Ends Of The Earth

[Gail Simone]

Okay, just throwing this out. :)

I recently got copies of the CIRCLE tpb and I'm really proud of it. I think both stories are strong, fun tales, beautifully illustrated, and they speak to the kind of Wonder Woman I most enjoy, tough as steel but compassionate, too. You may disagree, but they were quite well received.

Then we have the next tpb, which I like just as much, but whose first story, THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, did seem to alienate some readers. Lots of people enjoyed it, but there were some who were baffled or annoyed by the story.

My goal with Wonder Woman has been to tell lots of different types of stories. I didn't want to be too stuck with one setting, and frankly, Aaron and I both love barbarian comics, especially cheesy old almost forgotten barbarian comics. When I asked Aaron what he most loved to draw, it fit right in with this story, that I'd been hoping to tell anyway.

For me, the art's gorgeous, it's fun to see WW in the different barbarian outfits to match the theme of each world she went to, and Stalker, Claw, and especially Beowulf turned out to be a blast to write. It was very fun to explore this almost forgotten part of the DCU, and I particularly loved how easily Diana slipped into this role. One of my favorite scenes in the book so far is Diana giving Stalker a name for the first time in centuries. That's the kind of stuff that makes Diana special to me, it's something she can do that Superman and Batman can't.

I enjoyed Grendel and D'grth, and I actually think Tom and Etta came to life more here than anywhere else in my run. But perhaps the story was too esoteric for some, I'm sure most readers have never actually READ an issue of Claw the Unconquered, for example.

So if you want, let's discuss the story. If you loved it, tell me why. If you hated it, tell me why. I can't wait for it to come out as a tpb, and paired with the much lighter Hollywood story, it should be a fun, affordable package.

[Indigo Al]

Okay, just throwing this out. :)

I recently got copies of the CIRCLE tpb and I'm really proud of it. I think both stories are strong, fun tales, beautifully illustrated, and they speak to the kind of Wonder Woman I most enjoy, tough as steel but compassionate, too. You may disagree, but they were quite well received.

Then we have the next tpb, which I like just as much, but whose first story, THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, did seem to alienate some readers. Lots of people enjoyed it, but there were some who were baffled or annoyed by the story.

My goal with Wonder Woman has been to tell lots of different types of stories. I didn't want to be too stuck with one setting, and frankly, Aaron and I both love barbarian comics, especially cheesy old almost forgotten barbarian comics. When I asked Aaron what he most loved to draw, it fit right in with this story, that I'd been hoping to tell anyway.

For me, the art's gorgeous, it's fun to see WW in the different barbarian outfits to match the theme of each world she went to, and Stalker, Claw, and especially Beowulf turned out to be a blast to write. It was very fun to explore this almost forgotten part of the DCU, and I particularly loved how easily Diana slipped into this role. One of my favorite scenes in the book so far is Diana giving Stalker a name for the first time in centuries. That's the kind of stuff that makes Diana special to me, it's something she can do that Superman and Batman can't.

I enjoyed Grendel and D'grth, and I actually think Tom and Etta came to life more here than anywhere else in my run. But perhaps the story was too esoteric for some, I'm sure most readers have never actually READ an issue of Claw the Unconquered, for example.

So if you want, let's discuss the story. If you loved it, tell me why. If you hated it, tell me why. I can't wait for it to come out as a tpb, and paired with the much lighter Hollywood story, it should be a fun, affordable package.

The exact details of the story escape me, but I think Wonder Woman works great in a barbarian context (even better in a "science fantasy" context, kind of like the pre-Crisis amazons), although I can remember not being wowed by Phil Jimenez's Skartaris story arc. I love cheesy old barbarian comics too, and I didn't even realize Claw the Unconquered had his own title. I need to reread it, because honestly I can't remember whether I liked Beowulf or not.

Sooo....can we have Diana teaming up with Arak Son of Thunder and Valda, in the court of Charlemagne......????!!!!!!!

[spark627]

Okay, just throwing this out. :)

I recently got copies of the CIRCLE tpb and I'm really proud of it. I think both stories are strong, fun tales, beautifully illustrated, and they speak to the kind of Wonder Woman I most enjoy, tough as steel but compassionate, too. You may disagree, but they were quite well received.

Then we have the next tpb, which I like just as much, but whose first story, THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, did seem to alienate some readers. Lots of people enjoyed it, but there were some who were baffled or annoyed by the story.

My goal with Wonder Woman has been to tell lots of different types of stories. I didn't want to be too stuck with one setting, and frankly, Aaron and I both love barbarian comics, especially cheesy old almost forgotten barbarian comics. When I asked Aaron what he most loved to draw, it fit right in with this story, that I'd been hoping to tell anyway.

For me, the art's gorgeous, it's fun to see WW in the different barbarian outfits to match the theme of each world she went to, and Stalker, Claw, and especially Beowulf turned out to be a blast to write. It was very fun to explore this almost forgotten part of the DCU, and I particularly loved how easily Diana slipped into this role. One of my favorite scenes in the book so far is Diana giving Stalker a name for the first time in centuries. That's the kind of stuff that makes Diana special to me, it's something she can do that Superman and Batman can't.

I enjoyed Grendel and D'grth, and I actually think Tom and Etta came to life more here than anywhere else in my run. But perhaps the story was too esoteric for some, I'm sure most readers have never actually READ an issue of Claw the Unconquered, for example.

So if you want, let's discuss the story. If you loved it, tell me why. If you hated it, tell me why. I can't wait for it to come out as a tpb, and paired with the much lighter Hollywood story, it should be a fun, affordable package.

I have mixed feelings about this story. There are some elements that were just hit out the park (Diana and the wolves, Diana naming stalker, the oracle etc). For me, the story reads much better as a whole. Looking back on the it, I appreciate it now, at the time there were too many unanswered questions. The more answers we get, the more I like the older stories. Does that make sense?

I did however love the ridiculous and zaney Wonder Woman Movie story. Sadly, as ridiculous as it was, I feel that is exactly how a WW movie would be these days. lol.

[aegisbearer]

I think the story worked for me because I enjoy fantasy/sci-fi, especially Conan-esque heroes. And Beowulf? Wow. I'm teaching Seamus Heaney's translation right now, as a matter of fact. I love Beowulf. Stalker I wasn't as familiar with, but I enjoyed the whole arc. And the brilliant armor changes throughout kept me intrigued. That's when I fell in love with Lopresti's style.

It reminded me of the earlier issues back in vol. 1 with Roland and some other Anglo-Saxon heroes used in WW. Plus, the arc when Diana has to rescue her mother from Mars' spell, and she visits different time periods to get various heroes to help her.

I enjoyed this story, and it wasn't too esoteric for me, but I can't speak for others.

[Gail Simone]

Oh, yeah, it totally makes sense.

When I do an ongoing title, I think of it as a jewel, where each new direction you turn the story should shine a new light on previous stories. It's like a massive tapestry, and as the pieces all come together, the spot of blue here and the bit of red here suddenly form a pattern that's been there all along.

But I know that we had a LOT of mysteries set up at first, some I inherited, some I added. We're working on them, I promise. :)

[nightforce]

I LOVED The Circle Story arc. The Khund was ok but it shook me a bit to see Diana let herself get beat up like that. I understood why Diana did it and Understood why Gail wrote it that way. She was showing us that Diana has many sides to her. Warrior, Peacemaker and Allie. Which is cool


But loved everyrthing else so far

[Gail Simone]

That Khund moment is interesting, because to me I think it shows Diana's character. WINNING has several different possible meanings in each scenario, and beating that GL, which i think she easily could have done, would only have increased the bitterness in his heart.

She saw something there and tried to ignite that spark.

[Xeres]

Ah, my only major problem with the arc is that I'm tired of Diana not being in her adopted home world. Too often she's either on Themyscria or Olympus or in this case some other dimension dealing with stuff there. That's fine and good but I would like to see her a more active part of the world around her.

The WW movie little arc was great though! I loved it.

[Hyperion322]

My goal with Wonder Woman has been to tell lots of different types of stories. I didn't want to be too stuck with one setting, and frankly, Aaron and I both love barbarian comics, especially cheesy old almost forgotten barbarian comics. When I asked Aaron what he most loved to draw, it fit right in with this story, that I'd been hoping to tell anyway.

That, I liked, and you were both successful here. I hope the trend continues throughout your run to show that Diana can be a Wonder Woman anywhere and under any circumstances.

I enjoyed Grendel and D'grth, and I actually think Tom and Etta came to life more here than anywhere else in my run. But perhaps the story was too esoteric for some, I'm sure most readers have never actually READ an issue of Claw the Unconquered, for example.

Right, I hadn't, and this is another instance when I miss the editor's footnotes or a story follow up type bibliography in the letter column. But yes, great villains worthy of Wonder Woman, and I loved Tom and Etta in this volume of stories - wonderful stuff!

~ Hype

[Rawhide Kid]

Funny, I've re-read this story 3 days ago.

The first thing: Aaron Lopestri is good. I had bad memories from Excalibur but his entire work on Wonder Woman is really good.

For the story, it was weird. Two things I disliked: Wonder Woman so easily tricked at first and overwhelmed by the black horizon. It weakens the character in her moral/mental strength. The story explains all this, it's consistent but I prefer my Wonder Woman with more willpower.

The length of the tale is good (not too long) and the Tom versus the Albinos Apes interludes are welcome: they bring comedy in a darker tale (which has also funnies lines). Despite the critic above, I've enjoyed this heroic-fantasy tale which show the warrior aspect of the amazon in a world she will not be judged by Superman standards.
The way the story is told must be good because I'm not that interested in heroic-fantasy and Wonder Woman outside the real world.

But perhaps the story was too esoteric for some, I'm sure most readers have never actually READ an issue of Claw the Unconquered, for example.

Well, it was my case but he's a guy named Claw and he's dressed like Conan, it was not very difficult to guess what kind of character he is ! (and his vocabulary gets limited around a woman who is his better)

[hichaec]

Well, The Circle will probably always be a special arc for me because it was the first Wonder Woman arc I ever read. It's funny, though, because one of its primary effects on me was to make me wonder why it took me so long to "get" the character, because she really isn't that complicated or contradictory or whatever. It was right there, in the first issue, when Wonder Woman was fighting the apes.

Stopping the battle like she did to ask for their logic, not waiting until she had really neutralized the potential threat to do so - it was unexpected, and just like that the character made sense. I mean, sure, Superman would ask, but I think he would wait until he'd taken the bad guys down before questioning them, or he'd question them while beating them up. I'm not entirely sure Batman would ask at all.

So I really liked that part.

Otherwise the arc was good, but I really liked The Ends of the Earth better. Mostly this is because Beowulf was there. Beowulf should be around more often! >:( Seriously, he grew on me very quickly and I really enjoyed his role in the story. My biggest issue with it was that Beowulf came off as so engaging and cool, but Claw was kind of bland, which made him feel kind of tacked on. But then, I haven't ever read an issue of Claw the Unconquered, so maybe I just don't get it. (But I've never read an issue of Beowulf either, and it didn't matter because I thought he was super cool. Maybe it's because I'm really attached to the mythical Beowulf, I don't know.)

[SJNeal]

I actually liked it more than "The Circle", which is saying a lot! I'd never seen/heard of Stalker, but found him an intriguing character nonetheless. As was already mentioned, I wasn't a huge fan of Jimenez Skartaris arc, since I find Warlord boring, so it was nice to read a "Barbarian" story done better!

On a more superfluous note, I loved the different costumes as well.

[leagueofone]

Well, I thought the story was very good. The problem I had with it was it being told now. Let me explain that, we fans have had our share of dissapointments with the previous writers. The book seemed to be stuck in the mud, going nowhere and we really didn't like the way WW was being portrayed. Now, along comes the new team who give us the first good story in a long time (the Circle), an interesting little follow up, and we are just starting to get into it.

The Ends of the earth just felt like we had come to a screeching halt in the new storyline and were taking WW somwhere else again. I just felt it was the kind of story you tell as a change of pace after you have been doing the same thing for awhile. But at that point in time, I was famished for a straightforward superhero adventure. I was looking for a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby superhero slugfest and instead I got Lord Of the Rings.

The story is excellent, especially in hindsight, but at that moment that wasn't what I was looking for.

I don't know if that makes any sense to you, or if anyone else felt like I did, but thats how I percieved it.

As for the artwork, no complaints here. I prefer Aaron's work to the Dobsons.:rolleyes:

[troy2g1]

I was really excited for this story because I think Wonder Woman works well in the sorcery/barbarian type world.

Some parts of the story I liked but others that I hated -- I just felt some stuff was messy (sometimes her powers worked, sometimes they didn't) and could have been a bit tighter.

Great idea but not so great execution, IMO.

[spark627]

[QUOTE=leagueofone;9600592]Well, I thought the story was very good. The problem I had with it was it being told now. Let me explain that, we fans have had our share of dissapointments with the previous writers. The book seemed to be stuck in the mud, going nowhere and we really didn't like the way WW was being portrayed. Now, along comes the new team who give us the first good story in a long time (the Circle), an interesting little follow up, and we are just starting to get into it.
QUOTE]

Agreed. At the time... and still... I want WW situated. I want her life in order, dragging her to different worlds at that point was frustrating.