Wonder Woman (1987) #10

[iamrman]

Plot and pencils by George Perez, script by Len Wein

Zeus is gonna Zeus.

Diana is summoned to Olympus to answer for her effrontery.

Comments

[cainofdreaming]

Well, at least he didn't come as a golden shower. This time.

[bravest_spinja]

I remember this Hallmark movie back before the channel was seriously calcified into its formula at about an aspiring 19th century poet (and Lord Byron fangirl who found herself in a love triangle and was like "Oh, Lord Byron would be so ashamed of me!"

It's always sort of darkly funny to see Diana, raised in a feminist utopia find out that the head of their pantheon is maybe the worst kind of patriarchal. (And as it is, the comic sort of tones down some of the internalized misogyny the Goddesses were capable of.) Of course, this discrepancy is inevitable as the Amazons weren't supposed aspirational. Even modern media doesn't usually go for the idealistic reclamation that Wonder Woman does, but kind of a morality tale for male chauvinism, like "How would you feel if this was the reverse?"

[windleopard2]

Even modern media doesn't usually go for the idealistic reclamation that Wonder Woman does, but kind of a morality tale for male chauvinism, like "How would you feel if this was the reverse?"

Though that just ends up feeding into the "men are the real victims" mentality for certain people.

[mastermahan]

"When you call me daughter, you're not being literal, right?"

"Maybe? Not like it would really stop me."

[bruinsfan]

"Right, sis?"

[windleopard2]

I'll just say it outright: Zeus makes for a better Wonder Woman villain than Ares ever will.

And he should not be Diana's father.

[tcampbell1000]

Agreed on both counts. The biggest misstep I think the Perez era made was to more or less turn Zeus into a benign New Testament Jehovah after this arc--fair and just and even, to all appearances, a devoted husband(!). Even gods can change, sure, but it was a really quick turnaround from the behavior seen here, which is a lot more in line with the actual myths. Maybe the comics couldn't get as rapey as those sometimes did (especially not now), but even a scheming sexist seducer Zeus would be a lot more interesting than what Wonder Woman normally gives us.

[remial]

wasn't part of Pan's test for Diana in this arc that Pan was one of the Manhunters, as part of the whole Millennium thing?

[iamrman]

Yes, Pan was a Manhunter robot and had killed the real one.

[tcampbell1000]

Yep, the Pan seen here is a robot that replaced the real Pan ages ago. This is weirdly reminiscent of an actual folk story, and later a classic poem, where the god Pan was proclaimed dead, in an early version of environmental protest ("All those CITIES KILLED our nature god!"). So if one of the gods had to get replaced by a robot, Pan was actually the most appropriate choice.