Wonder Woman: Dead Earth #4

[history79]

Comments

[donnblake]

Oh, hey, there's Batman sitting on the couch in uniform! And I didn't think that was plausible! Guess that shows me.

[buttz]

I love the imagery here -- the world has completely fallen apart and there's no way for Batman to save it, so Bruce Wayne is finally able and willing to tap out and enjoy a drink.

[superfangirl1]

Even though this is a post apocalyptic future alternate reality , the weirdest thing is Batman's body in full uniform dead on his couch. It's not like Batman to die sitting down.

But this is a Wonder Woman story. I don’t mind it so much.

I wonder what song, Batman would hum to himself as he pass away?

[cricharddavies]

The Batusi music, of course.

[leahandillyana]

You didn’t show the part where Diana tears out Clark's spine to use as a weapon to kill mutated Amazons. So edgy, suck it, Jewish readers! Heck yeah feminism!

[deh_tommy]

Jewish readers? Is there something about spine lassos that’s offensive to Jews in particular? Because I associate that kind of thing with Dullahans more than anything.

[leahandillyana]

Superman is a character whose origin myth is deeply rooted in Jewish history, more than any other superhero. On meta-level, Superman (and other Kryptonians) are Jewish characters. And this explicit brutalisation of a Jewish-coded character brings some uncomfortable historical comparisons. Especially in the context of the story, where it is implied that the character is more useful dead than alive.

[servant_iskandar]

This especially, you did well to point it out.

The scene was already quite disturbing in its own way, alongside this version of Diana's explanation for it (that there's no man left, but his bones will serve ) while standing right in the middle of the Fortress' armory. Even taking into account the grotesque / metal iconography they're using for this, desecrating someone's remains to weaponize them is not something I think a heroine like her would do, even under duress.

The drawn-out, very graphic way the sequence pans out makes it even harder to stomach (no pun intended).

I honestly don't know whether the author knows about Supes' roots ("sent away to safety as a child like Moses" should ring some bells) or about his creators. I'm almost hoping to the contrary, because this would add another layer of discomfort to something I cannot really condone, also because there's no indication that this is being done to give Diana any real agency.

[juniper6]

Ok, it’s the middle of the night and I’m not feeling up to any nuanced response right now, but I am Jewish and can confirm that Superman is widely regarded as a very Jewish character.

[thezmage]

They showed that in the scans for issue 3

[donnblake]

Not only that, she used the spine and skull to turn her lasso into a flail, which I'm not saying was meant to rub salt in the wounds of the kind of people who complain about depictions of Diana who use the sword over the lasso, but here we are. Only Wonder Woman can fix the world she destroyed in a fit of violent rage, and the answer is to set aside one of things that made her unique as a hero, and focus on more violence.