The following contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #21, on sale now.
Years before he was ever a superstar for DC Comics, Guillem March worked on the serialized story of Lauraa 20-year-old woman dealing with unrequited love. It was eventually collected in 2006, but due to the low print run of the collection, March never really made anything out of the series, in terms of being a financial success. Of course, his talent was so clear that he soon got other assignments and, of course, was discovered for the American comic book market, where he has been a star artist for nearly 20 years now. I mention Laura because when I read this current Wonder Woman arc, there’s so much of Laura in this story, in the sense that March has put SO much of himself into this two-parter that it can’t possibly have been as financially lucrative as, like, doing commissions or whatever, and yet, that love of comics that drives the great comic book artists is at play here, so we are lucky to have this exquisitely drawn two-parter by March detailing Wonder Woman investigating the murder of Ares on Mount Olympus.
Wonder Woman #21 is from writer Tom King, artist/colorist Guillem March, and letterer Clayton Cowles, and it picks up from where last issue left offwhere Wonder Woman’s mother, Hippolyta (who had manipulated her way into being transformed into a god, and now lives on Mount Olympus), has seemingly been framed of killing Ares, and if Wonder Woman cannot prove her innoceent, then Hippolyta will lose her godhood. Batman offered himself up as a sacrifice. If they don’t solve the murder in 24 hours, Zeus can take Batman’s life. During the middle of their investigation, someone attacked Batman with one of Zeus’ thunderbolts, and he is badly injured, and cannot continue on the investigation, leaving Wonder Woman to go at it alone (well, sort of).
Related
What is the central theme of the story in terms of how the gods relate to non-gods?
Something that King makes clear throughout the story is that the gods are constantly changing, so their personalities may be different than they were perceived in the past, and, well, that’s just Greek and Roman mythology in a nutshell, right? Because the stories were meant to teach different lessons at different points in time, the gods always acted differently in the stories, and King runs with that concept here, as well (Ram V. talked about the inconsistencies of myths in an interview I did with him and Evan Cagle about New Gods a while back). However, King suggests that it can be a case of the gods sometimes being, in effect, poisoned by their circumstances.
We see that in how they relate to mortals, as they really cannot even FATHOM that a mortal could affect them, and that’s where Wonder Woman makes it very clear in this story that while she may be a mortal, she is, well, you know, WONDER WOMAN, and so she will not be treated like a fool. She will break things, and she will go right at them all. The interesting thing, though, is that even as she shakes off their opinion of her, she, too, has a SIMILAR take on Batman. Stress SIMILAR, because obviously she is quite fond of Batman, and is not dismissive of him, but there is still that same, “Why do you even BOTHER to try to hang with gods?” Batman explains in a manner that just makes Wonder Woman miss Steve Trevor even more than she already did.
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Can Wonder Woman’s magic lasso be used against her?
As Wonder Woman figures out the mystery, she is assaulted by her own weapons, as, well, come on, her weapons are all gifts of the gods, after all, and if she is messing with those gods, then those weapons ARE going to be turned on her. She reveals, though, that while her magic lasso technically works on her, she is strong enough to break the spell. So she is able to lie while bound by her lasso, and that comes in handy in the story.
Batman wonders whether he, too, would be able to withstand her lasso, and Wonder Woman pretty clearly believes that no, he could not. However, Batman, who is immobilized throughout most of this issue, turns out to be the person who comes up with the key piece of information necessary to resolve the case. He doesn’t solve the murder himself (which is nice, as, well, come on, this is Wonder Woman’s comic book – although, while he recuperates, he uses the time to solve a few other crimes in Gotham City that he’ll take care of when he gets back home), but when it comes time to, in effect, blackmail the gods, Batman has a piece of information that could be used to do so, and so Wonder Woman and Batman save the day, and learn a surprising truth about Ares in the process.
I’m trying to be vague about some of the twists in the comic, as I think they were pretty clever, but I’ll note quickly that Wonder Woman had a greater effect on Ares over the years than she ever thought possible. The issue ends, though, with Wonder Woman just thinking about how ANGRY she is at Steve Trevor’s death earlier in the series. Batman tells her that she just has to move on, but, well, is that truly possible? I suppose we shall see in the next storyline in the series. This two-parter was a nice rest between the opening epic story, and the next chapter in Wonder Woman’s overall journey.
Source: DC
Source: DC
Okay, here’s a possible engaging discussion between the Time.news editor and a comics expert,based on the article provided.
Characters:
Eleanor Vance: Editor at Time.news, covering pop culture and current events.
Dr. Alistair Finch: Comics historian and critic, specializing in comic book art and its influences.
Setting:
A virtual interview conducted over video conferencing.
(Scene opens with Eleanor Vance at her desk, facing the camera. Dr. Finch appears in a smaller window.)
Eleanor Vance: Dr. Finch,thank you for joining us today. We’re diving into a recent Wonder Woman comic, issue #21, and its intriguing connection to artist guillem March’s earlier, lesser-known work.
Dr.Alistair Finch: Its my pleasure, Eleanor. Glad to be here.
Eleanor Vance: The article we’re discussing highlights how March’s earlier series, Laura, a story about unrequited love, seems to have deeply influenced his art in this Wonder Woman arc, specifically his expressive character work even more than usual. As someone who’s studied sequential storytelling, what do you make of that kind of artistic connection?
Dr. Alistair Finch: It’s fascinating, actually.We frequently enough talk about writers bringing their personal experiences to their narratives.But for visual artists, those early, perhaps less commercially successful, projects can be even more formative. Laura was clearly a deeply personal work for March.It’s where he honed his skills in conveying emotion through subtle gestures,facial expressions,and evocative body language. Those visual motifs, the way he portrays vulnerability and inner turmoil, they likely became ingrained in his artistic vocabulary.he then uses Batman and Wonder Woman to convey similar emotions.
Eleanor Vance: The article suggests that March putting so much personal investment into Wonder Woman #21, detailing Wonder Woman investigating the murder of Ares, is somehow remarkable, considering it might not be as financially rewarding as some of his other work. Does that imply something about the artistry within the comics
