Wonder Woman - Some Thoughts - Part 2

themes and settings:

Truth: If a character can be summoned up with a single word, it's best to explore all possibilities of it. here are some rudimentary themes.

1. The truth hurts

2. The truth is ugly

3. People often prefer a beautiful lie over the ugly truth.

4. The truth will set you free.

here's a whole list of proverbs that can be adapted into story themes

http://www.parrotsmeow.com/IQ/QP5.htm

Culture shock: While this has been both done to death and often badly, it still remains a component of the character. Fish out of water scenerios are fun, but if the character is suppposed to be a harden warrior, they have to be used sparingly.

Golem: This is a theme that really seems unexplored in the wonder woman genre. While a real person and raised in a loving community, the fact remains the character is essentially a golem, pygmalion, or simulcrium. This opens up a wide range of themes of whether wonder woman can even be considered human at all. Even if it was the magic of the gods, there might be ways to revert her to a more frankenstein form, with a bit of a touch up, that opens up a wide range of storytelling possibilities.

Mythic: Wonderwoman is based on greek mythology and exploring this world can be a huge source of interesting ideas and possibilities. Furthermore, there are a number of modern adaptions that can be cribbed.

War: If the woman is a warrior, then war must be used as a common theme. Both her attitude of war and the fact she's really good at it. I expect her to be reading books like art of war, five rings, and on war and adapting these to four color tactics. This something that is best shown rather then told.

One of the few things I liked of her precrisis storytelling is she often had adventurers involving the us military. Ironically, this opens up the ability to steal plot ideas from other military influenced metahumans (ex hulk). This also shows how times have changed when contrast with her original classical military training.

Finally, I want to base her military style to some degree on a great american general: General macarthur. Should she feel equally as iconic as she steps out of her jet rallying the troops.

Woman: The character is a woman and it's been her sole defining characteristic. While I would reduce it's importance when compared to other themes, it still needs to be used as a means of telling a story, and can often give it a different perspective then their male counterpart.
Finally, we come to the other theme of wonderman: namely Cheesecake. We won't be able to eliminate this as a theme and it has to be used as a marketing tactic, we should strive to use it as merely a component, cause if it is not used properly, it will reduce the ability to tell stories with the character.

Ageless: The fact is Wonderwoman is essentially immortal. Even though she is comparatively young, it adds a whole new dimension for storytelling. Crib off the old highlander series for storylines to best explore this angle.


Amazon: I also hope they have her keep standing on her diamond hard, Amazonian foundation.  I like the greek/amazonian aspect of the character a lot and a little mixing of greek culture into the character is always fun.

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The Transition:

With Gail Simone passing the torch to JMS, I hope JMS goes the work she is writing and builds on it.

Achilles and the Circle are good concepts that should be built on to give a stronger rogues gallery.