POBB August 4, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

August 4, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the first volume of the Pick of the Brown Bag for August.  I'm your host, creator, Big Cheese, Ray Tate.  The POBB used to be a weekly comic book review site, but I'm still behind.  Nevertheless I'm still reading and critiquing.  Just not as much as I'd like.

As I stated in the immediate post, the subject for August is Wonder Woman, and her family of titles.  I'm happily caught up on Wonder Girl.  Of course DC only published two issues, so I'll not pat myself on the back too hard.  However, with this missive I should be on the cusp of reviewing the latest Wonder Woman.

You know the story by now.  After the events of Death Metal, Wonder Woman ended up dead.  That's not the end in DC Comics.  It used to be, for female characters and female characters alone, but not any more.  Not since Diane Nelson took over operations.  

Currently, death is at best a minor setback, or in the case of Wonder Woman, a series of new adventures.  The key difference lies in where Diana partakes these capers.  Turns out, Wonder Woman awakens in Valhalla.

Legendary Norse warrior Siegfried is her companion in the foray.  He teaches her the ins and outs of the realm.  You fight.  You die.  The Valkyries retrieve you.  You magically wake up in a banquet hall.

I covered the Wonder Woman premiere in a previous POBB.  So, I'll not go into great detail here.  This review primarily focuses on issues 771-773 and the events leading up to them.  

As established, Wonder Woman's memories aren't all there.  Like the Doctor after regenerating, she's suffering from post-traumatic amnesia.  Doesn't even know she's Wonder Woman, nor an Amazon.  Just Diana, the warrior.

Diana soon gets into the groove of Valhalla.  The mood is pointedly different than what we're used to seeing from Wonder Woman.  

Conrad, Cloonan, Moore and Bonvillain employ their talents for character-based humor.  The comedy arises from interaction and dialogue amidst normal situations.  Normal for Norse warriors that is.  Drinking people under the table.  Shows of strength for sport.  Boisterous laughing and casual sex.

Or not.  Siegfried not taking advantage of a drunken woman is pretty modern you may argue, but it's not really.  Pick an era, and you will find the situation exactly the same.  A good man, usually the hero of the picture, drops a drunk woman onto his couch or alone on his bed.

To clear her head from the boozy spirits, Diana takes a walk.  On her meander, she meets another denizen of Asgard who spins a tale of woe.

Wonder Woman encountering a talking squirrel is nothing new.  Thanks to the grace of the Greek goddess Artemis, Diana can communicate with any animal.  However, our furry little friend is in fact Ratatoskr.  The Norse messenger who runs up and down the world tree to deliver tidings from the top where an eagle nests and the bottom where a snake coils, which brings us to issue 771.

Because Yggdrasil suffers rot prematurely, in other words before Ragnorak, the rules of Valhalla become fuzzy.  Not every warrior comes back, including the honorable Siegfried.  Diana cannot stand for that.  771 opens as she seeks an audience with Thor who debuted at the conclusion to the premiere.

Naturally, her talk doesn't pay off, and while Thor is dismissive of Diana, the writers are careful to indicate that he's more of a blowhard than a bad guy.  They'll begrudgingly team up later in issue 772.  That's hardly a spoiler.  I'm keeping the much more juicy tidbits secret.

With Ratatoskr as her only ally, Diana goes off to find the root cause of Yggdrasil's problem.  Yeah, baby, that was a pun.  She takes a page out of Batman's casebook and follows a lead.  Who's been making the magical weapons and handing them out like mints?

Traditionally, Dwarves forge the weapons of the gods and heroes of Norse mythology.  These however are business arrangements not altruism or deference.  So the abundance is suspicious.  Like any good detective.  Diana must sashay down some mean streets before gaining knowledge.

Now, I've never heard of Murk Elves, but I welcome them in the scummy bestiary, Asgard section.  The skirmish allows the creative team to flesh out Asgard.  The melee lets Diana go into action where she parlays some witty dialogue and presents preternatural power, the power of Wonder Woman.

Diana passes the trial of the Murk Elves and meets the weaponsmith.  The encounter does Diana a world of good.  First, the maker is an old enemy Wonder Woman recognizes immediately.  Second, she starts to demonstrate an affinity for rope.

This is another example of the delicious humor offered by Wonder Woman's newest writers.  On the one hand, we know what Diana can do with rope.  We also know the kinky nature of her creator William Marston Moulton.  Make no mistake.  This is a moment of bondage, albeit not used for pleasure.  It's also hilarious that Diana immediately goes for the rope.  Not the sword.  Not the hammer.  Ah, yes.  Rope.  Furthermore the old enemy felt the lash before and finds the whole situation unfair since he removed himself from earth to escape Diana.  That in itself is comedic.  

Wonder Woman's wayward enemy was historically quite the scuzzy fellow.  The creative team give him a makeover.  He's less a twisted piece of garbage and more of a semi-dangerous loser, with it must be admitted a great head of hair.  

The fellow squawks like a plucked chicken and reveals the existence of a key.  If you guessed snake pit as the location of that key, then you are correct, sister.

Here begins the second wave of comedy.  Fairy tales are often absurd, and modern writers frequently embrace their absurdity.  They enhance the inherent goofiness with vernacular speech and grant the villains of the pieces wicked senses of humor to accompany their intrinsic guile.

In the next issue Ratatskor's plan for round two against the giant snake bears fruition.  I'll not spoil the quirky surprise.  Suffice to say, Wonder Woman retrieves the key she needs to open the door to the Valkyrie's fortress.  

You can tell by the smile on Diana's face.  She's enjoying the hell out of this.  So will you.  

On the flip side, there's very little risk involved in this tale.  Not once do you believe Diana's in any danger, and the writers don't attempt to facilitate such illusion. 

Rather the story is a well told variation on Norse cosmology, with a feminist motif.  Great artwork enhances the words as it should.  Diana demonstrates her fortitude and her resolve throughout.

The entirety of Wonder Woman is consistently entertaining and gorgeous to view thanks to the presence of Becky Cloonan, Tara Bonvillain, Michael Conrad and Travis Moore on each issue.   What's more, pun not intended, it reads well in any format.  Issue by issue or in one sitting.  So, it will be fine as a trade paperback.  On the other hand, you can pick up the back issues and suffer no loss.  

The comic book is thicker because of a back up story spotlighting Young Diana, and this "side B" lends physicality to the comic book that makes it sturdier than average.  The paper stock is also a boon.  Since it really picks up the colors.

In the next post I'll be tackling the interesting and not so interesting themes of Wonder Woman's Valhalla run.  Here be spoilers.