[World of Wonder] The Witching Hour: A Wonder Woman/Justice League Dark EVENT ✨

[nu52]

World of Wonder Week 14!

The Witching Hour

2019-10-30T07:00:00Z → 2019-11-05T08:00:00Z

Halloween is upon us and as of this week, all five parts to The Witching Hour crossover event are finally on DC Universe! Let’s take a look at what The Witching Hour is and how Wonder Woman and the Justice League Dark members deal with it.

Writer James Tynion IV and an all-star lineup of artists take over October, just in time for Halloween, with this five-part weekly series. This is the first event in the “New Justice” family of titles (JUSTICE LEAGUE, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY, TITANS, TEEN TITANS), featuring two 48-page one-shots and also playing out in the pages of both WONDER WOMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, with all issues written by Tynion IV.

What to read: The Witching Hour Reading Order

WONDER WOMAN AND JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: THE WITCHING HOUR #1
WONDER WOMAN #56
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #4
WONDER WOMAN #57
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK AND WONDER WOMAN: THE WITCHING HOUR #1

Expand for links

SPOILER Discussion Begins Now

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What did you enjoy the most about this crossover event?

2. Were you pleased with the revelation of what the mysterious mark was?

3. How do you feel about Hecate and her origin?

4. What do you think about the Sisterhood of the Sleight Hand?

5. Who do you believe poses more of a threat moving forward, Circe or the Otherkind?

Share your thoughts on the reading overall and let’s discuss

Questions or concerns? Reach out @Nu52

Click HERE to learn more about World of Wonder

Click HERE to get a cool flair and join the club

Watch and track #world-of-wonder to keep up to date with all club events

[AntLeon]

Is that the reading order as well?

[nu52]

Yes. The way they’re ordered under What to read is the reading order

[Jay_Kay]

Nice! Perfect time to get into this on Halloween Eve.

[nu52]

Right? Happy Halloween and hope you all enjoy the Witching Hour

[AntLeon]

For tonight, Happy All Hallow’s Eve Eve!

[Jay_Kay]

I figured I had to read the whole thing for Halloween. Overall a pretty fun read.

What did you enjoy the most about this crossover event?

I liked how Tynion incorporated a whole bunch of different magical elements and made it work – understandable, since the purpose of this event was to basically rip up and recreate magic. It really fits with what Scott Snyder was doing in the regular Justice League book, to change the rules, throw our heroes in, and watch them try to figure things out.

I also liked how they handled the art here – usually with weekly events like this, where multiple artists are involved, there’s usually at least one issue or so where the art looks really off, at least in comparison to the others. But here each issue felt just similar enough that it didn’t catch me off guard, even the last issue where all three previous artists pitched in.

Also, as someone who’s read a lot of the Joe Kelly/Doug Mankhe run of JLA, it was cool to see Manitou Dawn show up as one of the Witch Marked.

Were you pleased with the revelation of what the mysterious mark was?

I dig the idea of Diana being touched by Hecate – especially after we find out why she was chosen in the first place. The only downside is that it seems like now that connection is gone, which seems like a missed opportunity. It would have been interesting to see a Diana who has more of a magical element to her.

How do you feel about Hecate and her origin?

It seemed like a good mix of what we had been told in the past about the origins of magic in the DCU, what we learned through the course of JLD, and the Greek Mythology that Hecate originates from. I like the idea that Diana is sort of a spiritual successor to Hecate in her mission to guide humanity through the world of magic and protect them from the darkness underneath.

What do you think about the Sisterhood of the Sleight Hand?

It makes sense that such a group exists – with all the different kinds of magic users, it makes sense. It’s funny how so many of them die at the start of this event…except for the ones we care about, like Traci Thirteen and Nightshade.

Who do you believe poses more of a threat moving forward, Circe or the Otherkind?

That’s a toughie – both are relative unknowns in terms of power. I guess you could say that with Circe, even though her plan overall was to gain power, she still helped stop Hecate from remaking the world in her image. Circe wants to keep the world as is, because that’s what she wants to conquer. The Otherkind? We still don’t know what the Otherkind would do if they sticked around, other than really, really bad stuff.

[BatJamags]

Just finished the first issue. Really enjoying it so far. Though one thing that slightly annoyed me: I got finished complimenting Tynion on writing Batman as a reasonable person who acts out of concern for his allies but is willing to trust their judgment, only to turn the page and immediately find that he’d shuffled Bats’ annoying uncommunicative antics over to Wonder Woman. When she lied about how she stopped the Upside-Down Man, I was kind of hoping she was being somehow influenced by the Witch Mark, not just randomly deciding that her allies are better off with no information about a potential threat.

One moment I found sort of clever but also a little dumb was Wonder Woman taking her hand off her lasso before saying she “got lucky” against the Upside-Down Man. It was well-framed, except it clearly wouldn’t do her much good standing in the same room with the second, third, and fourth best lie detectors on the planet (Martian Manhunter is psychic, Superman likes to do his heart-rate-listening trick, and Batman is Batman). The moment also seems a little unnecessary, since keeping the JL out of the story was already covered by Hecate whammying them later in the issue.

The use of Hecate so far is interesting. Not to spoil anything, but she actually has a prominent role late in the Perez run, just in a different context (actually, we might’ve seen Hecate’s significance already; I don’t remember off the top of my head).

And just to be clear, I know I spent two paragraphs complaining and one being fairly neutral, but I’m totally nitpicking. I had a great time with this issue and I’m excited to see where it goes. Detective Chimp was hilarious, the threat is interesting, and honestly Nightshade just needs to be used more, so even a cameo from her makes me happy. It’s still not really working as a horror story, but as a somewhat creepy action-thriller it’s pretty solid.

[BatJamags]

And here we see someone trying to pronounce “Aeaea.”

[BatJamags]

@nu52

• What did you enjoy the most about this crossover event?

While the plot got a bit into the whole “Grr, rar, big cataclysmic world ending threat, run around until the writer thinks of an excuse for you to win” shtick that crossovers have been doing since the original Crisis, I did like the character interactions. I think moreso than the opening arc of JLD, this was a good look at our heroes actually becoming a functional team.

@nu52

• Were you pleased with the revelation of what the mysterious mark was?

It was essentially just a plot device for this crossover, but it was fairly sensible in that capacity.

@nu52

• How do you feel about Hecate and her origin?

Eh, I think Hecate’s importance was unnecessarily inflated. It worked alright for this story, but now every other writer who wants to do magic or mythological stuff is going to have to deal with the fact that Hecate is actually the ultimate creator of everything.

@nu52

• What do you think about the Sisterhood of the Sleight Hand?

They were kind of cool for their short appearance. Honestly, I would’ve been more interested in a story focusing on them than this one.

@nu52

• Who do you believe poses more of a threat moving forward, Circe or the Otherkind?

Probably the Otherkind. Circe only has a portion of Hecate’s power and the Otherkind quite handily overwhelmed her. Honestly, that was the first solution I thought of for this problem and it worked fine when they actually got around to it.

All in all, this, like a lot of crossovers, started with an intriguing premise, but as the mystery was unraveled and the action kicked in, became BIG and FLASHY at the expense of complexity. It was kind of compounded by the nature of magic in the DC Universe being so flexible that it doesn’t operate under any consistent rules beyond whatever the writer makes up on the spot. So, like, they can say there’s a logical reason Hecate beats Rama Kushna, and sure, I can go with that, but if Rama Kushna had won, I would’ve also gone with that because there’s no real reason one or the other should win.

The other big issue is that trying to build a cohesive plot that explains all magic, everywhere, all at once makes it feel muddled and like it’s trying one-up the other stories it’s referencing by subordinating them to the Hecate/Otherkind metaplot.

[AnonymousHQ]

(Still trying to get my dates straight) can you tell me what day and time this day will be on each week? Thanks.

[BatJamags]

It’s open discussion. New installments go up on Wednesdays, discussion is open for a week, and you can read and add your thoughts anytime during that week. Or even afterwards, it’s just most of the people will have moved on to the new selection.

[BatJamags]

Oh! One other thing I forgot to mention: the twist with Circe at the end was nice (though I wonder why Hecate never actually activated Circe’s witchmark), but I actually kind of liked the idea of the more calm, reasonable Circe who engages in villainous theatrics for the fun of it. I find Circe the least interesting of Wonder Woman’s three main archenemy candidates, so giving her that spin added a bit more personality flavor than “Power-mad evil sorceress.” I wouldn’t have minded that as an ongoing characterization rather than an act for the JLD’s benefit. For the Cheetah, on the other hand, I’ll admit I haven’t seen the new origin so I intend to give it a fair chance when I get around to it, but I kind of like her as she’s written in Perez’s run, being thoroughly ruthless rather than sympathetic. It’s more interesting if at least one major recurring villain is particularly vicious, and Circe is pretty bland and Ares is more of a force of nature than an evil puppy-kicker.

[nu52]

@SpookyJamags

And here we see someone trying to pronounce “Aeaea.”

I saw this in the first issue too. I pronounced it “owowowowow”

As for Aeaea, I just say uh-ee-uh

[AntLeon]

@SpookyJamags

And here we see someone trying to pronounce “Aeaea.”

in the panel, i hear classic Charlie Brown.

I think i cheat with Aeaea and pronounced it Ay-uh

[Jay_Kay]

@PekapekaLongtailedBatJamags

Though one thing that slightly annoyed me: I got finished complimenting Tynion on writing Batman as a reasonable person who acts out of concern for his allies but is willing to trust their judgment, only to turn the page and immediately find that he’d shuffled Bats’ annoying uncommunicative antics over to Wonder Woman. When she lied about how she stopped the Upside-Down Man, I was kind of hoping she was being somehow influenced by the Witch Mark, not just randomly deciding that her allies are better off with no information about a potential threat.

On one hand, I can see what you mean, but I think it works in terms of story it works here.

For one thing, in this case this isn’t a string of behavior, like what happens with Batman. So far it’s the only time Diana’s really withheld the truth to something, because she wants to figure out for herself what’s going on before telling them. Well, that’s what she tells herself and the others, really – I think the real reason is because she is scared of it, scared of the fact that her past was much darker than she imagined and that there’s more to her than she initially knew.

It was definitely the wrong thing to do in terms of proper strategy, but I think it works out in story, both in terms of keeping it localized to our JLD heroes and other assorted magic users, and it makes Diana more human and relatable.

Also, totally agreed on more Nightshade. I haven’t read a lot with her, but every time I see her I’m like “she looks cool, I wish I could see more of her.”

[Jay_Kay]

Oh, one more thing. I had this thought while reading it and then watching the JLD animated movie as some spooky Halloween watching, and next time they do a JLD animated movie, they should totally base it off of this.

[nu52]

@PekapekaLongtailedBatJamags

Though one thing that slightly annoyed me: I got finished complimenting Tynion on writing Batman as a reasonable person who acts out of concern for his allies but is willing to trust their judgment, only to turn the page and immediately find that he’d shuffled Bats’ annoying uncommunicative antics over to Wonder Woman. When she lied about how she stopped the Upside-Down Man, I was kind of hoping she was being somehow influenced by the Witch Mark, not just randomly deciding that her allies are better off with no information about a potential threat.

I agree with @Jay_Kay on this one. Diana didn’t decide her allies were better off with no information about the potential threat. She informed them all about the Otherkind and the Upside-Down Man. From their encounter in the last JLD issue, they didn’t know the Witch Mark was a sign of a potential threat. Diana didn’t lie about how they stopped the UDM either. She did get lucky. It’s not like she knew she could/would do that. Young Justice Diana might argue that it was a lie because a lie by omission is still a lie, but it wasn’t untrue what Diana said.

@PekapekaLongtailedBatJamags

wouldn’t do her much good standing in the same room with the second, third, and fourth best lie detectors on the planet (Martian Manhunter is psychic, Superman likes to do his heart-rate-listening trick, and Batman is Batman). The moment also seems a little unnecessary, since keeping the JL out of the story was already covered by Hecate whammying them later in the issue.

I like that she didn’t tell the League. Hecate putting the Kord thing in place kept them out of the story, but I didn’t think the purpose of Diana’s omission was to do that. I felt one was a story beat while the other was a character beat. We needed to see how magic muddies (like Constantine says) up Diana’s world and it starts with this. You’re right about the League being able to tell she was “lying” making her decision dumb, although it’s not like MM is just constantly violating people by invading their minds without consent. Diana’s just bad at lying

[AntLeon]

What did you enjoy the most about this crossover event?
I definitely like Tynion’s writing; i may have to seek out some more of that. I think the JLD team was more of a team or cohesive unit. I liked that Bobo installed a magical door in the Hall of Justice. Deadman showing up at just the right moment was cool; almost a literal deus ex machina. The story definitely moved for me despite my eyes getting tired with the tablet i use to read the comics on the service. I need a bigger screen to really appreciate couch mode. Also, Circe going over the top when JLD first arrived at Aeaea, which was to keep it interesting for herself.

Were you pleased with the revelation of what the mysterious mark was?
Pleased may not be the best word, but it was good to know what it meant and why Diana was marked. When Circe activated the power, the lasso (perfect?) was wrapped around Diana’s forearm, but it seemed more like window dressing, as in “it’s still Wonder Woman because she at least has her lasso”. Maybe i’m nitpicking. but it’s not like there was a lie coming out of said activation nor being possessed by Hecate. and Hecate’s truth was “i’m going to destroy magic and remake it in my image” because of reason(s) in the next discussion point.

How do you feel about Hecate and her origin?
What was most interesting was Hecate and magic are somehow tied to Upside Down Man and the Otherkind. That tie just might be more “cost of magic” where the cost of the creation or the bringing of magic to the world also brings/creates some scary(ier) bits. It also seemed that Hecate’s plan were merely born(e) out of being “the woman scorned”; which only tells me to do what you can to make sure women are as unscorned as possible.

What do you think about the Sisterhood of the Sleight Hand?
More story based on the Sisterhood would likely be worthwhile, but it seemed like one of those things that writers like to create just so they can destroy it, presumably to liven things up. the ones that survive are the ones that have names and are a bit more interesting, which may be a trope. I kind of like that it was another group of women that are more or less organized, keep tabs on each other and work together to better themselves. but they had to be destroyed, probably because of the magic involved and to highlight Constantine being unable to help them.

Who do you believe poses more of a threat moving forward, Circe or the Otherkind?
I want to say the short answer is probably both. Circe is the more imminent threat since her ulterior motive was to come out with more power. She didn’t want to engage Hecate mostly because Hecate wasn’t going to kill her directly, but more likely activate her Witchmark. and Circe knew she may not have come out intact. Does she only have her fifth of Hecate’s power? I kind of assumed the Otherkind took whatever power Hecate already had when UDM took/ate Hecate, but it seemed to imply that Circe may have gotten more when Hecate was defeated.

The Otherkind either are their own threat with whatever extra they got when they took Hecate or it was neutralized, depending on the relationship.