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A review by crloken
Wonder Woman: Earth One, Vol. 1 by Grant Morrison
3.0
I wrote a ridiculously long review of this, and then my computer died. So, I guess I'll try again. In the original I talked about Ultimate Marvel for two paragraphs, so I don't anything great was lost.
Years ago Grant Morrison wrote All Star Superman for DC's attempt to have an Ultimate Marvel-esque reboot on the side; he decided that retelling superman's origin was boring and boiled it down to "Doomed Planet. Desperate Scientists. Last Hope. Kindly Couple." He then told a series of new stories set in a distinct, but familiar version of Superman filled with ideas taken from the Silver Age, but also distinctly unique and modern. It is wonderful. I mention it because you don't go to Morrison to write a normal reboot of a character. And this book is not particularly normal.
The creator of Wonder Woman, William Marston, wanted to create a feminist icon, but also wanted to include his own interests including his own psychological and scientific beliefs, as well as his, um, personal interests. As a result early Wonder Woman is odd, and is known for being one of the first popular forms of fiction with bondage themes and imagery. I think if someone wasn't aware of this they would be very confused going into this book.
The book is mostly about the Amazons and their lives which are not without faults and tensions even before Steve Trevor crashes onto the island. The Amazons claim to be a paradise, but there are lies and secrets being held, and their view of the outside world is not exactly healthy. The Amazons often come across as over the top in some of their opinions and ideas, and are portrayed to a degree as a radical feminist separatist group. Wonder Woman is viewed as corrupted for having found a man and saved him, the implication being that she should have killed him. Trying to summarize this book is difficult. The bondage is also criticized, especially in a scene in which Diana tries to make Steve Trevor, a black man, wear a collar to show his loyalty to her, That's a sentence I didn't think I'd ever type.
I didn't think the book just portrayed the Amazons as caricatures though. I thought it was a somewhat sympathetic narrative, and that Morrison understood why they would want to be separate from the world of men. In a way it reminded me of Black Panther, in that the Amazonians are separate because they recognize the problems of the world and fear those problems, but they could help with them and their fear is hurting their society.
There are some more ordinary flaws as well. I don't think there has been a single Earth One book that didn't have weird pacing problems, and I'm just not a big fan of the framing device. I also thought there needed to be a bit more of Steve Trevor as I never really felt like he became a realized character.
I don't know what to rate this. It's an odd book, and I'm not sure what I think of it. It's not just an origin story, and I think separated from the history of the original comic it becomes extremely odd. I'm glad it exists; it is the most interesting thing to come from the Earth One imprint. I don't know if I'd recommend it to people though. Star ratings are nonsense, but I find this even more difficult than usual.
Years ago Grant Morrison wrote All Star Superman for DC's attempt to have an Ultimate Marvel-esque reboot on the side; he decided that retelling superman's origin was boring and boiled it down to "Doomed Planet. Desperate Scientists. Last Hope. Kindly Couple." He then told a series of new stories set in a distinct, but familiar version of Superman filled with ideas taken from the Silver Age, but also distinctly unique and modern. It is wonderful. I mention it because you don't go to Morrison to write a normal reboot of a character. And this book is not particularly normal.
The creator of Wonder Woman, William Marston, wanted to create a feminist icon, but also wanted to include his own interests including his own psychological and scientific beliefs, as well as his, um, personal interests. As a result early Wonder Woman is odd, and is known for being one of the first popular forms of fiction with bondage themes and imagery. I think if someone wasn't aware of this they would be very confused going into this book.
The book is mostly about the Amazons and their lives which are not without faults and tensions even before Steve Trevor crashes onto the island. The Amazons claim to be a paradise, but there are lies and secrets being held, and their view of the outside world is not exactly healthy. The Amazons often come across as over the top in some of their opinions and ideas, and are portrayed to a degree as a radical feminist separatist group. Wonder Woman is viewed as corrupted for having found a man and saved him, the implication being that she should have killed him. Trying to summarize this book is difficult. The bondage is also criticized, especially in a scene in which Diana tries to make Steve Trevor, a black man, wear a collar to show his loyalty to her, That's a sentence I didn't think I'd ever type.
I didn't think the book just portrayed the Amazons as caricatures though. I thought it was a somewhat sympathetic narrative, and that Morrison understood why they would want to be separate from the world of men. In a way it reminded me of Black Panther, in that the Amazonians are separate because they recognize the problems of the world and fear those problems, but they could help with them and their fear is hurting their society.
There are some more ordinary flaws as well. I don't think there has been a single Earth One book that didn't have weird pacing problems, and I'm just not a big fan of the framing device. I also thought there needed to be a bit more of Steve Trevor as I never really felt like he became a realized character.
I don't know what to rate this. It's an odd book, and I'm not sure what I think of it. It's not just an origin story, and I think separated from the history of the original comic it becomes extremely odd. I'm glad it exists; it is the most interesting thing to come from the Earth One imprint. I don't know if I'd recommend it to people though. Star ratings are nonsense, but I find this even more difficult than usual.