Yes I know, there’s other #8 DC covers out there but Flash has been a big hit with our crew and I think Wonder Woman is just as great. But I can’t get my podcasting cohort, Chance Peterson to “see the light”! Maybe he’ll convert when he sees this bad ass Wonder Woman cover!
“The (wo)man with the golden gun.”
Are we already seeing #8 covers? Dang. Time flies.
According to the solicitation, those are “the pistols of Eros.” I can’t wait to see WW shooting off her love guns.
Well, Azz has shown in this series that he’s very much willing and able to go for the subversive sexual jokes. For instance, Hera refers to Paradise Island as a “cockless coop”, Aleka speaks of Hermes in these terms: “What foul stench hangs between the shanks, perhaps I shall take my blade and separate the offence from the offender.” And finally Aleka also mocks Wonder Woman’s rusty vagina before they duel. Azz also went on record to say that his favorite Wonder Woman stories are the Marsdon ones.
So I choose to interpret the cover to issue #5 (which hints at tentacle porn – tentacle porn having an ancient and rich history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tentacle_porn) as well as this cover to be deliberately sexual.
I find this story has a very intense sexual charge – moreso than Winick’s Catwoman but that’s another matter – but Azz hides it in oblique dialog and compelling action. On the surface, it’s there as well. A major plot point involves Diana’s birth from an illicit sexual encounter, which was portrayed in not so little detail. Thus, It’s entirely conceivable that Chiang – as Azz’s collaborator – is also infusing his work with sexual symbolism. Personally, I think it’s an excellent approach. Considering the character’s beginnings.
See the first 2 Alien movies to witness sexual symbolism in film at its most horrificly efficient. In fact, because Azz adamantly insisted he was writing a horror story leads me to believe this Wonder Woman series is very much about sex. The genre of horror has more in common with sexual themes than one might initially think.
For this and many other reasons, I think this is an important and seminal Wonder Woman run.
Extra points to anyone picking up on my puns.
