining hall dragging the Shark behind her.*

Diana: Hey Mom, we're having shark fin soup tonight!

Hippolyta: Dammit Diana, If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, when you kill giant animals for food, bring them in...

Diana:...Through the side entrance, right mom. Sorry I forgot, its not like I didn't just wrestle down and kill an 800 pound fucking shark with my bear hands.

Hippolyta: Don't take that tone with me little missy. Now you caught that thing, take it back outside and to the side entrance. And for that little bit of sass you can clean it too.

Diana: *sigh* Fiiiine*

*Diana turns and leaves, dragging the shark. Hippolyta sits down and rubs her forehead.*

Hippolyta: Ah well, at least this time it was already dead when she brought it. Hera knows we don't need a repeat of the boar incident.

[mullon]

While I still am not a fan of the new slimmer Etta Candy, I'm glad that at least there is an explanation.

[comicoz]

And not just an explanation, a PLAUSIBLE explanation.

[stig]

...Actually she looked better fat. Or maybe that's just me and my individual tastes.

[cleome45]

Fat + Heroic. U Cannot Has

[thebigapricot]

Wouldn't Etta's secret of being in Checkmate be something that Genocide would have found out and relished telling Diana? And I still have no idea how Diana and Etta became such BFFs. But not such good BFFs that she calls Etta's husband by his first name, apparently. And I like that Alan Scott and Mr. Terrific show up in full costume to Etta's house (apparently without giving her time to dress) to ask her to join Checkmate. That shouldn't spook the neighbors.

But I did like little Diana and the shark. And am looking forward to Peej and Diana battling.

Loresti's art was very good, but I am really looking forward to Nicola Scott being on the book

[bluefall]

Alan should be able to teleport using the ring, though I'm not sure I've ever seen him actually do it. Perhaps they just bamfed into her kitchen.

I can't say I was ever particularly excited by Lopresti. Actually I kind of wish Chang would take the title full-time. Don't get me wrong, I love Nicola Scott, but Chang's style is perfect. (Also Scott draws Diana as shorter than Batman wtf).

[espanolbot]

I liked the panel where the kids talked to Diana in this issue. Not the creepy Ares-kids, the reg'lar ones.

[retro_nouveau]

Same for me! On top of that, I like that one was a boy who thought Diana was "TOUGH", that would have been me at that age, although I would have mentioned the bracers.

Conversely, I felt really bad when the girl dropped her WW lunch box in despair. :(

[kaileighblue]

Is it the scan or does the colorist just not get the concept of chins and necks not being the same thing.

[neuhallidae]

I think it might be the scans, 'cause I can see some areas where the color shading attempts to define the area. There should probably be some more definition (The last panel we see Etta's face in is particularly bad), but it's there.

[nevermore999]

I don't think the relationship's really out of NOWHERE. They were reasonably good friends Perez era, and pretty close WML era. Granted, not THIS close, but it's not like they were hated enemies before this or anything.

[bluefall]

Phil had her actually physically unable to talk about Diana for three full sentences without getting bitter and petty. In front of a reporter no less. Which is the only interaction they've even had since WML's run. Not "hated enemies" no, but it's nothing resembling meaningful friendship. Seriously, Lois has been a larger and more positive presence in Diana's life.

[punishermax]

LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

TO DEFEAT...YOUR THIGHS

ARE THOSE BAGS OF BUTTER.

OR ARE THEY...YOUR BUNS!

(Fat kid represent)

[skalja]

Augh! Earworm!

[retro_nouveau]

I was kind of wondering if "Wait. WHAT?" was for this community...?

Etta in Checkmate - I wondered if Etta and the Wall ever crossed paths. I also wondered if she knows Bea, my favorite chess piece.

I like the exchange with Etta, clear the air so they can continue. Extra point - Diana brought candy (with the flowers).

Love love love that Tom signed her cast. I had to look really close in the book at her elbow, it says "bla bla bla TOM" I think?

If I had to pick at one little detail, and I do have to, it's what I do... I was happy that Diana pulled the subway train (yay accurate DC metro station again!) out of the coatl and saved everyone, but it was after she pulled him up into the air and slammed him down. I think everyone inside would have been damaged. Cushy coatl guts? Extra points - her dialogue was sigh, "here we go again. Those giant mesoamerican snakes and their trash talk." Like another day at the office. XD

Heh, I like any Diana vs. Kryptonian, a stand-up challenge for Diana. I don't think Diana's actually peeved, it takes a lot more than that to rattle her cage, that's just Diana's way of saying that the olive branch option has now expired. No offense, PG? My money's on Diana before the 10th round.

[sailorlibra]

Love love love that Tom signed her cast. I had to look really close in the book at her elbow, it says "bla bla bla TOM" I think?

"Have a good holiday, girl" is what I think it says. Not quite sure about the girl part, but pretty definite about the rest. And, yeah, I liked that he signed it. It's sort of weird that there are only like two signatures, though.

[queenanthai]

Best final splash panel ever. :)

[bluefall]

.... I really hate Diana's posturing trash-talk. I thought it was pretty badass when she was doing it to Genocide, but then all she ever did after the trash talk was get smacked down and then ultimately go "oh noes I can't kill her I'll feel bad about myself." So now I don't believe her even a little tiny bit, it just comes across as complete hot air and bullshit.

Also, Alan and Michael recruiting Etta Candy is really weird. That's like Clark hiring Jim Gordon to write articles for him. You'd think they'd mention it to Diana at some point, it's not like their association is a secret, Diana was a bridesmaid at Etta's wedding.

That said, this is a good scene (especially with the "Etta tells Steve to get rid of the candy" bit you left out). I've had issues with the way this Etta bears no resemblance to previous Ettas whatsoever, and it's true that I still don't buy the sudden BFF business. But the insecurity, the keeping of this secret from Diana, the uneasy relationship with her weight, that feels like v2 Etta. It's a much-needed note of character continuity and the way it's framed, along with Etta's explanation of her spy duty, makes her newfound maturity plausible.

Also I'm still smiling at "Etta Olive Candy."

[q99]

Really? I thought the Genocide fight was pretty sweet. She inflicted some real damage even before the rip-lasso-out-of-spine thing.

[majingojira]

Awesome! A simone penned PG/WW throwdown! WOO!

But...um...why?

[bluefall]

Mind control.

[kingrockwell]

Lopresti's gone?! Well fooey, I've really enjoyed his work on this title!
I hope we'll see him pop up elsewhere soon.

also i love Etta

[phoeixmessiah]

I'll miss Aaron too, great storyteller, but hey Nicola is coming on the title soon isn't she? Not sure for how long yet.

[kingrockwell]

Oh, and something I noticed Wednesday, that isn't how Checkmate Knights work since the post-ICk reformation. Sure, the old Checkmate used to call almost all of their operatives Knights, but since the UN took over that title is specifically reserved for the Royal's personal bodyguard/operative. She'd more properly be classified a Pawn. I'm not entirely sure how Whiteside Pawns work, being that she is to some degree a field operative, but specifically as a liaison, I could see it going either way, though.

[icon_uk]

Where do they call her a Knight? She refers to Pawns in her description of her recruitment speech, so I thought she was a Pawn. Her ID card has the Checkmate logo, which IS a Knight, but I wouldn't have thought that presumed she was one.

[jlbarnett]

Less mind control/mind game villains, more DC created villains that can go punch for punch with her.

[bluefall]

I so want her to kick Black Adam's ass.

[crinos]

Yeah, I can kind of understand why most superheroes are fit and trim; Its very demanding physical work.

Think about it; fighting criminals, chasing criminals, routinely going into hazardous situations, dealing with natural disasters, not to mention all those summer crossovers.

I mean they have cops take annual physicals to make sure they stay in shape to be Cops (and I assume its the same for firemen and the like) and Super heroes are pretty much firemen and Police officers on steroids.

But sometimes they do get around it with lazy contrivances; I mean take Karma for instance. She gets possessed by the Shadow King, turned into an obese blob by his gluttony, then as soon as she gets back on the team what happens? She ends up in an Asgardian desert where she sweats off the flab over a Rockyesque montage and becomes Xena flippin warrior Princess. I mean come on.

[icon_uk]

Well, in Karma's case she was going to have to work off the fat at any odds if she wanted to A) be healthy and B) be on the team. The use of the Norn-manipulated timeslip and montage of looking after someone else, was just cuttng out a lot of unnecessary "journeying towards the destination" she'd need to have done anyway.

[scottyquick]

that shark is so cute I don't even know what

[skywaterblue]

I'm going to miss this artist. Do we know who is replacing him yet?

I kind of want a giant blowup poster of that page. "I am Wonder Woman. And you have managed to make me slightly peeved." *grabs popcorn*

[scottyquick]

Chris Batista and Nicola Scott (!!!) in the short-term, then there's #600.