Daily Scans
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Below are the 2 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Daily Scans" journal:
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10:58 pm
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When Wondy was Awesome, part 4 (Patriarch's World)
From as far back as Marston, Wonder Woman's defining short phrase, her version of "Caped Crusader" or "Man of Steel" or "Scarlet Speedster," has been "Amazon Princess." Which is fair, because that's what she is in the most literal sense - the daughter of the amazon queen (well at least until they dissolved the monarchy, but at this point I think I'm going to have to admit I've lost that one) - but for most of her pre-Crisis history, was nevertheless a relatively empty phrase. Diana was a princess because girls like princesses, as any Disney exec can tell you, and that was it. Occasionally the authority was useful, but basically it was a purely meta thing that was merely convenient shorthand for her specialness.
Part of Perez' genius was to actually consider what being a princess means for Diana, especially from the mythical perspective of this very mythical character. Mythic royalty isn't about tiaras and castles, after all. It's about stewardship, struggle, king sacrifice; about servitude and symbiosis and taking your people's burdens for your own. Diana, as Athena's champion and essentially a demigod, is an avatar of the Olympians, yes - but as heir to the throne, she's also the avatar of the amazons, and that responsibility is as integral to her character as her duty to her gods. She bleeds when her people bleed, they win when she wins, their story is hers and hers theirs. And Perez' run was saturated with that understanding, in a constant intertwining of Diana's mission and the activities of the Amazon Nation as a whole. She's not just one of them, she's not even just the best of them; she is them, full stop. That concept underpins the particular awesomeness I've got on offer today - this is the story of Themyscira and how the Amazon Nation reconnected with Man's World. Because Diana did, and so that Diana could. And because it's a damn good story.
Also, Diana v. Lois action. You know you want to see that.
( Man do I love that cover. )
Next time: Perez attempts to pre-empt strawfeminist portrayals of the Themyscirans with some strawfeminists of his own for Diana to oppose. And because he is Perez, they end up completely fascinating anyway.
Tags: char: epione of themyscira, char: eris/dc, char: etta candy, char: euboea of themyscira, char: hellene of themyscira, char: hermes/dc, char: hippolyta of themyscira, char: iphtime of themyscira, char: lois lane, char: menalippe of themyscira, char: mnemosyne of themyscira, char: niobe of themyscira, char: oenone of themyscira, char: penelope of themyscira, char: philippus of themyscira, char: silver swan/vanessa kapatelis, char: steve trevor, char: superman/clark kent, char: timandra of themyscira, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: george perez, group: amazons, publisher: dc comics, series: when wondy was awesome, series: world of wondy, title: wonder woman
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10:21 pm
[bluefall]
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When Wondy was Awesome, part 2 (Diana Rockwell Trevor)
Last chapter we saw how Perez cleanly and deftly rebooted the Wonder Woman franchise, discarding all the old continuity, the weird bondage, the creepily gender-centric weaknesses, the sexist "ooh a May-un, I must follow him home!" and outdated "we must fight Nazis!" motivations for leaving Paradise, and her jingoistic 40s-style association with the American Way. One thing he did leave, however, was her costume. Because her costume is iconic. (I blame the TV show for this. And inertia. Two reboots now, at least five perfect story-based opportunities to get her into something sane, and it just never happens.)
This obviously presented a problem, seeing as the costume no longer made sense at all in Diana's new, completely American-free context. Perez attempted to cope with this conundrum by giving Diana's costume itself its own sort of backstory, which is what this chapter is concerned with. Because Perez being Perez, he didn't just write a story about the bathing suit; he wrote an intricate, moving epic that spans two generations, connects Steve and Diana on a personal level and Themyscira and Man's World on a historical one, and solidifies and reinforces one of the most fundamental traits of the very concept of "Wonder Woman."
( Under the cut. )
Next time: Perez will probably make you cry over a character you've never heard of, and Polly proves the awesome is hereditary.
Tags: char: acantha of themyscira, char: apollo/dc, char: artemis of bana-mighdall, char: cottus, char: demeter/dc, char: diana rockwell trevor, char: euboea of themyscira, char: hades/dc, char: hera/dc, char: hermes/dc, char: hestia/dc, char: hippolyta of themyscira, char: menalippe of themyscira, char: mnemosyne of themyscira, char: pan/dc, char: persephone/dc, char: philippus of themyscira, char: poseidon/dc, char: steve trevor, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, char: zeus/dc, creator: george perez, group: amazons, publisher: dc comics, series: when wondy was awesome, series: world of wondy
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