Is Wonder Woman a Xena Rip Off now?

Remember when only comic fans discussed comic characters? Yeah, there was once a time when some bit of comic book news would only be discussed on comic book message boards. Now, just about every sub culture news site post news articles about comic books and movies. And while this has democratized the discussion of comics and characters, it also allows people to perpetuate false information about comics much in the same way that FaceBook lets your mom warn people about Herpes from toilet seats.

One of the things I see pop up a lot that bothers me is the notion that Wonder Woman is now just a Xena rip off. Usually, the poster is implying that a sword/shield bearing Wonder Woman only exists because Xena exists.

 Let's put that falsism to rest today.

First, she was shown using a sword in the Golden Age

AND there are some instances where she used a sword in the Bronze Age

But, the sum total of both are probably less than the number of times Batman used a gun in the Golden Age.

The real game changing stories are the ones George Perez created just after the Bronze Age. When Perez rebooted the character for the Post Crisis era, he gave Diana and the Amazons a very distinct warrior makeover. This is in 1987, 12 many years before Xena [ appeared on Hercules ].

Later, in 1995, John Byrne would add to this by presenting a Justice Society of America with a more warlike Wonder Woman. Again, this precedes Xena's television appearances. UPDATE: This actually is about the time Xena started appearing on Hercules, so while it's possible that John Byrne might have been influenced by Xena, the precedent set by George Perez was already well in place as a more likely influence.

IF you wanted to find one glimmer of truth in the whole Xena/Wonder Woman aspersion, then I would say that Xena may have popularized the visual imagery of women warriors in a way that has helped Hollywood feel more comfortable with the character.

But that's a far cry from just being a Xena rip off.

- Jim

Wonder Woman, Kamandi and Doom Patrol news

Over at ComicsAlliance, there is an article that suggests that the 2017 Wonder Woman solo movie is going to be "Pretty Dark." 

While this might seem like an odd direction given that Batman v Superman seems to have suffered from reviews that called it too dark and joyless, it really doesn't surprise me for a number of reasons.

1) This movie was well into production prior to the bleak reviews BvS received.
2) The movie is set during World War I, and it's probably next to impossible to have a FUN movie in which trench warfare has any part.
3) I suspect that reversing gears from their Green Lantern inspired No Jokes edict isn't going to be as simple as flipping a switch.

Honestly, if it were me, I think I would have found some way to put the movie in World War II and add some Justice Society characters.  Yeah, I know this would cost a lot of money in reshoots (I guess) but with the rumors that Time Warner is already getting reshoots for the Suicide Squad to put in more joviality, I don't know if rejiggering the Wonder Woman movie that would be a real show stopper at this point. It definitely sounds like a better strategy than doubling down on Grim and Dark.

On the flipside, one bit of DC Rebirth news I've seen that has me interested is the story that DC is going to have a 12 issue Kamandi series written by different teams to present a story that is interconnected.

Check out these teams:  

Dan Abnett & Dale Eaglesham,  
Peter J. Tomasi & Neal Adams,  
Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti, 
James Tynion IV & Carlos D'Anda, 
Bill Willingham & Ivan Reis, 
Steve Orlando & Philip Tan,
 Marguerite Bennett & Dan Jurgens,  
Keith Giffen & Steve Rude, 
Tom King & Kevin Eastman,  
Greg Pak & Joe Prado,  
Rob Williams & Walter Simonson,  
Gail Simone & Ryan Sook
Len Wein & José Luis García-López.

This sounds exactly like the type of challenge that might inspire writers to create some pretty entertaining comics. And those creative teams are top notch. I hope this project works well and spawns similar projects using other DC characters!

Finally, DC also announced that Gerard Way, whose Umbrella Academy has been quite the success for Dark Horse, will be working on a new Doom Patrol series. 

This series will actually be part of a larger initiative by DC wherein Way guides a new DC imprint called Young Animal which will also use some other long forgotten DC characters like Cave Carson and Shade the Changing Man.

At first I was a bit dubious about this news, simply because I'm not a fan of celebrities turned writers in ANY media, but after some discussion and reflection, I realized, this is probably exactly what DC needs to reignite it's lackluster Vertigo demographic.

Thinking about Vertigo in the past, maybe someone like Way is exactly what they need? A well known personality with a defined aesthetic to help give the brand a new identity for new writers to converge around. I mean, I don't know, but you have to sort of think that having Gaiman work there was one of the things that provided a smooth entry for Ellis, Ennis and Vaughn (though he may have come after Gaiman had left.) Since then, Vertigo has sort of been this empty shell without a real figurehead to speak for it.

With that said, of the three projects, I'm probably the most interested in the Kamandi Challenge.

- Jim