Wonder Woman: BLOOD (the new 52)

 

Wonder Woman.

Everyone knows Wonder Woman. She’s an icon as recognisable as Batman or Superman. And she’s been around for a while.

I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about Wonder Woman - I don’t. Her history is varied. I do now at one point she owned a mod boutique and was also made from clay. I know she had an invisible plane - which is always fun to imagine. And I know she has been an enduring symbol of feminism when she was released. In fact, I think that was the point of Wonder Woman. She did everything the superhero men did – but she did it while being in possession of a vagina.

 

 

I know she has been relaunched a few times, the most recent of which was the new 52 - which is what I’ve just got as a present from one of my friends.

And it’s good! Blood is a collection of the first six issues, and so far I like what i'm seeing.

You probably already know the basics about the relaunch - that she’s now being written as the bastard daughter of Zeus - and no longer birthed from a wish on clay. This is now just a cover story that Hippolyta used to protect her daughter from god-driven machinations.

Wonder Woman is a bit younger, a bit less all knowing, a bit more impulsive. She’s fierce, and can be a bit scary. She’s still well known – but her plans don’t always work – which is great!

There's a strong emphasis on mythology - and that's what really sucked me in. I love the greek gods, and these interpretations of them are fresh and interesting.

The story starts in media res, with an introduction of the antagonist (well, one of them) and then following a young girl - Zola - who suddenly finds out she is pregnant with another of Zeus’ bastards.

That god gets around.

 

The main conflict in the story is really about the gods’ affairs. Zeus disappears, leaving his brothers Poseidon and Hades trying to take his throne. Zeus’ unloved wife – Hera - spends the first six issues rampaging around in a peacock feather cloak, taking revenge on all Zeus bastards - including Zola. Hermes entangles Wonder Woman by asking her to take care of Zola - then she is further entwined by the revelation that Zeus is her father. Wonder Woman spends the first six issues trying to sort out the whole “who should be sitting on the god throne” thing - and also dealing with her mother’s lie, and the fact she suddenly has a family of gods and demigods. And is a demigod herself.

That’s a big change. Though events in the book, Wonder Woman must align herself with her “new” family - the gods, instead of the Amazons. I know she’s left the Amazons in other timelines - but still that changes her character in a big way. I can no longer think of her as an Amazon – and a major event in the book removes that option – I now think of her as Zeus daughter. Hercules’ half sister...

Weird. But weird doesn’t equal bad.

Another big change in character is the addition of male heritage to Wonder Woman - and Hippolyta - who had become a perfect feminist icon.

on the cover of Ms.

 

I’ve been reading a few forums where internet peeps are questioning this – implying that adding the father, in fact giving her any male relations, reduces the impact she has as the perfect Amazonian.

Let’s just think about that. It's a little misguided.

Wonder Woman didn’t become a feminist icon because she was made of clay and a wish – she became a feminist icon because she believed in good over evil – she fought for good, over evil – and was a woman.  

It shouldnt matter that she is somehow "tainted" by the seed of a man. Being an amazon or a demigod doesn't have to affect her core character. Because being a pure amazon isn't what made her act the way she acts.

She should be the same basic character with a few tweaks.

 

 

Give her a chance in this new relaunch, let her prove herself to be what you expect. If she falls short - she does. I mean it's not like she hasn't had a few stumbles over the years ...

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/03/the_6_worst_jobs_wonder_woman_ever_had.php

...but she remains a strong character. This new series is exciting because not only is Wonder Woman in the middle of an interesting story, she’s a strong character, who just happens to be a woman.

I love that.

TAKE MY MONEY, DC. I WANT THE NEXT ONE.

Borderlands stays out of the kitchen!

'Sup.

So, in relation to my last post... Borderlands 2 is one of the games that realises apparently half the gaming population is female. And what follows is a rambling review of gender-specific part of the game.

Unlike the first game, which I remember being pretty heavy on the sausage (and light on the story) this game has surparssed expectations and made a shooter that includes women. And I don't mean a token chick - an effort to reach a demographic - women are integrated into the fabulous world of Pandora. The roles for women aren't - for the most part - female specific, a lot of the roles seem genderless, and only include women because, well, half of us ARE female.

The producers of the game haven't targeted girl-gamers, it doesnt come off that way at least, they've just made a fully realized world. The whole production of the game seems pretty female-friendly... okay, apart from that casual misstep where one of the producers nicknamed one of the "hey you suck? well pick this" skill the girlfriend tree and got raked over the coals...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-13-borderlands-2-gearbox-reveals-the-mechromancers-girlfriend-mode

 

Just to clarify, I suck at critical hits. But that's because I didnt grow up with first person shooters - I grew up with Bloodrayne.

...the whole Borderlands 2 experience is welcoming for a woman. I'm not going to go into the "TITS OR GTFO" experiences some people have on the servers, I haven't played online so I don't know what the community is like - but the game itself is done the way it should be.

Ellie - likes: cuddling, murder

It's little things - walking up to a NPC in town and hearing a female voice (alot of the random characters in the towns are androgynous looking), getting many questlines of female characters. You spend time with the vault hunters from the first game - and the character that's around the longest is Lilith. Surprising.

I have to note that the humanoid grunt-enemies you fight in the game are all male - you wont find any real female presence there apart from the occasional Queen Sandworm .

I can't assume it was to save costs when there are so many enemy types. I'm not sure what drove that choice when female presence and image was so easily achieved elsewhere in the game. Perhaps market studies show that people are just happier shooting virtual men? *shrug* for a different blog perhaps...

Before launch, there were four main characters, and it was the usual spread of three male/one female - but then they added Gaige, who I believe is a thirteen yr old robot-constructor. I was pleasantly surprised! Three to two isn't bad - especially when we're talking about a shooter, a usually male dominated genre.

But on TOP of the even character genders, they also show a full spectrum of female archtypes. From Tiny Tina - a tween explosives expert, to Moxxie - the oversexualised one,

Moxxie's favourite weapon - Miss Moxxie's Good Touch is a gun that vibrates your controller when you equip it.... Hmmm....

to Angel - the helpless madonna, to Gaige - the cute one, to Ellie - the one defying body image, to Captain Scarlett - the one that will definitely stab you in the back.

I friggen love the jovial, upper crust, hook-handed Scarlett.

These women aren't the usual bikini clad, big chested dolls that usually populate video games (despite what an internet search on the females in the game could lead you to believe, I swear there are a lot of great artists out there that want to do nothing but draw Maya performing favours on the rest of the main characters) - not every female character is a sexpot like Moxxie. And that's important to have - it's good that females aren't just represented by "sexy". There are more character options out there - and Gearbox understood that.

Wearing a blood-stained mask of a Psycho on her head...

I couldn't be happier seeing so many females populating Pandora. And the ability to play two different female characters - with female voices - it's just great. I'm invested in this game, and it is an amazing game besides all this, because I feel welcome to it.

 

Hopefully the big damn success of Borderlands 2 will encourage other production houses to look closely at what Gearbox Software does. Not only has it made an engaging game here, it’s made an involving game for all those gamers out there - not just half.