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sul_mint's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bmckillip's review against another edition
3.0
There is a good central story with some interesting reinterpretations of classic Wonder Woman villains here. However, I get the feeling that Morrison envisioned (and maybe even wrote) a much grander and longer story for Volume Two and was then forced to edit things down. There are sub-plots that aren’t really developed and awkward scene shifts that make the book a clunky read at times.
As always, Paquette’s artwork is stunning.
As always, Paquette’s artwork is stunning.
crloken's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know what to do with these books. I thought the first one worked as an affectionate deconstruction of the Golden age comics, but the deconstruction is kind of shallow and I think when he tries to connect it to modern politics it starts to show more how surface level his critiques and ideas can be.
The book opens with an army of literal Nazis attacked Themyscira which are then handily defeated, and their woman is then converted to being one of them. The line between the brainwashing the Nazis did to her and the brainwashing the Amazons do to her is probably not accidental. Then we jump the present day to Wonder Woman who has become a thought leader of sorts performing speeches to adoring fans who want to know how she's going to deal with the patriarchy. They want a direct action beyond speeches, especially considering her idea of loving submission as the ultimate good. Meanwhile the US army are employing "pickup artists" to seduce Wonder Woman.
I don't really see what Morrison's point is ultimately. I think there's an interesting idea here where we have all these superpowered individuals (Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Thor, Aquaman) who come from Utopic societies with absolute monarchies, and they are all from the royal families as well, so there's something to be said about exploring whether they would think that absolute monarchies are the solution. In that way Wonder Woman's idea that all of human kind needs to come together under a powerful woman and "lovingly submit" to her makes sense as a criticism of the original comic. But I'm not sure that that's what Morrison was doing. It was her fans begging her to "destroy the patriarchy" which makes me wonder if that's just what Morrison thinks feminism is. I'm really uncertain either way; Is this a satirical look at Wonder Woman or at feminism in totality? What is Morrison's target and what is he trying to get across?
This uncertainty in me could be deliberate on his part, but the book doesn't really feel subtle. I'm really curious about what the third book would be about and what approach it will take to all this, as for now this one leaves me confused and uncomfortable. It's certainly interesting, but it's also really odd.
The book opens with an army of literal Nazis attacked Themyscira which are then handily defeated, and their woman is then converted to being one of them. The line between the brainwashing the Nazis did to her and the brainwashing the Amazons do to her is probably not accidental. Then we jump the present day to Wonder Woman who has become a thought leader of sorts performing speeches to adoring fans who want to know how she's going to deal with the patriarchy. They want a direct action beyond speeches, especially considering her idea of loving submission as the ultimate good. Meanwhile the US army are employing "pickup artists" to seduce Wonder Woman.
I don't really see what Morrison's point is ultimately. I think there's an interesting idea here where we have all these superpowered individuals (Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Thor, Aquaman) who come from Utopic societies with absolute monarchies, and they are all from the royal families as well, so there's something to be said about exploring whether they would think that absolute monarchies are the solution. In that way Wonder Woman's idea that all of human kind needs to come together under a powerful woman and "lovingly submit" to her makes sense as a criticism of the original comic. But I'm not sure that that's what Morrison was doing. It was her fans begging her to "destroy the patriarchy" which makes me wonder if that's just what Morrison thinks feminism is. I'm really uncertain either way; Is this a satirical look at Wonder Woman or at feminism in totality? What is Morrison's target and what is he trying to get across?
This uncertainty in me could be deliberate on his part, but the book doesn't really feel subtle. I'm really curious about what the third book would be about and what approach it will take to all this, as for now this one leaves me confused and uncomfortable. It's certainly interesting, but it's also really odd.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
A lot and I mean a LOT of mixed feelings about this book. The beginning itself and Paula especially was an aggravating and confusing character to me. The whole comic felt almost uneasy to read the whole way through.
A lot and I mean a LOT of mixed feelings about this book. The beginning itself and Paula especially was an aggravating and confusing character to me. The whole comic felt almost uneasy to read the whole way through.
unladylike's review against another edition
4.0
This was much better than I had expected, based on reading some of the critical reviews on goodreads before I picked it up. I can honestly say I'm eager to finish the trilogy.
lesliewatwar's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. I liked how it touched on today's subjects a bit and gave Wonder Woman opinion.
themyskira's review against another edition
1.0
WHAT IN THE EVERLIVING FUCK DID I JUST READ
Edit: Okay, to expand. What is it that makes Wonder Woman: Earth One so deeply objectionable?
The supposed conceit of this trilogy is that it critically engages with Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston's ideas and reimagines them for the modern era. This... does not even happen in the slightest.
Grant Morrison's approach to deconstructing Golden Age Wonder Woman is to rip Marston's kookiest concepts directly from their 1940s context - dragging them from an era in which they were radical and progressive into one in which they are backward and out-of-step with current feminist discourse - and then to point smugly and declare, "See? It doesn't hold up."
I mean, my gosh, what a searing insight, Grant. You mean to say that it wouldn't be feasible or realistic to replace all world governments with a global matriarchy?!
Morrison's not interested in understanding Marston and his writing in the context of their time and environment. He doesn't look beyond the superficial weirdness of the Golden Age comics to unpack the ways in which the stories were radical and progressive for their time - in telling children that women were men's equals (and even superiors!) in every way, in telling young girls they could do anything they set their minds to, in promoting a message of love and friendship over violence and rehabilitation over retribution. He doesn't bother to reimagine any of those ideas or sentiments through a lens of modern society and feminism.
Because Morrison doesn't really want to deconstruct Marston. He just wants to write a story about kinky bondage warrior ladies who speak in dactylic hexameter and fly vagina planes, because that's what he considers subversive. My god, the smugness is palpable.
Beyond that, all the failings of the first volume persist. The gender politics are ugly. The Amazons are irredeemable monsters. Diana remains a deeply unlikeable, reactionary protagonist who spends most of the book farting around and wondering whether she should give up trying to teach people and just force them all to submit to mind control instead. The story itself is half-baked and poorly paced, the result of Morrison trying to cram far too many ideas and characters into too few pages.
The reimagining of Doctor Psycho, apparently conceived as a criticism for pickup artists and other online misogynist communities, is so poorly executed that the text actually ends up giving a weird legitimacy to these communities' vile, rubbish, pseudoscientific ideas.
Yannick Paquette's art is still beautiful, and he deserves props for his stunning page layouts and fabulous wardrobe of costume designs for Diana. But it remains uncomfortably male-gazey, with a tendency towards portraying women's bodies in bizarrely contorted positions with weird pornfaces.
Oh, and the series is still being edited by noted serial sexual harasser Eddie Berganza. HASHTAG FEMINISM!
Edit: Okay, to expand. What is it that makes Wonder Woman: Earth One so deeply objectionable?
The supposed conceit of this trilogy is that it critically engages with Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston's ideas and reimagines them for the modern era. This... does not even happen in the slightest.
Grant Morrison's approach to deconstructing Golden Age Wonder Woman is to rip Marston's kookiest concepts directly from their 1940s context - dragging them from an era in which they were radical and progressive into one in which they are backward and out-of-step with current feminist discourse - and then to point smugly and declare, "See? It doesn't hold up."
I mean, my gosh, what a searing insight, Grant. You mean to say that it wouldn't be feasible or realistic to replace all world governments with a global matriarchy?!
Morrison's not interested in understanding Marston and his writing in the context of their time and environment. He doesn't look beyond the superficial weirdness of the Golden Age comics to unpack the ways in which the stories were radical and progressive for their time - in telling children that women were men's equals (and even superiors!) in every way, in telling young girls they could do anything they set their minds to, in promoting a message of love and friendship over violence and rehabilitation over retribution. He doesn't bother to reimagine any of those ideas or sentiments through a lens of modern society and feminism.
Because Morrison doesn't really want to deconstruct Marston. He just wants to write a story about kinky bondage warrior ladies who speak in dactylic hexameter and fly vagina planes, because that's what he considers subversive. My god, the smugness is palpable.
Beyond that, all the failings of the first volume persist. The gender politics are ugly. The Amazons are irredeemable monsters. Diana remains a deeply unlikeable, reactionary protagonist who spends most of the book farting around and wondering whether she should give up trying to teach people and just force them all to submit to mind control instead. The story itself is half-baked and poorly paced, the result of Morrison trying to cram far too many ideas and characters into too few pages.
The reimagining of Doctor Psycho, apparently conceived as a criticism for pickup artists and other online misogynist communities, is so poorly executed that the text actually ends up giving a weird legitimacy to these communities' vile, rubbish, pseudoscientific ideas.
Yannick Paquette's art is still beautiful, and he deserves props for his stunning page layouts and fabulous wardrobe of costume designs for Diana. But it remains uncomfortably male-gazey, with a tendency towards portraying women's bodies in bizarrely contorted positions with weird pornfaces.
Oh, and the series is still being edited by noted serial sexual harasser Eddie Berganza. HASHTAG FEMINISM!
meleficent929's review against another edition
1.0
Run far far away from the Morissette Earth One Wonder Woman books. This is not the Diana we know and love, but some male fantasy of a woman that includes our hero being weak and under the control of a man.
Hard, hard pass.
Hard, hard pass.
jhouses's review against another edition
3.0
La linea Earth one es una especie de universo Ultimate para DC, presentando a sus grandes héroes adaptados a la actualidad y rompiendo con la continuidad establecida. Como lo hacen cada poco en la serie regular con sus Crisis y Renacimientos tampoco sorprende. El comic de Wonder Woman, a diferencia del de Superman, tiene un gran dibujo y un guión bien trabajado que le da un aire fresco a la historia y está lleno de homenajes a la etapa clásica del personaje (ausentes en la épica versión de Perez y en la olvidable de Azarello). Y eso que es de Morrison.
scottpm's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure what I just read here. The story jumped around so much it was difficult to follow. There was so much left untold that it didn't make sense. It had some good moments and some nice art but not enough to make it enjoyable. Fortunately this was a library book and I didn't waste $25 on this!