I promised to phrase my blog subjects ala the twelve gifts of Christmas. Alas, it just doesn't work. Maybe if I timed the numbers out... So back to the old intro: on the eighth day of my 12ish Days of Blogging I give to thee: my promised review of Wonder Woman 75th anniversary special #1 and an essay-of-sorts of the character's connection to New Year's Resolutions not to mention the reviewed comic's connection to my very own New Year's Resolution for 2017.
First, I'll start with the review of Wonder Woman Special #1.
It's an anthology so my normal approach to reviews don't apply. My feelings on anthologies are you either love them or hate them. I really liked this special as it does an excellent job representing various facets of Wonder Woman. But I don't love every story equally. For ratings purposes, I'll give it an overall 4 Out of 5 Stars although I could also give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Its solid and I think people should read it but if money is an issue the lower rating applies.
What that's it? Well no. I just didn't read it like I would a typical comic. In fact, I read it more along the lines of my seventh installment of 12ish days on New Year's Day Sunday Comics. As such my review will be more along those lines. The above grade is more of a summary of the overall package.
Guess you could say there's some Spoilers too:
So:
Gives Us Strength - a lovely WWII piece where the messenger (three guesses who) saves the day when a group of Nazis surround a church in Occupied France. Very iconic.
Predators - An excellent example of Wonder Woman's rapport with animals as well as her commitment to all walks of life not just the two-legged variety.
The three unused Brian Bolland covers were neat.
One Side Alone - An interesting discussion on the changing nature on what constitutes justice all within the framework of a Giganta story. Wonder Woman bringing Giganta Empire Strikes Back AT-AT style with her lasso was very cool! Plus its nice to see her not use a sword. Nice reference to the concept of mercy too.
Wonder Woman: In Conversation by Lois Lane - author Greg Rucka returned to the Wonder Woman title as of Rebirth. Its a text piece and the crown jewel of the issue. In a nutshell its an interview in which some very interesting and complex topics are discussed. I'll expand on this later. Highly recommended. As an aside, had to reference what mendacity meant...
Oh, Themyscira: Liam Sharp channels his Spawn Dark Ages work.
The Age of Wonder - Lovely story about simply that, wonder.
Wonder Woman 75 song - Okay, I found this rather flat - although there's a nod to DC's Bombshells title.
The Legend of Wonder Woman & Wonder Woman: The True Amazon - Want an idea what both respective titles are like? Well, both short stories provide a stellar demonstration!
Democratic Design - A quirky story which points out the price tag of the havoc wrought.
Big Things One Day Come - A very touching story involving Superman, Titano, and a budding just starting out young super-heroine.
Which brings me to my...
Mini-Essay
Throughout the course of 2016, and even 2015, I'd comment that I really should read more comics. It wasn't until I was reading this very comic, the text piece to be precise, that I had my epiphany. I was struggling to read it. Not because it was boring, but because I was starting to become wide-eyed from reading something very complex and thought-provoking. Yeah, there's such a thing as light reading and heavier fare but reading is like a muscle. If you don't exercise it enough, reading becomes less and less frequent. Plus, its rather ironic that such a truth dawned on me while I was reading a comic centered on a character who is about truth. Thus that's how the comic is connected to my 2017 New Year's Resolution.
Truth is a huge component of New Year's Resolutions (NYR). How successful they are hinge on how well we fully understand ourselves. Much of the disillusionment that arises from failed NYR's are probably because we don't like what we perceive as the truth that such a failure brings. However, that brings me to the other facet of how Wonder Woman represents the concept of the New Year's Resolution.
Aspirations. NYRs are aspirations. Something we aspire to accomplish during the New Year. However, much like how Wonder Woman seeks to bring peace, truth, and understanding, the success or failure of the aspiration is not what's important. The striving and looking over the next horizon is. Plus, every NYR reveals something new about oneself. Reveals a new truth much like Wonder Woman's magic lasso does.
A big thank you to the text piece Wonder Woman: In Conversation by Lois Lane for being my inspiration for what I just wrote.
Till the 9th installment of my 12ish Days of Blogging, happy reading!
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