Teenage Diana & the Settler of Disputes

[arbre_rieur]

Four pages from WONDER WOMAN #0...









Diana reaches her 13th birthday, and, per Amazon custom, she's supposed to present a suitable tribute to her mother to prove she *deserves* to be considered one year older, with all the increased responsibilities and authority that go with it. Last year, she presented a harpy egg.

War, telling her he knows where she can find an appropriate gift, sends her to vanquish the Minotaur. Which she does. But she balks when he tells her to decapitate it, tells her the head's going to be the tribute.

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

I LOVED this issue. I thought Azz did a great job of mixing the classic Silver Age WW with the more creepy/deeper story that he's been developing with the character.

[kamino_neko]

It's be interesting to see how War went from this to the rather world-weary old man we see in the present of the title.

[icon_uk]

Perhaps something akin to what happened with Ares before the DCnU; what would have been "simple" wars becoming long, drawn out, "Actions" and "Missions" and "Incursions", simmering conflicts rather than outright War.

The Cold War probably starved him.

[fifthie]

"The Cold War probably starved him."

IDK, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, the cold war could get pretty hot. Should have been enough to tide him over after the feast of WWI/WWII.

[shadowpsykie]

well there are clue to it here. He keeps on talking about passing on his mantle. maybe he is already weary of war

[nate_abril96]

I find it kind of sad that Diana's costume as a teenager, looks better than her current costume. I always preferred it that Wonder Woman wore a skirt over bikini briefs, as it made her look more like an Amazonian warrior.

[swatkat]

She's been drawn in a skirt once in the new run, and it's been pretty gorgeous there as well. I wish they'd let it stay.

[nate_abril96]

Agreed!

[halloweenjack]

Nthed.

[nate_abril96]

Huh? I think there is something wrong with your keyboard bro (or sis).

[icon_uk]

N, where n is a variable integer... whatever number is required, n can substitute.

[victory_or_death]

There is never an Ultimate Ninja around when you need one...

[crinos]

So... Is that Minotaur DCNU's version of Ferdinand.

[icon_uk]

Wasn't Ferdinance specifically NOT a Minotaur, because he wasn't from Minos, but somewhere else (I forget where)

[lieut_kettch]

Cythera/Kithera. Ferdinand says that technically, he could be called a "Kithotaur."

[crinos]

You expect the guys in charge of the DCNU to bother remembering that?

[icon_uk]

Would I being overly picky if I expressed some disappointment that it's now a bloke who trained and showed Diana "the way of the warrior" rather than her mother and sister Amazons?

[arbre_rieur]

The reason Ares made her his protege was because she was *already* a great warrior, thanks to her Amazon training.

[lieut_kettch]

Considering that they had a perfectly good war goddess in the person of Athena, I'd say no.

[biod]

Except that Athena is a supporter of mercy in battle and this bit probably wouldn't have happened.
However, I fully condone Icon's right to be peeved.

[espanolbot]

Ares is a war go who stands for seperate things than Athena, Athena is strategy and planning in war, for example, while Ares is more inline with the physical violence of it.

[cainofdreaming]

Athena is a general while Ares is a soldier. I think that's how I'd put it.

Well, not going into the whole bloodthirstiness side of his personality, at least.

[icon_uk]

Athena was the Deity of War you prayed to be on your side, because she was the goddess of just war.

Ares was the Deity of War who you actively prayed would stay AWAY from your battle because he was the god of the uncontrollable chaos of war.

[biod]

It wasn't untill the Romans made him the father of the nation that he started to get a good rep.

[cainofdreaming]

Spartans liked him though. Even if they too were a bit wary. That or just liked statue bondage.

[silicondream]

Despite the fact that Ares lost horribly whenever he went up against Athena or her champions in personal combat.

You've gotta think, though, that somebody must have appreciated Ares or he wouldn't even be in the pantheon. The writers and poets make fun of him, but maybe the lower-class soldiers valued his favor.

[icon_uk]

Not really, as noted, he's not a god of WAR per se, he's the god of the destruction that war brings.

As for his role in the pantheon, a good bard appreciates that every soap opera needs a villain, and he was a good choice, along with sister Eris...

[silicondream]

Not really, as noted, he's not a god of WAR per se, he's the god of the destruction that war brings.

Mmm, I wouldn't say he's treated any less as a god of war than Athena is; he just covers a different aspect of it. He's certainly mentioned in exact parallel with Athena as overseeing the act of war. The gods who govern the nasty consequences of war are (as you mention) Eris and Enyo, his kids Phobos and Deimos, and various other minor servants and companions.

As for his role in the pantheon, a good bard appreciates that every soap opera needs a villain, and he was a good choice, along with sister Eris...

True enough, but he wasn't a completely villainous figure in Greek culture. Homer calls him "Ares who rallies men," and Plato has Socrates praise his manly virtues. Some armies prayed to him before to war, and his favor was invoked for putting down civil unrest--presumably he lent the state the physical power necessary to enforce its laws.

As the god presiding over aggression and bloodthirst, he wasn't often welcomed, but for people whose job actually involved hitting someone else in the face with a sword, a bit of bloodthirst was sometimes just the thing they needed to survive and win. Athena might hand down the world's awesomest strategy for winning a war with maximum efficiency, but Ares gave the soldiers the balls to actually go through with it.

(Also, he seems to have assimilated pretty much every local male war god, and many of them were viewed quite positively. Obviously the Roman Mars was one of these, but there was also a Spartan deity, and some gods in Asia Minor.)

[magus_69]

Athena let it happen. There's a shot of an owl looking down when Diana first accepts Ares' training. We don't know why, yet, but my gut says that it's important. We've had a brief glimpse of Ares in the first year, but Athena has been conspicuous by her absense.

[swatkat]

We learn a bit more about the situation in the newest preview (spoilers for issue thirteen): http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/10/12/wonder-woman-no-13-first-look-brian-azzarello-plays-with-gods/#/0

[fifthie]

Nope.

[grazzt]

You know who this War reminds me of? Gaiman's Destruction.

[green_hellfish_of_doom]

Kind of, a little more serious version but he seems to be going that direction.

[monkey12]

"All-Girl Adventure Tales for Men"...? It's like I've stumbled across Superdickery all over again. There's even a preteen girl hanging out with a disturbingly older man late into the night.

Oh, Internet. The comparisons you invite.

[skemono]

Diana, did you pick a sword without a crossguard? I hope you've got a real firm grip, then.

*peers* Oh, wait, her sword does have a crossguard in the panel where War is tossing it away... but not when she's actually holding it.

Would the god of War be able to transmute weapons of war at his will? "Hm, you want to practice with real steel? Well, all right, but just to show you that you're not ready for it, I'll give you a sword without a quillon so you cut yourself. Wait, now I've got it? Quick, sword, grow a guard! My fingers are tender!"

[icon_uk]

Ares being able to turn a ploughshare into a sword would be a pretty neat idea.

[fifthie]

It should happen to any tool he touches, like Midas except for stabbing.

[skemono]

like Midas except for stabbing.

Best sentence ever! :D

[big_daddy_d]

Still hoping to see Diana interacting with Athena.

[jeyl]

Why would we want this Diana to interact with another female character? Wouldn't that ruin her stride of being completely male dependent?

[jeyl]

"Can my mercy be a tribute for my mother?"

Ha! Over DC's dead body. Your character has about as much inspiration from women as Brian Azzarello has with your title. i.e. He doesn't think you should be associated with women. If your mother's influence was so important, we would have had the decency of seeing moments like that. But since that would actually give your mother character, we are instead treated to the same kind of "Improvements" to your character we've been getting since the start. Wonder Woman getting aid only from her male allies.

And it keeps getting better. Your enemies are women, you trust female characters who create havoc around you, your female allies are damsels who's sole purpose is bearing male children and your mother is a sex-loving nymph who probably considers you a mistake since the sex got four whole pages while you only got a bubble. And you not giving one crap about your mother's murder to the point you don't even bother doing anything to the person who did it is considered a great character trait by your author.

Also, your Amazon sisters are men hating murderers. Those who love this new take, you can keep it.

[tauruschick12]

UGH ALL OF THIS.

I don't doubt Az's ability to tell a good story, but the fact that he is unable to have Wondy have stronger relationships and better woman with woman positiveness makes this just a decent story, not a Wonder Woman story. You can't the women out of Wonder Woman.

I was so excited about this title. And one of my favorite artists on it, too! But, ugh.

[beulahbot]

I love this title and I completely disagree that Diana not having male allies somehow makes her "dependent" on men. But I guess you're right, she should only have female allies and only save men. Thats progressive enough, right?

[jeyl]

Well, in other Wonder Woman stories she's had her mother and all her fellow amazons as allies. I would go so far as to say that Hippolyte is just as much an interesting character as Diana is. What new role did they take in this new Wonder Woman? Items marked for Disposal. I'll miss the days when there was a big name DC hero who actually had a living parent.

[halloweenjack]

Kind of looks like she's stroking his beard there in the third panel.

[lieut_kettch]

I'm more concerned with Ares mixing up his formal and familiar pronouns in the same sentence. "Thou know not what you ask."

Should be either, "Thou knowest not what thou asketh," or, "You know not what you ask."

[intertobamf]

"Ulysses" is not Greek!

[silicondream]

Neither is "Diana." Wondy's native culture has been some weird Tanglewood Talesy mishmash of Greek, Roman, and flying space kangaroo ever since Marston invented her.

Which, in fairness, kind of made sense back when the Amazons were treated as a modern culture with some relatively young members. No reason they'd all stay pure classical Greek, any more than the modern Greeks themselves have.