POBB August 9, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

August 9, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to a somewhat special addendum of the Pick of the Brown Bag where I discuss the specific themes in modern day Wonder Woman.  

So, as I stated earlier, Wonder Woman winds up dead in Valhalla.  She's accompanied by legendary Norse warrior Siegfried during this particular run and unravels a mystery while suffering from amnesia.

Valhalla is part of Norse Mythology, and Norse mythology is mostly associated with Marvel Comics.  The last time DC crossed into that territory may have been during the nineties with low-rent mini-series War of the Gods.  

The creative team behind Wonder Woman, Michael Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain, are determined to distinguish their Norse cosmology with the more familiar one.  To that end, we have a Moorish Siegfried as well as a Thor closer to the mythological version.  Although, this is a comic book.

The helmet no doubt nods to Jack Kirby, who had an obsession  over crowning weird buckets and outrageous ornamentation on peoples' heads.

Odin is the other deity that gets a makeover or rather grows closer to his his origins.  

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby imagined Odin as a regal, blustery lord of the realm.  Norse mythology pans that out.  However, other facets combine to paint the full picture, one facet Marvel Cinema briefly embraced.

That of a humble nomad who roamed the countryside.  The Wonder Woman creative team also depict him as the Ferryman as well as the Hanging Man from the Tarot.  Fun fact, the Hanging Man from the Tarot actually is Odin.

The Valkyries exhibit a stark contrast to the ones we're used to seeing.  In any pantheon.

Within the Valkyries lie feminist themes.  Cloonan and Conrad imagine the women unsatisfied with their roles in the great scheme of things.  The rules created by a man.  

The Valkyries are not the only subjects of feminism to appropriately be found in this Wonder Woman run.  These examples however will be kept under the vest.

Themes outside of myth involve comedy and comic books.     This is remarkably an era where all the Wonder Woman books bear a lightness in tone and often laugh out loud dialogue.  The creative team furthermore frequently employ slapstick.

In addition, a guest star not usually associated with Wonder Woman keeps appearing in a subplot.  I was wrong about the Atom being Diana's secret ally.

As you read the first issue, you ponder whether he/she will actually be important.  Yes and no.  No, in that Wonder Woman will be the one that ultimately brings the the story to conclusion.  Yes, in that he will be more than a Jimminy Cricket type.

These are the themes in a textually and visually rich Wonder Woman story that's well worth your time and coin.