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Friday, February 12, 2010

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 - April 2010

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"Wonder Woman Blackest Night" by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, and Jonathan Glapion.

A couple F.O.A.M.ers pointed out to me that Mera has a big presence in this issue, something I didn't realize when the book came out last week. Thanks guys!

Since I won't be doing a full-on summary of the issue, just a quick look at Mera's role, I'm posting this today instead of making it a regular Comics Weekend segment. I've been trying to stay away from buying any of the BN tie-in issues, but DC sucks me in with all this Mera stuff, dammit.

This issue opens with Wonder Woman having become a Star Sapphire, and she talks with Carol Ferris about her new situation. Moments later, she's attacked by Mera, in a blind rage ever since she became a Red Lantern. Mera gets a couple of good shots in, so Diana decides to find a more advantageous place for the fight:
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On the ground, Mera is attacked by a horde of zombies. She's tries to fight them off, but is woefully outnumbered. Diana turns around, and lands point blank in the middle of the pile, reducing many of them to so much black goo.

She then tries to talk to Mera, remind her that they're friends, but Mera is still raging and spitting up blood, so Wonder Woman subdues her by using her magic lasso. Its with this that all the thoughts inside Mera's head come spilling out:
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The combination of the ring and the lasso seem to do the trick, calming Mera down and returning her to normal (sort of).

Mera confides to Diana, and they talk about their respective feelings for the men in their life:
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Wonder Woman and Mera are met by Green Lantern and his new team of Lanterns, and he's eager to "get on with it." To be continued!


I'm glad to have Mera back being Mera, no longer spitting up blood and freaking out with rage. A relationship between her and Wonder Woman is an interesting development--they're both royalty, they're both warrior women, they're both superheroes who don't see themselves as such--and I'd like to see it developed more as Blackest Night/Brightest Day goes on.

12 comments:

Russell said...

I'd love to see Diana and her friendships with Mera, Black Canary, and Hawkgirl(woman) be re-established. It used to be that Diana's best friend was Shayera. Now who is it? If this world were mine, Diana would hang out with Mera, Oracle, Dinah, Helen, and whatever/whoever Hawkwoman turns out to be again. :-)

Wings1295 said...

I think that would be awesome, too. But... the cynic in me is shaking his head.

Airship Over Water said...

I was a little confused by the ending of this book. The whole line about "You never told him?"

Never told him what? I took it as "You never told him about the pain you felt inside when you lost your child" but I've seen some people online claim that Dianna was alluding to something more. I hope we get an answer.

Either way, I liked the issue a lot

rob! said...

AOW-

I, too, was a little confused by the "you never told him" stuff. I was like, "Did I miss some dialogue?" I mean, I think we know why Mera has such rage, I don't quite grok why it would thought of as a buried secret or anything.

Randy said...

I'm thinking what Mera never told him was how much she still loved him. Meaning she is/was still in love with Aquaman.

Wonder Woman is a living embodiment of love right now.

Shellhead said...

Sorry guys, the answer is a lot worse than that. I, for one, am VERY upset about it. Check out Green Lantern #50 for the details. This is about the worse thing to happen to the Aqua-family since Arther, Jr. was killed. I can guarantee you're not gonna like it, Rob.

The Irredeemable Shag said...

I've also been trying to figure out what Mera never told Aquaman.

Shellhead - I read GL #50 and I don't recall what you are referring to. Are you talking about Mera screaming, "I never wanted children"?

Because while I thought that was a weird thing to yell, it didn't seem like a world-shaker.

The Irredeemable Shag
http://onceuponageek.com
http://firestormfan.com

Shellhead said...

Well, considering it seemingly invalidates about 2o years of Aquaman history, I consider it a pretty big deal. It's retconing at its worst.

rob! said...

Shellhead-

Not having read the comic, maybe there are details I'm missing, but...how does Mera revealing she never wanted kids to be invalidating and/or retconning?

I'm not saying I like it, but it seems like Johns is stating that, deep down, Mera never wanted a kid in the first place, and that fact is part of the guilt she feels about the kid being dead...?

IADW said...

At first I thought it was an odd thing to yell out loud, but now I think it fleshes out the character and comics as a medium even more.

As a former counselor, I've met a lot of people with that veiwpoint. For some it was merely a phase, for others a long held secret shame they have felt bad for harboring.

So in a way it isn't retconing at all. People can live for years 'being the happy mother (or father)' before they finally admit how they are feeling, because they fear been shunned should they say they never wanted their child, and for some still don't.

The fact that DC is seeing fit to make such a statement in a non-Vertigo book, with such a long serving character, makes me feel better to an extent about a) how far the entertainment medium has come and b) the steps it goes towards in providing readers with the notion that these points of view do exist, to the point it gets people discussing the notion and raising awareness in discussions like these.

Whops that was longer than I meant to type! Sorry!

BronzeTiger said...

Heya Rob!
Good post found a blooper though.

"This issue opens with Wonder Woman having become a Star Sapphire, and she talks with Carol Danvers about her new situation"

I am sure you meant Carol Ferris, as Carol Danvers is Ms Marvel, and works for the "other" company.

rob! said...

BT-
Oops, you're right! Duly corrected.

Having Ms. Marvel in BN would've made for a very interesting series...