tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16538843.post8411785691780821334..comments2024-01-02T09:18:23.893-05:00Comments on Written World: What's in a Name When Your Characterization Sucks?Ragnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00373059673228550524noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16538843.post-65311562705153590512010-09-10T14:51:40.777-04:002010-09-10T14:51:40.777-04:00Random Comment:
I've always been a bit confus...Random Comment:<br /><br />I've always been a bit confused by Diana as 'The Goddess of Truth' when she seems more practically to be 'THE GODDESS OF SELF DETERMINATION'.<br /><br />But I may just have been spoiled by the animated 90's series and the Greg Ruka run.Avalon's Willowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07539301720154191607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16538843.post-60768026170849769772010-08-11T15:47:07.118-04:002010-08-11T15:47:07.118-04:00SO nice to read something by someone who really kn...SO nice to read something by someone who really knows her mythology. And seriously, how can anyone NOT like Hermes?SallyPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05592635194271250605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16538843.post-85188590763814593512010-08-11T15:07:40.643-04:002010-08-11T15:07:40.643-04:00Oh, as an aside to the above: I should note that i...Oh, as an aside to the above: I should note that in the <i>Justice League</i> animated continuity, other Amazons are shown to be every bit as formidable as Diana -- <i>and</i> Diana is shown to have <i>stolen</i> the armor, avoiding the contest for the title entirely.<br /><br />I rather like that. Golden Age Diana disobeyed her mother and entered the contest out of infatuation. Animated Diana took it upon herself to break the Amazon policy of isolation, because the world was in peril and they wouldn't buck tradition to intervene.Your Obedient Serpenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07133256640355844314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16538843.post-510543708955632842010-08-11T15:01:46.221-04:002010-08-11T15:01:46.221-04:00That is a wonderful and quintessential Hermes mome...That is a wonderful and quintessential Hermes moment, yes -- but I'd thought that the Sleeping Beauty Christening part of Diana's origin was something that stemmed from Perez; I wasn't aware of the Silver Age precedent. <br /><br />I thought I could safely blame the scapegoat of choice for Wonder Woman-related issues.<br /><br />Back in the Bronze Age, when I started reading, we got new stories and Golden Age reprints, but we didn't get a lot of reprints from the Silver Age -- thus, I'm more familiar with Marston's Diana, who had nothing more than the grace and power of her Amazon upbringing, rather than divine favor.<br /><br />The divine gifts really undercut the <b>other</b> part of Diana's origin, where she enters the competition to become Wonder Woman incognito, and defeats her sisteren in a series of athletic and martial challenges. If we follow Marston's original version, then Diana wins fairly, and really is the epitome of her culture and values.<br /><br />If she does that when she wields divine gifts that none of the other Amazons possess -- she's <i>cheating</i>. And ... she <i>knows</i> about those Gifts. I'm well aware that the Silver Age had volumes and volumes of stories establishing that even "Wonder Tot" was an exceptional creature capable of feats that astounded the other Amazons.<br /><br />The character later Flanderized into the Goddess of Truth claims her mantle by deception and dishonesty, and none of the other claimants for the title had a fair chance. It's as if Clark Kent, in full knowledge of his Kryptonian heritage, went to the Olympics and brought home every single gold medal.<br /><br />(For the record, I've always liked the Bronze Age revelation that the whole made-from-clay story was a cabbage leaf, and that Diana was really the daughter of Hippolyta and not-a-rapist Hercules. If she didn't <i>know</i> about her divine heritage, <i>she wasn't cheating</i>.)<br /><br />I'm hoping that JMS's run ends with a wholesale restoration of Diana's backstory that reconciles these dissonant aspects. I think the reason he's indulging the "something is wrong with time" trope is to explore just what Wonder Woman really <i>means</i>.Your Obedient Serpenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07133256640355844314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16538843.post-48253400836145969542010-08-11T05:28:57.897-04:002010-08-11T05:28:57.897-04:00Yeah, I think that's a pretty good analysis of...Yeah, I think that's a pretty good analysis of it. The Greek Gods have often not been served well by WW writers.John Bileshttp://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/Storiesnoreply@blogger.com