Comic Books
WONDER WOMAN #602
J. Michael Straczynski’s epic Wonder Woman tale continues! In this issue, Diana takes the battle for her heritage to the enemy and discovers that the war may be over before it’s even begun! And she’s on the losing side…
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKIArt and cover by DON KRAMER and MICHAEL BABINSKI
Variant cover by ALEX GARNER
Price: $2.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 2.3%
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| User | Added | Spoilers | |
| JumpingJupiter | 08/26/10 | No | Read Review |
| Rbigley | 08/25/10 | No | Read Review |
| Invasionforce | 08/25/10 | Yes | Read Review |
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Actually diggin on the new costume, the black tights are…tight, and am glad JMS is making her more of a badass than before. Greg Rucka was my fave WW writer, his run with Drew Johnson was phenomenal in my opinion, with a series of what had to be some of JG Jones’s best covers, and an awesome one from Adam Hughes with WW’s reflection in a fighter pilot’s helmet shield.
Liking this a lot so far. I’d rather have this JMS than Superman JMS.
Picking this up for the first time in years. Gonna grab 600 and 601 and give it a whirl. Hope it’s worth it.
I hope that this keeps being a good story.
I really liked the last 2 issues lets hope they keep the storyline plugging right along.
MUCH better than JMS’s Superman. Here’s hopin’ the quality stays high.
JMS’ Superman is in danger of being cut. This is not.
This is definitely a captivating story. Looking forward to reading more.
Glad every one else likes this too. This is the first time I’ve been excited about Wonder Woman in years.
Woo! Can’t wait! My new most looked forward to book.
This is a great cover. Wasn’t absolutely hooked by last issue, though.
Last issue felt epic, at least once she got away from the Oracle. When she jumped from the plane and made that crater landing…whew! More of that please.
Is she back on the old costume?
@Amir: No. It’s only been two issues.
Pick 601 up on a lark last week in the back issue bin, and dug it quite a bit. JMS’ certainly has alot of strength writing these epic “larger than life” stories.
she did dream about the old cozzie in last issue though. Hopefully they wont go back to it, or at least not very soon.
@Conor I suspect this the beginning of an exciting new comment meme. Soon to be as popular as "$3.99 is too much for a comic book" and "Is this a good jumping on point."
I don’t think she’s in the new costume on the cover b/c DC was trying to hide the reveal of the costume until 600. by 604 she’s in her new costume on the cover.
@JimBilly4 – I don’t think Wolverine should be an Avenger.
I’ve given WW a chance multiple times and dropped it every time after an issue or two. Dropping this hasn’t even crossed my mind. Someone doing something interesting with Diana for once is actually an accomplishment. Heres to hoping JMS can keep up the good work… and let some of the excitement and energy from this spill over into Superman, which isn’t bad to me, just not as good as this thus far.
Still fun and hope it increases the stakes. Let’s try something even riskier now that we know the old Wundie is coming back eventually.
@PozrDu – Nono, it’s "I don’t think Spider-Man and Wolverine should be Avengers"
@zattaric The final cover she’s in the new costume. Just picked it up. Love it.
This issue was alright. I almost found myself giving it an extra star just because of the character, but I caught myself. The biggest problem I had with this issue was the art. Every few pages it seems her chest grew and her waist shrunk. She just didn’t look good. Most of the time it looked fine but every few pages the proportions went out of whack.
*Minor Spoiler*The actual story was again just alright. Pretty by the numbers, introduce someone, kill them instant emotion, right?
How can anyone take this seriously with wonder woman’s boobs hanging out in every page.
so stupid
Found this issue kind of boring. Sticking out the arc, though. I really don’t like the filter they put over Kramer’s interior art in this issue either.
You all suck. This was brilliant!
@ed But…boobies are fun.
The last page of this issue was beautiful, now that’s Wonder Woman!
@vadamaowens-No, boobs are not fun! You are not allowed to enjoy boobies!
All women superheroes should have their boobs chopped off so they can be taken as seriously as male ones.
Does that sound much smarter?
@drake How disappointing. You’ve ruined all of my male fun.
@chris No that sounds like Se7en II. The original Amazons cut off one breast for better aim, though. I think its excessive to cut both off.
hahahaha
@Vada: Oh my god that ‘s soooo badass!!!
I know this is extra geeky and part of me wants to kick my own face, but how does the new timeline she is involved in affect Donna Troy and Wonder Girl? Yeah I am already sorry I asked.
It doesn’t. JMS has stated that he is only focusing on Diana for this storyline. Diana and her big, stupid boobs.
Alright, guys.
firstly, yes. boobs are fun – that’s why drake grew a pair of he’s own.
Secondly, just look at the first image of wonder woman in this issue. Flying into battle. her strategy must be to make to soldiers wonder if they need to buy milk on the way home thus taking their mind of the fight – stupid.
Shop was out of this today. The setup was interesting so far and the costume change is the only thing that could’ve got me reading Wonder Woman but I think I’m not gonna worry about picking it up for now and see if I miss it.
I love the idea of Wonder Woman and the Themiscyrans as a Moses and the Isrealites parallel.
Never truly thought about WW’s vulnerability to gunfire, always thought the bracelets were sorta superfluous, but guess she really needed them all this time. But I mean she’s got super strength, reflexes, agility, does she only have an average invulnerability and not to the level of being bulletproof? If she can jump out of a plane and land without harm (because apparently she can’t fly as of now in this arc) I would think that would mean your pretty nigh invulnerable.
WW to me is like the DCU’s answer to Marvel’s Wolverine in being the designated hero who kills. Like Wolverine, she’s a hero that’s really got no qualms about killing. An interesting juxtaposition there I think.
Wonder woman being a warrior. AWESOME. Wonder Woman deflecting bullets into dudes killing them. The most increible thing I have ever seen. If this book does not have a panel of the week mention, clearly you did not read this book. I was blown away by the art. Just things that everyone wanted to see are finally happening, kinda like the Wonder Woman animated movie.
@FrankTiger Wonder Woman’s abilities are based on the gods who have blessed her so if the gods have removed their blessings she is as vulnerable as any other Amazon.
Thanks again Minion, but the explanation may be plausible if not for the crater landing she made in the last issue, but I’ll buy it. This ish was somewhat reminiscent of how Rucka started his run on WW, with her plowing through some paramilitary cadre in impressive and dramatic fashion, but this time it was under different circumstances, and it didn’t quite fly with me actually. Hopefully next issue will be stronger overall.
It is explained earlier in the story that when Themiscyra was attacked, the humans had guns which were infused with magic, thus able to wound gods and demi-gods. One concludes that the same guns were used here.
So with all else being equal, WW is normally impervious to gunfire, bulletproof when she is in full Amazon warrior demigod status? That’s still a question, because why have the bracelets otherwise, is it to deflect bullets so that they cause no harm to others, or do bullets harm her to a degree but don’t penetrate(sorry for having to use that word;).
@franktiger To be honest I think they overpowered her sometime in the last 20 years and got rid of her need for the bracelets. I think it used to be if the bracelets touched she would lose her powers. I’m sure they got rid of that.
I don’t know the character’s history but it seems to me they are also used in hand to hand combat as both defensive and offensive weapons. ie, block sword strikes from demi-gods and wollop monsters on the head.
They’re definitely magical bracelets and not your run-of-the-mill standard armor type arm bands, just like the lasso and tiara, they were especially made for her by the gods if I’m not mistaken.
I think WW is impervious to gunfire only to a certain degree, and it probably could kill her after a certain extent, that’s why she needs them. Like she probably couldn’t withstand a point-blank shot to the head, like a Superman could, but is she entirely vulnerable to them at her best? Probably not, but come to think of it, I’ve never seen her shot in the books, I mean her bracelets along with her reflexes and agility, and an almost magical ability to block bullets that can normally travel like 400ft/sec or something, have always been there; but this issue has never really been addressed in the books I think. Except now we see a gunshot draw blood, but it obviously doesn’t cripple or debilitate her like a normal gunshot to the shoulder would.
@Frank: I’m leaning more towards the hypothesis that these aren’t regular guns. They are infused with magic. 601 estblished the magical nature of the guns during the initial attack on Themiscyra and in this issue Diana mentions that "these guns can harm even us". This is not a regular army but an "army for hire".
So my guess is that Diana is mostly impervious to gunfire but that in this issue we are dealing with magic guns with the ability to inflict damage to gods. Which seems to be a clue as to who is behind all of this.
Yeah I just compared both issues and in the first one, when speaking of the attack on Themiscyra the oracle says: Their weapons had been ensorcelled to make them capable of killing even us" and in this issue Diana says: "Their weapons are capable of killing even us.
So the amazons demi-gods are invulnerable to gunfire. But these guns aren’t regular guns. They are somehow modified to kill amazons. Leading us to conclude that the initial attack on Themiscyra and the hunting don of amazons is lead by the same person/people.
Another thing I wanted to discuss was how the art and writing combined very well to make a Hypolitta/Diana parallel. In the first issue, Hypolitta dies in a divine greek fire and in this issue, Diana bursts through flames caused by greek fire to exact a vengefull violence on the army lead by the same person/people as the one that killed her mother. It’s a very elegant and striking visual and conceptual analogy. I love it.
Finally, another point of discussion I wanted to bring up is Diana’s crisis of faith. She is herself a demi-god but never really living the life of a god in this alternate timeline. She only knows what she has been told. She is now in pursuit of the truth to make it her own so to speak. And as she comes closer to acheiving this she becomes more powerful.
I’m wondering if this might cause a soft reboot which dictates that Diana’s powers are driectly linked to her mental/spiritual state. The more spiritual clarity she has the more powerful she is… maybe?
Right, I understand why she and the Amazon’s may be vulnerable in this arc, but in general, have you ever seen her take gunfire directly? Does it just bounce off of her? I think that’s part of the magic of her bracelets, that it has given her some sort of mystical, preternatural ability to block bullets, that they are infused with power from the gods as well; so its like it just would’ve been out of place for her to have ever been hit by a projectile because of the presence of her bracelets, its one of her signature poses as portrayed on the cover of this issue even, almost iconic in its own sense that pose.
No I’ve never seen her take a bullet (I’m asking around the internet for precedence) but think about it. Why go through the trouble of "ensorcelling" weapons to make them capable of killing amazons if they are NOT invulnerable to gunfire?
Unless the guns are modified to counter the "always deflecting" power of the bracelets?
GAH! This is driving me nuts! You’re right! Which is it!? Invulnerabilty or power of deflection?
HAHAHAH! You would think that if all Amazons were invulnerable to gunfire, then she really wouldn’t need the magical bracelets, but she was the chosen one and was bestowed the bracelets, lasso etc. as an exception, which is why I say although she’s a demigod of sorts, the bracelets give her the power to deflect gunfire, like a foresight or an a priori knowledge like ability, along the same lines of a Mister X or a Domino or a Midnighter. Like I was saying before, can’t see her really able to withstand like a killshot to the head or like multiple direct hits, and the magic of the bracelets protects her, almost moving her arms to where the bullets will be without her even knowing it.
I don’t know why I’m thinking about this so much either, but you know the Rucka run really made me a fan of WW when I never thought I would be, he portrayed her exactly how I thought she should be portrayed, was disappointed when he left the book and really wasn’t digging the new direction and the whole revamping and going back to #1 thing, but luckily Didio (the idiot) finally acquiesced and brought it back to an iconic #600, which he realized almost too late what a tribute it would be reaching that #. Wasn’t much of a fan of Simone’s run either, but this run by JMS has started out more like the Rucka run with an edgier feel and focusing on her strength and power rather than making her some sassy, worldly character like Simone.
Wow. This was epic.
Oh my! It just struck me last night why I connect with this story so much!
Wonder Woman is the hero the Acadian people never had.
Bear with me if you have a minute or two.
I am Acadian (half Acadian). What’s an Acadian? – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadians
So basically the Acadians are French colonist on the Canadian east coast in the 1600’s. Their objective was to build a peaceful community. During the war, the Acadians were dispersed (1755 being reffered to as the great expulsion or the great deportation). This is where the cajuns in New Orleans come from. They are Acadians who settled there after the expulsion. Some Acadians did manage to stay in here in NB by hiding in the woods. Acadians have a very complex and hardcore culture of religious tradition. Finally the Acadians did manage to grow their community again here in the Canadian east coast.
It occurred to me how many parallels the current WW stary has with Acadian history. Religious tradition, settlement, war, dispersion and presumably rebuilding. Now the main difference was that the Themyscirans fought back before their dispersion but the Acadians did not for a variety of reasons. Which has had very serious negatve repercussions in the Acadian culture, mentality and Zeitgeist. I would likely get put down for saying this but, Acadians have an inferiority complex as a result of many years of linguistic oppression. This is something I struggle with as an Acadian. I find it so frustrating that my cultural counterparts think themselves less thatn they are! Day in and day out I deal with this mentality. You ask for a raise, you don’t deserve because I don’t deserve one. You can always do more. It’s never enough. We’re nothing and we should just keep our mouth shut and be content with what we have. Improvement is risky because it might backfire. GAH! It’s maddenning!
Now Wonder Woman has come to bring us together and help us fight back the dispersion! In this alternate timeline Acadians think no less of themselves than they are! They want something? They take it. They don’t let themselves get walked on! Thank you Wonder Woman!
Diana, my Acadian hero!
OH crap! She’s even wearing the colors of the Acadian flag!!!
And here is more info on the bullets thing: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=336757
Wow, you got a great response with a variety of answers, but still sounds like there’s no real consensus.
Seems like that forum is a little more open than this one, people are willing to discuss topics without trying to assert their own personalities. Seems like this site is a bit cliquey, I guess? People want to respond to only a certain amount of people depending on who they are, but that’s fine, gonna try to check out that other forum more often, but I like the rating and reviewing aspect to this site, regardless of the response or discussion.
Glad you felt free to share that bit of personal background and history. That’s why art in general is an essential part of society, and is a crucial part of people’s lives sometimes, because it touches what’s most ideal in people’s souls, and represents what’s most profound within the heart and mind of a person.
Badmouthing the site you’re commenting on.
Stay classy, San Diego.
@JJ You raise a lot of interesting correlations, however the story is a fairly open allegory for a variety of displaced peoples, something JMS has used as a theme in Babylon 5. (There’s a certain direct parallel to the Armenians in the story, not the least of which is shared cultural background and geographic location.)
@comicbookchris Dude you’re crossing clique lines to make that comment! DrakeDangerz and I are gonna have to rough you up behind the gym, now. :-p
@comicBOOKchris-I’m going to have to ask you give us back the leather jacket.
@Prax: Oh I understand that it is a general, people is oppressed, require a savior and get one, people rebuild story. I can think of several peoples that would recognize themselves in the story. I doubt JMS even knows of the plight of the Acadians. But being Acadian, that’s what resonates with me. It’s been on my mind lately is all. 🙂
And quit picking on Frank guys!
A bit too much talky-talky & not enough punchy-punchy for my tastes, but still pretty good.
Hhahahha! Knew that one would elicit a response.
Like I was saying, peeps want to be personal on this site, like they message board police or something, or like they measure their own esteem by this site, I might be wrong, but like I was saying as well, this site is great for reviewing and rating, and obviously, when peeps want to discuss, it goes off, like on the last New Avengers board, I simply mention a little personal gripe I had, and the result was like 250 responses. Some peeps didn’t like how I was responding, one even called out my mother a couple times! But after looking back I admit maybe I was a little adversarial initially, so I adjusted and I know now maybe that wasn’t the best way to respond. But if peeps wanna hold grudges and not let me in their little iFanboy ‘cliques?’ is all good. Its like their nerdboy revenge from their highschool days or something, they gotta tease like they probably were back in da day. hahah, just kidding!
Hey, there are like iFanboy Tshirts available, there’s probably like a pack of them walking around wearing it, responding to each other on the street in front of each other on their droids or iphones. I do want that Power and Responsibility shirt though, that shirt’s bomb.
Don’t worry guys…he does not know our secret handshake, the password to our club house, OR the location of our secret tattoo!
@Franktiger-Throwing out criticisms of the site and its users and then saying "ha, I knew I would get a response by saying that!" isn’t clever, insightful or unique. It’s trolling. And what you call cliques, we call a community that is friendly with each other, jokes around, and discusses comic books intelligently.
@JJ Oh, don’t misunderstand, it’s great that you found a cultural correlation in reading this. Indeed, you’ve given me something interesting to read up on.
When you have several highly negative responses towards you, it’s time to start looking at yourself as the problem and stop cluttering the threads w/ verbal diarreha.
@drake: I agree, tell that to cBChris or Scorpion. I’ve never personally insulted anyone or anyone’s mother on this site, you can check that if you want and tell me I’m wrong, but if I did, I apologize. I know what trolling is, I’ve adjusted, I just knew that I was going to be critisized for having that point of view, wasn’t the point to elicit a response. And like you say, most of this is just joking around anyway, I get you.
@cBChris: Ok buddy, again, you can use this board as a measure of your esteem if you want, I certainly will not. Are you reading my threads, or just doling out sarcastic innuendo cus it makes you feel good? I said I realized I was approaching my responses in the wrong way. Pay attention.
By the way drake, I like big stupid boobs too.
If you think about it, WW is the quintessential female superhero, the archetype heroine, how else are artists going to tend to portray her, I mean when you can draw something, and usually what artists draw is what’s most ideal to them, they’re gonna draw Diana that way. I mean can you imagine the most iconic female superhero of all time being flat-chested?
I would prefer Wonder Woman to have average sized boobs. A C cup say. It would look a little less ridiculous and not be distracting, but it’s not a mjor issue the way the story is written.
@FrankTiger I can imagine quite a bit, so yes.
Someone put Debra Messing in a WW outfit now!
Yea, but big boobs equate power to most, it is a social standard that bigger is better as far as boobies. I mean, they’re not humongous, like oversized fetish type boobs, which to me are quite unattractive, but yea, really she should have just the most perfect set that there is, not too big, not too small.
Somewhere, somewhere in your mind there are a lot of brain cells devoted to thinking about WW’s cup size. They could be used for more productive things you know. This is an election year after all. Also I think Tremors might be on USA later today.
hahaahha, more than you know RoiV.
And oh, btw RoiV, I used to think Jennifer Connelly would’ve been the perfect WW, maybe during her ‘Career Opportunities’ days, but she’s a little older now, probably wouldn’t work.
@JJ sacrilege!!!!
Got Wonder Woman killing again. Not good….