Blackest Night Toy Wave

DC Direct just announced that they have added another action figure wave to their hit Blackest Night.  Already announced to come out on April 14th, 2010 is the Black Lantern version of our loved Amazon. 

Yesterday night, they announced Star Sapphire Wonder Woman is being made. I am very excited, not only because its a great figure, but I get to have two figures from this hit story that is changing the face of DC Comics.  Here is a picture of this great addition to my Wonder Woman collection.

Blackest Night : Wonder Woman #3

 Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 is finally out!  First, I have to comment on Greg Horn and his great covers. I was a little scared at first when I read that Greg was going to be in charge of the covers for this mini-series.  Usually I am not a fan of his work, his females are a little too busty, a little too on the adult entertainment side.  I will admit though that I love all three covers. His Wonder Woman still had his normal sexy elements, but I still found her strong and beautiful.

This is the third and final issue of this tie-in to Blackest Night and it did not disappoint.We left off in Blackest Night with our Amazon accepting a Star Sapphire ring.  This issue opens with Diana admiring the violet ring on her finger.

Here we have Diana talking with Carol Ferris, the Guardian of the Star Sapphires and the person responsible for the current transformation of our favorite Amazon.  Carol is amazed that Diana was able to accept the violet ring seeing that she was already being controlled by a Black Lantern ring. Carol explains that enough of Diana remained in her that the violet ring could reach out to her and the she did something no one else could do, reach back.  That has never happened before. Carol is amazed at the love that Wonder Woman carries for everything. The entirety of creation is limitless and no lantern has ever encountered anything like it.

During their discussion they come upon Wonder Woman's old friend, Max Lord!  We saw him in Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1.  He grabs a rope and lassos around Diana's neck. He yells out to her if she is into Bondage, Wonder Woman replies "No, LIBERATION" and grabs the rope and flings Max Lord into the growing army of Black Lanterns. 

 

I really like this panel. Diana is shown very strong and very determined to take control of the situation with Max Lord. Once again, It seems that Max has underestimated the power of Wonder Woman. She freezes him a violet crystal and shatters him into hundreds of pieces

. 

Of course this commotion does not go unnoticed and Mera, who is know a Red Lantern, sees Diana and goes in for the KILL! 

 

We first saw Round 1 in Blackest Night #6 and in Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2.  Mera is enraged with the power of the Red Lantern ring.  Diana's ring is searching for love and hope inside Mera, but only finds that she is filled with rage, fed by inconceivable pain. Mera takes some swings at Diana and follows her into the air, next shoving her staff into Diana's thigh. Bad choice Mera! 

When is the Queen of Atlantis going to learn that you cannot mess with a Warrior Born??  Thus ensues a fist on fist fight. Each taking swings, hurting each other. The Rage inside Mera is getting to strong, and the Love inside Diana wants to save her. Diana reaches out to Mera, telling her that she is not the enemy, that they are friends and they have fought side by side for the greater good. I love that even when Mera is drawing blood from our warrior, she still wants to love and help her friend. 

Wonder Woman realizes that her ring is not going to save Mera on its own, so Wonder Woman uses the power that she already has. The Lasso of Truth!! 

I love that even after years of Diana having her Lasso that she still finds new ways to use it, new powers that it can possess. She wants to use the Lasso to show Mera her true self. The very things that Mera holds dear to hopefully over-power her rage. 

Here is the page that just took my breath away. In the process of Mera showing her thoughts and truth to Diana, you see Diana's truth being shown to Mera. We see with Mera her receiving her crown , becoming Queen. Her love for Arthur, Aquaman, and the death of their son and her rage over his killer, Black Manta. And then a mystery clue of her standing over a sleeping Arthur?? What does that mean?

With Diana, we see her recieveing her tiara, crowning her Wonder Woman, her fighting as a warrior, her love for Bruce, Batman, and the love he is showing for her. The transformation of her friend Vanessa to the villian Silver Swan. Diana's mystery image is of her wearing the cape of Superman?? What does that mean!?!?

Though it brings many questions, the lasso does exactly what it is meant to do. It saves Mera and releases her from her Rage. Diana acknowledges that not a word was spoken because what was shown could not be said.

After Diana and Mera share a moment, they finally have an understanding with each other. I am really happy with this renewed team of Mera and Wonder Woman. I hope that it is seen more often in their future stories.

The final page of the issue shows Hal Jordan, Green Lantern showing up with the "New Guardians" and the deputized recruits.  I think that Nicola Scott draws a very sexy Hal!

What do you think??

A Little Wonder music..

They are finally going to be releasing the music to the Animated Wonder Woman movie.
February 23, 2010 is when its going to be a digital download. March 10, 2010 in CD form. It will contain all 22 songs written by Christopher Drake. 

I am really excited for this, been waiting far too long!

Wonder Woman #40

On January 27th (my birthday!!!), the newest issue of the ongoing Wonder Woman comic came out.  It's written by the lovely and talented Gail Simone and drawn by the amazing Aaron Lopresti. It's the start of a two issue arc.

The past few issues have set up the story that Ares, the god of war, impregnated 5 amazons. They gave birth to 5 male children known as "the Crows".  These children have the power to influence people to do bad things and make it seem as if it was that persons own idea.  So right off the bat, this issue has Diana fighting a serpent God.

I love it when our favorite Amazon has stories that dabble in her Greek mythology.  It's not often enough we actually get a taste of the Wonder world! So, when a writer does use this mythology, you have to just sit down and just enjoy the ride!  Gail Simone is one of the writers that understands that the Greek Gods are a huge part of Diana's past, present and future.

I am very proud of the portrayal of Diana is this issue. She is not afraid to use her intelligence and strength together.  She knows exactly what needs to be done. Her mission is to be a Warrior and a protector. This is something that our Amazon does very well.

 

After her victory in the fight against the God Serpent, she is thanked by a mother and her two children. Enter the Crows. They start to use their power and warp the mind of the mother and make it seem instead of Wonder Woman saving them, she actually put them into harms way.  I am very interested in where these characters are going and what Ares endgame is.  The Crows are seen in the issue messing with all sorts of people. They tap into people fears and they pit people against each other; whites against blacks, Jews against Christians, even male against female.

 

Diana hears about the trouble going on and goes to see if she can help. Enter Power Girl!  She came upon the scene first and found the Crows waiting for her.  I am not sure what the conversation was with Power Girl and the Crows, but it made the Krypton take a strong punch at our Amazon.  I love that these two are finally going at it, face to face. It's no secret that Wonder Woman is so much stronger than Power Girl. Poor Karen!

Though after a good punch from Power Girl, Wonder Woman finds herself plummeting into a parking garage and into the ground. This spawns some absolutely fantastic dialog from Diana! "I see fine. You're strong, Karen. And Fast. But I'm something else entirely. Power Girl. I am WONDER WOMAN. And you've managed to make me slightly Peeved."

 

This image is a perfect example of why I LOVE WW!  Her pose of strength combined with the look on her face that shows that she is ready to kick some Power Girl ass all over town! It's drawing like this that just makes me so So SO happy to be a Wonder Woman fan!!!

Next: the Throwdown between PG and WW!  I can't wait!!!

My Birthday

Today is my 34th birthday! It doesn't feel like I should be that old, but I guess that is a good thing!  On Sunday January 24th I celebrated it with my in-laws. 

JD's sister Karri made me an amazing Gluten-Free cake. It looked so amazing that I was afraid to actually cut into it. It was really good, and I am very grateful with how much thought and energy she put into it!

 good looking cake I would say.

My mother-in-law Patti also made me a Wonder Woman pillow case using her Cricut. It was a total surprise and I really love it!  She really hit the mark with the font she used and I immediately went home and placed it on my special huggy pillow!

I also love the Wonder Woman shirt that got me as well.  I now have four Wonder Woman shirts! Do you think that is enough? I think not.

When I got home from work today, JD had surprised me with the complete Trinity Collection graphic novels from DC. He is very sweet for surprising me and making sure that I got a Wonder Woman gift on my actual birthday! I love it and am very thankful for my family and friends. It has been a great birthday!

Batman : Brave and the Bold

Cartoon Network has created a show titled Batman : Brave and the Bold.  It takes Batman and has him team up with other heroes in the DC Universe.  A representative of the show has stated that they cannot get the rights to have Wonder Woman be on the cartoon. I of course immediately wrote an email to DC stating my displeased manner on the subject. 

In one of the newest episodes this season they actually showed out favorite Amazon from behind. Maybe they thought that they could get away with using her as long as you never saw her from the front, and she had no speaking lines.  It is not what i hoped but it is a start!  Here are some shots of her first appearance on the show. (Thank you Aegis for letting me using your pictures!)

Luckily she can still be in the comic that is based on the show. In April she will be front and center with Batman!  I cannot wait!!

I love how they are using her classic costume. We never get to see Wondy in a skirt that often! 

Blackest Night : Wonder Woman #2

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2

Blackest Night #6 set up certain plot points for Wonder Woman.  The fight between Mera and Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman's acceptance of a violet ring making her a Star Sapphire.  This second issue of her mini-series delves more into those points, Expanding the story.

I really enjoy the conception of Black Lantern Wonder Woman.  The choice to remove all color and life from the characters was a smart choice.  Her eyes are empty, her smile is devious and she craves death and destruction.   I must point out the changes in her costume.  It definitely has a lot of Greek influences.  The changes of her tiara add more of a warrior helmet. Metal armbands, extensions from her belt, and even chin guards and sandals give a better sense of her roots in her Amazon mythology.

Like I mentioned, this issue expands on the fight between Mera and Wonder Woman.  I never have read any of the Aquaman comics from the past.  I know that Mera is not of earth.  Her original home is in another dimension where she lives completely under water.  She fought along side Aquaman, falling in love with him and eventually becoming his wife and Queen of Atlantis.

I am somewhat torn by the choice to pair Mera and Diana together.  Though I feel that Mera is strong and most likely can stand on her own in a fight.  A fight with Wonder Woman?  Diana has been blessed with strength, speed and near invulnerability by the Greek Gods themselves.  How can this battle even be fair?

I will tell you how it is fair. Greg Rucka's writing.  From the start you can see the struggle Diana has with the control of the Black Ring.  I love that she is strong enough to still be fighting the connection that the ring is trying to make.  She does not want to fight Mera.  Her inner dialogue is reminding her of what is right and wrong. I cannot explain how much I love the strength that Mr. Rucka has given her.  I knew that of all the heroes infected by the ring, Diana would be the one that would break free of it.

As strong as Diana seems, even a Princess needs help!  I find fascinating the amount of Greek Mythology is tied into Diana's origin.  The Amazons were created by the Gods, They appointed Hippolyta , Diana's mother, Queen of the Amazons. Diana's even creation was possible by gifts from the Gods.  It would make sense that they would take a hand in helping Diana break her connection with the black ring. THe violet ring was looking for a woman who had the greatest love in her heart. It found that in Diana, but because of the control of the black ring it was having a hard time connecting with our favorite Amazon.

The gods created a space for Diana to continue her struggle to free herself of the black rings control, they brought images of the people that she loved. Donna Troy, Wonder Girl even her mother Hipployta, Every time the dark ring would beat Diana and she would kill or hurt her family.  The final chance to save Diana brought about a lot of controversy.

 Bruce Wayne! I love how the changes in her costume reflects the conflict that she has in her soul.  She is both Wonder Woman and Black Lantern Wonder Woman. The kiss of Batman brings about the Violet ring in the upper corner. This kiss caused many, many topics on boards in almost every comic website out there. I myself have no problem with this expression of her love for Bruce Wayne.  In the Justice League cartoon, her second volume of comic books, there has always been a hint of the relationship that could be between Bruce and Diana.

That love for Bruce allowed the Violet ring to finally make that connection of love inside Diana.  Here we have Aphrodite explaining to Diana that the Gods themselves could not let Diana fall victim to the darkness of the Black ring. She is a Warrior, Amazon, and champion,  That she has the greatest love and light inside her that anyone has ever seen. With the acceptance of that love, the Violet ring frees Diana from the dark bond of the black ring.

Diana becomes a Star Sapphire. Wielding the power of love, the Violet ring transforms her costume and her power. Though this change is only good for 24 hours, I am very excited to see what Wonder Woman will do with this new advantage!