Comments on: Wonder Woman Book Coming!

By: Wonder Woman Companion Cancelled » Comics Worth Reading

Wonder Woman Companion Cancelled » Comics Worth Reading — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:38:34 +0000

[...] couple of months ago, I was excited to hear about TwoMorrows’ Wonder Woman Companion by Andy Mangels. Now, I’ve noticed that it’s been cancelled: WONDER WOMAN COMPANION [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:41:56 +0000

The Daniels book was officially licensed from DC. The TwoMorrows book will likely just be approved by them. I’m not sure how significant that is.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:39:48 +0000

How is this book different from the Lee Daniels book, Wonder Woman: The Complete History? Which was, btw, terrific.

By: Evie

Evie — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:38:17 +0000

This looks lovely… and the cover art is so classy, no big block letters and such that are on the cover of every comics-related book ever.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:25:57 +0000

The difference I see there? Superman and Batman have movies, the others don’t.

By: Kelson

Kelson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:13:06 +0000

Most of TwoMorrows’ other Companion books just use the names of the characters, though: The Flash Companion, The Hawkman Companion, The Blue Beetle Companion, The Titans Companion, The Legion Companion, etc.

So whatever the reason they used the Krypton and Batcave names, it must be specific to Superman and Batman.

By: Nat Gertler

Nat Gertler — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:40:04 +0000

“At the risk of sounding naive, why do Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman Companions sound “gayish”?”

“Companion” has oft been used as a somewhat obscured reference to someone’s gay partner. Used to be if you saw a reference to a “longtime companion” in an obituary, that’s what they meant. (Longtime relations of the opposite sex could be referred to as boyfriend/girlfriend/romantic interest/whatever.)

Add that to the gay overtones some people see in the superhero genre in general and particularly Batman and Robin in specific, and there ya go.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:58:11 +0000

To see Olive Byrne, you want the just-released DC Vault (review coming soon), which has a picture of her. And yes, they don't seem to shy away from Marston's personal eccentricities, at least in that volume.

By: Guy Smiley

Guy Smiley — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:40:32 +0000

Since the Perez relaunch, I’ve been a big WW fan. Not thrilled with the current relaunch, in terms of the new status quo, but think Gail Simone is doing a very good job in that environment. If this book doesn’t flinch from Marston’s unusual personal side,* and seems to present a thoughtful treatment of the last 20 years’ ups and downs, I’ll definitely buy the thing, whereas Superman and Batman companions just … do not hit me where my wallet lives.

And yeah, nice cover.

* Something I’ve always wanted to see in a history of WW — apparently the Marstons’ “companion” (that word again, with all its alleged overtones), Olive Byrne, was the visual inspiration for Diana, yet I’ve never seen a picture, and I can’t help but be curious. Be nice if this book delivers that little historical detail …

By: Dave Rose

Dave Rose — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:26:54 +0000

At the risk of sounding naive, why do Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman Companions sound “gayish”?

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:10:04 +0000

I always thought DC prohibited them from using the names Superman and Batman, and this was a compromise, but Nat’s explanation has an odd ring of plausibility.

By: Dave Rose

Dave Rose — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:10:00 +0000

True, I’d like to buy just the cover. :)

By: Dwight Williams

Dwight Williams — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:34:41 +0000

That said, good choice for cover art.

By: Dwight Williams

Dwight Williams — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:33:50 +0000

Except that purists of the modern sort would be pushing for the “Themyscira Companion”. And how many of the North American anglophone general public know how to pronounce “Themyscira”, regardless of their IQ levels? I’m not exactly an idiot, and I’m still not sure myself!

By: Nat Gertler

Nat Gertler — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:09:01 +0000

I’m split between the “Paradise Island isn’t known” explanation that Dave gives, and “Batman Companion and Superman Companion sound like male-gayness, and that’s bad in the market, but Wonder Woman companion sounds like female-gayness, and that ain’t so bad.”

By: Dave Rose

Dave Rose — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:02:51 +0000

I think more potential readers have heard of Krypton and the Batcave than of Paradise Island.

Although I agree it would be a good idea to maintain the theme begun with the titles of the first two books.