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Wonder Woman (2016)

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For the YMMV page for the Wonder Woman franchise at large see YMMV/Wonder Woman.


  • Ass Pull: While most of the criticism for Robinson's run focused on Jason, the results of Steve Trevor leading the Oddfellows - Sameer, Charlie and Chief from the movie - against the Female Furies drew a lot of attention. Since the Female Furies are Physical God warriors with enough skill and power to challenge Superman, and the Oddfellows were ordinary humans with rifles, readers were unsatisfied with the outcome: the Furies lost, off-panel, without explanation of how such an upset occurred.
  • Audience-Alienating Era: Shea Fontana's run, which was considered So Okay, It's Average at its very best. Unlike Rucka, who managed to balance sentiment, drama and plot, Fontana's run is pretty much only interested in disconnected sentimental moments, such as random scenes with a child Diana that contribute nothing to the plot, while the plot is riddled with holes and unanswered questions and the drama is lacking when it's even there. The only thing people seem to like is that Fontana brought back Etta Candy, though even that is a bit divisive as some think it weakens the impact of Rucka's ending.
  • Awesome Art - The two main artists on Rucka's run, Liam Sharp on "The Lies"/"The Truth" and Nicola Scott on "Year One", were some of the most praised parts of his run.
  • Broken Base:
    • Fans of the New 52 Wonder Woman hate this series because they view it as completely destroying Wonder Woman's New 52 characterization while demonizing everything associated with it, such as her relationship with Superman. Fans of any and every previous Wonder Woman series before the New 52 run are more likely to see this volume as a breath of fresh air for salvaging Wonder Woman's backstory and character after being made needlessly dark and edgy during the New 52. And then there are some who thought that the saga written by Brian Azzarello had run its course, and subsequently ruined by the Finches in The New 52, and that Rucka rebuilding the lore is a welcome sight.
    • James Robinson's run has proven very divisive. Some like the incorporation of the Greek gods and Fourth World elements, and also that the run tackles the lingering plot threads from Geoff Johns' Justice League run. Others dislike how it restores the New 52 origin for Diana, the addition of Jason who is viewed as The Scrappy, Robinson's characterisation of Diana as overly aggressive, and the shunting away of the previous supporting cast.
    • Donna Troy's handling following the end of the New 52 volume was further broken after it turned out DC kept her "clay golem" origin despite erasing the New 52 Amazons by revealing them to be illusions meant to trick Diana. While the beginning of Titans (2016) implied Donna was regaining her actual memories like Diana did, the harsh snap back confirmation she was still the clay version infuriated readers. Both due to how reviled that take was for turning Donna into an Empty Shell psychopath, and because it didn't make sense as to how Donna could still exist if the Amazons who made her weren't real. The base has remained broken even years later in light of the rest of the Post-Crisis DCU's history being restored. Camps are divided up into people who are fine with ignoring the New 52 take as Rebirth did to avoid making Donna's history more convoluted, those who argue DC should've just erased her years ago when they had the chance to bring the real Donna back alongside the other Amazons, and those who interpret it as the New 52!Donna having been erased off panel with the real deal stepping in. What really doesn't help is that Darkseid's daughter Grail still exists too, despite that her own mother was one of the fake Amazons.
    • Doomsday Clock, another crossover book, explains away some of the lingering volume 4 plot and characterizations. The events of the New 52 run weren't merely illusions, but actual events that happened on "Earth 52" that volume 5 Wonder Woman and her support cast experienced memories of whenever they tried reaching/returning to Themyscira. Among the things this still doesn't explain are Grail and Jason's presence on the Post Rebirth Prime Earth, and not everyone wants one. Some just want the two characters gone. Grail's return in volume 6 proved she still had some fans, even with the continued lack of explanation for her presence.
  • Funny Moments: In Wonder Woman # 750, Hippolyta gets Wonder Woman to come back to Paradise Island to help her fight a hydra. And then lovingly nags her while they are fighting it to the death.
    Hippolyta: We haven't seen you in ages. Why don't you visit more? Are you eating enough? You look thin.
    Diana: Um...
    Hippolyta: When will you return home for good, Dianaki? I don't trust that metal-and-glass city you live in.
    Diana: Mother! This is a battle!
    Hippolyta: Are you close to vanquishing evil in Man's World?
    Diana: Hrah!
    Hippolyta: What share of global evil would you say you have vanquished at this point? Have you considered a hearthmate yet? I would very much like to see you paired with a fine, strong woman. Or man. It's not my place to judge!
    Diana: Agh!
    Hippolyta: How can you stand taking counsel with those "League" ruffians? That lantern fellow? Ugh! And the bossy one with the bat ears?
    Diana: Mother...
    Hippolyta: Do you ever wear those robes I sent you? That armor you wear is clearly difficult to keep clean...
    Diana: Mother!
  • It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: James Robinson's run has gained this reaction from fans, particularly as Gregg Rucka's run on the book undid several New 52 additions to Diana's history that weren't favorably received by fans in favor of her more "classic" history. Robinson's run confirms that the New 52 changes still have some canonicity, drawing similar complaints to New 52 readers of altering Wonder Woman's known history in non-satisfactory ways.
  • Mis-blamed: James Robinson was fully aware Diana's long lost brother Jason and the sudden use of volume 4 elements like Grail, and Diana once again being the daughter of Zeus, were breaking the plot established in volume 5. He was not happy about it. Whatever other criticisms one has of his run, the Zeus-Darkseid-Grail-Jason Spotlight-Stealing Squad was not his idea, and the man himself claims he would have found a way to better implement them if he had more time to think about it. Most fans didn't know this until five years after the fact, however, and directed their displeasure at Robinson, when more "credit" should have been given to Geoff Johns, DC Chief Creative Officer, and writer with a long track record of undermining the plots of Wonder Woman volumes with his Teen Titans and Justice League runs. To be fair to Johns, some of the plot holes he was creating were going to be explained in Doomsday Clock, but Schedule Slip ensured this came too late for Robinson. Despite his pull and reputation, it's also possible Johns might have been influenced by someone else even less visible to fans reading the Wonder Woman book, this time, but Occam's Razor ensured most ire towards Robinson shifted to Johns.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Cale forcing Barbara-Ann to willingly become the Cheetah again.
  • The Scrappy: Wonder Woman's twin brother Jason, first alluded to during Geoff Johns' run on Justice League, has steadily become one for readers ever since his proper introduction in "Children of the Gods." His first strike was being a Call-Back to the New 52 Wonder Woman volume after Greg Rucka spent his entire run undoing that version of the character's history, and that his existence solidifies Diana being Zeus' daughter. Every complaint after that is how he formed a Spotlight-Stealing Squad with Grail and Darkseid, coupled with inconsistent characterization and how hard he's being forced into a prominent space in Diana's life at the expense of the rest of her supporting cast. None of this is helped by how utterly boring he's perceived by the readers, and how inconsistent his character is, with his one defining trait seeming to be his entitlement. Some even view him as a Replacement Scrappy for Nubia, Diana's original twin sister from the Pre-Crisis era. Defenders of Jason will point out a version of Nubia still exists, having been brought back Post Rebirth before Jason's introduction, but detractors will reemphasize Jason's spotlight stealing status. Following DC Infinite Frontier, Jason would fade into the background, while Nubia would become more prominent due to her "Real One" Elseworld book selling better than expected.
  • So Okay, It's Average: G. Willow Wilson and Mariko Tamaki's runs are considered improvements from Robinson, but not particularly spectacular.
  • Tear Jerker:
    • Barbara-Ann being forced to become the Cheetah again. After all the crap she went through, she finally gets freed, and then has to give it all up again to try and save her friends. And the transformation? It's not pleasant.
    • Everything Veronica Cale did? She did it to save her daughter whose soul was stolen by Deimos and Phobos, and was forced to find Thermyscira if she wants to make her daughter whole again. Even when she has Circe trap Deimos and Phobos in the bodies of dogs, in an attempt to get back at them and get out of the deal, she finds out that her daughter's soul is at Thermyscira, which means she still has to find it, and Circe wants no part of that since the island if adjacent to the prison of Ares, god of war. When Veronica finally reunites with her daughter, she finds out that she can never be truly with her daughter again, as if her daughter returns to the real world, she will become splintered again. If she wants to stay whole, her daughter needs to stay in Thermayscira. Cale might be considered a unrepentant woman to many, particular those she hurt, swindled and coerced into her schemes, but the fact that all of this started just because she just desperately wanted to be with her daughter again is just sad.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: While Greg Rucka's run was highly acclaimed for cleaning up the mess the New 52 did to Wonder Woman's backstory, a small portion of fans were disappointed he didn't include Donna Troy and Cassandra Sandsmark in the clean up. Like Diana, Donna and Cassie had their backstories suffer majorly during the New 52, with Donna turned into a clay golem created by an Amazon witch to usurp Diana, while Cassie was now Zeus's granddaughter and her father Lennox, one of his half-human bastards. While Donna received a passing mention as Diana briefly recalled the events of the New 52 run, later books revealed Donna and Cassie somehow still had their origins remain unchanged despite that it made no sense as to how either of them could still exist when the people who created/birthed them (Derinoe who created Donna, Lennox who was Cassie's dad) were illusions. Their new 52 backstories finally started getting walked back during DC Infinite Frontier, if frustratingly slowly, until Doomsday Clock flat out stated New 52 is an Alternate Universe from the DC Rebirth/Infinite Frontier setting, and that anyone's New 52 memories are false implants. Still, the Dawn of DC includes occasional, nonsensical New 52 nods due to Tom King's misunderstanding of or apathy to continuity.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot
    • Armageddon was a villain who was driven off, fought for the losing side, but never really got decisively defeated personally. Devastation was a potentially interesting antagonist overshadowed by some questionable writing choices that had little to do with her personally. Genocide was a villain who basically served her purpose and had a satisfying defeat, but might have been interesting to see retooled for a new story. This volume was full of all sorts of interesting opportunities for writer using any of the three, and a plot where all three come together under Paula von Gunther to crush Wonder Woman and Themyscira looked promising. Paula was the only character sufficiently built up and fleshed out of the four, basically wasting three sub plots within a plot. The Villain Team-Up proved pretty underwhelming compared to Genocide's Pre Flashpoint outings as well. That it hinged around Donna Troy being an anti Wonder Woman weapon, a plot point many readers wanted left in volume 4, just made it worse. Not much alteration would be needed for this to have been a great plot for volume 4, however.
    • A commonly but rarely deeply explored theme of Wonder Woman comic books is that of unjust authorities trying to make their would be subjects less than they could be or even actually are. Wonder Woman's Mind Manipulation induced False Memories at the start of this volume are good example of them theme coming up again only to be pretty surface level, and the reveal of Jason, a powerful demigod encouraged to remain in hiding, is a good chance to observe how both his caretakers and the Olympians who messed with Diana's mind had good if misguided intentions. Instead the book focuses on reestablishing a bunch of things from the New 52 run that no longer make sense in the context of and often contradict the Rebirth continuity.
  • Tough Act to Follow: After Greg Rucka's highly praised, premiering run and following the success of the 2017 movie, much was expected from James Robinson when he became the book's new writer. The quality of his run was considered inferior to that of Rucka's, but some of the initial criticism might be related to the fact that the new creative team for the book was expected to be female. His subsequent story beats, which consisted of bringing disliked New 52 elements back into continuity, did not help matters.
  • Win Back the Crowd: Greg Rucka's original Rebirth run got a great deal of praise for jettisoning the more controversial elements of the New 52.
  • The Woobie: Barbara-Ann. Sweet Athena, Barbara-Ann. Ignored by her utter Jerkass of a dad, and criticised by him when he is there, ignored and belittled in her adult life despite being damn good at what she does, she makes friends with Diana, and is then cursed into being a cat-person who constantly hungers for human flesh in an act of petty spite, turning her against her friend, twice.

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