Review: Wonder Woman (2009)

Wonder Woman
Directed by Lauren Montgomery
Produced by Bruce Timm
Featuring the voices of Keri Russell (Princess Diana/Wonder Woman), Nathan Fillion (Steve Trevor), Virginia Madsen (Hippolyta), Alfred Molina (Ares), Rosario Dawson (Artemis)

Wonder Woman is not easy to like. In her Silver Age apperances, she was either tied up to a missile or enthusiastically riding one. In the 80s, the campy TV series starring Lynda Carter firmly cemented Wonder Woman as an icon but it was more of a costume fetish, more the star-spangled bikini than the strength of character that captured the imagination.

Though George Perez revamped the title and infused the character with an origin rich in Greek mythology following 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman still came off as a preachy, humorless, didactic super hero that no one in the Justice League wants to be sent on a mission with. Just ask Wally West aka The Flash.

Maybe it was a problem of writing from the male point of view which historically explains why Wonder Woman started out as a secretary to the Justice Society of America

It was only recently that DC Comics finally hired a woman to write Wonder Woman. Jodi Picoult was at a disadvantage though. She really had no room to build the character because her entry coincided with the launch of an epic crossover, Amazons Attack!, with issues and beats pre-planned by DC.

Much celebrated comic scribe, Gail Simone, who did wonders with the all-female supergroup Birds of Prey, is the new ongoing writer of Wonder Woman, and luckily, is also behind this new straight-to-DVD animation.

The movie begins with Ares, the god of War, battling the Amazons and their queen, Hippolyta. It's not a kiddie affair. There are copious amounts of blood, broken bones and even a decapitation in as early as its first ten minutes. This sets a more mature tone, far from the disco twirling of the Lynda Carter version or the bruise-free smack downs in Justice League Unlimited.

After Ares is beaten, Zeus interferes and asks Hippolyta to spare his son's life in exchange of an island that the Amazons can call their own, Themyscira, which is isolated from the rest of humanity;Ares will be kept a prisoner in the island. Since Hippolyta can no longer bear a child, she was also granted a daughter molded from clay and sand, the child Diana who will grow up to be Wonder Woman.

Years later, an American, Steve Trevor, crash lands in Themyscira. In what could be the movie's funniest scene, Hippolyta interrogates Trevor using the magic lasso which compels all men to answer truthfully. As she wraps up the questioning, she casually asks what else was occupying his mind and he answers that Diana has a "nice rack."

Diana, under a disguise, wins the tournament that would determine who will escort Trevor back to his "world." She is given the iconic costume, which reflects the colors of the foreign country. (Makes sense.) In another part of the island, the Amazon Persephone releases Ares. Diana and Steve Trevor team up to chase him down.

The greatest success of this animated feature is making Wonder Woman woman. A thinking, curious, vulnerable woman who wants more out of life balanced with a justice-fueled lust for breaking things. Instead of insisting on her ways (which she mostly does in the pre-Simone WW series), Diana here has a wide-eyed inquisitiveness comparable to Seven of Nine's in Star Trek: Voyager, and this makes too for quite a lot of humorous situations. The first time Diana sees a child---a little girl who is left out from swordplay by the boys---she instructs the child on the basics of disemboweling an opponent: "Thrust your sword. It would be more difficult to fend off." (Have I mentioned that the movie's really funny?)

Though the script glosses over making feminist motherhood statements, it does subtly deconstruct the nuances of male-female exchanges, which is more than enough for a superhero animation movie.

I will kick thy asses!

What the movie is never subtle about though is violence. Wonder Woman out-punches and out-classes the action choreography of recent DC animation movie releases including Superman: Doomsday and Batman: Gotham Knight, including the live-action Watchmen. The violence in Wonder Woman is calculated yet brutal, raging but passionate. The Amazons' sheer love of fighting gets across; I swear I could see a slight smile playing on Diana's lips even as Ares beats her to a pulp before which she utters, "Oh crap."

The final showdown in Washington D.C. recaptures the beautiful art of Amazons Attack!, with dragons raining down fireballs on the people below and an army of monsters fending off armored Amazons and flying horses. Jaw-droppingly epic.

Wonder Woman exceeded all my expectations and more. The voice casting is perfect; Keri Russell cleverly adds a softer side to Diana Prince while Virginia Madsen's Hippolyta is assured, confident, with a sprinkling of dry humor. Nathan Fillion's Steve Trevor is a little too casual for me and his delivery is always a little less than Russell's. With only a few omissions of Wonder Woman's powers---she doesn't fly here, and seems to be not gifted with speed by Hermes---this is DC's best animated feature so far. Even casual viewers will be hard pressed not to enjoy a tight, surprisingly well-written retelling of an icon's origin.

Disc 2 contains the documentaries Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream, and Wonder Woman Daughter of Myth: Historical Amazon Lore and it's Evolution into the Modern Day Wonder Woman Character. The disc also has two episodes selected from the Justice League series: To Another Shore and Hawk and Dove.

And because I can't help it, Amazon the Amazons here. Heh.

4/5

Monsters in Our Youth

Finally got my copy of the VIZ Signature Edition of Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys Vol. 01 yesterday at Comic Odyssey.

Here's a short description of the book from Amazon:

Failed rock musician Kenji's memories of his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all. Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a gang of boys who try to save the world.

I know, I know. I keep hitting myself on the head over the fact that I haven't read this series. I tried to but I wasn't content at just reading the scans. Something as brilliant as this deserved a physical copy and I haven't stopped thanking the powers that be for this nifty release (with spot lamination on the cover and all; very purty-looking on a shelf too but it will probably take awhile for all the volumes to be released).

Here's a great review of the manga by Ed Sizemore.

* * *

Another must-have, must-read, must-whore-around-to-buy-this-book release this week is Joe Kelly's Four Eyes #2. This is a great example why Image kicks the big 2's event-fetished asses.

No costumes. No crossovers.

Just great writing, great art, and dragons in the Depression era.

Yeah, you read that right.

From Image: Brooklyn 1930. America struggles in the grip of the Great Depression, and ten-year-old Enrico is willing to make any sacrifice to take care of his mother. Even if it means taking a job in the one place he’s forbidden to go... the ring of fire where dragons are trained and fought for cash and glory.

It took 3 months or more before the second issue came out but it's definitely worth the wait. I'm not one to complain when it comes to title delays. On Joe Kelly, and the 20th Century Boys, I know my faith (and my cash) is more than deserving.

My Year in Lists

I particularly look forward to Thursdays. It's that day in the week when I get my lottery ticket for daring bravery, for redemption, for happy endings.

I started reading comic books even before I could read. The pictures were enough. I didn't know their names but I knew they were heroes---she who controlled the weather, he who had incinerating bursts of red light shooting from his eyes, she who rose from the ocean but somehow changed, and he who loved the changed woman. It was very cut and clear back then. But it was undeniable that something clicked in my head after I read my first comic book, an important piece falling into place, the lock and key, the wind-up toy, unstoppable clock work.

So here they are. The titles of 2008 that took me, frightened me, amazed me, and continued to made me.

1. LOCKE & KEY (IDW) by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
Always on top of the pile, always a slight tremble in my fingers as I turned the pages. Compelling, original, haunting. This scary effer by Joe Hill raised comic book standards to new levels of intelligent sadism.
2. I KILL GIANTS (IMAGE) by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura
This is just a charmer. From the cartoonish pencils to the D&D geekery, it cleverly retells the delicateness of childhood, and how unexpected violence in any form can leave one scarred for life.

3. PHONOGRAM VOL. 2: THE SINGLES CLUB (IMAGE) by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
There is a light that never goes out. And that light is Phonogram. Before this, I never thought that it was possible to fall in love with a comic book---the butterflies in the stomach, starry-eyed kind. And this is exactly what I felt, and what the character Penny B. went through, incidentally, in the first few pages of Phonogram Vol. 2: The Singles Club. Penny, a phonomancer, conjures magic (on the dance floor) as the evening begins. Her friend stands on a corner watching her, after which the entranced spectator utters the most magical words to my ear:

Oh it hurts to see you dance so well.

As the night progresses, we get more of The Pipettes, The Long Blondes, and more Keneckie. It's not for everybody, but for those who do recognize the names, the music, and the palpable love for music, it's pure enchantment---Gillen and McKelvie has written us a love letter about the one thing that we irrevocably love.

4. UMBRELLA ACADEMY (DARK HORSE) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
Sure, there's Morrison all over it but Way does quirky his own acidic way. And it's the most brilliant superhero book of the year. It's grand and unpredictable. It's crazy and heartfelt. And there's no Didio or Quesada in sight. Pure lightning, as the creators intended it to be.

5. FABLES (VERTIGO) by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham
No one does sprawling like Willingham's "Fables." They've moved past the point of novelty years ago. Snow White, Bigby (Big Bad Wolf), Boy Blue, the Frog Prince and Prince Charming and the rest of Fabletown have made a total turn-around and have become living, breathing masterminds, politicians, soldiers, assassins, spies and bums. This is Lord of the Rings meets Leon Uris' Trinity. You just had to be there.

6. AIR (VERTIGO) by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker
The best new book of Vertigo. Terrorism, magic-realism and a love that defies space and time. G. Willow Wilson has a knack for writing memorable lines ("You taste like the sky") and offbeat scenarios that easily pull you in to the story. Opening with a nod to Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses," Air's first issue is fast-paced and a really good example of tight writing. You really have to know---you are compelled to find out---how Blythe, a flight stewardess who ironically fears the vast sky, goes from falling from off a plane to exploring the jungles of a non-existent country in search of a man she loves.

7. THE WALKING DEAD (IMAGE) by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard
The best ongoing-series for me. The bets are off when last year's storyline killed off 90% of its lead characters. It's a new series all over again.

8. FINAL CRISIS (DC) Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco and Doug Mahnke
You have to give it to DC Comics for coming out with a love-it or hate-it major event. The risks have paid-off with #6 but Final Crisis #1 was undeniably one of the best-looking books around with plot twists that demanded a degree of intelligence from its readers. And that's more than what one can ask from a major publishing group.

9. GREEN LANTERN CORPS (DC) Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
The main title is better than good but Tomasi's GLC is the hyper sibling, with a strange and grotesque cast. Sure, it is lighter in character development but Tomasi's subtle touches during the title's quieter moments speaks louder than inconsistent Origin stories. And I'm really just a fan of Peter Tomasi. Read the Vertigo mini "The Light Brigade" and you'll know why.

10. CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND THE MI13 (MARVEL) Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk
I obviously have a thing for the strange and the quirky. Paul Cornell's Captain Britain (he also wrote the MAX title WISDOM) was the best thing during the Invasion and continues to be Marvel's most creative book. And with Blade smack in the middle of the magical mix, we can expect more ass-kicking, sword-wielding, and wit-whipping fun from this book.

Justice League: New Frontier Animated Preview

Okay. Major hard-on. Wow.

The Burden of Continuity

As children, we never did care about history. Yesterday was as far we could go or we could consider, and only because we wanted to have something better today. I already had this yesterday and now I want something better. But generally, we just didn't care. So it was no problem jumping right smack in the middle of Saturday Fun Machines, of chato or patintero, of comic books. Previously didn't matter. We were sure that it didn't matter.

Met up with Dodo last Friday night, and when he said he had a lot of back issues to unload, I didn't realize what a lot meant until they were in front of me. It was A LOT of comic books. Speed Force. The Spirit (with a Neil Gaiman story). Giffen's Legion of Super-Heroes. ACME Novelty Library. Waid's JLA. A James Robinson Bat-Man arc. A couple of SHOWCASES. And a whole lot more. He told me that these weren't complete arcs, that some pick-up 3 issues later or was issue 2 of a 12-issue mini-series. And I replied, giddily of course, "It doesn't matter."

I picked up my first comic book when I was around 3 years old, and it was X-Men #101. The team had just come back from space but their survival from a previous battle was eclipsed by Marvel Girl's death. Then all of a sudden, Marvel Girl surfaces from the ocean as Phoenix. "I am the Phoenix!" in bold, jagged letters, and she, in green and gold with wild red hair. It was the only comic book we had for a couple of months so my sister and I read it over and over. Again and again. And we never got tired of it. We didn't know anything about the X-Men, and only found out a couple of years later what happened after that issue. But it didn't matter.

Continuity is obssession for the passing of time, the progression of characters, the history of a universe. I am a continuity geek. I go out of my way, I hide from friends, I skip lunches just to search for that missing issue, always trying to understand things. I am cautious with people. I don't take great risks. And I stay awake at night worrying about what will happen next.

Sometimes I just want to be the 5-year old me who isn't burdened with motives, repercussions and probability.

Sometimes, whatever it is, it really doesn't matter. We'll write that panel when we get there.

Live Forever

Gods. We pray to them, read about them, and worship them. We bridge the gap of improbability willingly. Blindly, to a fault. But that is for another entry (one that I would never write because it hurts my head). This is about the gods that if possible we could will into being. Gods that save not our souls but people in trouble.

Gods that we also call superheroes.

Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. take on the daunting task of resurrecting one of Jack Kirby’s shiny gods, The Eternals. Issue #7 came out yesterday and just like any proper geek porn collector, I took all the issues out from the box and started reading from the first issue all over again.

As a serial, Eternals was underwhelming mostly due to the months in between issues. And if you pick-up quite a number of titles, the slow awakening of each Eternal was too leisurely paced to be memorable compared to, let’s say, the appearance of Thor on the last panel of Civil War #3.

The entire seven issues in one sitting make all the difference. A fourth world of difference. Cinematic, thanks mostly to Romita Jr’s strong, square-jawed, supersized art. And epic. Which is the tricky part. The story is quite familiar; American Gods meets Paul Jenkins’ The Sentinel. Gaiman takes his time to introduce the men and women who would be gods. Quirky has always been his game; Sersi as a flighty party planner is just precious and Makkari the struggling stubbled intern is, ahem, sexy. As the events turn from dangerous to fucked up, all their inner gods awaken and they do save the world just in the nick of time.

Is it as good as The Sandman thingy?

Hell yeah.

Maybe even better. Seasons of Mist is the only book that I’ve read more than once. And that serial killer convention arc. Blame it on age but I just can’t get back into the ominous saccharine of the Endless anymore. But I still dig the toys.

Eternals is Gaiman at his most relaxed. Technicolor compelling. This is Gaiman writing superheroes. Mythical, yeah, but still superheroes. And he delivers. The funnies. (Digging Yellow Jacket here.) The action. The larger than life. Gaiman is back to being “my man, Gaiman.”

Stripped of gothic men in drag, his storytelling is blade sharp, slicing and dicing the reader’s defenses with characters that pulsate with pain, anger, deliverance.

Eternals ends with quiet tragedy and a new quest, and quite ready to be picked up by a new writer. Just in time for J. Straczynski’s relaunch of Thor. And the return of the New Gods over at DC.

Gods do live forever.

32

Quiet Saturday at work. Carpet cleaning's the only thing happening. And the waiting for the carpet to dry so I can eat properly in the pantry. The staff set up a make-shift dining table at the reception area right across the bookshop. So it's "Hello books! Hello hungry people!" as soon as you enter. The place is so quiet you can actually hear the chewing. I'm kidding. A little bit. If you really try hard to listen...

Brought my comics with me. Catching up on the All-New Atom and the Irredeemable Ant-Man. Come to think of it, I do have a thing for shrinking men...

The rest of the afternoon is purposely drawn blank. Looking forward to going to Rockwell. The boyfriend will be shopping for an outfit for his exhibit opening (Ayala Museum, have ta look extra spiffy) while I will be wandering the aisles of Fully Booked. I do wander. It's my thing. I walk around aimlessly first, grabbing titles along the way. Surveying, so to speak. Then, the hunt with a mission begins. Followed by the checking of the wallet, and the weeding of titles. My very own Glorious Mystery. This has been my ritual since I was in school, but mostly in discount book shops. The beloved Booksale, from where I have completed my Stephen King and Clive Barker titles...

So.

32 years old.

It's all happening man. It's all happening.

Fight or Flight

IT'S A BIRD...Written by Steven T. Seagle; Art and Cover by Teddy Kristiansen

It has been a week for advanced birthday presents. Early bird was the Hawkman-JUSTICE action figure from Faye, and just last Saturday, two trades from W---Busiek's Astrocity: Family Album, and Seagle's It's a Bird...---which I'm writing about now because I can't sleep.

Because the language was elegant, the lessons delicate. Because I prefer reading comic books over drinking beer nowadays. Because I have been angry for the past two months. Because I am leaving my job. Because I don't mind losing. Because there's always something next. Just like a Superman comic book, Seagle says.

I have accepted who I am and who I'm never becoming. And what I want.

I will always have fun with words. I prefer geeking out at home over the company of people, corduroys over slacks, gray over black, gameboy over a cellphone, love over lust, comics over poetry, watching TV in a hotel room over sunbathing, Hong Kong over Singapore, god over religion.

I will never prescribe hows or whys or whats. Some people see it as too kind. Or lackadaisical. I call it realization. Making decisions. Growing up.

Of course, there are doubts, practically nations of them, but Faye made it really simple for me: whatever makes you happy, wherever you are happy is what makes work work.

So I'm getting myself a ticket to somewhere sunnier.

Look up in the sky.

Soul Coughing

I'm not good at being sick. Can't stay in bed. Can't listen to music too long. Can't watch any serious stuff and anything random like HBO programming feels like a waste of time. I miss my smokes.

Villains United is hurting my head and not because it's badly-written, no, if anything it's turning out to be my favorite of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis titles, but it is a lot of work. Making connections in my head, the OYL and 52 storylines tangled like wires. Any wires. They all get tangled up in small, impossibly tight knots sooner or later.

*cough*

How will I keep my insides in?

Later.

Something to Sing About

After a two-year absence, there's finally word on her comeback. And my panties are somersaulting. This blog is, after all, named after one of the songs in the musical episode.

Thank you, Joss.



From comics she was born, and to comics she shall return: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's post-cancellation adventures will soon begin anew -- penned by Joss Whedon himself -- in the pages of Dark Horse Comics. Here's an exclusive cover image (by artist Georges Jeanty) from issue No. 1. As you can see, she's kept in shape during her hiatus. (Dark Horse will debut No. 1 at Comic-Con this week.)

This isn't Buffy's first foray into comics. And it remains to be seen if it ranks anywhere near Joss Whedon's best foray into comics: the all-too-brief "future slayer" saga Fray, which follows the dystopic advetures of Buffster's 24th-century successor. (Some will persuasively argue that this is Joss' best comics effort. I will counter with a spin move and the old axe-to-the-head. So watch it.)

So what's going on in the extended Buffyverse? Well, you may recall the show ended with the creation of an army of Slayers. Now they're organized, and the tide has turned in favor of the good guys. Ah, but you know how much Whedon hates winners: Soon an "old enemy" surfaces (Dark Horse is cagey on Big Bad's identity), and Dawn starts "experiencing serious growing pains." I hope that means the Scoobies will be fighting a mutant, undead Alan Thicke.