Countdown to Superman: The DCEU and the Snyderverse

 As I wrap my coverage of the Superman movies, I want to take an aside and talk about DC's first big-screen attempt at an extended universe. Called the DC Extended Universe, or more often, the Snyderverse, this era produced some fun, some good, and some terrible movies. 

Suicide Squad (2016)

While not a great movie, it is fun one. It introduces us to Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, one of many perfect castings in the DCEU, and featured one of my favorite characters, Enchantress. Don't go into this movie looking anything but comic book action and plot. I mean one of my favorite scenes is when Harley sees her old Harlequin costume in her box of things and gets all excited about it. Ok, the scene where El Diablo fights Incubus is also pretty cool.  

Wonder Woman (2017)

Honestly, this movie is a masterpiece and is easily in my top-5 superhero movies of all time. Patty Jenkins was great as the director, and Gal Gadot WAS Wonder Woman. She had huge boots to fill from Lynda Carter, and she did it. She gave us a Wonder Woman who is strong and powerful without loosing a gram of femininity; exactly like she should be from the comics. I know the family of William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator, was thrilled with it. This one might be the best movie in all the DCEU.

Sadly, Wonder Woman 1984 just could not live up to its predecessor's heights.

Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Both of these were fun and were excuses for Jason Momoa to give us his brand of Arthur Curry. They are also fun, but fall just short of great, really, with the 2018 movie being a bit better.

Shazam! (2019), Black Adam (2022), and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

Shazam, aka Captain Marvel, "the Big Red Cheese" is a difficult character to get right. He is a kid in the form of a god really. Zachary Levi did a great job of this in the 2019 and 2023 movies and Shazam! was a really good flick. You have to be a fan of the character though I think. Kudos for the cameo of Michael Gray from old Filmation Saturday Morning Shazam! series. The 2023 movie also has Wonder Woman in the end.

Black Adam was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's dream gig in the DC Universe. So much so he was a producer on all three movies. As expected it is darker than either Shazam movie. Nice post credits scene with Amanda Waller and Superman at the end. 

They are not great movies, but fun ones.

The Flash (2023)

Pity the poor Flash. It might go down as the movie that killed the DCEU. It didn't, but it certainly didn't help. 

Let's talk about what is good. LOVED seeing Michael Keaton back as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Wonderful, worth the price of the movie. As janky as it was, the Flash running through the Multiverse and seeing ALL the old Supermen, especially Christopher Reeve and Helen Slater, standing side by side as Superman and Supergirl was amazing. Even the Arrorow-verse, which the DCEU always seemed to ignore as an annoying kid brother, gets a nod. Though it does it in a way that shows they are either ignorant of the characters (most likely) or are being purposely disrespectful. NICHOLAS FREAKING CAGE as Superman with a mullet fighting a Thanagarian Snare Beast! If you are a DC fan, you know what this means, so while I would like to give them a pass on being ignorant on the CW-DCU (Arrow-verse) this shows they did know the deep lore. So maybe they were not allowed to use any Arrow-verse characters as their Arrow-verse character...DC does some strange things at times.  The end with the big "Batman twist" is fun. BUT it was also a sign that they knew the DCEU was ending. 

Now the bad. Erza Miller turned into a bit of a dumpster fire. I mean, he was kinda fun, but never really right as Barry Allen. Plus, we had a GREAT Barry Allen. Grant Justin was amazing. The script is a bit of a mess. Though the Flash having the Flash as the big bad does fit with the comics. Sasha Calle was great as Supergirl, but we never got to see enough of her, and she was gone before we could know her. 

There were other movies. Blue Beetle was fun. There was a soft-reboot, sorta-, sorta-not of The Suicide Squad. I enjoyed the Birds of Prey movie, even if most didn't.

There were some fun times here, but by and large they did not measure up to the successes or the storytelling of the Marvelverse. Trust me, as a DC fan, those are hard words to write. 

I am hopeful for the new James Gunn helmed DC Studios and the new Superman and DCU. Does this include the newer Batman movie? I don't know really. 

Countdown to Superman: Justice League (2017, 2021)

 Now, here we are at what should have been the crowning achievement of not just the DCEU/Snyderverse, but also of DC comic movies.  The freaking Justice League. The ultimate in superhero team-ups, the royal family, as it were. 

Sadly, real life plagued this production, and director Zack Snyder had to leave the production due to the death of his daughter. So, a replacement was brought in. I mean, on paper, it sounds fine. Bring in the guy who had a successful run of genre TV shows and who directed the Avengers movie (you know the #2 team-up), and let him wrap up filming. Well...the problem is that the guy they brought in was Whedon. Now my own personal issue with the guy aside... no, actually not. But I'm jumping ahead of myself here.

For tonight's viewing, I want to cover the 2021 Snyder Cut of this movie. I can appreciate Superman II with both the Lester and Donner cuts. Each one is a good movie on its own with strengths and weaknesses. Each one is enjoyable and cringy in equal measure. I prefer the Donner cut, but the Lester one is still good. I can't say the same for Justice League. 

I enjoyed the 2017 Justice League, but things felt off. I knew it the moment in the interaction between Steppenwolf and the Amazons. These didn't feel like the elite warriors that took out Nazis in Wonder Woman. These were bikini-clad pulp fighting women. Was it Whedon? Was it Snyder? I don't know, but the dialog was Whedon. It was also not the only thing. We know that after Snyder left Whedon reshot a lot of the movie. He also rewrote the script. There were also allegations of abuse, racism and sexism on the set from Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman, though she shut him down), and Kiersey Clemons (Iris West, who's skin was lightened in the Whedon cut, that is where she was left in it). This opened the door for other actors to share their tales of Whedon's long-standing misconduct on set. 

I detailed his fall from grace already, so no need to go over that again. It was reassuring to hear some of my long-time critics tell me, "Wow, you were right back then."  So yeah I really can't watch the 2017 cut anymore, all I see are his attempts to "improve" the movie.

Now, I am not a big Snyder fan boy, but I do think the 2021 cut is superior. It explains things better, the pacing is better, and the character development is much better. 

There is only ONE thing in the 2017 cut that I enjoyed that is not in (nor would it fit in) the 2021. After defeating Steppenwolf Cyborg says "Boo-ya" as a nod to the Teen Titans show. I am sure Whedon's kid watched it, he is the same age as my kids and they loved that show. So did I. 

Oh, yeah, the plot.

Ok, Superman is dead, even though it looked like he might come back to life at the end of BvS. Bruce is feeling guilty and perceives a new threat. So he is gathering up a team of super-powered people, Meta-Humans, to help. Ok, kudos to writers Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder for having Batman build the league. That is a new one and it works here with Bat-Fleck. We get the Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg.

In the 2021 cut Cyborg is our focus hero. He is the newest and in recent versions of the comic Justice League (New 52 and beyond) he is also the newest member. This was drastically reduced in the 2017 cut.  but it makes sense to have Cyborg, Victor Stone, as our way of seeing the League.

Anyway...Parademons are attacking, Motherboxes, Darkseid, Steppenwolf. All BIG THINGS you would want the League for. Steppenwolf attacks the Amazons to get the Motherbox they are guarding. Then he heads to Atlantis to get their theirs. The third Motherbox is being studied by Victor's father. 

The new League decides they need Superman back, though Diana is reluctant. They devise a plan and bring him back. In the 2017 cut they just come out and say it, in the 2021 cut it is built up more. There is more gravitas to it. More, "is this something we should be doing?" It's not quite the same as The Return of Superman in the comics, but it...no, it really doesn't make much sense in either version. I would have done it differently. But he is back, black suited (like the Return) and they are off to battle Steppenwolf and the three Motherboxes.

The ending battle is fun no doubt. Both Cyborg and Flash prove their worth to League as the youngest members. Superman and Cyborg prevent the Unity of the Motherboxes, and Diana shows how she "takes care" of her enemies. She is a warrior with a sword after all.

Watching the two side by side again (and that's six or so hours, was up till 2:30am), I am left feeling a bit worn out, to be honest. Whedon's 2017 version comes off as creepier, a little more sexist (any scene with Wonder Woman and/or the Amazons), and honestly, like he has something against Cyborg. Is that my post hoc knowledge in the way? I don't know, but I will say this for certain: the 2017 version is weaker by any measure you care to employ. 

Though I will say this, Snyder needs to figure out how to trim down his own stories. 

In the end, the differences are best summed up for me in the scene where Steppenwolf attacks the Amazons. In the 2017 cut, he is creepily referring to the Motherbox as "Mother" and telling the Amazons they will love him.  In the 2021 cut, he is threatening them with annihilation and telling the Amazons they will fear him. To which Hippolyta asks the Amazons to show him their fear and to a woman they shout, "We have no fear."

Mera pulling the water and blood out of Steppenwolf was also pretty cool too. 

I am going to say it. If there was a scene with a woman being a complete bad-ass on her own (not counting Wonder Woman) Whedon pulled the scene from the 2017 cut.

Cameos

As I mentioned before, Marc McClure, who played Jimmy Olsen in the Salkinds/Christopher Reeve Superman film series, has a brief cameo as a police officer in the 2017 version and a different police officer in the 2021 version.

Synder himself makes a cameo appearance in his cut. He is sitting in the coffee shop Lois is leaving right before she sees the resurrected Superman. 

Another "cameo" and one very close to Zack Snyder's heart, are the billboards for the AFSP, or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. His daughter committed suicide while filming this movie. He dedicated it to her in the end credits.

I know I said I'd talk about Wonder Woman today, but it is late, and my eyes are killing me. I'll have some more to say on the the other films, Wonder Woman, and the end of the DCEU later.

Countdown to Superman: Batman v Superman (2016)

Batman v Superman, subtitled The Dawn of Justice, from 2016 gives us our first real cinematic treatment of DC's Trinity; Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. All while asking the question, what would it be like to put "The Death of Superman" and "The Dark Knight Rises" on the screen at the same time? I guess it also asks the question, what would Lex Luthor be like if he were modeled on Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos? 

Some of these questions didn't need to be answered.

There is a lot to enjoy here, so lets do that first.

Ben Affleck makes for a great older "Dark Knight Returns" Batman. Gal Gadot is amazing as Wonder Woman (more on that later) and Cavil is still good as Superman.

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor? Eh...well, I at least see what they are trying to do here. It fails, but I see it.

Doomsday is under-used and wasted here. It could have been any sort of monster. Bizzaro would have been good to be honest. Plus, he doesn't even look like Doomsday. They did a much better job with him on "Smallville," and even used him as a quasi-Bizarro creature in "Superman & Lois."

Watching this right on the tail of watching Man of Steel is actually pretty good. You can see how the movie ties in better. Now I am watching my Director's Cut Blu Ray and it is a much better movie than what we got in the theatres. Even Eisenberg's Luthor comes off as a lot smarter and more evil. He is purposely winding Batman and Superman up so they go after each other. His motivation here is not some land grab, but his personal hate of Superman. And maybe a little bit of Bruce as well. While he is still annoying as Luthor, his plans at least are better.

An aside about Jeremy Irons as Alfred. In recent years Alfred has gone from a mild-mannered butler to a former SAS agent who you feel could still kick Bruce's ass if he wanted too. Well, maybe not kick his ass, but he does stand up to him. Oh. He did beat the crap out of Superman once. Anyway, Iron's Alfred is a little droll, a little caustic, and still very, very clever. You do get the feeling that he has a solid history and likely knows where a body or two is buried. 

It does make me wish we had an Affleck solo Batman movie. I know he wants nothing else to do with the role, and the Snyderverse is dead, but still, it would have been fun. Likewise I would ahve liked more  Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Thomas Wayne and Lauren Cohan as Martha Wayne. Flashbacks would have been good. Maybe Matthew Goode as young Alfred too.  But we are not even getting the Batgirl movie they finished, so there goes that idea.

All said and told, I did like this movie. It wasn't well received, and it's box office dropped the second week (a bad sign), but it was still fun despite the problems. 

Wonder Woman

Let's step aside for a moment here and talk about Wonder Woman. Honestly, has there ever been a more epic entrance of a superhero than Wonder Woman's entrance to save Batman in fight against Doomsday? The answer is, of course, no*. That swelling guitar riff of her theme song? The look on her face as she just stands there and takes his energy and then fires is back at him? 

"She with you?" "I though she was with you."

"You both are with me. And my sidekicks."

Or even later in the same battle. Batman is going to get squished, Superman has had the living crap beat out of him. Wonder Woman...is laughing. This is a true warrior in her element, fighting a foe that gives her purpose. 

Wonder Woman is the best thing about the Snyderverse, hands down. I'll talk more about this tomorrow. 

*Ok, I'll throw Marvel fans a bone here and say that Thor's entrance in Wakanda in Avengers Infinity War is pretty damn good too. But we have been wanting Wonder Woman for DECADES. I'd counter that the Thor scene above has a better analog to Wonder Woman's "No Mans Land" scene.

Cameos

Just ones from the future Justice League and Wonder Woman movies. 

Wasted Lands Playtest: Superheroes in the Dreaming Age, Part 2 The Amazon Princess

I am continuing my exploration of various superhero archetypes in the Wasted Lands.  Today's topic is the Amazon Princess. While this could be Wonder Woman or someone like Starfire, it can also be a character like Xena Warrior Princess. In truth, Xena would fit in quite well in the Dreaming Age.

This character's drive is not Vengeance (like the Dark Avenger) or even Justice (like the upcoming Paragon) but rather the most good possible.  In a lot of ways she is also an emissary of a more enlightened, but still warrior, culture.

In both the cases of Wonder Woman and Xena they have a relationship to the Gods, the Greek Gods in particular. In the Wasted Lands then she would come the same culture that the warriors Zeus and Ares come from. But godhood is not her goal.

The Amazon Princess

Class: Warrior
Level: 12
Species: Human
Alignment: Light Good
Background: Nobility

Abilities
Strength: 20 (+4) A
Agility: 18 (+3) N
Toughness: 17 (+2) N
Intelligence: 16 (+2) 
Wits: 16 (+2)
Persona: 16 (+2)

Fate Points: 10
Defense Value: Studded Leather (7)
Vitality: 60 (d8)
Degeneracy: None
Corruption: None

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +5/+3/+2
Melee Bonus: +4 (base)
Ranged Bonus: +3 (base)
Saves: +4 to all saves

Warrior Skills

Combat Expertise, Improved Defense, Increased Damage, Melee Combat, Master of Battle (90%), Ranged Combat, Spell Resistance (36%), Supernatural Attacks (Melee), Tracking, Extra Attack (x4)

Improve Defense: -4

Stealth Skills

• Open Locks: 15%
• Bypass Traps: 10%
• Sleight of Hand: 20%
• Sneak: 20%
• Climbing: 70%

Danger Sense 1-3 (d6)
Perception: 40%
Vital Stike: x2 damage +4 to attack

Superhero (Divine) Archetype: Justice, Truth

Divine Touchstones
Level 1: Unique mode of Defence, -1 vs. Missile attacks
Level 2: +1 to combat rolls
Level 3: Charm humans
Level 4: Increased Ability Score (agility +2)
Level 5: Level 1 of Renegade
Level 6: Unique mode of Attack (lasso) +1 and Detect Lie
Level 7: Ceases to Age (Natural)
Level 8: Divine Aura
Level 9: Signature Item, Lasso.
Level 10: Half Damage from Mundane slashing
Level 11: Transporation mode: Fly
Level 12: Restore Corruption

The Divine Touchstones are really what separated the normal people from the heroes and the heroes from the legends.

This one works out quite nicely, I think!

Please check out and back the Wasted Lands Kickstarter.

Justice for Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition

Since I started reading over Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition I have wanted to come back to one of my favorite characters, Astra Kal-El, aka Justice.
I introduced Justice waaay back in 2011 as the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman. She was inspired by my favorite comic Kingdom Come where Superman and Wonder Woman eventually have children after the death of Lois.

Astra was raised by the Amazons but sent to be fostered by Bruce Wayne where she learns to be the superhero Justice.

Justice by Jacob Blackmon

Justice

HERO
Edge 10
Health 9
Resolve 4
Hero Points 125

ABILITIES
Agility 6d
Intellect 4d
Might 9d
Perception 4d
Toughness 9d
Willpower 3d

TALENTS
Academics 4d (Law, Political Science)
Charm 3d
Command 3d
Covert 4d
Investigation 4d
Medicine 2d
Professional 3d
Science 4d
Streetwise 5d
Survival 4d
Technology 3d
Vehicles 2d

POWERS
Heat Vision (Blast 3)
Blind Fighting (3)
Flight (9)
Hyper-breath (3)
Resistance (6 ranks)
Super-Senses (Analytic Vision, Enhanced Vision, Telescopic Vision, Thermal Visions)

PERKS
Contacts 2
Patron (Bruce Wayne)
Resources 2
Wealth

FLAWS
Alter Ego (Astra Kent, Justice Studies graduate student at Gotham University)
Code Conduct (will not use her heat vision anymore)
Enemy (Iron Maiden, The Refrigerator)

GEAR
Superhero outfit

DESCRIPTION
Age: 24
Sex: Female
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue

MOTIVATION
Justice

CONNECTIONS
Bruce Wayne, Foster father
Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, Mother
Barbara Gordon, Mentor

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Wonder Woman Wednesday

It's Wednesday so that means Wonder Woman!
I have to admit when I first read Mysteries of the Hollow Earth I wanted to try out an Amazonian character.  Specifically a Themysciran style Amazon.

Wonder Woman here is going to be ridiculously powerful.  Maybe even to the point of breaking the system, but she is worth it. I am largely basing this on the Amazonia version of Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman

Archetype: Warrior
Motivation: Justice

Health: 20
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 12
Dexterity 10
Strength 12
Charisma 8
Intelligence 6
Willpower 8

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 22
Perception: 14
Initiative:  16
Defense: 22
Stun: 12

Skills (levels only)
Archery 15
Athletics 10
Brawl 12
Investigation 5
Medicine 4
Melee 12
 - Sword
 - Lasso
Stealth 7
Streetwise 4
Survival 4
Warfare 6

Talents
Agile
Attractive
Danger Sense
Keen Senses
Strong

Resources
Contacts (the Justice League) 5

Flaws
Obsession (justice)

Justice is Blind, Issue 6: Villains & Vigilantes

Today is the Heroes & Villains Blogfest  hosted by Jackie and Dani.  This is Part 2 of my post for that, Part 1 was posted earlier today.
http://danibertrand.blogspot.com/2013/06/heroes-villains-blogfest.html

I want to continue talking about Villains & Vigilantes I thought it would be interesting to bring back my superhero character Justice and introduce her new arch nemesis.

To bring everyone up to speed Justice is a character I created for the Mutants & Masterminds RPG for a game we were going to play that day.  Her real name is Astra Ka-el, aka Astra Kent and she is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman.  I based her off the last few pages of the comic Kingdom Come, which deals with the superheroes we know in about 20 or so years.  I won't spoil it all for you. Read it, it is fantastic (or watch this fan made trailer). But one of the futures they point to is the possibility of Superman and Wonder Woman having a daughter.  You can read the back story I did for her in "Issue 1: Justice is Blind".  The last time we saw Justice was Issue 5. In Issue 6 I wanted her to go to London where she could potentially run into the legendary, but retired, Acrobatic Flea.  This serves a number of purposes. It gets her to England to meet her new arch-nemesis, it ties in Villains & Vigilantes and it gives a shout out to +Tim Knight (the Flea himself!)  who has been wanting me to do more with V&V forever.

So I introduced my hero.  Here is my villain.

Maggie "Mags" Shaw nee O'Neill aka "The Iron Maiden"
Maggie O'Neill was a plain, if brilliant girl, who lived in one of the poorest areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Maggie hated being poor, she hate being scared all the time (the Troubles were at their height) and she wanted nothing more than to get away.  To her that mean London.  After a car bomb destroyed the bus she was supposed to get on for school that morning (no one was killed) she had haad enough. At age 14 she ran away from home and made her way to London a couple of months later.  The education she had on the road was a hard one, and it hardened her.  When she got to London she was "discovered" by a talent scout looking for young, and maybe disposable, girls for modeling. Mags, as she called herself now, quickly turned a would-be tragic situation to one where she was on the cover of every fashion magazine by 16 and a national and tabloid celebrity by 18.  She used her keen intellect, charisma and complete lack of moral center to get to the top of the heap.  Her looks, while plain as a child, transformed her into "The Face of London".  Her name even became so synonymous with magazine covers that people thought it was a play on words.
In her 20s her career took a dip when she tried acting and was terrible.  Same with pop songs. She quietly completed degrees in mathematics, engineering and robotics while people suspected she was out partying.
At 24 she stunned the world when she married multinational billionaire Halloran Shaw, depiste being nearly 40 years younger.  She took a keen interest in his business and became a full partner and soon rose (by much of the same combination of lack of ethics and keen intelligence) to a position of VP and a seat on the board.  Her enemies begrudged her polished public image and despised her ruthless private one.  When Shaw died he left everything to her including controlling stock in his company, locking out his own grown children.
Mags would have had it all had it not been for a PR stunt gone tragic.
Shaw International was responsible for making high capacity batteries for cell phones and small electronics.  Their factories though were located in India and were the worse sort of sweat shops.  Thousands, cramped into small spaces to build batteries with caustic chemicals.  Ventilation was poor, and deaths were common, but as they were the only employer for hundreds of kilometers she had all the workers she could want.  Protest groups caught news of this and were making a stink.  Mags herself went to the factory to hold a press conference. Most of the employees where cleared out (with out pay) so tours could be given.
In the midst of this pr stunt the factory exploded.   The death toll was high, but would have been much higher had it not been for Justice, who had been near by and heard the explosion with her super hearing.
One person though she didn't save, because she didn't know, was Mags.  Mags watched and Justice saved all these people, while she was pinned under tons of rubble while chemicals and fire burned her skin.
Mags was found, alive, but the damage was too great.  For a year she was in the hospital. She lost her legs, an arm, part of her face, some the fingers on her other hand.  She eventually recovered, but swore she would have her revenge.  The news (thanks to a healthy pay off) made the claim that eco-terrorists caused the explosion, so popular opinion was for the "poor woman" who had "lost everything".
Secretly Mags has built herself a suit of armor that not only keeps her alive, but also enhances all her physical stats.  She has been using it to steal what she can't buy or make herself.  She has killed and seems likely to do so again.  Though no one suspects that the armored thief the tabloids call The Iron Maiden is really Mags Shaw.  And no one know that she is building a weapon to kill Justice!

Here they are in their Villains & Vigilantes glory.  Justice and her arch nemesis The Iron Maiden!

There might be errors here.  It has been years since I played V&V.

See more posts here:

Zatannurday: World's Finest

This image is floating around the various game blogs this week.
It comes from Kyle Latino and it is pretty cool.

http://kylelatino.deviantart.com/#/d5t9pg6

All my favorite DC characters playing a game of D&D.  And to further make this more about me (!!) I also worked at Pizza Hut in college.  The Mt. Dews are a nice touch.

Kyle has a lot of cool stuff on his Deviant Art page and his own webcomic.

So what characters do you think everyone is playing?
I'd like to think Zee would try out something like a Barbarian like Dresden did when he played "D&D" in the books.  Batgirl plays the cleric, Black Canary plays the Wizard (to irritate Zee) and Hawkgirl plays the thief, but she is not enjoying it as much as she might like.

He also a cute retro Zatanna.


Zatanna by ~kylelatino on deviantART

Stop by his DeviantArt page and comic and have a look!

Zatannurday: MachSabre Superwomen

One of my favorite artists is MachSabre, aka David Reynolds.

Long time readers here might recognize the name or at least his art.  David was one of the two Davids of the ShadowGirls fame and I have featured his art here many times.  I am doing that again today. Mostly because I like his art and Dave loves Supergirls.

So to celebrate the announcement that David is part of a new comic, Shadow of the Black Banshee, here are some of my favorite pieces, featuring of course Zatanna.


Zatanna by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Raven by ~MachSabre on deviantART


The Scarlet Witch by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Ms. Marvel vs. Power Girl by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Hawkgirl by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Kim Possible 02 by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Last Daughter of Atlantis by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Starfire by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Wonder Woman by ~MachSabre on deviantART


Wonder Spin by ~MachSabre on deviantART

This one of all the Batgirls was my desktop bitmap forever.

Chiropteras by ~MachSabre on deviantART

And of course you have all seen this one,


Commission - Tara and Willow by ~MachSabre on deviantART

But imagine my surprise when I found this one!


Willow and Tara Cuddling by =AstronSoul on deviantART

AstronSoul is just another fan like me that had D Rey make this.  I think it is cool.

Cliff Chiang Bad Reputation

Making the rounds today but it is very cool. Cliff Chiang's mashup of DC women and the Runaways.

I love Black Canary singing and Z on bass.
Course I posted this to Amazon Princess, but given that it had Z in it I figured here is a good spot too.

Something nice till they completely reboot the DC universe. Again.

Other links:
http://cliffchiang.tumblr.com/post/6037210898 Cliff Chiang's tumblr.
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/6037306593/omg DC Women Kicking Ass
http://girls-gone-geek.com/2011/05/31/dc-women-runaways-mash-up/ and Girls Gone Geek.
http://amazon-princess.blogspot.com/2011/06/cliff-chiang-bad-reputation.html Amazon Princess

Wonder Woman and the Curriculum of Gender

One of the more interesting books I have been reading is "Wonder Woman: The Complete History" by Les Daniels (2000) and a related documentary "Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream" (2009, Warner Brothers). I am struck by the parallels between the creation of this comic book character and some of our discussions on gender and public curriculum. Some of these parallels were in fact intentional by the comic's creator William Moulton Marston, a Harvard psychologist.

Background

In 1940 Prof. Marston wrote a pop-ed piece in Family Circle called "Don't Laugh at the Comics" in which he stated that the comic books of the time, read predominantly by pre-adolescent boys and then later service men, were a source of great educational material. He made the claim in this article and in a follow piece two years later that the comics were a great morality tale in which one could educate the masses in "good moral behavior". As mentioned before William Marston was a Harvard psychologist who, among other things, wrote articles on child care, education and even invents the lie-detector (and early proto-type). While most other creators and comic book writers were barely high school educated; not that this matters, but it is a stark contrast. Marston was a critic of comics, till he began to read them. He then decided that he needed to create a comic that conveyed the stories of myth and Greeco-Roman culture as well educate readers on this as well his other ideals (detailed in a bit). In an oft-quoted tale Marston told his wife Elizabeth (also an educated, liberated woman) what he was planning to do, she paused and said, "fine. But make her a woman." This of course was part of Marston's larger plan, to teach people that women were the superior gender and that the world would be a better place if they were in charge. In his 1943 follow-up in The American Scholar Marston points out that he planned Wonder Woman as something for younger girls to look up too as well. That girls "didn't even want to be girls as long at the female archetype lacks strength and power…"
In December of 1941 Wonder Woman, previously called Suprema, appeared on the stands in All-Star Comics #8. She appeared again a month later and by June of 192 she had her own headlining title (Wonder Woman #1), a time line unheard of in those days. Despite a brief reboot, the series has never been out of publication. Unlike her co-heroes Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman was a Goddess. Marston wanted to be very clear that his hero is not an alien or a man driven by revenge but a superior Goddess. He states throughout "Complete History" that the Goddess choice was intentional to equate the woman of the 20^th Century as Goddesses. Still he has Diana/Wonder Woman, go through the classical Hero's Journey. She earns her place in this tale because she is better than the others.
Wonder Woman is also of princess of the Amazons, which were the archetypes of female warriors and "those on the outside". The amazons were self-reliant, peaceful, though could be warriors when needed, and all skilled at fighting. Yet despite the fact that Wonder Woman is faster, stronger and more skilled at battle, her mission (and Marston's) is one of love and peace.
 Curriculum of Non-Violence and Love

What was Marston's plan, his hidden curriculum? As it turns out his curriculum is not so hidden, at least in his mind. Marston had been DC Comics (then called Detective Comics) Educational consultant. He took his knowledge of how people read comics and his own feminist viewpoints (some of which may seem a bit skewed by today's standards, ie women are not equal to men, they are superior to men). He was very open about what he had planned on doing. Present a character that can be admired by both boys and girls, give her a strong background in the classics, show that she has traditional feminine qualities (beauty, compassion, empathy) but is as strong and wise as any of the Gods and Goddess in her own background. Wonder Woman cared. Her first mission was one of returning wounded pilot, Steve Trevor, home and to help improve diplomatic ties between Paradise Island and "The World of Man". In Wonder Woman comics produced today a common theme is that the sign Wonder Woman has failed is not whether the "bad guy" gets away (like Superman and Batman) but whether or not she can promote peace and stop war.

He based Wonder Woman's qualities on his own research that lead to his creation of the systolic blood pressure based lie detector. Amazons and Wonder Woman were superior in their peaceful environment due their steadiness. Unlike Superman with his massive strength, flight, heat vision, freezing breath and an array of powers, or Batman and his billions of dollars and high-tech gadgets, Wonder Woman is known for two items, her magic lasso that compels people to tell the truth and her silver bracelets which can deflect any weapon (but most often bullets). These are no accidents or mere comic book constructions, they hold key significance to the psychology of Marston and his creation. The parallels between the lasso and Marston's own early "lie-detector" should be obvious; truth is more powerful than a lie. Wonder Woman's bracelets are a reminder of a time when the Amazons were held in bondage and how they never would again, referencing myth but also the post-suffrage movements of women and their expanded role in the work-place of WWII. The bracelets also represent protection, in a sense it is Marston saying my heroine not only doesn't need weapons, but yours are useless on her too. There is the tie to female-archetype as well, bracelets that stop bullets, earrings that allow her communicate with anyone including animals and a girdle that boosts her own already prodigious strength. The fact that is research assistant Olive Byrne (his other "wife" in a three-person polyamorous relationship with him and his wife Elizabeth) often wore large metal bracelets on each wrist should not be ignored.

Marston even said that all boys and men, not just ones reading Wonder Woman, would willingly follow an alluring woman stronger than themselves. Marston believed that he was luring them towards a more peaceful and non-violent way of life.

Hidden Curriculum to Global Curriculum

In 1972 a feminist of a different type, Gloria Steinem put Wonder Woman on the cover of Ms. Magazine. In that 30 years other comic book heroes had come, gone or been radically changed, partially due to the Comics Authority Code, but Wonder Woman was still recognizable as the archetype, or even icon, she had started out to be. In 2009 I just finished working on a new course called "Culture, Gender, and Power Differences in Conflict", which many of Marston's own curriculum for Wonder Woman is part of the objectives for this course. Understanding how men and women approach conflict differently, how are minorities oppressed in subtle ways that either side may not be aware of. Between these two points we have decades of pop culture references that have influenced and been influenced by Marston's creation. Even saying "Wonder Woman" invokes not just an image of a 6 foot tall Amazon in red, white and blue, but is synonymous with "powerful woman".

It is difficult to measure at level Marston met with success in his original conception of his idea. He certainly created not just a feminist icon, but a feminine one. A lot of what he wanted to see accomplished did in fact happen, though not everything. In the end I am left with two quotes from two very different males about Wonder Woman. When asked about Marston's view of women as superior Playboy founder and former editor and CEO Hugh Heffner said "would the world be better if women were running things? No question about it, absolutely."
When asked about Wonder Woman my 6-year old son said "don't make girls mad, they will kick your butt, best to do what they say."