@AntLeon The smoking on the airplane bit had me raising an eyebrow.
@nu52 In 1987, it was coming out of fashion specifically on planes, but there were still a lot of smoking sections at that time
I think i have mixed feelings on the retconning of the original outfit. I do like that a plane went down within the vicinity of Paradise Island. the change up of a female Trevor is clearly ahead of its time with all the opposite sex reboots (Ghostbusters, e.g.) nowadays
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@AntLeon They didn’t really change up Trevor though. They tried to have their cake and eat it too with a whole family of Trevors.
I didn’t know planes ever allowed smoking though. That’s crazy.
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Yeah, Zeus (both in the original myths and in the DCU) is kind of infamous for not being so great at the whole understanding what the word “no” means thing. On the one hand, his behavior isn’t unexpected and the story doesn’t seem to be condoning it, but on the other hand, he’s definitely let off too easily.
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@BatJamags Yeah, they may not have been condoning it, but they were excusing it mighty easily. I did like the Amazon meeting at the end touching on the Heracles situation.
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- What are your thoughts on the challenge(s) set by the gods?
I liked them. I like how just opening the door was a test in and of itself. Then as soon as she stepped foot into Doom’s Doorway, she was already on her first test. Literally on its spine! Hydra is classic. Harpies are classic. The Minotaur was a must. Chimera? Eh, could have done without. I did enjoy the skeletons with the swords of fire. I didn’t put two and two together when it came to the skull of Pan. I was actually still thinking the Manhunter was Pan. I really wanted to see Diana on Oa. I was unsure how a tie-in could fit into the story at that point in the arc. It was oddly thrown in, but when I didn’t get it, I was let down a bit. Especially with the Manhunter as Pan having been such a little $%^&, I wanted that closure. The Cyclops stuff was extra and I didn’t it. The forgiving portion of the challenge made me roll my eyes. Yeah, yeah, I get it. She’s about peace. Blah blah. This arc just made Diana look way too naïve. One of the challenges being to beat sleep was hilarious. That one I could relate to. I’m always hitting that snooze button.
- Do you believe the gods are in any position to test the Amazons and Wonder Woman?
Heck no! Especially not Diana’s would be rapist. Zeus didn’t even help in their creation or anything. The ones that did were too cowardly to step up, so they don’t have any right either. The Amazons have guarded Doom’s Doorway this entire time and are practically the only believers that Pantheon has left. If they’re found unworthy, then what? You give up your only worshippers? No wonder Antiope nope’d out of there. Diana just saved them all from Ares and they repay her like this? Trash.
- What are your thoughts on the connection between Steve Trevor and the Amazons?
I prefer when his connection is accidental. I like the idea of him stumbling onto the island or even if a god makes it happen it’s them seizing an opportunity and not manipulating Steven from the start. I also cared not one bit about Steven’s mom being Diana’s namesake. That was corny. It was convoluted. I did like how she revealed why the gun was referred to as the flashing thunder. Ultimately, what was the point? To make Steve more closely tied to Diana? How many issues in are we and he and Etta seem extremely tacked on.
- Which was the standout moment/image for you?
Diana taking Harmonia’s amulet and holding strong as the demons or whatever entered it. Then Ares coming in and taking that power made that scene the standout for me. I just loved the visual of Diana making sure she would not let that evil escape.
[Ongoing] WONDER WOMAN (2016-) #52
- To what extent are you familiar with Artemis and Aztek?
Artemis: Her animated appearances mostly and wikis 
Aztek: Nayeli is new to me. The male Aztek was probably in Justice League Unlimited, but I don’t remember.
- What are your thoughts on Tezcatlipoca and seeing Diana’s involvement with other gods/mythos?
I don’t know much of that god. I also don’t think we’ve seen him yet. We heard a lot of him. I do like Wonder Woman interacting with other pantheons and how they mention the Bana-Mighdall being under the Egyptian pantheon. That’s really interesting to me.
- Are you liking Steve Orlando’s deep cuts and Easter eggs or do you find them distracting?
The ones I catch are fun, but it can be a bit overwhelming when a writer expects you to know everything they do. I don’t like it when writers every little thing, but sometimes I do need a bit more. Sometimes a deep cut that pulls on DC’s history is great. Even if I don’t know what they’re referencing, if it makes sense with the story, I can go with it. In Steve Orlando’s case, I feel like sometimes he just likes showing off that he knows a lot about things and it’s not really relevant or feels wedged into the plot.
Anyone else think the Steve and Etta relationship just sort of got sprung on us? The hints were kind of there, but ultimately it just felt like they just don’t know what to do with those characters. I mean they pretty much did the same thing with Etta again in Rebirth just sticking her in a relationship with a character there. She’s supposed to be like a Jimmy Olsen, sidekick type, but they keep trying to make her into this dramatic supporting role that feels awkward.
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I was rushed because of the flurry of watch alongs I forgot to type “in WWII”.
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and when it comes to the olds of my old: smoking was everywhere.
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@nu52: I do seem to remember Aztek showing up in JLU, one of the first episodes, but as a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo.
I just thought of another plot point on the Perez issues that bothered me – the ceremony in the end of them burning all their weapons. I mean, I get that they maybe don’t need as many now that Doom’s Gateway is destroyed, but it seems like it takes away from their values and is trying to hide who they are.
Plus, knowing for a fact just how many times the island will be attacked later, it just seems like a dumb move.
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@Jay_Kay Thanks for bringing that up because I had a huge problem with that. They just let Heracles into their fold. The man that enslaved them and did all types of barbarous things to them. If they want to forgive him, fine, but to disarm themselves right in front of him. They were completely vulnerable. They don’t know that Heracles was actually getting punished for all those centuries. Pan turned out to be a Manhunter, so he could have been a plant as well. I can’t believe only one Amazon was depicted as being doubtful and all the rest were just quick to accept everything. I didn’t think that made sense for a race of warriors, no matter how peaceful, to do. I mean their conviction runs so deep that Philippus was ready to kill Hippolyte, but on this they turn extra quickly.
Finished #51 this morning, so here are my thoughts:
“To what extent are you familiar with Artemis and Aztek?”
Artemis I’m a bit more familiar with, since I’ve read her in her cameos in stuff like Rucka and Simone’s run, as well as her stint in Red Hood & The Outlaws. Aztek…let me put it this way, I was just as surprised as Diana that Aztek was a woman now, that’s how unfamiliar I was with the character(s).
“What are your thoughts on Tezcatlipoca and seeing Diana’s involvement with other gods/mythos?”
In general I dig Diana going through and interacting with other pantheons, I think the world of myths and legends are definitely a great playground for Diana to play around with.
As for Tezcatlipoca in general…I don’t know if it’s because of the material or if I was just reading this way too early in the morning before work, but I was basically thinking while reading “I have no idea what the hell is going on, but you know what? Eff it, I’ll run with it.” All I can really say is that visually it looks awesome, and ACO was really unleashing his(?) inner Kirby with some of those designs.
“Are you liking Steve Orlando’s deep cuts and Easter eggs or do you find them distracting?”
I understand there are some deep cuts in this arc (I remember seeing something where Diana uses the lasso in a way that Simone had her do a few times in her run), but I didn’t see many here. There’s a reference to one of Steve Trevor’s compatriots from the Wonder Woman movie which they revamped for the modern era in the Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor one-shot. Also, I think Artemis addressing Wonder Woman as “Diana Truthgod” was a reference to the Byrne run. Outside of that, either Orlando starts off slow on the deep cuts, or I’m just not as knowledgable as I think I am and missed them.
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I missed every single one of those references you caught (except the reference to the character from the movie since I have seen that plenty of times and have seen them in the Rebirth books since).
To me, Aztek is a deep cut, LOL. I seriously had no idea what that character was about. I do like how the helmet speaks to her and all of the previous Azteks are trying to talk at once. It was a little Avatar-like with the past lives helping out. I also like how she sees things differently at time because of the helmet.
ACO’s art is nice, but I also just find it hard to follow the action sometimes. It’s very busy. I think I was more used to it since reading his and Steve Orlando’s Midnighter.
At times, I also just had to go, “Eff it, I’ll run with it.” I didn’t know about the eight metal. I know Nth metal because of the Hawkpeople, but didn’t know about other metals. It was kind of messed up how Diana and Artemis were trashing the stone pyramid
What do you all think about Atalanta? She seems fairly put together and functional for someone that’s been locked in combat for all that time. I wonder if she’s going to play a bigger role in Wonder Woman Rebirth books later or if she’s just for this arc.
Completed #52. And tempted to read ahead on the Perez run.
-
To what extent are you familiar with Artemis and Aztek?
I am not that familiar with Aztek. As to Artemis, since she is not Artemis Crock or the goddess of the hunt, I can only infer who she is from the selection at hand. Which would leave an Amazon with a goddess’ name. Mention of Antiope in this issue made me think of the Perez run, which also mentioned Antiope somewhere near Heracles liberation. -
What are your thoughts on Tezcatlipoca and seeing Diana’s involvement with other gods/mythos?
Interacting with other pantheons is just another way to introduce new ideas. at present, i have no thoughts on Tezcatlipoca. well, slowing down so i can try pronouncing it is a little tiresome, but i am the one slowing down to give it the proverbial college try. -
Are you liking Steve Orlando’s deep cuts and Easter eggs or do you find them distracting?
The only one i saw was a teen titans go beast boy, presumably on a video game. But no, not distracting at all. I would probably be more amused if i saw more.
Regarding WW 10-14:
steve and etta hooking up was a surprise for me and is a stand out moment because of its soap opera ness (henceforth shall i call it “soap factor”).
Sometimes i wish they would not go out of their way to maintain the original colors. The choices Perez made hold up. around WWII, a plane goes down near Paradise Island. The pilot’s family name is Trevor and changes/updates the Amazon view of Man’s World. the gender swap takes away “oh how novel, an actual man” and since Mrs Trevor walked in on a fight, it can be a more direct line to creating a suit of armor based on the standard she wore and all that jibber jabber. The back and forth between Diana Trevor telling Princess Diana her story and the eulogy of Mr Ulysses S Trevor added to the soap (because the conclusion of the eulogy was Hades’ cue to reunite Mr and Mrs), but also like a legacy hand off. So, storytelling-wise it works for me.
Another stand out moment for me: Diana’s paradise island lounge wear is very reminiscient of early Donna “Wonder Girl” Troy.
What i mean by “they going out of their way” is how the movie Man of Steel was about justifying the suit of blue with the S and the cape. When said S became the crest of the House of El is its own level of genius. if only they can take that one step further: when presented with “it looks like an S”, Kal-El can respond, “Yes, i was raised in Kansas, it’s the first thing i saw”.
But to bring it back to Diana: she is very much a warrior-philosopher.
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I’m still wondering if Antiope is going to be coming back in Pérez’s run. There really are quite a few Artemis’ aren’t there
LOL, I do the same thing. I slow down to sound out Tezcatlipoca every time. It’s kind of fun at this point.
See, I missed that Teen Titans Go reference. I gotta go back and look for it.
I couldn’t help but to think all of that was extra corny. Trevor’s dad was even called U.S. Trevor. It was trying too hard.
Well, Donna was just a teenaged Diana that a writer mistook for a Wonder Woman sidekick when she was created. That’s probably why their fashion sense is similar 
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I do know Antiope does come back up, but I don’t remember if it’s Perez who brings her in or not. I won’t spoil it for you, but I do know later writers really flesh out that part of the backstory in interesting ways.
Yeah, when Artemis is introduced in the issue and she’s lifting the arcade machine over her head, it has the Teen Titans Go characters and logo on it.
Oh man, I didn’t even pick up the “U.S.” part. That’s…a weird flex, but okay.
And stuff like you mention there is part of why Donna’s gotta be one of the most complicated characters ever. I love her and all, but SHEESH.
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I’m looking forward to that backstory getting introduced. The single issue we read this week informs us of a possible version of Antiope’s story that could be covered.
That’s actually really cool that they dropped a TTG reference like that. Imagining the Titans having their own brand of products is hilarious.
I’m hoping Titans (DC Univese) gives Donna a simplified origin and we can just stick to it moving forward.
