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frayadjacentDW, I have been reading you and commenting a little but oh so very slack on posting. I might pick up that TV Meme again, just to get me back in the habit.
But first: I finished some more Wonder Woman! Thanks tochaila I have now read all of Rucka's run, all of Simone's run, and two books: The Hiketeia, which I already discussed, and A League of One.
I liked them, mostly! I am not overwhelmed by Diana feels and am pretty happy to end it here, unless there are more comics that people think I would enjoy. But they were good and I enjoyed reading them, and last night I went back through and read some of chaila's old DW posts about those parts of Wonder Woman, which enhanced my appreciation, especially for Mission's End.
First of all, I think I'll never be able to totally, 100% click with the stories when they still have so much pro-US bias. I mean, I'm guessing that the Diana comics (or at least the ones I read) are far better than a lot of Justice League books on this matter, and obviously a lot better than older Wonder Woman stories? Diana did make effort to show that she's not an American, and the Amazons' refusal to sign a treaty with the US was pretty badass.
But still, when she's hunting down war criminals in unnamed African countries while schmoozing with US Presidential staff in comics that were published within a year or two of the US invasion of Iraq, I just...I just can't not see that as glaringly hypocritical, and it makes it really hard for me to see her character the way I'm supposed to see her. And I *want* to see her that way, and I *know* that there's no way that these comics are gonna come out against the US government that much, I can totally look at it from a Doylist perspective...but at some point the Watsonian perspective is also affected. Which frustrates me, because I <3 <3 <3 characters with strong moral principles who will fight fiercely for them, who are also complex and interesting. I LOVE when writers don't let good = boring, and Wonder Woman is all about that!
It's weird, because I don't expect to see my politics reflected in stories I read or watch, and I don't quite understand why it is that some stories' political problems affect my enjoyment more than others...I guess in this case it's because the political problems felt so fundamental to what Diana's character is supposed to be about. Or maybe because right now I'm really upset about Israeli apartheid (and US support for same) and police brutality in the US, and feeling less forgiving of my media because of it. And I also probably would have had an easier time getting past that stuff if the stories had just spent more time on character interactions, which tend to be the backbone of my devotion to any series or characters.
All in all I probably liked Rucka's run a bit more, because I really enjoyed the relationships and camraderie between Diana and her staff, and likewise between her and the rest of the Amazons. Little details like Diana hating cilantro were very fun. The Medousa arc was great, really heartwrenching and intense and beautiful. But I also really wanted more. More character interaction, more time getting to know everyone. I would have loved to have more flashbacks like they did with her and Karl, but with other characters as well.
Predictably I adored Io because butch! With a hint of sidekick! Practically my kryptonite. I would probably happily read whole arcs the lengths of Rucka and Simone's runs together that are just Diana and Io and Phillipus and Hippolyta and whoever hanging out and sparring and swimming and iron-working and composing epic tales and whatever else it is they do when horrible things aren't happening to them. I was very sad to not see Io in Simone's run.
However I really admired how Simone's run felt like one very coherent, and very epic, story. But it was sad to me that, even though it was a lot more about the Amazons than Rucka's run, it focused so much on conflict among the Amazons without a lot of positive stuff to make me feel invested in the maintenance of their society. Speaking of, I did really like how it brought out the differences among the Amazons in their reactions to Diana's birth. Like not everyone feels the same about Diana. However, I have to ask, because nothing I've read so far has explained this at all: *how* did Diana save the Amazons? It must have something to do with her mission and how she became an ambassador?
I didn't like Tom (I think that was his name? the guy Diana courted) much, but I DID like how Diana courted him. It left me with a strong desire to read/watch more stories where a woman courts someone with Big Romantic (possibly misguided) Gestures.
Also it was amusing to me how hyperbolic Simone's Diana could be. Every person that she was with was the best possible person to be around at the time! Everyone was her best friend, her most beloved sister, etc. Every fight was the worst ever. It was super endearing.
I read A League of One last night, and OMG, I usually really, like teeth-gritting-annoyed, fucking hate when characters go off and do something on their own and keep people from helping them for their own good (I mean I hate For Your Own Good stories more broadly than that), but I somehow *adored* Diana doing it. I guess because she was really serious about it, it wasn't something she did lightly, and it wasn't something she'd do often. And also I usually see male characters doing it (this is the number one reason why I dislike Angel the character, not in a "he's poorly written" way, but in a "he's a jackass and pisses me off" way) and so seeing Diana do it to a bunch of male (or mostly male, I'm not sure about the gender of all of JLA) characters was kinda satisfying. Plus the art was pretty.
But first: I finished some more Wonder Woman! Thanks to
chaila I have now read all of Rucka's run, all of Simone's run, and two books: The Hiketeia, which I already discussed, and A League of One.I liked them, mostly! I am not overwhelmed by Diana feels and am pretty happy to end it here, unless there are more comics that people think I would enjoy. But they were good and I enjoyed reading them, and last night I went back through and read some of chaila's old DW posts about those parts of Wonder Woman, which enhanced my appreciation, especially for Mission's End.
First of all, I think I'll never be able to totally, 100% click with the stories when they still have so much pro-US bias. I mean, I'm guessing that the Diana comics (or at least the ones I read) are far better than a lot of Justice League books on this matter, and obviously a lot better than older Wonder Woman stories? Diana did make effort to show that she's not an American, and the Amazons' refusal to sign a treaty with the US was pretty badass.
But still, when she's hunting down war criminals in unnamed African countries while schmoozing with US Presidential staff in comics that were published within a year or two of the US invasion of Iraq, I just...I just can't not see that as glaringly hypocritical, and it makes it really hard for me to see her character the way I'm supposed to see her. And I *want* to see her that way, and I *know* that there's no way that these comics are gonna come out against the US government that much, I can totally look at it from a Doylist perspective...but at some point the Watsonian perspective is also affected. Which frustrates me, because I <3 <3 <3 characters with strong moral principles who will fight fiercely for them, who are also complex and interesting. I LOVE when writers don't let good = boring, and Wonder Woman is all about that!
It's weird, because I don't expect to see my politics reflected in stories I read or watch, and I don't quite understand why it is that some stories' political problems affect my enjoyment more than others...I guess in this case it's because the political problems felt so fundamental to what Diana's character is supposed to be about. Or maybe because right now I'm really upset about Israeli apartheid (and US support for same) and police brutality in the US, and feeling less forgiving of my media because of it. And I also probably would have had an easier time getting past that stuff if the stories had just spent more time on character interactions, which tend to be the backbone of my devotion to any series or characters.
All in all I probably liked Rucka's run a bit more, because I really enjoyed the relationships and camraderie between Diana and her staff, and likewise between her and the rest of the Amazons. Little details like Diana hating cilantro were very fun. The Medousa arc was great, really heartwrenching and intense and beautiful. But I also really wanted more. More character interaction, more time getting to know everyone. I would have loved to have more flashbacks like they did with her and Karl, but with other characters as well.
Predictably I adored Io because butch! With a hint of sidekick! Practically my kryptonite. I would probably happily read whole arcs the lengths of Rucka and Simone's runs together that are just Diana and Io and Phillipus and Hippolyta and whoever hanging out and sparring and swimming and iron-working and composing epic tales and whatever else it is they do when horrible things aren't happening to them. I was very sad to not see Io in Simone's run.
However I really admired how Simone's run felt like one very coherent, and very epic, story. But it was sad to me that, even though it was a lot more about the Amazons than Rucka's run, it focused so much on conflict among the Amazons without a lot of positive stuff to make me feel invested in the maintenance of their society. Speaking of, I did really like how it brought out the differences among the Amazons in their reactions to Diana's birth. Like not everyone feels the same about Diana. However, I have to ask, because nothing I've read so far has explained this at all: *how* did Diana save the Amazons? It must have something to do with her mission and how she became an ambassador?
I didn't like Tom (I think that was his name? the guy Diana courted) much, but I DID like how Diana courted him. It left me with a strong desire to read/watch more stories where a woman courts someone with Big Romantic (possibly misguided) Gestures.
Also it was amusing to me how hyperbolic Simone's Diana could be. Every person that she was with was the best possible person to be around at the time! Everyone was her best friend, her most beloved sister, etc. Every fight was the worst ever. It was super endearing.
I read A League of One last night, and OMG, I usually really, like teeth-gritting-annoyed, fucking hate when characters go off and do something on their own and keep people from helping them for their own good (I mean I hate For Your Own Good stories more broadly than that), but I somehow *adored* Diana doing it. I guess because she was really serious about it, it wasn't something she did lightly, and it wasn't something she'd do often. And also I usually see male characters doing it (this is the number one reason why I dislike Angel the character, not in a "he's poorly written" way, but in a "he's a jackass and pisses me off" way) and so seeing Diana do it to a bunch of male (or mostly male, I'm not sure about the gender of all of JLA) characters was kinda satisfying. Plus the art was pretty.
no subject
on 11/8/14 04:27 am (UTC)no subject
on 11/8/14 09:37 pm (UTC)