brettc1
12-24-2009, 05:17 AM
I know there are threads discussing all the issue individually, but I thought it might be interesting to now discuss the arc as a whole.
Having said that, where to begin?
For me, I think the strong parts of the storyline were the beginning and end, the first and last issues, with the last part definitely the best.
As an issue in itself, I thought the first part was well written. Of course that's because Tom plays such a large part of it. :redface: Oddly, I think looking back that makes the issue seem a bit unbalanced - the main action to lead into Warkiller does not start til about two thirds of the way in, and so there is a sense of that sequence seeming rushed. Looking at it it might have been better to have a third part of the Dinah and Diana storyline where Black Canary took on the friend in need roll assumed by Giganta and listens to the story of Tom and Diana's unravelling relationship. That would have done more to cement the friendship between the two heroes, and still left some space to tease us with Zeus' summons and Achilles prepartions for this mission, and maybe even some of his learning about Amazon mating rituals. But the cliffhanger ending with Diana confronted with the threat to her mother was a good hook.
For me, though, the second & third parts of the story, the middle act I guess you would say, lost some momentum. While the writing of the scenes with Alkyone and Achilles did a lot to build her up, Achilles throughout was a bit of a non entity until this last installment. Zeus in 39 describes him a fierce, but for most of the story he is more accuratly described as henpecked. Certainly he never seemed a remotely credible physical threat to Wonder Woman, which was a bit disappointing.
While it was good to see Ares again in issue 37, Diana's own actions seem a bit hit and miss. Ares basically double dares her to fly to Themyscira, which she does in spite of the fact that her mother has been held hostage against her taking any action. The scene with recovering Donna from Genocide's grip was touching, but confronted by the hostage situation that she already knows exists Diana seems to have no plan whatsoever beyond to stare openmouthed while her weapons are taken from her. She then mopes in a cell while Artemis and Donna run around doing stuff - and incentally did we ever find out why Donna was vital to Alkyone's plan?
The last issue was pretty good, and as I said earlier for me the best of the four. Using the Cottus was a great tie in with earlier parts of the re-imagined [not retconned :wink: ] origin story, Ares gets to be nasty, and there are some wonderful moments like the Amazons ignoring the rebels completely because they are totally commited to saving Diana. The action is big, might have even have deserved one more splash or even double page spread of Diana and the others fighting Cottus underwater, with D's internal monologue spread across the art. I liked the exchanges between Cottus and Diana, and the final parts of the fight where the monster crashes through the bridge were very cinematic :smile:
Making up a lot for his previous mediocre performances, Achilles almost outshines Diana in the final battle sequences as he is shot, cut, and impaled, and still keeps coming at Alkyone and her posse. We get a lot explained about the gods and the Ichor, though it seemed odd for Zeus to be expounding to Athena, who of course already knew the whole story. Maybe if he had been talking to Hippolyta just pror to her rescue that sequence would have read a bit more organically. After all, Hippy had chosen her gods over her daughter and so that conversation between the two where he explains his own feelings of failure would have seemed very natural to me, and lead nicely into her confronting him with the other Amazons to side with Diana at the end.
The affirmation of what leadership really is was something I liked, and highlights what I think has always been Diana's greatest power, if with her new lightning bolts - her ability to motivate, inspire, and unite others. I thought that was a nice bit of symmetry with the dream sequence in the Black Horizon, where a soulless Diana rules absolutely, and Black Canary's comment that she is the hero that other heroes look to as a guide and role model. Diana the leader is something that Gail seems to be exploring and I think that is well worth pursuing.
Killing Ares does seem to have been a waste of a perfectly good axe :tongue:
Overall I would give this story arc a C+. It tied up a lot of loose threads, but I have to say honestly that I felt that it did not quite live up to its potential. A bit more insight into how the rest of the world veiwed the Thalarion threat would have been nice, and made the last half of the arc, which is all on Themyscira, seem less confining. Diana ends by coming into her own again, but that seems to be happening a lot lately. Hopefully this reassembled Diana has used a bit stronger glue and will keep it together for a while now as Ares plan and continues to unfold.
Having said that, where to begin?
For me, I think the strong parts of the storyline were the beginning and end, the first and last issues, with the last part definitely the best.
As an issue in itself, I thought the first part was well written. Of course that's because Tom plays such a large part of it. :redface: Oddly, I think looking back that makes the issue seem a bit unbalanced - the main action to lead into Warkiller does not start til about two thirds of the way in, and so there is a sense of that sequence seeming rushed. Looking at it it might have been better to have a third part of the Dinah and Diana storyline where Black Canary took on the friend in need roll assumed by Giganta and listens to the story of Tom and Diana's unravelling relationship. That would have done more to cement the friendship between the two heroes, and still left some space to tease us with Zeus' summons and Achilles prepartions for this mission, and maybe even some of his learning about Amazon mating rituals. But the cliffhanger ending with Diana confronted with the threat to her mother was a good hook.
For me, though, the second & third parts of the story, the middle act I guess you would say, lost some momentum. While the writing of the scenes with Alkyone and Achilles did a lot to build her up, Achilles throughout was a bit of a non entity until this last installment. Zeus in 39 describes him a fierce, but for most of the story he is more accuratly described as henpecked. Certainly he never seemed a remotely credible physical threat to Wonder Woman, which was a bit disappointing.
While it was good to see Ares again in issue 37, Diana's own actions seem a bit hit and miss. Ares basically double dares her to fly to Themyscira, which she does in spite of the fact that her mother has been held hostage against her taking any action. The scene with recovering Donna from Genocide's grip was touching, but confronted by the hostage situation that she already knows exists Diana seems to have no plan whatsoever beyond to stare openmouthed while her weapons are taken from her. She then mopes in a cell while Artemis and Donna run around doing stuff - and incentally did we ever find out why Donna was vital to Alkyone's plan?
The last issue was pretty good, and as I said earlier for me the best of the four. Using the Cottus was a great tie in with earlier parts of the re-imagined [not retconned :wink: ] origin story, Ares gets to be nasty, and there are some wonderful moments like the Amazons ignoring the rebels completely because they are totally commited to saving Diana. The action is big, might have even have deserved one more splash or even double page spread of Diana and the others fighting Cottus underwater, with D's internal monologue spread across the art. I liked the exchanges between Cottus and Diana, and the final parts of the fight where the monster crashes through the bridge were very cinematic :smile:
Making up a lot for his previous mediocre performances, Achilles almost outshines Diana in the final battle sequences as he is shot, cut, and impaled, and still keeps coming at Alkyone and her posse. We get a lot explained about the gods and the Ichor, though it seemed odd for Zeus to be expounding to Athena, who of course already knew the whole story. Maybe if he had been talking to Hippolyta just pror to her rescue that sequence would have read a bit more organically. After all, Hippy had chosen her gods over her daughter and so that conversation between the two where he explains his own feelings of failure would have seemed very natural to me, and lead nicely into her confronting him with the other Amazons to side with Diana at the end.
The affirmation of what leadership really is was something I liked, and highlights what I think has always been Diana's greatest power, if with her new lightning bolts - her ability to motivate, inspire, and unite others. I thought that was a nice bit of symmetry with the dream sequence in the Black Horizon, where a soulless Diana rules absolutely, and Black Canary's comment that she is the hero that other heroes look to as a guide and role model. Diana the leader is something that Gail seems to be exploring and I think that is well worth pursuing.
Killing Ares does seem to have been a waste of a perfectly good axe :tongue:
Overall I would give this story arc a C+. It tied up a lot of loose threads, but I have to say honestly that I felt that it did not quite live up to its potential. A bit more insight into how the rest of the world veiwed the Thalarion threat would have been nice, and made the last half of the arc, which is all on Themyscira, seem less confining. Diana ends by coming into her own again, but that seems to be happening a lot lately. Hopefully this reassembled Diana has used a bit stronger glue and will keep it together for a while now as Ares plan and continues to unfold.