Sunday, December 17, 2006
A Heaping Helping of Regret
Dan DiDio, in last month's Wizard magazine (#183), describing how 52 was massaged into the form we are presently reading:
(Full disclosure: although I wasn't collecting Teen Titans as a boy, I knew about the book, and the fact that Donna Troy was drawn in such a way that she resembled my Latina schoolmates always endeared her to me.)
Jodi Picoult, who will be writing Wonder Woman after issue #5, is interviewed in this month's magazine, and says:
Wonder Woman was certainly present in Infinite Crisis, though I found that she wasn't nearly enough at the center of things to keep me entirely interested.
It's not like I'm bitter or anything ... though I am keeping score.
"The team we ended up with was not the team we started with. I always had Donna Troy as part of the story from the beginning. She was on every one of my charts, every one of my lists. I walked into a meeting one day and everybody was looking at me," he laughs. "They said 'We can't find a way to work Donna Troy into this,' and I said to go with what made the most sense." (p. 57)So let me get this straight: Lobo's inclusion made more sense to them.
(Full disclosure: although I wasn't collecting Teen Titans as a boy, I knew about the book, and the fact that Donna Troy was drawn in such a way that she resembled my Latina schoolmates always endeared her to me.)
Jodi Picoult, who will be writing Wonder Woman after issue #5, is interviewed in this month's magazine, and says:
"The Dept. of Metahuman Affairs people want to bring in Wonder Woman for questioning about her role in killing a federal agent, Max Lord, which of course already happened [in Manhunter #26]. But what I'm doing is taking it one step further, because that's going to precipitate a war with the Amazons [in March's Amazons Attack miniseries -- see sidebar]."We're told in the sidebar that Will Pfeifer (who's writing Catwoman) will be writing the mini-series, and here's the juicy bit :
"[T]he April debuting mini-series, which sees Wonder Woman's warrior race return to the DCU, had its roots in 2005's ramp-up to Infinite Crisis. Originally slated to be the fifth prequel mini-series to the reality-altering event ..., Amazons Attack was dropped during last minute meetings to aid in story planning." (p. 87)Those pesky DC editorial teams are batting 0 for 2, so far. It seems they had two occasions to better integrate Wonder Woman's corner of the DCU into their "event" story-arcs, and decided against doing so both times.
Wonder Woman was certainly present in Infinite Crisis, though I found that she wasn't nearly enough at the center of things to keep me entirely interested.
It's not like I'm bitter or anything ... though I am keeping score.
Comments:
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It's interesting, isn't it? DC manages to publish two books each for Superman and Batman, not counting minis and peripheral series for both, and can't keep a single book for Wonder Woman on track. With a movie coming up, no less. Then there's that other big name female character, um, whatshername, world-wide recognition...? She doesn't seem to have any role in the main DCU, either. It's all very interesting.
You seen the preview art Pete Woods released for the upcoming WW mini?
You seen the preview art Pete Woods released for the upcoming WW mini?
# posted by 
: 9:31 PM
: 9:31 PM
I'm getting kinda irritated that after 2 years they still don't have a single Showcase Presents collection with a female lead.
What's that? There weren't any female titles in the sixties other than Wonder Woman? So where the fuck is the Wonder Woman Showcase? We have the third Superman coming up, and yet Wonder Woman hasn't had a single volume. In fact we have 40 years of Wonder Woman comics that have never been reprinted.
And they say thingsd have changed.
Feh.
What's that? There weren't any female titles in the sixties other than Wonder Woman? So where the fuck is the Wonder Woman Showcase? We have the third Superman coming up, and yet Wonder Woman hasn't had a single volume. In fact we have 40 years of Wonder Woman comics that have never been reprinted.
And they say thingsd have changed.
Feh.
KKG: Yes, as I was ranting about Wonder Woman, my mind did turn to Catwoman. I often wonder about what Will Pfeifer actually had planned for Selina before the editorially mandated OYL/childbirth plot element was placed in his lap ... The paternity revelations have kind of hampered the book's forward movement, and you're right, she's had no role/visibility in the wider DCU.
It seems to me that there's definitely evidence of a kind of pattern, here.
Marionette: Yes, I couldn't agree with you more. What's with the no WW Showcase, DC?
It seems to me that there's definitely evidence of a kind of pattern, here.
Marionette: Yes, I couldn't agree with you more. What's with the no WW Showcase, DC?
One of Pfeifer's first interviews suggested he wanted to pull the character out of the line-toeing bat-lackey role she'd fallen into and back into the original volume 2 niche. He talked a bit about having her more on the social fringes, working between the lines, etc. I liked what he said, and I enjoyed his first two arcs, but now... *shrugs* I don't think he's dealing well with the editorial mandates. They're both inorganic for the character, and at cross purpose with Pfeifer's intention, set up dramatically with Black Mask's murder. He wanted "anti-heroic vigilante on the lam" and got stuck with "taking a vacation while pregnant". Editorial really wasn't paying attention.
As for WW, it's interesting for me, because I know one of the main reasons I never became interested in her character was her limited exposure in general media. I watched the tv series, but that was long before I picked up a comic. By the time I did, it was completely discordant with what I knew and getting back issues or collected stories? Pfft. Our library system has numerous Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men collections and even Big Score, but WW? I think they have two slim trades.
As for WW, it's interesting for me, because I know one of the main reasons I never became interested in her character was her limited exposure in general media. I watched the tv series, but that was long before I picked up a comic. By the time I did, it was completely discordant with what I knew and getting back issues or collected stories? Pfft. Our library system has numerous Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men collections and even Big Score, but WW? I think they have two slim trades.
# posted by : 11:39 PM
: 11:39 PM
Yeah, I just did the math on Catwoman: 9 months to fully resolve the paternity "mystery." I don't know if that number is a coincidence or what, but that's just too long to wait for such a meager pay-off.
It's the same situation with WW books at my local library.
There's a comic shop in town that has every other trade ever printed on their shelves, except for WW books. When I asked about it, I was told that "since we can't sell the books, we don't even order them." My reaction was, how do you know you won't sell them if you don't stock them?
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It's the same situation with WW books at my local library.
There's a comic shop in town that has every other trade ever printed on their shelves, except for WW books. When I asked about it, I was told that "since we can't sell the books, we don't even order them." My reaction was, how do you know you won't sell them if you don't stock them?
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