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! 

Blackest Night : Wonder Woman #1

In the Blackest Night series, DC decided to actually spotlight some heroes in their own mini-series.

Wonder Woman's is written by fan Favorite Greg Rucka and drawn by Nicola Scott.  I am not very familiar with Greg Rucka's past run on Wonder Woman so I went into these issues a new fan.  I fortunately was familiar with Nicola Scott.  She is my favorite artist that has taken on Diana.  Her Wonder Woman is strong, feminine, gorgeous and amazing. 

 Blackest Night Wonder Woman #1

I was really excited to get Wonder Woman's perspective on the Blackest Night events.  I felt that it was a great choice to bring in the villain that she murdered on national television, Max Lord.  I was not reading Wonder Woman when this event took place.  In Volume 2 of her comic, Max Lord had taken control of Superman's mind and was using him in his plot to take over the world and the only way to end his control was to kill him.  Diana felt that she needed to do this to help her friend and save the world.  So she wrapped her lasso around him and broke Max Lords neck.

In Blackest Night, Max Lord is given a Black Ring which raises him from the dead. He is driven to find the person that took his life. Wonder Woman.  In this first issue, he is calling Diana to him. Knowing that she will do anything to stop his madness.

This image shows how much Diana has lost and sacrificed in her choice to protect man's world.  In her many tales she has lost her mother, her friend Bruce Wayne, her sister Donna, her sister Amazons and still she chooses to fight for peace.  This is one of the many reasons that I love her.

Once again, without even a hint of regret, Wonder Woman makes the choice to kill Max Lord. Ending his control on the men guarding the cemetery. I love this image, not the beheading of Max Lord, but the beauty of Diana's face and how she is not even looking at him as she ends him. Her removal of emotion shows that she will do what needs to be done, despite how it may look to the outside world. She is a warrior and sometimes that means doing what others cannot do.  His demise is only short lived, since he is already dead he just heals himself back together and comes after Diana. She grabs the rope around his neck and takes him into the air.

Max Lord has her inside the cemetery in Washington DC with all the graves of the fallen soldiers. A place that I thought was very fitting. These men and woman left their homes and families to protect freedom and peace. A choice that Diana knows very well.  Max used his ability to control minds and he raised the soldiers making Diana fight the very people that she admires.

Like I mentioned, I am in love with Nicola Scott's portrayal of Wonder Woman.  She captures so much in Diana.  She makes the Amazon Princess regal, graceful and gives her a sense of quiet strength.  I love how she draws Wonder Woman's costume.  Many artists tend to make her costume more revealing then they need too.  From giving her a star spangled thong, to giving her barely enough coverage on her chest.  Nicola draws the costume exactly as it should look.  It is still traditional and iconic. She makes you believe that someone would actually wear it.  

I really enjoyed the writing in this issue. I felt that Greg Rucka really gave Diana a voice of passion, peace and duty.  He knew that she had a mission to stop Max and to make sure that he would not dishonor these soldiers. In this panel she uses her lasso and gives all these men and woman the needed peace that they deserved. I loved how she was able to defeat them, but still give them the honor they deserved.

This first issue definitely was a very strong lead into what I know will be a changing story for Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman book

THE ESSENTIAL WONDER WOMAN ENCYCLOPEDIA 

 From A to Z, this comprehensive, fully illustrated sourcebook contains everything you ever wanted to know about Wonder Woman - the first updated encyclopedia devoted to the amazing Amazon Princess in more than 30 years! 496 Pages.

Here is the cover to the Hardcover Preview Edition. This hardcover edition is limited to 1,500 copies. I am totally in love with this cover!  I love her smile, her hair, the colors!  I ordered my copy of this hardcover and I cannot wait till April!!

And here is the cover to the regular Paperback edition.

Which one do you prefer??

 

Review : Blackest Night #6

The DC Universe is having an event known as "Blackest Night". The event is bringing together all of the Heroes in the universe. Some of you are aware of the Green Lantern books, some of you are not. I will try to explain this short and sweet. The Green Lantern Corps are essentially police for the universe. The help promote peace while using the power of Green Lantern rings. Recently in the Green Lantern story they have come to realize that there is a color spectrum of lantern rings. Each color is tied to an emotion. Red= Rage, Orange = Avarice, Yellow = Fear, Green = Will, Blue = Hope, Indigo = Compassion and Violet = Love.

Because of this War of Light, it has brought forth a new ring. Black = Death. These Black Lantern rings help bring back heroes that have died throughout the DC Universe. We are talking Zombie Heroes! These Black Lanterns are feeding off the other colors of emotions. In Blackest Night #5 the black rings infected all the superheroes that have been resurrected. Wonder Woman being one of these heroes.

Blackest Night #6, starts out with most of the Justice League being infected with the Black Lantern Rings. With Green Lantern and the Flash trying to stop the black ring from infecting them. The Flash grabs onto the Green Lantern and with his super speed goes into the future two seconds and breaks the connection to the black rings.

This only infuriates the infected League and they start to fight the Green Lantern and the Flash. Mera (Aquamans Wife) has been a central figure in the Blackest Night run. She and the Atom are hiding inside a black ring. The Atom decides that it is time to jump out of the black ring and help to fight with Green Lantern and Flash. Mera and Atom discover that the ring they were hiding in was none other then the Amazon herself, Wonder Woman's.




Each color of the Lantern Spectrum has an avatar, a character that is central in representing that specific corps. They realize that they alone cannot fight the growing Black Lantern Corps.  The old guardians of the Lantern rings admit that though each wield a different light, the rings are based in the same technology. In the shadow of blackest night, the rings are capable of deputizing as individual for twenty - four hours. The rings replicate themselves and go in search of those who are worthy and represent the colors and emotions the best. 
The Violet color goes in search for Wonder Woman. It states that no one loves the world as much as Wonder Woman. The problem is that Wonder Woman is already being controlled by a Black Lantern ring.  THrough love, the connection of the black ring is severed and she is welcomed into the Star Sapphires. 

Together with the other deputized heroes they are ready to help defeat the growing threat of the Black Lanterns.

I really loved this issue. Not only because it showed how powerful Wonder Woman was, but it showed that everyone has the ablility to change and take control of a bad situation.  I love Ivan Reis art and the writing of Geoff Johns is fluid and strong.

Introduction

Here is my first post. This weekend I will post my first comic review. This blog is going to be a goal for me this year. I want a central location where people can share, read, enjoy my love of Wonder Woman. I hope you enjoy the journey.