I have been giving some more thought to Wonder Woman, since the discussion continues to rage. I mentioned that I think the DCU's idea of the Trinity should be a matter of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but there are lots more things that Wonder Woman can do to set her apart. For one thing-- as the duly appointed champion & representative of the Amazons, I think Wonder Woman should be killing people. Not "crooks," or thugs; I don't think she should be the Punisher or anything. I just think-- well, look at when she killed Max Lord for instance. In extraordinary situations where deadly force is necessary, I think she should be the one to do it. "The only way to stop Doomsday was with a magic golden arrow shot by an invisible bow. I put an arrow through his eye, & I put him down. It had to be done." That sort of thing; then she should absolutely be tried by the Hague or whatever & fully vindicated. I think she is a warrior; she doesn't use excessive force because she's a hero, but when the question is kill or be killed, I think-- whammo. She puts them down. If Batman's motto is "criminals are a cowardly & superstitious lot" (along with the new "Batman & Robin will never die!") & Superman's motto is "Truth, Justice & the American Way" (along with the new "There's always a way." Thanks Grant!) then I think Wonder Woman's motto should be something like "Whatever it takes" or "the most good for all." She should be the grey, complicated character; between Superman's lilly white & Batman's dark knight. This isn't anything new; various writers have clearly felt this way, but I want it to be embraced. I want it to be the standard, the icon. While I'm hip-deep in wishful thinking, I can't help but dwell on her connection to the Olympian gods, & how I'd play that. Tricky. Lately I've been thinking-- well, okay. The New Gods appear in the wake of a smashed Bifrost Bridge, right? Why not just...keep stretching that? Make Themyscria the last refuge of the Old Gods. Sure, many of them are dead, but there are still remnants, avatars, projections-- what have you-- lingering in the pocket dimension of Themyscria. I mean-- & I still think making her invisible jet-- the Wonder Dome-- should absolutely be her artificial intelligence sidekick. & why not carry that on? Make the Amazons part of some protoculture of advanced magi-tech society? It lets you bring some interesting angles on-- the Purple Death Ray or whatever that is, plus hey, rainbows? I figure rainbows are the Old God equivalent of Boom Tubes. I admit that I like a "rejiggered" pantheon-- one of the most interesting things about the new Wonder Woman comics is positioning Athena as the new Queen of Olympus. I totally agree with that, I really like it. I think Wonder Woman should have a mish-mash of deities sitting in hiding in an alternate dimension, an island in the stream. Athena as Queen & I guess Ares has to be in there as war, but put in Norse, Hawaiian, Aztec, whatever. You don't have to pin it down in advance. I like the idea that, if the Durlans come to invade Earth or something, Wonder Woman will show up on the front lines with Medusa's head in one hand, turning folks to stone; if energy beings possess people she should use Shiva's Trishula to destroy their aspect in the spiritual world. That sort of thing. Just mix it all up; myth & magic, tech & wonder. Same difference!
