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ryerye17
Poozer
Joined: 11 Nov 2009
Posts: 12
Location: UP Village, Quezon City
Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:38 pm |
 Post subject: Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia *spoilers* |
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By Your Mercy Will I Live: A Review of Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia
Riley Palanca
Wonder Woman is not the easiest character to write. Unlike her compatriots in the informally-called DC Trinity, Superman and Batman, who represent the bright heroic side of heroism and the dark gritty part respectively, Princess Diana does not have the same niche in the superhero universe. Her place has been radically diverse from being ultra-feminist, to warrior-chic, to spy extraordinaire, to ambassador, to princess, to human-rights advocate, etc. Even her origins and timelines have been radically altered in the past as well as now that it’s difficult to point her as one of the pillars of the DC Community.
That said, a lot of writers tend to box Wonder Woman into one forcedly - for instance, focusing too much on Diana being a ‘woman’ or being a ‘princess.’ It is through the usage of those two castes that there is no exploration done on other facets of her person. And that is the beauty of Rucka’s Hiketeia - it de-genders Wonder Woman. In other words, we don’t have countless repetitions of how Diana enjoys women rights and fights for equality, etc. Not that gender is a crucial part of her, mind you, it’s that it isn’t the focal point of the story which is the breather.
Rucka’s Wonder Woman showed her Greek warrior side more, a side a lot of writers miss (because, hey, girls have to be nice, right?). We, the readers, see a very human, a very traditional side of Wonder Woman - how rooted she is in mythology. These are important parts of her history and should be the focus of her character (also used by Geoff Johns in Infinite Crisis and JMS in his current storyline. Speaking of JMS, this story made me realize that I miss Diana’s old costume.)
I give props to Rucka specifically for the introduction of two elements - first, is the story of the Hiketeia. Creating a believable tradition is difficult and after reading the story, I was actually convinced that there was such a thing as a Hiketeia. The believability of the ritual was in its strength of the depiction, with the words uttered by the supplicant. Second, is the update of the Furies. Furies are common universal characters and it could have gone the cliche route, but JG Jones managed to pull of a superbly creepy yet modern design for the class characters.
The inclusion of Batman as a foil for Diana was interesting as well. We get to see contrasting beliefs in justice and honor, not to mention the added tension (filial or sexual) between Bats and Wondy was just plain fun. While there was some bad-ass Bats moments, such as when he prostrated himself in front of Diana, the best part of his book was when Diana kicked his ass - proving once and for all, that Diana is a superior fighter, that even Gail Simone said that a Diana vs Clark fight would favor Diana 6 out of 10 times.
While I enjoyed the story, I have a problem with the big reveal as well as the ending. The big reveal that the girl actually did murder the men, while jiving with the overall theme of honor and justice, felt a little on-the-nose. While I enjoyed her soliloquy, especially the line ‘and the cops will laugh and call her just another drug junky’, it felt a little too much like a rehearsed sob story than one brought about by true emotions.
With the ending, I felt it was too predictable. I would have preferred Diana granting Bruce supplication, it would have been a more unexpected twist. The girl jumping off the cliff with the whole ‘I release you’ line felt flat-out cliche. I felt it was too much of a cop-out that instead of Diana, Bruce and whoever else discussing the situation and coming to a suitable conclusion, let’s just kill off the problem of her own free will.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I love me some Wonder Woman who is strong and powerful and could kick Batty’s butt.
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Sir Pepoy Josepito
Super Special Awesome
Joined: 02 Dec 2008
Posts: 603
Location: in sanity
Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:17 pm |
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WHERE ARE THE SPACES BETWEEN THE PARAGRAPHS
Seriously though, I agree with a lot your points especially with how tying her up to her mythology should be the focus of her character. George Pérez's work on the character especially with the new origin story "Gods and Mortals" and Greg Rucka's own acclaimed run on the title really took full advantage of her mythical background to rousing success (moreso for Pérez but hey!). And I never knew that Rucka actually just made up the concept of hiketeia so props to him for making it believable!
What I don't agree with is your evaluation of the reveal and the ending. I'd rather my stories fall into place wit h the themes and the logic of the plot than have twists really just come out of nowhere without making sense. As for the ending, I think it fits somewhat with Greek tragedy with how Diana through her steadfast belief in tradition clashes with Batman's convictions and ends up pushing the mortal being fought over to killing herself to end the struggle. I do say "somewhat" since WE HAVE THIS ENTIRE DEBATE AS TO WHAT ARISTOTLE SAID ABOUT "HAMARTIA" IS IT A FATAL ERROR OR A CHARACTER FLAW WHO KNOWS
Nevertheless, this review is good enough for me!
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